Alive, Alive-o

In response to a multitude of recent emails (OK, maybe a dozen), the author of this blog is, indeed, alive and breathing air.

So why haven't I posted anything here since, let's see, March? I've got a multitude of excuses (OK, maybe three.)

* Tour fatigue: I was on the road pretty much solid from mid-February until mid-May and, well, it just wore me down. Yeah, I know. Other authors go on book tour for weeks on end and manage to blog daily. I'm not one of them.

* Deadlines: The fourth book in the Zack Chasteen series is due to St. Martin's soon, very soon. It is called DEAD AHEAD and it takes place on a cruise ship. It used to be called SHIP HAPPENS, but we abandoned that ... so to speak. In any event, I've still got a long way to go on the book and the lapsed Protestant in me inflicts guilt if I even so much as think about writing something that isn't DEAD AHEAD-related.

* Ross Thomas: For some reason, I don't feel guilty spending time reading his stuff when I should be writing. I remember reading a couple of Ross Thomas books in the 1970s, but have only re-discovered him in recent months. And since May I've knocked off "The Cold War Swap," (his first novel and the 1967 Edgar winner), "On the Rim," "Chinaman's Chance," "Ah, Treachery," "Twilight at Mac's Place, "Voodoo Ltd." and am almost finished with "The Fourth Durango." Great writing. Smart-talking characters. Intricate plots. Double-crossing galore. And no one could paint a picture of a character quite like Thomas could. Anyway, I've been sucked into the Time-Thomas Continuum and that, among many other reasons, is why I haven't been here lately.

But I'll try to show up in the days ahead. Promise ...