I actually wrote GOING POSTAL before Terry Pratchet's book with the same title came out. The book has been sitting in the computer ever since, complete with Karen's suggestions and comments, just waiting for me to take another crack at it. I've written a number of books since then (including MID-LIFE MURDER, which is another book in the TEXAS TRAILER PARK MYSTERY series), and I wasn't sure whether I'd still feel comfortable publishing POSTAL, or whether I should simply allow it to vanish into rust (i.e., the rust that makes up hard disk platters). I read through the story, though, made a lot of changes and rewrites, and came up with something I'm proud of. So, today I published GOING POSTAL (writing as Amy Eastlake). Karen came through with another brilliant cover--I think these trailer park mysteries are her favorite books to do the covers for--she especially likes the chicken. Here it is:

I think I'm back to the bridge-playing werewolf tomorrow.

Have you finished your holiday shopping? Karen and I decided to get ours done today. We drove through horrible traffic up to Tuesday Morning, hoping to get a deal on frying pans (Karen wants a new, fancy, non-stick frying pan and I've been elected to buy it). Unfortunately, Tuesday Morning didn't have a pan that fit the bill, so we went to NorthPark Mall--and boy was that ever a zoo. I'd hoped to get her the pair of binoculars she fell in love with last winter at Sharper Image. Who knew that Sharper Image had gone bankrupt back in February? Karen did buy something for her sister so it wasn't a complete loss--but it was close. From now on, all of my shopping is on-line.

Speaking of holiday gifts, the winner of the BooksForABuck.com holiday contest was Amy T. Amy, I sent you directions on how to get your book--and how to make sure your friend gets his/her's. I'm waiting for the e-mail address. Congratulations, Amy. A cool thought--it's getting real late to buy anything but you can buy eBooks right to the last second. Want to buy an eBook that BooksForABuck.com doesn't publish? Try Fictionwise--they've got dozens of best-sellers from just about all the major publishers. They've also got BooksForABuck.com books.

I've posted three reviews today: GOING POSTAL by Amy Eastlake here: www.booksforabuck.com/mystery/mys_08/going_postal.html, PRINCEPS' FURY by Jim Butcher here: www.booksforabuck.com/sfpages/sf_08/princeps_fury.html, and SCONE COLD DEAD by Kaitlyn Dunnett here: www.booksforabuck.com/mystery/mys_08/scone_cold_dead.html . Obviously I loved GOING POSTAL (otherwise I wouldn't have written it and certainly not published it). I've loved the Butcher Alera/Fury series but I thought PRINCEPS' FURY the weakest in the series so far. Lots of action but Butcher loses track of what makes his books so special--the people. Still, definitely above average fantasy. As far as SCONE COLD DEAD is concerned, I think Dunnett never really got her arms around why her sleuth was sleuthing--and what she hoped to find. This books struggled to make average. Now I'm reading ELANTIS.

I'm making GOING POSTAL by Amy Eastlake the www.BooksForABuck.com book of the day. Between now and January 23, 2009, it's available at the introductory price of only $1.00 (regular price, $3.99). It's available in HTML, Adobe Acrobat PDF, Palm DOC, Microsoft Reader, Mobipocket, Sony LRF, and ePub formats. You can learn more, read the free excerpt, or buy the entire eNovel here: www.booksforabuck.com/mystery/mys_08/going_postal.html. Here's the cover (cover design by Karen Leabo):

Happy Holidays,

Rob