Legend

I'm lucky enough to be acquainted with one of the most prolific and published writers out there...in any genre and any category. His name is James Reasoner. The man is a living legend in my mind (and plenty of others) as he has written for decades, four successful decades, to be exact. Think about that. 

I'm citing some round numbers here but James has written literally hundreds of books under his own name and publishing 'house names'...over 350 Westerns, Historicals, and other genres. He posted the other day that he is closing in on 30 million words written. So yes, I'd say I'm very lucky to be acquainted with James. 

He has written book reviews of the previous Ania Series books and my deep gratitude goes out to him for his recent comments regarding Harbinger. You can find that post, along with a wonderful blog called Rough Edges, right here.

Harbinger - The Ania Series Prequel

Set on the sunny Gulf coast of Florida, Harbinger centers around two lifelong friends and fishing charter boat partners, Boyd Tomlin and Hicks Ledoux. Boyd is the serious one who always makes sure things get done, and Hicks is the carefree one who always makes sure everyone has a good time.

But times aren’t so good. They are struggling to get charters, and bills are coming due. In desperate need of money, they consider smuggling drugs to make ends meet. By chance or fate, they meet two beautiful sisters who will change everything—a young Ania and her kid sister Karolyn. Hicks is immediately attached to the brash, confident Ania while Boyd gravitates toward Karolyn.

As romance blossoms, Boyd and Hicks quickly find themselves embroiled in the world of illegal drug trade, romance, danger and violence lurking around every corner.

An Offer You Can't Refuse

Just to see if anyone is out there reading my posts. I have an offer for you. The first three people that reply to this in the comment section will get one kindle copy of your choice. You can pick one of the three books below:

Harbinger - Available now! The new prequel to the Ania series. The fourth & final book. Some folks like to start with a prequel, some like to end a series with it. But whether you read them in the order they were released or in the order they take place in time, this story works both ways.

Sort'em Out Later - A new collection of my short stories. The book contains a wide spectrum of places, people and crimes. 28 stories in all, some are long and some are quick hits. I think you might enjoy this collection, or at least I hope so.

Blood on Blood - The first book released of the four book Ania series. You can start from the beginning with this one, followed by Queen of Diamonds, then Closing the Circle and end up with the prequel Harbinger - which contains some surprises and explains some things.

So be one of the first three to comment to this post below and I'll send you one of these kindle books. I'm trying to figure out if I'm just talking to myself on this blog! - JW

HARBINGER

Available Today! Pick a copy up at Amazon, Barnes & Nobles, etc. Harbinger is the prequel to the Ania Series. My brand new novel, co-written with Frank Zafiro just hit the electronic shelves, so buy yourself a Christmas present or give a copy to someone for the Holidays. Frank and I are excited about the launch of Harbinger. We hope you enjoy this fourth and final book of the series.

Open and Shut Discussion

Over at Frank Zafiro's place, I have a new interview up on Wrong Place, Write Crime. Open and Shut Episode #21. 

Frank and I discuss our new book, titled Harbinger, as well as the extreme difficulty and negativity I encountered while working with him. It was a nightmare. I did everything I could to get along with him but he's just impossible to deal with. You can find the tense and strained interview right here.

Harbinger will launch on December 10 and will be available at all the usual outlets. Please pick up a copy and spread the word. 

As always, a big thanks goes out to Frank for all the opportunities he has provided and continues to provide. He's the ultimate writing partner, friend/and mentor a guy like me could have. Thanks also to Eric and all the crew at Down & Out Books. They do a fantastic job and are great to work with, simply the best.   

Interview

Recently Frank and I did an interview with PJ Bodnar of The Big Thrill. In the run up to the coming book launch for our latest addition to the Ania series. The prequel novel Harbinger was the focus of discussion. Pardon the cheesy remark but it was indeed a big thrill and a big thanks goes out to PJ and The Big Thrill folks for the opportunity and support. You can find the interview right here.

