Writing Update as of 11/02/15

OK, so I haven’t posted a writing status in a good while.  Here's what's coming:

     

 A Thousand Falling Crows (Seventh Street Books) publishes January 05, 2016.  This is a standalone crime novel featuring ex-Texas Ranger, Sonny Burton.   Here’s some info:

       

       After a shoot-out with Bonnie and Clyde takes his arm and forces him into retirement. His son has stepped into Sonny’s role as the local Texas Ranger and just wants his father to keep out of the way. While Sonny struggles with recuperating, Aldo Hernandez, a friend from his days at the hospital, asks him to help find his daughter, who has gotten mixed up with two brothers involved in a string of robberies. Sonny agrees to help, but he is also concerned about a wholly different criminal in town, one who has taken to killing young women and leaving them in local fields for crows to feast on.

“A powerful, gripping novel of the American West. Gritty and deeply atmospheric, Sweazy has created one of the most fascinating leading characters in crime fiction. With the one-armed Sonny Burton at its helm, A Thousand Falling Crows crackles with menace and drama.”

—MARK PRYOR, author of Hollow Man

“A richly atmospheric and powerfully intense historical thriller that brings to life the ethnic complexity and free-range lawlessness of Depression-era Texas. Sweazy is always good, but this is his best book yet.”

                                                            —DAVID BELL, author of Somebody I Used to Know

“With a panoramic sweep of vision and language that borders on poetry, Sweazy brings to life a historic period in the Texas Panhandle, during the Depression and the days of the last outlaws—when America was trembling on the edge of the modern world.”

—TERRY SHAMES, Macavity Award–winning author of the Samuel Craddock mysteries

“A setting so authentic that I could almost feel the hot, dry sun beating down on me and the dust in my eyes. This skillfully crafted mystery kept me on the edge of my chair for hours. The characters stayed with me, refusing to let go, until I was able to finish the story and learn their fate.”

—DAVID THURLO, coauthor of the critically acclaimed Ella Clah and Charlie Henry mysteries

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·       See Also Deception  (Seventh Street Books), the second book in the Marjorie Trumaine Mystery series is set to publish May 10, 2016.  Here’s some info on it:

October 1964-- just months after freelance indexer Marjorie Trumaine helped solve a series of murders in Dickinson, North Dakota, she is faced with another death that pulls her into an unwanted investigation. Calla Eltmore, the local librarian, is found dead at work and everyone considers it suicide. But Marjorie can’t believe that Calla would be capable of doing such a thing.  Despite pressing job commitments and the burden of caring for a husband in declining health, Marjorie recruits Deputy Guy Reinhardt to help her uncover the truth. What she finds is a labyrinth of secrets that she had no knowledge of— and threats from someone who will kill to keep these secrets hidden…

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·       I’m currently writing a standalone police procedural thriller, also for Seventh Street Books, to be published in early 2017.  The third novel in the Marjorie Trumaine Mystery series is also scheduled to publish in mid-2017.

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        I recently obtained the rights back to the Josiah Wolfe, Texas Ranger series.  Speaking Volumes will be publishing both print and ebook versions of the series, starting with the first book, The Rattlesnake Season, in 2016, with the remaining books to follow quickly afterward. 

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        Graphic Audio will be publishing the audio version of the first three Marjorie Trumaine Mystery books starting in 2016.  This is a full cast recording with cinematic music and sound effects, so it will be a little different from the conventional audio book.  Once I have a release dates, I'll post them here.

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       See Also Murder, the first book in the Marjorie Trumaine Mystery series will be published in Turkey.  I’ll post more information here when I have it. 

Stop by Next Monday. The topic will be the beginning of imagination.  Thanks for reading.  ~~ Larry

Update -- A Flurry of Covers

After the launch of Vengeance of Sundown (Lucas Fume #1) I have gone a little quiet here--I figured that would happen.  It's been a busy year, and the blog gets the least of my attention--which is always the problem with blogs--it takes stamina and a strong idea to keep them going.  As we go into fall, I'm rethinking the blog format (for the thousandth time)...so we'll see what happens.  End of the year can be busier than normal, as I continue my freelance indexing practice full time, and write as much as I can.  I'm glad to say that my last big writing deadline for the year is in sight, and I'm planning on taking a short break (after I finish a short story that's banging away in the back of my head--which means there's never really break, and that's okay).

So, for the first time, here are some cover reveals of upcoming projects.  Some of them aren't complete, final, but close enough:

My short story, "The Adventure of the Rounded Ocelot," will appear in this anthology (published by Tyrus Books).  A first for me--a Sherlock Holmes pastiche, that I was happy to write.  It will be published October 31, and can be preordered here.

I have another short story, "How to Swim," set to appear in the anthology, Indy Writes Books.  This one will publish in November.  The proceeds of this book will help fund Indy Reads, a literacy program based in Indianapolis.  The book features stories from Indiana writers such as John Green, Dan Wakefield, Ben Winters, and others.  For more information about purchasing, sponsoring, or donating, to a great cause, go here.

The Italian publisher, Editoriale Cosmo, recently bought and published The Rattlesnake Season (Josiah Wolfe, Texas Ranger #1).  This is my first translation, and I'm thrilled that Josiah Wolfe is being introduced to a new audience.  I'm not sure how to tell you to get your hands on this one, but I'll let you know as soon as I find out.  Unfortunately, there are no plans to write any more Josiah Wolfe books at the moment.  I get asked that question a lot.  All six books are still in print, and available through the normal avenues.

Here's the fist look at the cover for See Also Murder (Seventh Street Books), my second mystery novel.  This one will be published in May, 2015.  It's available for preorder now here.  Set in North Dakota in 1964, this novel combines both of my passions, indexing and writing, for the first time in novel-length.  More to come soon. This novel is based on the Derringer-nominated short story of the same title that was originally published in 2006.

Here's another first look, not the final cover.  Escape from Hangtown (Lucas Fume #2--Berkley Books) is set to appear late summer/early fall, 2015, and continues Lucas Fume's quest for freedom.  This time around, Lucas sets out to clear Zeke Henry of all the charges against him, so his friend and partner can enjoy the same freedom that he does.

And, finally, coming in January, 2016, A Thousand Falling Crows (Seventh Street Books).  A new mystery, set in Texas in 1933, and features Texas Ranger Sonny Burton who is pulled into a mystery after a near-fatal encounter with Bonnie and Clyde,  This novel is also based on another previously published short story, "Shadow of a Crow" (Beat To A Pulp Press), and was originally published in 2012. (Note that the above picture is not a cover, just a picture I took of a crow's eye.)


As usual, I'll post more news when I have it.  Thanks for stopping by.  ~~Larry