Whistle Blower

Soon I'll be talking about Whistle Blower all over the web. It will be out from Dreamspinner on 2/5/2016 (check here to preorder Whistle Blower). The cover reveal is coming right up (Wednesday 1/20/2016). 

In the meantime, here's what the book is about:

Money can’t buy happiness. Jacob Nussbaum knows this better than anyone. He's a corporate lawyer deep inside a huge New York firm, where he works overtime, sacrifices any chance at a personal life, and has been selling his soul for years. With a secretary as his only friend, he trudges on, until his whole world is blown apart by a manila envelope of photos—evidence that one of the firm’s partners is the dirtiest lawyer in one hell of a filthy business.

In search of the truth, Jacob travels to a small northern Wisconsin fishing resort. There he meets Ben Anderson, a brutally lonely man, who knocks him off his feet. Ben prompts Jacob to reevaluate his life. He’s a dozen years older than Jacob, still recovering from the death of his long time love, and doesn’t want to leave anyone a widower. But a jaded New Yorker on a soul-searching mission might be just the man to convince the grieving Ben that it's never too late to begin again.

A picture's worth... a lot

I love taking pictures, although I'm no great shakes as a photographer. That's not false modesty. I've seen what other people can do with a camera. So have you. Aren't those year end collections of the best photographs of the year wonderful? Here's one from 2015 that I love. Or how about this?

Even though I'll never rise to that level, it gives me a little thrill every time a cover artist uses one of my photos in the background. You'll need to wait until the 20th to see the new glorious cover that Catt Ford made for Whistle Blower (coming 2.5), but here's the photo of mine that she used. It's particularly appropriate for this book to have one of my pics on the cover since it's set not very far from where I live and this is of my favorite walking trail. I'll let you know more about the book next week. 


Small achievable goals

This morning I heard a phrase about New Years resolutions that really resonated with me. It was the suggestion that rather than setting ourselves up for failure by vowing to make huge changes, instead we could try for small achievable goals, things we might actually be able to do. 

I'm a huge fan of goal setting. There are few things more comforting than spending some quality time with a calendar plotting out how the year should go. Calms me right down. But sometimes looking back through the calendar for the year before to see how many of those goals I met, that's not so fun. I always overestimate what I can get done and underestimate the time it's going to take.

Last year I had lots and lots of plans but life got in the way. My dad died. My mom moved. It was one of those years. I'm hoping things go a little more smoothly in 2016. And so far the year is starting out with a bang. I've got a new novel coming out from Dreamspinner on February 5th. It's something of a city mouse, country mouse story and much of it is set up here in the northwoods of Wisconsin. I'll post the blurb soon. Look for the cover reveal later this month.

I also have a draft of my first ever mystery. I'm pretty excited about that and I hope to be able to share it with all of you later in the year. Might even turn into a mystery series with an international flare. Who knows.

And of course, in addition to all the books I'm going to write in the new year, I'll run a marathon, lose twenty pounds, become a stupendous friend/spouse/parent and perhaps achieve world peace. Or else I'll spend a few more minutes writing every day, exercise a little more, eat a few more vegetables and spend more time laughing - not as sexy as world peace but a tad more likely to happen.

In the meantime, here's to a wonderful 2016. May all your dreams, both small and large, come true. 

A sweet new year

It's Rosh Hashanna again. I love this time of year. Maybe because I spend so much time in academia, having the year start in the fall just makes emotional sense to me. Falling leaves somehow signify new beginnings for me.

It's a beautiful day up here in Northern Wisconsin - a little chilly, but still almost summer. I'm thinking about the years that have passed and the year to come and I'm wishing all of you a sweet, sweet new year.

Cheers,

Dev

New website

Hi All,

Sorry we were down for a few weeks. I've been transferring websites and relocating domains - all activities at the very tippy, tippy edge of my competence (and one might argue, given the delay, that some of it was beyond that edge). The new website is up and running now, though, and I'm loving the change. Hope you do too.

In Dev news, I'm plugging away at a new story set in the beautiful Wisconsin northwoods. In fact, many of the scenes occur about 20 miles up the road from my house. In particular, I've enjoyed spending imaginative time at the Boulder Beer Bar, a real place with a great oak bar and a nice beer selection. Too bad I can't quite work in the big bash they have for the annual Harley ride. Maybe another story for that....

Hope you're all having a great summer. I'd love to hear what's been going on.