blog tour, Checking the Traps, launch

Taking this Baby on the Road

My new mystery, Checking the Traps officially launches Friday, March 22. Wow. Yes, the book has been available in paperback for weeks now, but this is the day those who ordered the Kindle version will see them pop into their device. Procrastinators and those who are just finding my book can get the eBook version right away.

Checking the Traps is the third book in my Isabel Long Mystery Series. No. 4 is in the works.

Unfortunately, with my new job (more another time) I can’t have a Facebook launch that day. I had a lot of fun engaging with family and friends, including running contests. Ah, but duty calls.

So what I will be doing is spreading the word via social media that day … and Checking the Traps will be going on an official blog tour via Rachel’s Random Resources. Rachel Gilbey has drawn together 30 bloggers for this tour — three a day for ten days, ending on March 31.

You can see the tour in the image above. Many of the bloggers will be doing reviews. Others will be posting blogs I wrote for them. Each one is on a different subject. Yes, I’ve been busy.

Plus, my fellow authors at Crooked Cat Books have been kind enough to give me space to post on their blogs. (Yes, they are the best friends I’ve never met.)

My intention is to cast a wide net to snare readers, who will read Checking the Traps, hopefully enjoy and recommend it.

I will be posting links to each one.

So, what’s Checking the Traps about? Here’s a brief synopsis:

Isabel Long is a bit banged up from her last case with a broken collarbone and her arm in a sling. But that doesn’t stop her from pouring beer at the Rooster Bar or taking her third case with Gary Beaumont, a local drug dealer who once terrorized her. Gary is convinced his brother didn’t jump off a bridge known for suicides. Somebody pushed him.

Gary’s brother was a boozer who drove for a highway crew. But what interests Isabel and her ‘Watson’ — her 93-year-old mother who lives with her — is that the man wrote poetry.

The chief suspects are one of Gary’s business associates and a famous poet who plagiarized his brother’s poetry for an award-winning book. Yes, he was that good.

As a journalist, Isabel did regular meetups with her sources for stories. She called it checking the traps. She does the same as a private investigator, and this time, she’ll make sure she doesn’t get caught in one.

I do have two readings scheduled in Western Massachusetts: April 13, 4 p.m. at the Worthington Library in Worthington and April 14, 2 p.m. at Floodwater Brewing in Shelburne Falls. Yes, beer and books. My son, Zack makes the beer and I write the books.

One last thing. If you read my book(s), I would love it if you wrote a review on Amazon. A one-liner will do it … “Joan Livingston kept me guessing until the end” or “Darn, I liked this book.”  Hey, even a two-word review would make me happy and give me more status on Amazon.

Review or not, I am grateful for those who have shown their support. Thank you so much!

 

Standard
Isabel Long Series, Redneck's Revenge

Taking This Baby For a Drive

With the release of the second book in my Isabel Long mystery series, I’ve decided to try a different route. Starting tomorrow (Oct. 8), Redneck’s Revenge will get lots of attention during an official blog tour — Rachel’s Random Resources.  The tour lasts one week.

I am very grateful to fellow authors — most have the same publisher, Crooked Cat Books — who have hosted my posts on their blogs and websites. They’ve offered a Rednecks Revenge smallvariety of formats: Q&As, letters, or whatever I propose. Many of them are based in Europe, Australia, and the US so that’s a wide exposure. (I offer the same exposure on my website.)

Of course, I do my own thing here and on various social media, but, hey, I’m no Stephen King, who has thousands hungrily waiting for anything he tweets.

So, I decided I need a bit of help. That’s when I turned to Rachel Gilbey. Other authors have tried her blog tours with success and the cost is reasonable. (I’ve spent more just dropping by the store to pick up a few things, which turned out to be a lot more things.) Here is her website if you want to learn more: https://www.rachelsrandomresources.com

I went with the seven-day, three-a-day package. So that means Redneck’s Revenge will be the subject of 21 different blog posts this week. Some requested I write a post on a topic of my choosing, such as why I chose to write in first-person, present tense and how I open the book. The majority will be reviews.

My aim, of course, is to generate interest in the series and hopefully, sales.

I have no idea ahead of time what these bloggers will write. But I will post links here on my Facebook page and Twitter as they come in.

Yeah, I’m a little nervous. But so far the response to Redneck’s Revenge has been wonderful. People in different parts of the globe get the characters and setting I’ve created in rural Western Massachusetts. That makes me one happy author.

REVIEWS: I am also grateful to those readers who have taken the time to post reviews in Amazon about Chasing the Case and Redneck’s Revenge.

To answer one question, yes, you could have bought my book at a reading or the bookstore in my village of Shelburne Falls and still leave a review on Amazon. You just won’t be a verified buyer, but that’s okay.

You can also a review on GoodReads if you’ve signed up.

Here are the links:

mybook.to/chasingthecase

mybook.to/rednecksrevenge

ABOUT THE PHOTO ABOVE: That’s the schedule for this week’s blog tour.

 

Standard