Call me when it's over

I don't believe in astrology, though I always read my horoscope in the newspaper. But I'm starting to fear Mercury-in-retrograde.

Have of you heard of this phenomenon? It's an optical illusion that makes it appear the planet Mercury is moving backward, and it occurs three or four times a year. During those periods, astrologists say, machines go wonky and communications break down. True believers never make firm plans when Mercury is in retrograde, because that's just asking for it.

At our house, we've noticed that appliances and other household items tend to go on the fritz during these periods. Or is it simple coincidence, and we're looking for connections? I'll leave that up to you.

Let's look at the past ten days or so:

Mercury went into retrograde on Saturday, Feb. 23. The next day, a tripped circuit breaker locked up my computer. I paid computer wizards $375 to recover my data and fix my hard drive. Two days later, our furnace died. We had other heaters in the house, so it wasn't a big deal, but it did require a repairman to come and fix it.

My Kindle and my cell phone both had problems in the past week, but I managed to fix those myself.

Early this morning, while I was still asleep, Kelly heard a crash in my home office. She turned on the light and found that my globe had somehow unscrewed itself from its base and fallen over. The whole world was topsy-turvy, right there in my unoccupied office.

Who knows what will fall apart next? I'm afraid to drive my car.

This current period of Mercury-in-retrograde ends on March 17, which is St. Patrick's Day. So there are two good reasons to celebrate that day. And two good excuses to drink.

Hearts, flowers and books

Happy Valentine's Day to all my readers. Book lovers are the best!

I'm in great spirits today because I just finished the first draft of a new novel. After a couple of marathon writing days, DEADPAN is done. (Well, it's far from done. Months of revisions to come. But it's always a milestone to reach "The End.")

The first draft took six weeks to write, which is pretty typical for me. January and February tend to be good writing months -- cold weather makes me want to stay indoors -- and I often start a new novel with the new year.

I'll let the manuscript "cool" for a couple of weeks, then start the rewrites. I'm already making notes on things I want to change.

Meanwhile, my most recent crime novels are selling briskly as trade paperbacks (and e-books!) at Amazon.com. Two of them, A BOX OF PANDORAS and LOST VEGAS, were mentioned in "Memorable Reads of 2012" this week at the DorothyL mystery community.

You can see all my 25 books by going to www.stevebrewer.us.com. To see the latest ones, use the drop-down menu to select "Publication Date."

Kelly and I tend to stay low-key about Valentine's Day, but we are going out to dinner tonight at a lovely French restaurant. Hope you have a wonderful day!

"Paradise" in paperback

A hilarious heist novel -- one of my personal favorites -- is now available in trade paperback. The new version of FOOL'S PARADISE can be purchased at Amazon. Click here to see more.

FOOL'S PARADISE originally was published by University of New Mexico Press in 2003. It was one of three books of mine that came out that year (the others being BULLETS and TROPHY HUSBAND), and it sort of got lost in the shuffle.

I got the rights back and published an e-book version last year, and now we've published the new paperback version with a great cover by Kelly Brewer.

FOOL'S PARADISE is a very funny crime novel set mostly in Coronado, CA, one of our favorite vacation spots. Five strangers come together to rob a bank there, even though there are limited routes off the "island" of Coronado. Things go wrong, naturally.

Please give the new version a try. As with the other paperbacks we've published recently, the book features large type and lots of white space, which makes for easy reading. And the laugh-out-loud plot will keep you turning pages.

Paperback rioter

I've unleashed five new paperbacks on the world!

These novels -- some of my best work -- previously were available only as e-books. Now, thanks to the miracle of indie publishing, the books are for sale on Amazon.com as beautiful trade paperbacks with glossy covers. They run 300 pages or more each, and they're priced around $13.

 As you can guess from the titles and covers, these are standalone crime novels. Let me tell you a little about each:

The most recent is A BOX OF PANDORAS, a traditional mystery set at a film festival in Santa Fe. It stars Loretta Kimball of Pandora, NM, president of the International Michael Girard Fan Club. When Mr. Girard, a near-famous actor, falls under suspicion, Loretta takes it upon herself to clear his name. Author Pat Browning just reviewed this novel and called it a "funny, gossipy small-town mystery."

LOST VEGAS is more hard-boiled, a true heist novel about a crew that knocks over a casino in small-town Nevada. Lots of action, and two of my favorite characters, a former Mob button man called Nicky Pop-Pop and a Samoan bodyguard named Shamu.

CALABAMA is rural noir in the vein of my favorite TV show, "Justified," though I wrote it before "Justified" ever aired. It's about a young slacker in Redding, CA, who gets mixed up in a kidnapping scheme with hillbilly crimelord Rydell Vance. Lots of dark comedy.

THE BIG WINK is also set in Redding, at the peak of the medical marijuana boom. A shooting during a holdup at a pot dispensary sets off a manhunt and a media firestorm. Author Reed Farrel Coleman says, "He's done masterful work before, but Brewer's outdone himself with THE BIG WINK."

FIREPOWER is a rip-snorting tale about a taciturn hitman (think Steve McQueen) who rescues an inventor from the evil forces of Big Oil. Author Penny Raife Durant calls it "a rousing story with many twists and turns."

I'm very proud of these books and I hope having them in paperback will mean a wider audience. If they do well, I'll bring out more of my backlist in this format.

In other news, I'm making great progress on the first draft of my new novel, DEADPAN. And the "Become a Better Writer" honors class I'm teaching at the University of New Mexico starts Monday.

Happy reading!

Happy new story!

Let's start 2013 with a bang.

I've just published a new hard-boiled short story, available through Kindle, Smashwords and other e-book sellers. It's called YVONNE'S GONE, and it's a nasty piece of business, full of jealousy and betrayal and murder.

You can read more about this 99-cent short story by clicking here. The brilliant cover art is by Kelly Brewer.

For me, the story of 2012 was the expansion of our E-Book Empire. Over the past two years, Kelly and I have made a cottage industry out of indie publishing. Thanks to e-books, we can now publish books nearly as fast as I can write them.

In 2012, we published a Bubba Mabry novella (PARTY DOLL), a comic mystery novel (A BOX OF PANDORAS), and three short stories, counting YVONNE'S GONE, which launched on Dec. 31. For full descriptions of those stories (and all my books), go to www.stevebrewer.us.com.

As 2012 wrapped up, we tried something new. A BOX OF PANDORAS, which came out as an e-book in June, soon will be available as a trade paperback. We've been learning Amazon's print-on-demand service, CreateSpace, and PANDORAS is going through its final proofing now.  In the coming months, we'll publish my other e-book exclusives (CALABAMA, LOST VEGAS, THE BIG WINK and FIREPOWER) this way, too. Paperback versions of the books will be available through Amazon, and I'll have copies to sell/display at events like next spring's Southwest Book Fiesta in Albuquerque.

I'm taking it easy today, but the rest of January promises to be crazy busy. Not only am I spending a few hours a day on the paperback project, but I'm starting the first draft of a new novel called DEADPAN. Plus, my new writing class in the Honors College at the University of New Mexico starts Jan. 14. Whee!

We wish you happiness, prosperity and good reading in 2013!