As we were driving back from Deadwood in our motorhome, doing our best to dodge the endless deer that enjoyed roaming the highways of South Dakota, my wife and I were talking about how much we have enjoyed the Wild Deadwood Reads Book Event. This was the third year we attended, working in a family vacation, as well as participating in as many of the author events as we could. From the Author-Reader Meet and Greet, the breakfast before the signing, to the signing event and the book excerpt reading at Wild Bill Bar; the weekend was wall to wall fun. Mix in the family adventures we went on, with my inlaws along for the trip, and we were rarely bored. Below are a few pictures, including one of all of the authors participating. Next years event is already in the planning, though the dates are up in the air right now. If you’re an author or a reader, I suggest checking out this event. You’ll have a great time.
During the event, there was a raffle for baskets and gifts provided by the authors, with all the proceeds to the tickets purchased for the raffle going to the Wild Horse Sanctuary in South Dakota. Instead of a basket, I went a different route, providing a wooden train bird feeder built by my father-in-law, which was stuffed with three of my books, a Jarvis Mann t-shirt, some fedora shaped soaps and a bookmark my daughter made. It turned out being the top prize sought after, having the most raffle tickets placed in the drawing. The winner as you see below was Kiri, posing with model/actor Michael Wayne Foster, who announced all the winners. Thanks to her and everyone else at the event for participating, as we raised $1200 for the sanctuary.
From Deadwood we move onto the cover for Dead Man Code. The story of a murdered computer engineer led to a simple cover design I had in mind from the beginning. Being a computer tech myself, this book took some of my knowledge of the information sharing world we live in and turned it into a murder mystery. Complete with a fictional Silicon Valley tech company, Russian mobsters and Chinese government agents, facing off with my PI Jarvis Mann. My previous designer was out on maternity leave when it was time to create the cover. After an extensive search, I found a new graphic artist, who has been my cover designer ever since, as well as designing my rweir.net website. Mia with Happi Anarky took what I was looking for and created it with little effort. I wanted computer binary code in green, with a magnifying glass, a little blood, and a handgun. This was actually one of the simplest cover designs we did, with only a small tweak needed, as she nailed it. Here is the final cover:
Dead Man Code was released October 18, 2016 to excellent reviews, many of them 5-Star:
I fell in love with Jarvis with the first book that I read and now I am anxious to get into his next adventures. I love that he will go to no ends to find out “who did it” and he covers all of his bases. Randy hit a grand slam with this! – Peggy Clayton
Jarvis is hired by a widow who suspects that her husband was murdered. Not wanting to step on any police toes, brings his to the attention of the Russian mob and Chinese government. This is a well written story which is filled with action, twists, and is a thrilling read – Wendy Livingstone
This is the fifth book in the Jarvis Mann Detective series and I firmly believe that each one keeps getting better. This book shows how an author takes an awesome main character, adds in plenty of thrills, danger, and enough suspense that you will find yourself lost in the book until the final word is read – Laura Furuta
Be sure to check out Dead Man Code on Amazon. It’s available as an eBook, in Paperback or on Kindle Unlimited. If you want a signed paperback, reach out to me directly and we can work out getting you a copy to add to your reading collection.
This week I’m headed to Georgetown Colorado, for GeoCon. This is the third year of the event, held in this former silver mining camp, now a lively historical summer tourist center west of Denver. I will be selling my books, along with several other authors on Friday, Saturday and Sunday (June 28th, 29th, and 30th) at the Georgetown Heritage Center in the Northeast Classroom. Then Saturday evening I will be attending a Networking Dinner at Coopers on the Creek in Georgetown from 5:30 to 8:00PM. If you’re in the area be sure to stop by my table and say hello. I’ll be the author in the Jarvis Mann t-shirt!!
One more new Prolific Works giveaway for you to check out this month. Into the Woods Mystery & Crime Group Giveaway has 39 mystery/crime books free to download, including my short story, The Case of the Missing Bubble Gum Card. To check it out, use this link.
After a busy month of June, my life will be quieter in July (maybe!), allowing me to get back to the next book I’m working on. I’m still keeping the details secret for now, but I’m excited about this new project, so be sure to keep reading future newsletters for more information I’ll be doling out.
That is all for this month. Next month I’ll have more news and talk about the cover design of The Front Range Butcher, and include a few covers that didn’t make the cut. If you enjoy my work be sure to share with other friends and family. If they sign-up for the newsletter I will send them a free eBook of Tracking A Shadow as a bonus. Thanks again and have a wonderful rest of your week!
R Weir