I’ve been asked before if I get nervous when popping open the first carton of books when the eighteen-wheeler rolls up and a new Dogwood Press title arrives, hot off the presses. Absolutely I do. The excitement never goes away, but I assure you it’s a good kind of anxiety. By the way, know what ISN’T a good kind of anxiety? Watching a palette of shrink-wrapped carton of books that weighs over 1,300 pounds teeter on the edge of the lift gate as it’s being lowered to the ground by the truck driver. Where’s the Maalox when you need it?
But the good news is that the first printing of Randy Pierce’s great new novel, The Peter Bay, is here (completely safe and sound), along with a revised and re-released edition of his out-of-print first novel, Pain Unforgiven.
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| A classic Southern thriller! |
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| This novel introduces protagonist Grant Hicks, who returns in The Peter Bay! |
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| Sign right there, and make it snappy! Lots of pre-orders to fill!
Randy launches at Lemuria in Jackson, Mississippi, on Tuesday, March 8 at 5 p.m. That begins a tour that will take him all over the Magnolia State and into neighboring states, too. He’s feeling the usual butterflies all of us writers with a pulse go through at the onset of a launch: Will readers like my new book? (Yes! I can personally attest to the fact that it is a very good read.) And he’s also honored and flattered that so many folks are telling him how much they’ve been looking forward to The Peter Bay. That’s one of the most rewarding aspects of being an author: hitting the road and getting to visit with folks who’ve read your work and make it a point to come get your new book when you stop in their town.
John Floyd was recently invited by the Yarn Spinners Book Club to take questions about his 2013 collection of short fiction, Deception, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Led by Jan Ballard and headquartered in Ackerman, Mississippi, it’s a terrific group; John, Randy, and I have all had the privilege of a book of ours featured; we were invited to answer a whole slew of prepared questions by audience members and sign copies. Take a look at the poster hanging above Jan and John — all three of us have been presented with posters like that. It’s a very thoughtful and creative thing to offer an author.
 Mr. Floyd, did you really write that book?
I spoke to a big group of Lions this week. No, not the Detroit Lions, and not a group of wild animals at the local zoo. This was the Lions Club of Central Mississippi, and it was a delight to meet them and sign copies of Director’s Cut and take them through the publication process of a book — I told them to imagine all club members writing short essays about their most meaningful experiences doing community service, pooling those essays into one manuscript, and how the project would come together and eventually result in a delivery truck showing up with a shipment of books for them to sell. (I didn’t mention anything about the palette of cartons teetering on the edge of the lift gate.)
 Michael Phillips invited me and convinced the membership not to throw food!
Valerie Winn is still working hard on her next novel (the sequel to Forsaking Mimosa), and she and Randy and John and I can’t wait for this year’s Mississippi Books Festival, which will held again in downtown Jackson (on Saturday, August 20). By then we’ll be just weeks from debuting the great new John M. Floyd collection, Dreamland. Oh, man, is that book LOADED with fantastic short fiction!
In the meantime, we’ll all be making stops at libraries, independent bookstores, and chain stores here and there. See www.dogwoodpress.com for an updated listing of author appearances. And if you prefer an e-read these days, we have you covered there, too — here’s the list of available downloads through Amazon Kindle:
JOHN M. FLOYD — Fifty Mysteries
JOHN M. FLOYD — Deception
JOHN M. FLOYD — Clockwork
VALERIE WINN — Forsaking Mimosa
RANDY PIERCE — Magnolia Mud
RANDY PIERCE — The Peter Bay (COMING IN LATE MARCH)
RANDY PIERCE — Pain Unforgiven (COMING IN LATE MARCH)
JOE LEE — Director’s Cut
JOE LEE — Last Chance Texaco
JOE LEE — The Long Road Home
JOE LEE — The Magnolia Triangle
JOHN LEE — The Legend of Roger (GREAT for the middle school kid in your life!)
You can download any (or ALL) of these titles right now and start reading, as they say, in sixty seconds or less! Thanks so much for your time, and come say hello at a book talk or signing!
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