The Oaxacan Kid Goes Live

The Oaxacan Kid hit the Amazon market this past Friday (4/21/17) in e-book format and the paperback version should pop up very soon. Go grab one or the other or both or borrow it from someone who does. I just want it in the hands of readers and I do believe that anyone reading this blog post will find it an enjoyable tale. Leave some feed back here or on Amazon and let me know whether it sucked or rocked or fell somewhere in between.

I have no idea if my crime fighting bluesmen series ran its course or not. It was not an easy decision to leave the adventures of Mitty Andersen and Pete Bolden (my two blues harp blowing protagonists in River Bottom Blues, The Devil's Blues and Howling Mountain Blues) behind and move forward with a stand alone story. Those two characters have been a part of my life for some time now and I'm quite sure that they will re-emerge somewhere down the line. One of the reasons for the move was to attempt to attract an agent this time around and the word seems to be that it's very difficult to get an agent to bite on the fourth book in a series.

Querying the stand alone to agents proved as frustrating as my first attempt with my first book, so I decided just to go back to small press mode. I felt quite sure that my publisher, Barking Rain Press, would agree to a deal, but as I said in the last post, I felt a need to shake things up by submitting to pubs which aimed at the crime fiction market. I researched several such pubs and sent The Oaxacan Kid out on it's mission. Chris McVeigh, chief wrangler of Fahrenheit Press, jumped on the tale first and with enthusiasm, so I wasted no time hopping on board his train. He wasted no time getting my book on the market, so here we go. Sad thing is that two of the pubs I submitted to, and thought highly about, went belly-up. That's another reason I'm beholding to Mr. McVeigh for having faith in my work and making an offer. I been left hanging before when a press folded.

So...I am certainly excited to have a book back out there for my readers to enjoy. Mitty and Pete aren't riding along, but I do think that what Foster Cane gets himself is quite an adventure. Go ahead. Get it. 'Nuff said.

Sometimes It's The Little Things

Spent a wonderful evening signing and discussing The Devil's Blues at the premier mystery book store, Murder By The Book in Houston. The manager, John Kwiatkowski, made it a Texas writer's theme night by grouping me with George Wier and Reavis Wortham. George signed/discussed his collaboration with Milton T. Burton, Long Fall From Heaven and Reavis touted the latest in his Red River Mystery series, The Right Side of Wrong. I truly enjoyed the presentations by these two great writers, steeped as they are in Texas lore. More than that, it was great to escape from my little cubby hole and meet up with other writers. Always good to pick the brains of others toiling away in the silence of their writing chairs.

Meeting and greeting people who actually read and show up to listen to what I have to say and then purchase a book is absolutely stupendous. Of course, I played a little blues harp to kick things off for me (mentioned that so it would fit into the blog better). The strangest and most wonderful part of the evening began while I sat eating a meal at a restaurant down the street prior to the signing. A lady whom I didn't recognize at first sat down at the table next to me and said, "Ricky Bush?" That did it. She lived down the street from me and we grew up together. Hadn't seen her in over 35 years. She had seen the announcement for the signing in the Houston Chronicle and insisted that her 33 year old son go to the signing with her. He suggested the restaurant. We caught up beautifully during the course of the meal. Strange indeed, but it highlighted the entire evening for me. That, plus a dear friend traveled the same route to Houston as myself to accompany her Murder By The Book aficionado sister to the signing.

So, to me, it's always the little things such as these that keeps me keeping on.

P.S.--I've got a CD by Houston blues harp ace, Steve Krase on the way to my mailbox. I'll do my dangnest to get a review posted up after a listen or two and get back to getting back. 'Nuff for now.

THE DEVIL'S BLUES is LIVE

Those crime fighting bluesmen, Mitty Andersen and Pete Bolden are officially back in action in The Devil's Blues which popped up on Amazon this weekend. The book is the second in my series featuring these two blues harp musicians. Once again, they lay their Marine Bands down long enough to rid the world of a bit more of the evil that finds a way to cross their paths. This time out they are trying to clear the name of a good friend accused of blowing up the congregation of his church and end up in the sights of a wicked paramilitary group aimed at bringing Christianity to its knees. 

The Devil's Blues is available in paperback at Amazon and will roll out on Barnes and Noble and a dozen other sites over the next couple of months. It'll also be offered in all the possible eBook formats. The publisher, Barking Rain Press, has eBooks available now, and they also offer a FREE PDF preview of the first four chapters. 