-JW

Announcement - BIG STUFF

So excited, proud and fortunate to be a part of this project! Scroll down below for details and cover reveals of Season One...more information to come as we go. A season two is already scheduled and authors picked. Got a feeling, this one is gonna be something special. - JW

Sam and Rachel are lifelong grifters in their late thirties. Their past is as shadowy as their present, but we know that they pulled a major long con on the mafia in Philadelphia, and now they are on the run. While one or the other may speak longingly of that quiet life in a beach house somewhere at the end of the rainbow, we all know that the likelihood is that they will never leave this life, unless it is in a box. They are who they are, and so they continue to find and exploit marks, trying to stay one step ahead of the mobsters bent on vengeance.

Titles and authors for Season One are:

• The Concrete Smile by Frank Zafiro,
• People Like Us by JD Rhoades,
• The Whale by Lawrence Kelter,
• The Movie Makers by Gary Phillips,
• Lost in Middle America by Colin Conway, and
• Losing Streak by Jim Wilsky.

Sort 'Em Out Later

Alright folks, 

A reminder, Harbinger the prequel to the Ania series co-authored by Frank and I will be launching and available in December. But right now and I mean...Right Now.

Buy this short story collection of mine. Please. I'm not above begging...or groveling. Thanks so much to the editors that originally accepted these stories and of course thanks to Eric, Lance and everyone else at Down & Out. I can't say enough good things about D.O.B. to do them justice and I couldn't be more pleased with the relationship we have. Go here and then look around some more. 


The Amazon link is right here . Available at the other usual outlets as well.

Una Cosa Más

One more post before I get this thing cranked up to a coughing start, or at least get the engine to turn over.

I've always been happy to tell anybody that would listen, that I was never really cut out for this whole Writing deal. I love it, don't get me wrong but I'm just not very good at it.

Yes, on one hand it can swallow me whole sometimes and there are periods where its all I can think about or all I want to do. Sometimes I'm even pleased with a piece. On the other hand though, there are too many times that I lose focus, I lose the fire, run dry of ideas and get to a point where writing a single paragraph is like writing a chapter.

I understand that most writers go through stops and starts but that's not what I'm talking about here. I'll use the car analogy again. I'm not talking about running out of gas sometimes. Oh no, I'm talking about having four flat tires, a radiator blowing smoke, a blown engine, dead battery, doors and hood wide open on the side of a two lane road in West Texas.

I'm too streaky. I can go like hell for a while and then I can stop on a dime. Worse than that I don't promote well, don't market myself - or my books/stories worth a damn. I'm a social media 'no show' which is a surefire recipe for failure these days. I don't attend the events I should, I don't hang with the right people - although I'm lucky as hell there are exceptions to that. People like Frank and the Down & Out crew, all the great short story editors and writers out there that I've been fortunate enough to get to know down through the years.

In terms of my boundless ability to sabotage my own writing efforts, I think the reason behind that could possibly be my background. I spent a long, grinding career in Sales & Marketing ironically. To be honest, I got to be pretty good at it over time. Maybe even a step above pretty good. I could sell screen doors to a submarine commander as the old saying goes. I was in a role where I met with mid-level buyers and/or Senior V.P.'s, all across North America and a few times in Europe and Asia. Across a desk in a small office or in a boardroom scene right out of Mad Men.

I could relate to people from any region, position or status. You wanted confidence almost to the point of being brash? There I was. You wanted a calm confidence mixed with a quiet assurance, there I was. You wanted somebody to not talk but just listen, I was your man. I could be a "good ol' boy" (which is basically all I am) or a buttoned-down serious as hell, or West coast laid back. I talked and met comfortably with clients and accounts anywhere from Manhatten to Florida to Iowa and California - in their own unique markets, language and culture.

Bear with me here because this is not a brag fest by any means, in fact its the opposite. Its an outline of why I fail so miserably at the business end of writing. Everything I did then (retired now) was done in person, live and with 'cameras rolling' so to speak. Sure, there were detailed and splashy media presentations, formal proposals and contracts that I had to prepare...but the 'sell' was a personal thing. It was connecting to a person or people sitting in the room. A real room, with people staring at you, people that needed to trust you and be convinced of something. As a writer trying to sell my own books, I don't have that situation and experience to fall back on very often - except for a rare book signing maybe. That shtick that I used to be able to employ just doesn't work anymore.

