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July 10, 2006
THE OWLHOOT TRAIL—I’ve been getting a lot of email from readers
who enjoyed the first novel in this series, ABILENE GUN DOWN.
Unfortunately, most of those who write me from my website do not offer a
return email address. Latest of these is from Edward Black, who writes:
“When will the second novel of this series be published? The
libraries in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada have also had many inquiries on
this series.” I answer all my mail, so it’s frustrating not to have
a return address on these. But, to answer Edward Black and all those
others who have written me asking about the 2nd novel in the OWLHOOT
TRAIL series, the answer is that there will not be a second novel.
Shortly after I had delivered the 2nd novel, Pocket Books, the
publisher, shut down their western series. They returned my manuscript
and paid me off for that and the 3rd novel. This has happened before
with other publishers. A shame, because Pocket Books had just launched
their western program. All of us who wrote for them were told that they
would publish no more westerns. So, sorry, Mr. Black, and all of you who
would have liked to have followed the course of my hero, that’s all
there is.
BOOK SIGNING—On Friday, August 18, 2006, I will be autographing
copies of THE SADNESS OF AUTUMN at the Ozark
Mountaineer Bookstore in Branson, Missouri, from 2 to 4 p.m. The
Mountaineer is located in the famous Engler Block on Highway 76, Country
Music Boulevard (the main drag, the so-called “Strip”.). I’ll be there
with Dusty Richards, Velda Brotherton, Fred Pfister, Dennis Edwards, and
others. Also present will be Mike McArthy, who shot the beautiful cover
for my collection of Ozarks short stories, THE SADNESS
OF AUTUMN.
The next day, we’ll be attending the OWL (Ozarks Writers League) meeting
at College of the Ozarks. One of the main speakers is my friend, Terry
Burns, who writes Christian faith-based westerns.
LATEST LISTEN—I just finished listening to an almost flawlessly
written first novel. As some of you know, I am legally blind (as opposed
to being illegally blind) and so subscribe to
Audible.com where I
download 2 books a month. This latest was BEAUTIFUL LIES by Lisa Unger (www.lisaunger.com).
It’s a beautifully written, very masterfully plotted, novel that
impressed me enough to write the author and visit her website. She has
completed a sequel to this one, SLIVER OF TRUTH, which will be published
later this year. I predict Lisa Unger will rise to the top of the heap.
She’s a fine writer.
LISTENING IN—I’ve had major problems with my audiobook listening
devices. And, it’s not over yet. I downloaded updated versions of both
Audible Manager and iTunes, and now neither recognizes my iPod. Then, my
Creative Muvo stopped working. So, now have to burn CDs, which takes a
long time, is annoying, and I no longer have the convenience of the iPod
or the Muvo. So, the iPod sits here with the last book on it and I can’t
delete that or download the latest ones. Apple is no help, nor is
Audible. I started at Audible with their Otis and it crashed and they no
longer support that device. The MuVo was great, with 1 gig of memory,
but never could find one to replace it. I finally ordered a new one,
with 512 megs, hoping it will last longer than the other one. On the
plus side, I can still use the 1 gig MuV0 as a flash drive.
FINAL THOUGHTS—Have been through a rough patch with my diabetes
and blood pressure. Both went sky high and laid me low. I won’t bore you
with the details, but the experience left me pretty rocky. I had to make
some changes in my diet and get to my center. Both levels are slowly
coming down.
And, I’m writing again, way behind, but forging ahead with the 2nd novel
in THE SAVAGE GUN series for Berkley. And, Berkley gave me a
great cover for
VIGILANTE #2, which hits the stands in November.
Also coming out soon, the first in the new series, THE SHADOW RIDER for
Harper Torch. Haven’t seen the cover yet, but as soon as I do, you’ll
see it, as well, posted on this site. Meanwhile, my subscribers for
Story A Month at
www.help4writers.com continues to grow. It’s a bargain at $6.00 a
year. A dozen stories for 6 bucks, all unpublished.
Have a fine summer. Write as beautifully as you can.
Jory Sherman
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