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. Have a fine summer. Write as beautifully as you can. Jory Sherman