But Aside From All That I'm Sure She's A Peach

Los Angeles, CA

To hear her attorney tell it Nanette Packard-McNeal is not a nice woman. Deceitful, he calls her. Dishonest. Unfaithful.

But, he says, and this is important, she's not a killer.

Packard-McNeal, 46, is in court for the murder of her ex-boyfriend, Bill McLaughlin in 1994. She's accused of plotting with her other boyfriend at the time, ex-NFL linebacker Eric Naposki, in the almost 20-year-old crime.

Seems she was dating both of them and, according to Packard-McNeal's attorney, when Naposki found out he got upset and topped Mclaughlin all on his lonesome. I'm thinking the phrase, "riddled with bullets" was probably used.

The defense's argument here is that Naposki was broke and Packard-McNeal wasn't going to get McLaughlin's cash, so what the hell would be the point of taking him out?

Prosecutors, of course, see things a little differently. They're going with the "Look how horrible she is!" argument.  McLaughlin was loaded after inventing a device that filters plasma from blood.  Before his death they say that she was taking credit for the invention and telling people that she was going to be coming into some money soon.

If the defense can get past the whole "She's a hussy!  She's a bad person!" implication the prosecution is tossing around it sounds like she's got a fair chance of walking. From the thin slice the story gives us it sounds more like a cheap prosecutorial trick than a solid case.

Naposki was convicted back in July for first degree murder with a January 20th sentencing date. So unless he comes in with a "I'll hang her out to dry for a reduced sentence" thing the defense should just need to raise enough doubt about her potential involvement.

Man, this is like a Cain novel. The Femme Fatale, the jilted lover, the rich victim. I think I'm gonna have to watch this one.

I wonder if she looks like Barbara Stanwyck.

In The Wild

So the book went live last week.

And it's been getting some cross-genre love.

Paul Goat Allen dug it over on Explorations, the Barnes & Noble SciFi and Fantasy Blog and Jed Ayres had some nice things to say over at Ransom Notes, the Barnes & Noble Mystery Blog.

To be honest I've been a little worried about how either genre camp was going to take the book. Not everybody likes chocolate in their peanut-butter, after all. It's nice to see it getting this kind of reception from both sides.

Then I did signings over the weekend at Mysterious Galaxy in Redondo Beach and San Diego.

The RB store was the book launch and mostly had people I knew. A couple strangers came by, which was nice. It was pretty full and VERY surreal. I think something like 20 people? Give or take? Plus I think I pissed off my sister-in-law by teaching my nephew some new swear words.

So that's a win.

San Diego had more people than I expected, which is to say more than zero. Two lovely people, Christine and... Kevin? I think, showed up and we spent an hour talking about zombies. It was a lot of fun and totally worth it.

The staff at both stores are fantastic people. I had a blast at both signings and actually sold some books. Which was, you know, the point.

In all, this whole book thing seems to be going well. Who'da thunk?

In Which Books Are Given Away

Sick of me, yet? God knows I am.

If you're not check out these two interviews with me over at The Qwillery and My Bookish Ways running today where I talk about, shocker of shockers, CITY OF THE LOST, what I'm working on next, Noir At The Bar and other sundry things.

There's even a fez in one of them.

But wait, as master salesman Ron Popeil once said, there's more!

Hidden deep within those two interviews are encoded details on how you (Yes, you!) can enter to win a copy of CITY OF THE LOST for your very own with a hand scrawled note inside written by my helper orangutan Bjorn The Mighty And Incontinent.

Actually, no, the details aren't encoded. They're just down at the bottom.

But the rest is true. Bjorn's here to say something to prove he is more than just my peyote fueled hallucination.

khfgapistg'a?UJoESAutrg aekt5":HUDZG
SDJTGAISU TGAEUTRWT7GUQUWTGFQ

sEE?

Dammit, he hit the Caps Lock again.

Anyway, hope on over and enter to win. It's US/Canada only, I'm afraid, since I'm broke and can't afford shipping to Zimbabwe. That peyote habit just costs too damn much money.

In Which I Jump Out of An Aeroplane

And the flogging of CITY OF THE LOST continues.

I'm over at Penmonkey Chuck Wendig's place today talking about fear, my first book and breathing in free fall.

Please to enjoy.

In Which I Talk About Elephant Guns

John Scalzi has been gracious enough to host me at his blog today as I discuss The Big Idea behind CITY OF THE LOST.

Hint: it involves elephant guns.

The Release Day Round-Up

With the release of CITY OF THE LOST today, it's been pretty much been like any other day.

Except for HOLY SHIT BOOK! BOOK BOOK BOOK!!!1!one! BOOOOOK!

But besides having a new book out, I've learned a very important lesson.

I'm a whore.

Really.  I've been bouncing around and popping up like an unfortunate erection.

Like here, at Criminal Element, where you can read the first three chapters.

