Announcing the Reissue of My First Book, RANDOM ROAD.

They say that writing a book is a little like telling a joke and waiting two years to see if anyone laughs.  I wrote my fourth book, Shadow Hill, in 2019.  It was originally set for publication for July of 2020.  But, even before the pandemic struck, the publication date was moved to September of 2020.

Then all hell broke loose, and the new date was set for July 2021.

I was fine with that.   In addition to the delay, Poisoned Pen Press/Sourcebooks, my publisher, is reissuing my first book, Random Road, for April 13 (about a week from now) to gin up some interest in Shadow Hill.  The new edition of Random Road contains an introduction by the author, a conversation with the author, a reading group guide, and the first pages of the sequel to Random Road entitled Darkness Lane.  It also sports a dynamite new cover. 

Something I didn’t expect happened.  The interest level and buzz for the reissue has been so intense that the publisher asked to move the publication date of Shadow Hill one more time, to August 10, to extend the marketing efforts for Random Road. 

Additionally, Poisoned Pen Press/Sourcebooks has redesigned all the covers of my former books and asked me to start work on a fifth Geneva Chase mystery.  By the way, the redesigned covers are fantastic!!

2020 was a strange year and I watched while a lot of my author friends launched their books during the height of the pandemic.  Many of them had to pivot in the ways they marketed themselves and their novels.  

Many bookstores were closed altogether and, even now, they’re open at reduced capacity.  Nobody did book signings.  No mystery conferences were held. You couldn’t visit book clubs. 

Online video was nearly the only way to reach potential readers.  I think that even as life returns to normal, we’ll find that online will remain a powerful marketing tool.  Shameless self-promotion…I’m doing an online conversation with the Poisoned Pen Bookstore on Thursday, April 22, at 8 p.m., Eastern Time. 

So, this is my celebratory blog for the re-release of Random Road and it’s mercifully brief.  

I hope you’ve been vaccinated and were able to be with friends and family this past weekend.  I know that the only thing that will make me happier than seeing my books released is when I can visit my own family and see my grandchildren. 

In the meantime, stay safe and stay healthy.

Weird Mail

 By Thomas Kies

This week has been a very good week…mostly.  It’s a new day in America, vaccines are rolling out (although, it’s a rocky road to be sure), and my publisher has told me that there’s good news afoot with the re-release of my first book, RANDOM ROAD.  More to come on that. 

Cool stuff.

The one tiny fly in a big tub of ointment was a letter I received through the mail on Inauguration Day.  While I was watching the new President take the oath of office on my computer, one of my staffers handed me a letter with my name on it. 

I opened it and found a two-page letter in lovely handwriting from someone in Columbus, Ohio.  

The letter read: “I bought your book DARKNESS LANE from a library book sale.  Before reading it I checked out RANDOM ROAD so I could read your series in order.  But as it turns out, I’m not going to read them at all.  I want to tell you why.  It might not matter to you—but maybe you can learn from this or at least become aware of it.”

In essence, the letter writer objected to this passage on the very first page of my first book.  In it, my protagonist, Geneva Chase, a crime journalist, is explaining to the reader a little bit about who she is.  The passage reads, “My name’s been on the byline of hundreds of stories over the last twenty years, in four newspapers, three magazines, a half dozen websites, and, for a very short, shame-filled stint, Fox News.”

The letter writer told me that he/she watches Fox News (along with other media by the way) and voted for President Trump. 

He/she went on to say, “One tiny little action I can take (a peaceful protest if you will) against those who are not my respecting my side is to not read your book.  Those words, “Shame-filled stint at Fox” wounded me.  I get slammed even in a mystery book? I wonder why you felt the need to include a swipe like that. Did you think it sound cool?”

Well, yeah. I know it felt kind of cool when I wrote it.

But you know, I never explained why Geneva was ashamed of her time at Fox.  She was a heavy drinker in those days.  Who knows what she might have done?  And there was a lot of sexual harassment going on in that company in those days.  Or so I’ve read.

The letter writer continued, “Thankfully there are many other books for me to read.  Oh my goodness! I’m starting to feel bad about this.  Like I might be hurting your feelings.  Probably not.  I hope not.”

No, my feelings weren’t hurt.  I’ve been slammed much harder than this. Writers have to have a thick skin. 

The writer went on to say, “The vast majority of Fox watchers are good, smart, interesting, tolerant, freedom loving people.  We are not racists; we are not rubes.  We think for ourselves.  We deserve respect. 

“That’s it.  I’m not including my name etc.  “Our Side” tends to lay low as it can be dangerous to say the wrong thing.”

These are dangerous times we are all living in.  

I try not to get too political when I’m writing a mystery.  But Geneva Chase is a snarky smart-ass.  It’s in her nature to be insulting.  That’s why she’s so much fun to write.   She gets to say things I can’t.

To my letter writer from Columbus, Ohio.  Sorry if you felt insulted.  RANDOM ROAD wasn’t written with that intent in mind.