My Greg Tenorly Series will soon be available in paperback exclusively from Amazon.com. The first three books have been in a 6 x 9 in. format, but now all four books will be offered in the new handy 5.25 x 8 inch size.

The font size remains the same for ease of reading, which has slightly increased the page count. All four books are available in the Kindle version right now.

And the price of the paperbacks is going down from $12.95 to just $8.99 for the first three books, and $6.29 for FLY THE RAIN, which is a novella.

So, if you haven’t yet bought the books, be sure to wait for the price/format change. It will only be a few more days…

Real People = Fictional Characters?
By definition, fictional characters are not real at all. But try this: think about a favorite character from a novel you love: the good guy, or maybe the villain.

Now try to remember someone you met a few years ago at a family reunion or at a business meeting—someone you haven’t seen or been in touch with since. Which memory is more vivid: the memory of that person you met a few years ago or the memory of that strong character from the novel?

Those two people in your memory have this in common: Everything you know about them, including the fact that they actually exist, is in your memory.

As a novelist, one of my goals is to make my characters come to life in such a way that your mind registers them as real people. And if I am truly successful, a few months from now your memory will barely know the difference.

A little scary though, huh?

And to me, novelists have to be really good at this. After all, if I can’t think of my characters as real people then how can I know what they might do in a given situation? Or what they’ll say?

Suppose your best friend is approached by a man offering a briefcase filled with cash. All they have to do for the money is kill you.

How will your friend react? Will they take the money and go buy a gun? Will they yell for the police? How did you know the answer to that question? Because you know your friend.

I know my characters.

And they know me.

In a recent interview, I revealed the name of the real-life author who was the inspiration for the Lucky Larry character in my suspense novel, ILLUSION OF LUCK: Stacey Cochran.

Stacey Cochran is a writer whose ten novels have all been rejected by every major agent and publisher. Lucky Larry is a writer whose six novels have all been rejected by every major agent and publisher. Stacey would love nothing more than to get a publishing deal. Same with Lucky Larry. Starting to see a pattern here?

I was a little concerned that Stacey might not appreciate hearing that he was the inspiration for such a despicable creep. His response was that he was both deeply disturbed and deeply flattered. Whew! Glad he didn’t threaten to hunt me down like a dog. (Just kidding, Stacey.)

Besides, Stacey has had great success as of late, with two of his books on the Amazon Kindle Store. Congrats, Stacey!

So, if you haven’t yet read ILLUSION OF LUCK, let me tell you about its bad guy. Larry had been incredibly lucky all his life. He had everything he could possibly want—except a publishing contract.

So, the fact that his first six novels had been rejected by every known publishing house did not dissuade him from starting on book seven. This time he decided to push his luck to the limit. And he would destroy anyone who got in his way.

He decided to take his writing directly to the public, posting chapters of his daily life online as though it were fiction. And the more twisted and heinous the storyline, the more his readers loved it—which drove him ever deeper into depravity.

Then he realized what he wanted most: the high-school crush that got away. And when he discovered that she was about to be married, he plotted to steal her away on her wedding night to satisfy his own lust.

Nothing could stop him. Nothing could harm him. The god of luck would protect him.

But would his luck hold out? Is luck even real?

ILLUSION OF LUCK is now available at the Kindle Store. This is Book 3 of my Greg Tenorly Suspense Series. Each of the four books in the series are currently discounted to $0.80 at the Kindle Store.

Obviously, Greg Tenorly is the good guy in the series (it’s his series). But the villain in this book, Lucky Larry, is the most twisted character I’ve ever created. Getting inside his head may make you more than a little queasy. But it’s not about blood and guts. It’s deeply disturbing on a psychological level.

I am about to start writing a new suspense novel that will be the first book of a series. My main character will be the private investigator from “Illusion of Luck,” Rebecca Ranghorn.

If you read “Illusion of Luck” you know that Rebecca is a strong, tough woman. She’s pretty rough around the edges. But once you get to know her, you’ll find that she also has a kind heart. Just don’t expect her client’s cheating husbands to believe it. She goes after them with a vengeance.

In the past I have been posting chapters on this site as I write them. I will no longer be doing this. Instead, I will write the book the way most sane novelists do it—offline. When it’s finished in the Fall 2009, I will release it in both paperback and eBook format (for the Kindle and other eBook readers).

I’ll post a synopsis here as soon as I have one developed. But obviously, there will be murder and a lot of suspense—at my usual fast pace.

There are now over 300,000 books in Amazon’s Kindle Store. These are eBooks for the Kindle Reader, the iPhone and the iTouch. Once you’ve set up your account, it only takes a few seconds to purchase and upload a book to your device. And with so many of the books in the Kindle Store priced cheaply or even free, you can amass plenty of books for very little money.

Uploading free books is a no-brainer. Many of them are great works by the masters that are old enough to be out of copyright. And if you don’t like the books, you can just delete them. They didn’t cost anything but your time.

But what about those low-priced books by authors you’ve never heard of? Are they all written by hacks who are desperate to sell their books at any price? Many are. So, why should you even give these books a chance?

Try to imagine that you’re a talented writer. Your novel is entertaining, suspenseful—a fast read. But you’re unknown. And the chances of you (or anybody else) landing a deal with a major book publisher are close to zero.

You know that many people would love your book if they would just give it a try. So, how do you entice people to try your book?

Put it in the Kindle Store and price it low.

Some readers are only interested in the latest Stephen King or John Grisham title. They don’t want to take the time to look for the beautiful flower hiding among the weeds.

But the reward for those who make the effort is the sweet fragrance of a new author to add to their bouquet of favorite writers.

Wow, I may have gone off the flowery cliff with that description.

If you are one of those special readers who enjoys discovering new authors, I hope you will check out my (low-priced) books in the Kindle Store. All of them will soon to be available in paperback as well. Clicking on a book cover will take you to its page on the Kindle Store.