Mitch Malone Takes on Valentine's Day

I’m filling in for W.S. Gager today on the blog. Seems “the author” has other plans for Valentine’s Day. Who has plans on Valentine’s Day? Not Mitch Malone, crime reporter for the Grand River Journal. I don’t get sentimental. I don’t do emotional drivel. I cover the remains when romance goes bad.

You have to check out “A Case of Infatuation.” I know it sounds like romance, but it is a mystery. I get conned big time by two females. I didn’t even know one was a female when I first met her. How was I supposed to know she wasn’t just a Detroit Tiger baseball fan?

Now the other lady, I was majorly infatuated with from the first moment I set eyes on her, but that intern just used and abused me. I would like to go into all the detail, but what is done is done. I’ve washed my hands of it. Check out the first Mitch Malone book and let me know what you think. I was robbed!

In the second Mitch Malone Mystery series that will be out this summer, another pair of ladies led me on a wild chase. Let me tell you, I wanted to run away a couple of times but one can cook and the other one I couldn’t get out of my mind. Worse yet, she was in a coma. This one is titled “A Case of the Accidental Intersection.” A least that is the title now, it may change.

Now, the one I’m looking forward to the most is the third book in the Mitch Malone Mystery series. I’ve had a few peeks at the very rough draft and let’s just say I try romance with a new woman and then my old flame, Patrenka comes back. I get myself in quite the situation. Not sure how she will manage to get me out of it. I do know I lose my heart. Oops, guess I shouldn’t have said that. Hey, maybe that is why W.S. allowed me to do the blog on Valentine’s Day. I’ve lost my heart and am looking to get it back. Book 3 doesn’t even have a title or a publication day, just trying to whet your appetite. Happy Valentine’s Day, bah humbug!

Getting Motivated, Please Help!

How come when you finish a big project you give yourself permission for a little down time and before you know it, you don’t know how to get started again. That’s how this past week has been for me. On Sunday, I sent A Case of the Accidental Intersection, my second book in the Mitch Malone Mystery Series to the publisher, Oak Tree Press. That was a huge relief and I did a major happy danced and beamed for the rest of the day. I also gave myself permission to not really do anything on Monday. Well, here it is Wednesday and I’m trying to get motivated and well, it just isn’t working.

The good news is that I had two really good guest blogs. One on Tuesday at Creatures and Crooks Books at (http://www.cncbooks.com/blog/2010/02/09/crime-reporter-mitch-malone-checks-in/ and another one today by fellow Oak Tree Press author F.M. aka Marilyn Meredith’s blog, Marilyn’s Musings. (http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com/) Marilyn is in charge of getting the speakers for the Public Safety Writer’s Conference in June in sunny Las Vegas. She has some great ones lines up. Check out the line up at http://www.policewriter.com/ Conference/conference.htm . I went last year and it was great! I walked away with some great writing tips, great contacts and some really good friends. I highly recommend it. I’m looking for a cheap flight for this year.

Now I have those shameless plugs out of the way, I have to get back to my topic of getting back to work. I am truly wrung out though. I have no idea what I want to work on. Do you ever feel like that? So many things you want to do and no idea where to start? Tell me how you motivated yourself. I really need some ideas!

2nd Mitch Malone Book sent to Publisher

I’m geeked, I’m elated. I just can’t sit still. After months of working, too many rewrites to even list and a last minute brainstorm (in a snow storm) that pulled all the parts together, the second Mitch Malone Mystery was just sent to my publisher.

I may be biased, but I think it really works. The title is “A Case of the Accidental Intersection.” It’s a mouthful but really hits it. I can’t say too much about why without giving away anything. If you read the first book, “A Case of Infatuation,” you might understand a little bit. I can’t wait for it to be published and see if you agree. Here is a short synopsis:

Mitch Malone hates hospitals, but when a suspicious traffic accident lands a comatose victim in the hospital, he must put that aside to find the truth. The surface looks smooth but the more the crime beat reporter looks the more bodies pop up, including a private detective and his own editor. Can he get to the truth before the surviving victim is murdered in her hospital bed and an elderly witness has a heart attack? Will he get his exclusive printed before he's the next victim?

I will be back to regular postings. I just couldn’t do anything until I had the book done. Now I am free at least for the afternoon then I have a bunch of stuff to finish before I tackle the next book. Let me know what you think of the title!