Summertime news

Even when an author isn't actively writing a new book, there's always plenty of work to be done. I'm taking a break before starting a new book, but it's been a busy summer so far.

Since I last blogged here, I finished work on my latest crime novel. My agent loved it. I'm waiting to hear whether it will be published by Alibi (the new crime e-book imprint at Penguin Random House) or by some other publisher. Alibi has published my last three books, written as Max Austin.

The latest one, DUKE CITY DESPERADO, came out June 9, and has received great reviews. I've been busy with a book-blog tour set up by Alibi. If you want to see reviews, excerpts and interviews with me, just Google the title and lots of new blog posts will turn up. And more to come over the next week or two.

DUKE CITY DESPERADO is the story of two lowlifes who try to rob a drive-thru bank here in Albuquerque, and what happens to them after things go very wrong. It's a crime thriller, but there's lots of laughs, too. I had a great time writing it, and I hope you'll enjoy it, too. Only $2.99 as an e-book original.

I've written and revised two new novels since I finished DUKE CITY DESPERADO, so I'm taking a break now, focusing my attention on (the never-ending) projects around the house and garden. In the 17 months since we moved in here, we've transformed a neglected property, mostly thanks to Kelly's green thumb. But

there's always more work to do.

We've also been playing around with other ways to capitalize on my body of work. Those of you who follow me on Facebook and Twitter know about my humorous Rules for Successful Living, which I've posted
nearly every day for five years. Many of the Rules were collected into e-book/paperback form in 1500 Rules for Successful Living.

Now, we've put a few of the Rules on coffee cups (and, eventually, on bumper stickers and T-shirts), available for sale at zazzle.com. Our Zazzle "store" is called Bad_Advice. Click here to see it. The first few Rules available on coffee mugs include IT TAKES A CHILD TO RAZE A VILLAGE, EVERY RODEO HAS ITS CLOWN and LIFE IS A BOWL OF CHERRY BOMBS.

We're just sticking our toes in the water here, and haven't really told anybody about this "store" yet. So you Home Front readers can be the first to try it out. Let me know what you think.

Hope you're having a fun, productive summer!