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Fall Update, Pictures of Mendocino

First, an update on the current book in progress, especially since many of my readers have asked: Yes, I’m working on the next Garrison Gage book. I hope to have it out this year. That’s pretty much all I can say about it at this point, since I’m always hesitant to talk about works in progress, but the book is coming.

In the meantime, I hope many of you are enjoying the third book in the Karen Pantelli series, Dead-Eyed Drifter, where Karen faces off against a serial killer. Some wicked twists and surprises in that one.

In Oregon’s Willamette Valley, we’re definitely transitioning to fall. Although we’ve just entered a rainy stretch, we had some wonderful late summer days lately, which is pretty common in September here, but the days are getting shorter, the nights cooler. The leaves are just starting to turn on many of the oaks, maples, and other trees. It’s one of my favorite times of the year.

Hard to believe summer’s almost gone. In early August, Heidi and I spent a fun week down in Mendocino, California, which is on the rugged and beautiful Highway 1, about a three hour drive north of San Francisco. We drove down from Oregon over two days, staying in the same Cape Sebastian area we stayed in last year. Here are some shots from the Oregon part of our trip.

  • Near Coos Bay
  • Bandon, Oregon
  • Cape Sebastian
  • Chetco Point (Brookings)
  • Brookings
  • Sunset view from our Airbnb in Cape Sebastian Area

While I’ve been down to the California Redwoods many times, this was mostly in the areas around Crescent City, so it was fun to finally drive through the Humboldt Redwoods and the Avenue of the Giants. The place we stayed in was just across Mendocino Bay and had a spectacular view of the city perched on its rocky coastline.

Why Mendocino? It started with Murder She Wrote, of all things. We’d been watching it occasionally in the evening, as something light and fun that wouldn’t engage our minds too much, and we wondered where the “Cabot Cove” episodes had been filmed. The answer was Mendocino, California, which, after admiring its beauty online, eventually led to our latest road trip. Some of the other highlights of the trip included visiting Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden in Fort Bragg, riding the Skunk Train, and of course exploring Mendocino. I’ll end this with some shots from the California part of our adventure.

  • Avenue of the Giants
  • Mendocino Bay
  • Mendocino, in the fog
  • Our Airbnb
  • From the deck
  • Jessica Fletcher’s house
  • Rosie at the Botanical Garden
  • The Skunk Train in Fort Bragg
  • Otter Point

New Book Published: DEAD-EYED DRIFTER

I’ve got a new book out!

Here in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, we’ve had a nice stretch of 80 degree days. Although I’ve gotten a few nice hikes in recently, I’ve been a bit more homebound as of late, puttering around the house and the yard when I’m not doing my creative work. My wife has been fostering kittens from the Humane Society, so that’s provided plenty of entertainment without even leaving the house. I just lifted one off my keyboard . . .

If you’re looking for a break from your own puttering, you might be interested in my new book: Dead-Eyed Drifter. It’s the third in the Karen Pantelli series, a character who got her start in the Garrison Gage books, about the former FBI agent who becomes something of a drifter . . . and this time she’s drifted herself right into facing off against a serial killer. 

That’s a long ways away from playing with kittens, isn’t it?

Loads of action and suspense in this one, plus a few shocking twists. More about the book is below, including links to retailers. 

Dead-Eyed Drifter

A Karen Pantelli Novel

He hunts. He kills. He walks among us. Nobody knows he exists … until now.

Former FBI agent turned full-time drifter, Karen Pantelli pursues a promising lead on her long missing mother to Orcas Island, Washington. Toiling as a hotel maid, she reaches a dead end until an encounter with an eccentric math professor raises a gruesome possibility. Her mother may have been murdered by a serial killer, the work of a cunning monster who has claimed hundreds of lives and evaded detection for decades by camouflaging his kills as accidents, suicides, or random acts of violence.  