I'm over at Do Some Damage talking about it and giving you some suggestions about where to buy it. Hint: Bookstores. Like Mysterious Galaxy.

I've even done a couple of interviews over at Bish's Beat and at Spinetingler.

But that's all ME ME ME. The important question is what are other people are saying about me? Or, you know, the book. I guess.

Turns out, some very nice things.

The Qwillery - 5 Quills

My Bookish Ways - 5/5

Rex Robot - 4 out of 5 robots! Robots, people. ROBOTS.

Kirkus Reviews. They gave me a star.  I'm told it's a good thing.

Thanks, everyone, for putting up with my shameless flogging of this thing.  It ain't over, yet, but I promise I'll stop talking about myself soon.

Soon-ish, at any rate.

In Which A Book Is Released And I Extol The Virtues Of The Independent Bookstore

So today's the day. CITY OF THE LOST is finally out.

When I first told my family that I had a book coming out a cousin of mine asked, "Are they going to sell it in bookstores?"

I expected that question. I'm something of the black sheep round these parts so it wasn't surprising. She's not mean, she's just different from me and coming from her it was a valid question.

And so I didn't say, "No, I'm going to drive around and sell copies out of the back of a van like they were puppies."

Yes, you can actually buy it in bookstores, like my favorite local, Mysterious Galaxy. Here's a link to the book if you want to order a copy or, better yet, go down to one of their stores in Redondo Beach or San Diego and grab a copy.

Why? Why would I ask you get out of that comfy chair and brave the traffic?

Well, Mister Dave White has kindly allowed me to usurp his spot over at Do Some Damage today to talk about it.

Hop on over there and I'll tell you all about it.

In Which I Thank The Not So Little People

The road a book takes to creation, I've learned, is a lot like wandering stoned through the desert on a vision quest. It's hazy, enlightening, full of strange new lessons from strange new people.

There's a lot of falling into cactus.

At the end of it you have gone to the land of the dead and come back changed.

CITY OF THE LOST officially hits the bookshelves tomorrow. And though I'm the one who wrote it that feels almost incidental.

Do you know how many people it takes to write a book? Lots.

I don't care whether you've gotten it published with some massive New York publisher, a tiny indie-press, self-pubbed or sitting in your desk drawer covered in dust. You didn't write it alone.

There are the people who gave you good advice you took and bad advice you ignored. The ones who encouraged you to do it, or discouraged you and you told them to go fuck themselves. There are writing groups, editors, agents, friends, spouses.

And I'd like to thank a few of those people who helped me get CITY OF THE LOST where it is today.

I know I'm missing some people from this list. And I'm sorry for that. It's been a long road and I have a memory like a bullet-ridden sieve. But here are a few shout outs.

My Wife, Kari
She convinced me to do NANOWRIMO in 2002. If I hadn't done that I don't think I'd have had the confidence to pursue writing anything longer than a couple thousand words. It proved to me that I could sit down and actually do the work. Toss in years of encouragement, advice and not killing me with a shovel, though I'm sure the urge has been pretty great from time to time.

Allan Guthrie
My agent, the Tartan Ninja. Al Guthrie isn't just a hell of an author, or one of the brains behind Blasted Heath Books, or even a fantastic agent. He's a kick-ass editor to boot. He had suggestions and pointers on CoTL that made it a far better book than I could have hoped for. Even if I cursed him for all the rewrites, the outlines, and that one, teeny-tiny suggestion that meant rewriting the entire second half of the book.

But he was right, damn him. He usually is.

Betsy, Debra and Josh at DAW Books
Everyone at DAW has been fantastic to work with. Thanks guys for putting together a kick-ass book.

Sandra Ruttan
I came up with the idea for CoTL back in 2004 or so but couldn't make it work. Finally I decided to hell with it and I wrote a short story to get it out of my system. Submitted that to Sandra over at Spinetingler Magazine and they ran it. Of course, it didn't get it out of my system. Instead it turned into the first few chapters for CoTL.

Duane Swierzynski and Rob Gregory Brown
Both of these fine, upstanding gentlemen helped me out with my agent search. Thank you, guys. Really appreciate the assist.

Brett Battles
Who critiqued the book, giving me some excellent suggestions and, while I was looking for representation said, "Hey, what about that Allan Guthrie guy? I hear he's an agent. You should try him."

Theresa Weir
Who read an early draft and has been a constant supporter of my writing. She's an incredible writer and a good friend.

The Folks At The Mystery Bookstore
Before it closed early last year, my go-to bookstore was The Mystery Bookstore in Westwood.  Linda, Bobby and everyone else who worked there was always very supportive.  You're all very missed.

There are more. Lots more. Daniel Hatadi, Chris Holm, J.D. Rhoades, David Terrenoire, Doselle Young, Naomi Hirahara... The list goes on.

Thank you, everyone for helping get this mad creation out into the wild. I honestly couldn't have done it without you.