Once I receive a stash of books, then I'll sell signed copies from here. There will be a "buy now" button in the sidebar, similar to what exists for the predecessor, River Bottom Blues. I dang sure appreciate those of you who ordered that one and will dang sure appreciate being able to fulfill orders for the new adventure. Anyone who still needs a signed copy of River Bottom Blues, it is certainly still available and provides a significant amount of background on the protagonists, but The Devil's Blues stands alone as a story quite well. If Mitty and Pete are your kind of guys, then help me get the word out. 

I'll supply updates as the book reaches more retailers. In the meantime, I'll get another round of CD reviews up and rolling here on the blog. Thanks so much for tuning in...and stay tuned. 'Nuff for now.

THE DEVIL'S BLUES PLAYLIST

Just finished up the review of the galley proofs of The Devil's Blues in order to catch the last bits and pieces of any stray typos remaining. Thankfully, there were very few. This also means that publication of the second round of adventures of those crime fighting bluesmen, Mitty and Pete, is soon to follow.

My Barking Rain Press editor, Ti Locke, came up with the idea to include a playlist of youtube vids of all the music that Mitty and Pete play or mention in the book. She tracked down these versions and they'll be clickable in the eBook format. Cool idea. Here's the playlist that can be checked out now. The numbers indicate the chapters in which the songs appear.

Playlist

Ricky Bush has provided this chapter-by-chapter playlist to go along with reading The Devil's Blues. Just click on each song title to hear the song at YouTube.

Chapter

Title

Artist





2

She Moves Me

Muddy Waters





4

Early in the Morning ('bout the Break of Day)

Sonny Boy Williamson II





10

Bring it on Home

Sonny Boy Williamson II







Precious Lord Take My Hand

Thomas Dorsey with Mahalia Jackson







A Change is Gonna Come

Sam Cooke with Otis Redding







I Shall be Released

Bob Dylan





15

Off the Wall

Little Walter







Fields of Gold

Eva Cassidy







Born Under a Bad Sign

Albert King







Baby Please Don't Go

Big Joe Williams





21

Death Letter Blues

Eddie "Son" House





23

The Creeper

James Cotton







Roller Coaster

Little Walter





25

Walter's Boogie

Big Walter Horton





26

Santa’s Messin’ With The Kid

Eddie C. Campbell







Blue Christmas

Elvis Presley







Who's Been Talking

Howlin' Wolf







She Moves Me

Muddy Waters





29

Laundromat Blues

Albert King





31

The Creeper Returns

Little Sonny





38

Spirit in the Sky

Norman Greenbaum







Sympathy for the Devil

Rolling Stones





39

Rollin' & Tumblin'

Muddy Waters





40

Crosscut Saw Blues

Tommy McClennan

The Devil's Blues Cover

My publisher revealed the cover for The Devil's Blues, so I'll reveal it here.

River Bottom Blues Half Price Sale

The one year anniversary of my publisher, Barking Rain Press, is cause for celebration. They are doing so by offering all their eBooks at 50% off, which means the eBook version of River Bottom Blues can be had for $2.99. Visit their site http://www.barkingrainpress.org and type in the code BRP1YEAR at checkout for the bargain price.

I've been really pleased with the growth and progress Barking Rain Press has made over the past year under the leadership of publisher, Sheri Gormley. They've acquired the works of excellent authors, added staff members, and significantly increased their profile on the publishing scene since I signed with them. Once my capable editor, Ti Locke and I finish the final round of edits and put the shine on The Devil's Blues, it just may make a release date prior to Thanksgiving. I just got a gander at the marvelous cover work supplied by staff artist Stephanie Flint. Can wait to show it off. Of course, I'll shout it out here.

In the meantime, be sure to get the first in the Mitty Andersen/Pete Bolden series by taking advantage of the 1/2 price eBook deal. Of course, a signed trade paperback can still be ordered by clicking the "Buy Now" button in the sidebar of the blog here. By the way, Amazon and B&N are offering the $2.99 deal also. 'Nuff blatant self promotion for now.

P.S.---Just found out from my publisher that the print version is 50% off also.

The Devil's Blues

Just a quick, but important, announcement regarding the further adventures of the blues slinging, crime fighting duo of Mitty Andersen and Pete Bolden. The Devil's Blues has officially replaced Soldiers of Satan as the title of my new thriller, due out from Barking Rain Press in the Fall of 2012. Stay tuned.

By the way, I'm getting some nice feedback from those in the blues community who have read River Bottom Blues. Their comments mean the world to me. So maybe I got it right. Grab a copy and let me know.