Category: Fiction

New Garrison Gage Book: A KISS OF SAND AND SORROW

Hope all’s well in your neck of the woods. Here at the Carter household, our son is about to graduate from high school. With my daughter in her third year of college, my wife and I are about to transition into that “empty nester” stage of life, I guess. Well, not if you include Rosie, but then we’ve pretty much accepted that we’re permanently stuck with our furry, four-legged child. (Don’t tell her that, though. She’s spoiled enough already, and I don’t want our intrepid Irish Setter to think she can just loaf around all day without pulling her weight.)

But let’s skip to the big news today: I’ve got a new book out, and it’s one a lot of you have been asking for: a new Garrison Gage mystery! 

It’s hard to believe that A Kiss of Sand and Sorrow is the ninth book in the series, and yet I’m finding it more fun than ever to spend some time with my curmudgeonly detective. Now that I think about it, “fun” is a pretty strange word considering all the trouble Gage gets himself into, both in matters of the law and matters of the heart. There’s plenty of both this time around. 

More about the book is below, including links to retailers. As always, thanks for reading!

A Kiss of Sand and Sorrow

A Garrison Gage Mystery

Gage might go mad. With most of inland Oregon enduring a record-setting heatwave, the hordes descend on Barnacle Bluffs seeking cooler ocean air, and it’s all the curmudgeonly private investigator can do to keep from shooting somebody. What’s the harm in one fewer tourist, anyway? Yet when a desperate young woman shows up claiming her depressed husband has gone missing, Gage will need all of his wits to find the man before something terrible happens. His complicated feelings for the beautiful but headstrong police chief, with dark secrets of her own, only make solving the case more challenging … especially when those secrets eventually bring Gage face to face with one of the most savage foes ever to cross his path.

Ebook: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iBooks | Google Play

Paperback: Amazon

New Book Published: LOOKING FOR LITTLE RED

I hope you’re all doing well as the summer winds down. With my son back in high school (his junior year), and my daughter soon returning to OSU, the house should be a bit quieter heading into the autumn months. Well, except for Rosie barking at our mail carrier, but everyone has a job to do, right? Hate to deprive her of her sense of purpose. Most of the time, she’s content to curl up in my office as I work. The perfect writing companion!

Speaking of writing, I’ve got a new book out! While Looking for Little Red doesn’t neatly fit into any one particular genre, it’s the kind of story that combines a lot of the elements that I love as a reader – a mystery with a twist, a touching love story, and a new take on a time-honored fairy tale all rolled into one – so I’m hoping you enjoy it too. 

More information about the book, including links to where it can be purchased, is below. The ebook is available right now from all major retailers. The print version, a nice case laminate (a hard cover with a glossy cover instead of a separate jacket, which fits the fairy tale feel, I think) is currently only available from Amazon, but that will probably change soon. Global supply issues have slowed down the shipping of the print version, so keep that in mind if you’d prefer paper. It may take a few weeks to get to you.

What if all the old stories turned out to be true?

On a rainy night at a tiny Oregon college, a shadowy figure at the back of the hall interrupts Bullwick Farley’s mythology lecture: “Little Red Riding Hood has done something terrible,” he says, “and I desperately need your help before it’s too late.”

Just another story in a class all about stories? A myth, a fable, a tale told and retold? The students might think so. But ten years after leaving a life where even the strangest stories turn out to be true, Farley faces a choice. Stick with his comfortable, if lonely, life as a professor. Or risk it all to go looking for the woman who broke his heart.

A mystery with a twist, a touching love story, and a new take on a time-honored fairy tale, Looking for Little Red provides rare insights on the power of stories to shape our lives, and the importance of memories, even painful ones.

Ebook:
Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iBooks | Google Play

Hardcover:
Amazon 

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Postcards from the Garage: Sunset in Bandon, Oregon (and a brief update)

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That’s a shot of the beach in Bandon, Oregon in mid-December. My daughter wanted to visit her best friend, who moved to northern California a few years ago, and we found a way to make it happen — flying her down from Portland to Arcata. It’s not something we can always do, but special friendships are worth a special effort, we believe, so we do what we can. The problem was that the airline decided to drop the route from their schedule (lack of demand, I guess), so while she was able to use one of the last scheduled flights south she needed to be transported home another way. I made it into a father/son road trip, and the two of us drove down together, cutting over to the coast at Reedsport, Oregon and heading south on Highway 101 all the way to Crescent City, California, where we picked up my daughter. As anyone who knows me can probably guess, I seldom pass up a chance to spend time on the Oregon coast. Staying in Bandon allowed us to break up the drive and enjoy a few fun stops, like the John Dellenback Dunes Trail. The Umpqua Dunes were rumored to have inspired Frank Herbert to write his classic of science fiction, Dune. Here’s a shot of Calvin atop one of the towering hills of sand:

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And here’s another, with the ocean far in the distance, just to give you a sense of how strangely wonderful this place is:

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Other than that, not much to update, really, just thought it was about time to say something since it had been months. We’re still improving our old house and kids are fully settled into their new schools. I’m still working on the book I’m calling the Big Epic. I know quite a few of you are waiting for another Garrison Gage book, and believe me, it’s the next one on tap, but it was just time to work on something different for a while. I’m keenly aware that there’s risk involved, that my readers may not always follow me to what’s turning out to be a very different kind of book, but risk is also a critical part of being any kind of creative person, I think. Otherwise, if you’re only going to play it safe, why bother?  So, there it is. Somehow I find myself writing a strange hybrid of paranormal/alternate history/time travel/suspense/romance . . . Or, you know, a book that just doesn’t fit neatly into any categories. C’est la vie. That’s all for now, hopefully back before too long.

New Myron Vale Book: The Ghost , the Girl, and the Gold

ghostgold_ebookcover_100916bJust in time for Halloween, the third book in the Myron Vale series is now out in the world. The Ghost, the Girl, and the Gold is available in both ebook and print. For now, the best place to buy the paperback is Amazon.com, though it will be available online at B&N and elsewhere very soon. If you want the ebook, you can take your pick: Amazon, B&N, Kobo, and iBooks all have it for sale now.

As for the book itself, and what’s in store for the Portland private investigator who works for both the living and the dead, you can read more about it on the book’s page here on my own site. Thanks for reading!