So I think all of that shines a light, a very bright and hot light, on the fact that carrying over skills and abilities from one profession to another is not a given by any means. It's a hard bridge to build and cross, at least for me. In my opinion, being a successful writer (by whatever definition and measure you prefer to use) is one of the most difficult things I know of to achieve. I'm fortunate enough to know a few successful writers and seen firsthand the other necessary skills they possess, in addition to the wonderful writing talent they have. Unfortunately, I'm fairly sure that I'll never have that depth, that reach and that extra something to get over the hump. Hell, I'm a poster boy for the writer bio that whispers "just didn't have quite enough"

You know what though? I'm okay with that. I write because I love it and I enjoy it (most of the time). Simple as that. And hey, if three or four other people enjoy it too, well that's just a bonus. Alright...I'm done. Finally, right? If you've somehow read this entire post then all I can say is you're pretty amazing, not to mention being a person who has extraordinary patience.

Enough of this self analysis bs...huh?

JW

The Phoenix/Ashes Thing

I'll start with the obvious. I've been gone and out of the loop for an extended period of time. This poor blog has been neglected and basically abandoned like an old farmhouse with loose shutters banging in the prairie wind. But, I have decided to turn the lights back, dust off everything and clean some things up around here.

There have been things going on in the past months that I did not post about. At least with the writing part of those mysterious sounding things, I will do my best to catch up on in the next few posts. 

If this was a car race, you could say I've been lapped...several times. I'm so far behind, I'm ahead. I'd blame it on the pit crew if there was one. But the brutal truth is, the problem rests solely with the guy who stares back at me when I shave in the morning. So without babbling even more here, I have flipped the Closed sign to Open on the front door of this blog.    

New Book Covers

Here is a sneak peek of our new book covers that Down & Out did for us. Zach McCain gets the all the credit for the outstanding job of artwork and design! - JW

Down & Out Books - Press Release

Big news from Down & Out Books! Frank Zafiro and I have been fortunate enough to have recently come to a book agreement with Eric Campbell over at D&O. They will be re-introducing our Ania Series throughout 2018. Eric, Lance and the rest of the team have been nothing less than fantastic in terms of services, support, expertise and partnering. Frank already has books with D&O but this is my first time working with them and I'm so pleased.

See the press release right here.

BLOOD ON BLOOD will be released in April, followed by QUEEN OF DIAMONDS in June and CLOSING THE CIRCLE in October.

Then in December of this year, our new, never before released series prequel titled HARBINGER will be made available. Exciting times!

More to follow in the coming days.

JW

Harbinger

I'm going to have to be a little mysterious with this particular post. Definitely holding back some details but only because the time is not quite right yet...BUT...what I can tell you is that Frank Zafiro and I have just finished the first draft of our fourth collaboration together. Luckily, Frank hasn't grown tired of me glomming onto him.  

Its a crime fiction novel that we co-wrote together, titled Harbinger and we're pretty damned pumped up about it. We have a publisher, we have a cover, but this is part of an even bigger story...well, big for me anyway and one that I can't elaborate on yet. Yet. As soon as I can though, I'll be plastering it all over this blog. 

-JW  

Odds Are Against Us - Update

I spoke to Oren Litwin just today. He is the editor of a Military Fiction Anthology, titled The Odds Are Against Us, that he was instrumental in coordinating last year. Oren told me that the book is currently being reviewed and considered by an independent publisher. Two of the authors that will have short stories featured in this collection are my writing partner Frank Zafiro and myself.

This is truly an underrepresented genre that deserves more attention and writing opportunities so we were both proud to be involved with this project. Frank and I, as well as the other authors, involved are looking forward to this anthology being made available to the public in the near future. I will continue to update on publishing news and availability of this book when I receive the word. More to follow.

-JW 

The New Year

It has been months (and months) since I've posted - but I'm not going to bother filling in the gap of what else happened in 2017 after my last post.

Not that last year was all bad, in fact some of it was very good, but I'm re-opening the shop here after such a lengthy leave of absence that I think its better to start things off fresh.

And it doesn't get much fresher than January 2, 2018. What is happening right now, what is right around the corner and beyond is what I'll be focused on. So with that said, I have some new posts to write. Welcome, if you've never been here and welcome back if you've had the patience of a saint and haven't deleted this blog.

-JW