Aided by recent advances in artificial intelligence, the professor believes he can finally predict the killer’s pattern. But then a stunning twist changes the game, propelling Karen across thousands of miles on a desperate mission to save innocent people before the trail goes cold forever.

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

Paperback: Amazon 

Summer Update

That’s a shot of Mission Bay in San Diego, where Heidi and I spent a lovely five days a couple months ago. We went there partly to celebrate my fiftieth birthday (yikes!), but mostly because neither of us had spent more than a day there. San Diego Zoo, Balboa Park, Coronado Island . . . We had a great time. It was also a nice break from weeks of gray and drizzle here in Oregon.

Not that it’s raining now! The weather has been spectacular as of late, which is pretty much the norm this time of year in the Willamette Valley. These are the months when I couldn’t even imagine living anywhere else. I once told a waiter in Istanbul (now there’s a way start to a sentence) that God created the Earth in six days, and on the seventh day . . .  he realized he hadn’t got it quite right, so he created Oregon. I was only partly joking. I love this place. I’m not the only one either. Here’s a shot of Rosie on a recent hike at Pheasant Creek Falls:

Is that the face of pure joy, or what?

The third Karen Pantelli book will soon be entering production, due out in six weeks or so, and the next Garrison Gage book (I’ve got about a third written) shouldn’t be too far behind. I’ve continued to publish two Run of the House comics a week via email and at www.runofthehouse.net. You can see one of the latest at the bottom of this post. If you’d like to subscribe, Mondays are free. Wednesdays are for paying subscribers, but the annual subscription is currently 50% off.

Astute readers will notice that the website has gotten a makeover. That took more time than I would have liked, but it was necessary. The old one was getting more vulnerable to cyberattacks (the age we live in, alas, even for small fry like me). I wanted a cleaner, simpler look, anyway, especially since I’ve even more fully embraced being an Internet Minimalist. Speaking of that, I’m still off social media. I don’t miss it. That’s not to say I won’t use it again at some point, but for right now, at least, I’m much happier without it in my life. We’ll see what the future brings. I still think the best use of my time is to channel it into my creative work.

And the best way to never miss one of my books, of course, remains my “New Release Newsletter.” I generally only email when I have something new out (there are no chatty posts like this one), so please do sign up. No spam and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Back before too long. Meanwhile, I’ll see you in the funny pages:

Enjoy the comic?
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Quitting Social Media (Mostly)

That’s a shot in Nye Beach in Newport, Oregon from a couple weeks ago. As we often do, Heidi and I decided to spend a couple days at the coast, much of it spent staring at the Pacific Ocean. A great way to recharge.

Some minor news: I dropped my personal Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram accounts a couple months ago. I’d been thinking about it for a while, long before Twitter became a dumpster fire, and even before Facebook made it impossible for even your friends and family to see something you post unless you pay for it. There’s parts I’ll miss, of course (so many cute cats!), and I have no problem with people who enjoy social media, but this year I’m really making a concerted effort to only use the Internet with intention. To be very selective about what I read and why. As I mentioned when I announced the return of the Run of the House comic, I’ve really become a fan of Substack, the newsletter subscription service, and I’m already following quite a few people on there, across a wide range of fields: Ted Gioya, Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell, Simon Owens, Sherman Alexie, Austin Kleon, and Sam Kriss, to name just a few.

Since Substack makes its money by taking a cut of subscriptions, and not by selling the customer to advertisers (the model for almost all social media), the incentive for the company is primarily to keep the writers and readers happy, not the advertisers, and that’s created a very different experience for everyone. I’m rooting for them, and not just because I’m using the platform for Run of the House.

Anyway, I didn’t even mention I was leaving the social media sites above before I pulled the plug (it felt a bit like huffily shouting “I’m leaving!” at a party), but I felt I should mention it here now that I’m pretty certain I’m not going back, at least not any time soon.

The best way to make sure you never miss one of my books is visit this site or sign up for my “new release” email newsletter.