After a Long Absence...

I really have neglected this blog, but now that my wife and I are starting another one (to present stories and history about Japan that aren't in our books), people have been checking into this one too. Let me say that my intention was to present a series of blogs describing my efforts to write another novel in the Samurai Detective series. I stopped because of some health problems (broken leg, prostate problem that required surgery), and because of various professional setbacks that resulted in our dropping one agent and losing the one that we signed on with after that. Maybe I'll write about those problems at some point, but I don't want this to become a soap opera.

Anyway, all these problems cut into my work ethnic and work time. I remember reading about a well-known author years ago (I think it was Irving Wallace) who said that you shouldn't let anything interrupt your work--illness, hangover, divorce, whatever. I always tried to live up to that, but this combination threw me for a loop. So yes, you can say there is such a thing as writer's block--if you give in to it.

Anyway, I finally got started with that novel again, and posted it online because my old publisher didn't want any more of these books. It is called THE RED-HEADED DEMON and is the seventh in the series my wife and I have been working on for over a dozen years. You can get a paper-and-ink version on the Amazon-sponsored site CreateSpace.com, or at amazon.com itself. You can also download an e-book version at smashwords.com. It has all the e-book formats available, as far as I know. Our daughter, Dr. Hoobler of the art history department of Cornell College (Mt. Vernon, Iowa) was kind enough to create new covers for all seven books. Unlike the original publisher, we NUMBERED the books in the series, and Dr. Hoobler used manga for the artwork.

Our only regret is that we weren't able to get the paper-and-ink rights for the first book, THE GHOST IN THE TOKAIDO INN, away from the original publisher. It's selling too well. That isn't due to any efforts on the part of the publisher to actually promote and sell the book. It's just that luckily, it was adopted by a widely used homeschool curriculum guide.

I think I'll continue this blog with accounts of how Dorothy and I are changing our approach to promoting and selling books now. Our use of various publicity media, and so forth. I'll try to write more often. Stay tuned.