Karen put together the proof version of the cover for Michael Paulson's Deadly Trade and it's beautiful. I hope I can post it tomorrow, once I get all the artwork legal and safe. It continues the blonde and red theme of Paulson's earlier books in this series--Dead On and Deadly Age.

Speaking of covers, I got the proof copy of Carpathian Shadows back from the printer--it looks good so I'll send it to editor Lea Schizas for her approval (or not).

Other than that, I didn't get as much done today as I'd hoped. My uncle called to talk about investments, I finished reading the very funny THE PENGUIN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH by Donna Andrews and started reading TOUCH OF TEXAS by Tracy Garrett (Tracy is a Dallas author I've known for years and this is her first book--I've got it loaded on the eBookWise and was walking down the street in the dark reading on my way to dinner. Probably not the safest way to navigate--I run into low-hanging trees.

Karen is involved in the Buns and Roses librarian and reader thing this weekend (when she's not doing cover art). We got the bad news that another author-friend of ours lost her publishers. The publishing industry REALLY sucks (me excluded, of course).

There's lots of action on possible new eBook readers. The industry seems to believe that eInk and dedicated eBook readers are the way to go. I continue to be ambivalent. While it's true I prefer my eBookWise to my Palm (or my iPAQ, or my HP Jornada or my Sanyo Phone) for reading, the $300 price point the industry seems stuck at is a problem. Reading on something you have just has to be the right way to start. (While I prefer the eBookWise for long sit-downs, the Palm is actually more practical for short reads, like in the doctor's office, during a coffee break at work, etc.)

I'm going to make VEIL OF THE GODDESS by Rob Preece the www.BooksForABuck.com book of the day. When the True Cross is discovered under a bombed Iraqi Mosque, a secret group believes it's finally achieved the countdown to the end-times--and they'll stop at nothing to make prophesy come true in their lifetimes. Sgt. Ivy Newman and Capt. Jake Hererra go on the run with the Cross, hoping to defuse the final crusade that just might be unleashed. It's only $3.99. Learn more, read the excerpt, or buy the entire eNovel here (available in HTML, Adobe Acrobat PDF, Palm Reader/eReader, Palm DOC, and Microsoft Reader formats): www.booksforabuck.com/mystery/mys_06/veil_goddess.html. Here's the cover (cover design by Kat Baldwin):

rob