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A little behind the scenes news.  The second book Murder So Strange is in stage two of editing with an anticipated publication date of March or April of 2018.  And the third book in this series Murder On Account has just been completed.  This is a first draft and there is still a long path to a completed book.

I hope you have enjoyed Murder So Wrong and will continue reading this series.  We appreciate your input via email or reviews on Amazon or Goodreads.

Some readers have asked me why the e-books only appear on Amazon.  This is due to marketing programs that are offered by Amazon in exchange for exclusive rights.  I know that has annoyed some, but it has made sense regarding our limited marketing budgets.

The e-book of Murder So Wrong is now available on Amazon.  Paperback should be available next week.  The wheels keep turning toward something, maybe a surprise ending.  Book 2: Murder So Strange is in the works and should be fully baked in a few months.  Thanks for being a reader.

Murder So Wrong will be available on Amazon very soon. 

Exactly when, still don’t know, but days not weeks.  If you would like to receive an email when the date is fixed go to my web page http://www.tedclifton.com and sign-up.  Also as a bonus for signing up you will be directed to a listing and description of places in New Mexico featured in Sky High Stakes—A Pacheco and Chino Mystery.

Most fiction is of course just that–made up.  But much about what an author writes is based on some connection with reality; in my case the stories I write all take place in locations where I have lived or spent time.  Sky High Stakes takes place in Ruidoso, New Mexico.  A place I spent a lot of time.  It is an odd mixture of different cultures and people, which I think gives it a unique dynamic and always enjoyed my time spent there.  As such it was easy to write about and I thought provided an interesting background to the story.

If you are one of the first readers of the new book Murder So Wrong remember it is a great benefit for myself and Stanley Nelson if you could take a little time and write a review on Amazon.  Reviews help other readers and unless it’s a real stinker it helps the authors.

I’ve recently had some questions about what had happened to Four Corners War.  The easy answer is I got side tracked.  Some of that was personal.  I think I’ve written before about writing and life sometimes being in conflict.  For a period of time I seemed to lose the ability to write while dealing with other life issues.

After that spell of inactivity I began a new project; Muckraker Mystery’s.  This is a series of co-authored books with Stanley Nelson.  The first book Murder So Wrong will be released around November 1st.  There are two other books scheduled in this series at this time.

Once the third Muckraker book is finished I will go back to finish Four Corners War.  That probably puts that books release in late 2018.  That’s a big difference to the originally announced completion of late 2016.  It embarrasses me, but it is what it is.  Maybe the lesson here is not to announce a publication date until the book is completed.

I appreciate the inquires people have made about the book and the fact that they want to read it.  Ray Pacheco and Tyee Chino are great characters and I do enjoy telling their stories and I’m pleased people enjoy reading them.

New book getting very close.  Looks like publishing date will be around October 16, 2017.  You can go to my web site http://www.tedclifton.com and sign up for notification of exact date.

It has been a while since I have posted.  Combination of things contributed to this lack of news; some of that could be my mental block regarding the latest Pacheco and Chino book.  “Four Corners War” was being written many, many months ago.  Matter of fact several chapters were included as a preview in “Sky High Stakes” which was published about a year ago.

So what happened.  Don’t really know.  Some personal problems, life getting in the way of writing is a common progress killer.  But it was more than that, I lost focus on the book.  My tendency has been to write quickly with little review until I am done.  This can lead to some “how in the world did I miss that” moments during editing.  For some reason with FCW I took a different approach and was going back and reviewing more as I wrote.  Maybe that contributed; all I really know is I got to a point and stopped writing.  I labored over paragraphs in the time frame I was normally writing chapters.  I enjoy writing but suddenly it was not fun.

During this dry spell I had a new idea for a book.  So rather than beat the poor horse any further, I decided to put FCW on the shelf for a while and write something new.  This book is about the newspaper business and I am co-writing the book with a good friend of mine Stan Nelson.  Stan has been in the newspaper business for many years and will give this book an insight that can only come from that personal experience, plus he is a great writer.

Well for whatever reason the barriers are gone.  We are making terrific progress on this new book.  It will have a journalist perspective with lots of conflict and intrigue from the political world–fun stuff to write and hopefully fun stuff to read.

I will keep you informed, better than I have, about progress on this new book.  The book will be a mystery and will have lots of interesting characters.  Haven’t finalized the title but the working title is “Tommy Jacks: Muckraker”.

The progress report for Four Corners Wars–is slow.  I like the story and of course the adventures of Pacheco and Chino are always fun to write about–but for some reason I have had trouble finding the time to write.  It had been my practice to dedicate several hours each morning to writing; however that has not worked out the last few months.  Throwing me off my routine should not be a huge problem but that is what happened and I fell behind.

Rather than complaining I am going to start a new routine and get those hours in each day–starting today!

My goal at this point is to have the book to the editors by November 1.  That would make a publishing date in the first part of 2017.

Received a 3rd place award from CIPA for Fiction/Mystery & Detective.  Must admit a little disappointment.  But on the other hand it is a nice award and I appreciate CIPA and their respected awards program.  Thanks CIPA!

When I was in grade school in Oklahoma in the 50s I used to get all kinds of awards–these were mostly ribbons which were purchased in bulk.  A lot of people think the participation award is something that happen in the 90s or 00s–not so; it was going full blast in the 50s–it just wasn’t resented at that time.  My memories of the awards ceremonies that were held several times a year are all pleasant–after all it was better than being in class.  There never seemed to be any resentment, just a lot of clapping and cheering.

I am sure those memories are being clouded by the fog of age and there were many unpleasant aspects to the awards “for all” concept–I just don’t remember them.

The 3rd place finish for the EVVY award is much better than my grade school award for attending and it is much appreciated–but I am human, after all; and my goal was first place–oh well maybe next year!

Go Rockies!

Just received word that The Bootlegger’s Legacy has been selected as a finalist for the CIPA EVVY Award for the Fiction/Mystery & Detective category.  CIPA stands for Colorado Independent Publishers Association and of course has special meaning to me since I currently reside in Colorado.  The award is open to all authors–not just those living in Colorado. 

They will announce the order of the winners in a few weeks and I will let you know how I did.  Great honor to be named a finalist no matter how it turns out.  Thanks CIPA.

Just recently did an interview with a publication where they sent me questions to answer.  One of the questions was about how I developed my characters; did I intentionally make them all flawed?  At first I was somewhat intrigued that the questioner would assume they were all flawed, but after only a little thought I realized they were.  Now it might surprise you to learn that I was not immediately aware of that; but it had not crossed my mind.

I like many of these characters (and yes I know they are not real).  Take Ray Pacheco, the retired sheriff featured in the Pacheco and Chino series.  He is honest, fair, has a good nature, hard-working, thoughtful, smart–many, many good qualities; he is also–stubborn, secretive, insecure (mostly in personal relationships), naive in many things, judgmental–yes; all of those and more–in other words he is human.

The character I identify with the most is Joe Meadows, from The Bootlegger’s Legacy.  I think he is one of the good guys–but is he flawed; oh yes!  Drinks too much, cusses too much, sometimes lazy, sometimes just a pain to be around–he is flawed.  However the good outweighs the bad. Joe cares about people, cares about values (his —not others),   He is loyal, funny, smart and if given the opportunity will do the right thing.  He could be your best friend–even with his flaws.

Those flawed people are the ones I put into my stories.  I could, if I wanted, make them all perfect–probably would not make for a very interesting story–plus; it would definitely not fit the author.  My books are about flawed people, just like me–and some of those people I hope you enjoy getting to know.

Thanks for reading my books.