books – R.Weir

The Early Days of My Writing

Published on October 13, 2024 by R.WeirLeave a comment

I’m slow with the newsletter as I was down and out for about a week with a stomach virus. The first I’ve had in many years. It was not fun, but I’m finally getting back to normal. During that time I was not able to do any writing on my latest book. But fortunately this past week I got into the groove and I’ve finished the first draft. Now I’ll go through the story several times and make corrections and fixes. I’ve contacted my beta readers and will soon get their feedback. I still hope to get this book out by the end of the year. However much will need to go right before this can happen. I’m keeping my fingers crossed!

I’ve often been asked how long I’ve been writing. If I go back to my teenage years, I wrote a lot of poetry and song lyrics. I still have many of them on the original paper I wrote them on. While others were typed out on a manual typewriter, much like the Smith-Corona one above. One of those with the white correction section on the ribbon. I learned touch typing in high school on an electric typewriter. At the time I thought the skill would come in handy one day. And boy was I correct. I spend most days typing away on my wireless keyboard connected to my laptop. Here is a picture of my current desk as I work on this newsletter and my latest book. Quite a change from the days of typing away on that manual machine and from my first 8-bit Coleco Adam Computer with a word processor.

More wonderful reviews for my newest book, Murder by a Hundred Cuts.

Jarvis Mann has mainly retired from his Private Eye business and is running his bar. He’s doing the countdown to the trial of the Front Range Butcher that he’ll be giving testimony in as one of his victims. During the interim he takes on what seems to be an easy family matter private eye case. You know what they say, nothing is ever as easy as it seems. This case takes him down a rabbit hole all by itself and then as the court date gets closer killings are happening that are eerily similar to Front Range Butcher. So close in fact it makes you do some heavy duty thinking. Jarvis is doing his best to stay uninvolved with the case of these new killings, but he starts receiving gruesome pictures with messages and knows that those close to him and himself are not safe until this killer is caught. The book is amazing and extremely well written. It is full of twists and turns, suspense, intrigue, angst and some sorrow. In this book it’s like we’re getting two books in one. Can’t get much better than that. I have one word for the ending=Wow. Well done, Mr. Weir, Well done – Tina

You can preview two chapters from Murder by a Hundred Cuts, here and here. And you can find previews for many of my other books on my website under the Book Preview drop-down menu.

I have several new episodes of my video podcast, Bringing Life to Characters for you to view. I’ve interviewed my audiobook producer Phillip Polite, authors S. Lee Manning and J.B. Manning, and Margaret Mizushima. I have scheduled interviews with author Jim Nesbitt on Oct 14th and Mary Yungeberg on Oct 29th. Plan on more exciting authors in November, including at least one big name. You can always find all the interviews on my YouTube Page.

The busy season for me is in full swing. This weekend I have 2 events covering 3 days. From there I get a week off before 7 more straight weeks of events here in Colorado. If you live in the area I hope you’ll stop on by and say hello. And if you have any friends who love to read, send them my way. Books make great Christmas and Holiday gifts. Even more so when they are signed by an author.

With each event, I have a drawing for a $10 Amazon Gift Card. For chances to win all you need to do is sign-up for my newsletter and/or buy books at my table. The more you buy the more tickets you get for a chance to win. Winners over the last few events have been Monica, Brittany, Vicki and Rhonda.

Speaking of winners, my featured author last month was Amy Rivers. She offered up three signed paperback books, the winner to be drawn from anyone who had entered. The winner was Kim J. who has been contacted and thrilled to be getting the books. Congratulations to her. I’m sure she’ll love reading Amy’s excellent work.

This month’s featured author is Angela K. Crandall. Angela is an author and activist for human rights and has written several young adult urban fantasy LGBTQ-friendly novels, dabbles in poetry, and often works with other creative writers. Her books aim to cultivate empathy, understanding, and acknowledgment of the diversity among people and society, fostering inclusion. She began writing in first grade but never imagined she’d be able to publish; she attended NMC community college, receiving an associate in liberal arts in 2002, then took classes towards teaching but left with a Certificate of Achievement in early childhood with plans to work at Head Start which didn’t occur. However, she published her first short story, “The Dream Inside the Darkness,” in 2014. One of her best-known works is the Myth series, a mystery coming-of-age story where the main character, Starla, discovers she is half fox, and the world she inhabits differs from what she initially believed. There are many novels available by Angela for readers 14 and up. Her newest series, Awakening the Path, follows Lora, a high school girl preparing for college, left with her father and the tools her mother gave her as a Wiccan to survive. When he suggests colleges, she asks to go to Evermoire, where her family had studied, but he refuses. So, she does her own investigative work. Find Angela’s books locally at Horizon Books in Traverse City, MI, or Cadillac, Michigan. Connect with her online via Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and eBooks. Click here for access.

This month there are two Prolific Works giveaways. First is Sleuths and Suspense: Mystery Group Giveaway with 26 free eBooks available through Oct 15th via this link.

Next is Hidden Truths: Mystery Group Giveaway which starts Oct 15th and ends Nov 15th with 16 free ebooks you can checkout via this link.

Thanks for reading. Be sure to share this newsletter with anyone interested. Those who sign up are offered a free eBook of the Jarvis Mann PI novel, Tracking A Shadow. If you signed up and didn’t get the offer, let me know and I’ll send over a copy immediately.

All the best!!

R Weir

Three Weeks Away From Home

Published on September 16, 2024 by R.WeirLeave a comment

Sorry, I’m a little late with this month’s newsletter. After three weeks away from home, I’m trying to get caught up. First, it was 17 days away in Nashville for the Killer Nashville and Bouchercon events. Then we were back home for three nights and then on the road again for 5 days in Loveland Colorado for the Goodguys Car Show and Craft Fair. All were fun but exhausting. Nashville was crazy hot, at over 100 degrees for three straight days, and many others in the upper 90’s. Over 1700 miles were driven in our motorhome and Honda CRV. Thankfully, no more long-distance travel other than to events here in Colorado for the remainder of the year. Though Kim has two trips to Salt Lake for work to round out her busy travel year.

Killer Nashville was a great time and a learning experience. I was on one panel and attended several others. The award ceremony was excellent, with many great books winning the Silver Falchion and Claymore Awards. Clay Stafford and his team always put on a great event. I’ve added a couple of pictures below and more on my website.

Bouchercon, which was the following weekend in Nashville, is more of a fan conference with informational panels, with myself being a speaker on one. I got to see some well-known authors, including Andrew Child, Reed Farrel Coleman, Heather Graham, and many others. I even got to talk with Andrew and Reed and got a picture and a signed book from the new author of the Reacher books, Andrew Child who is taking over for his brother Lee Child. The event was held at the Gaylord Opryland Resort, which was huge in size. Lots of walking to all the events which went on for 5 days, on two floors, with only two elevators to transport the 1800-plus attendees. So I got lots of steps taking the stairs. I have more pictures on my website.

After we returned, we headed to Loveland Colorado for the Goodguys Car Show. This was the fourth year I’ve attended. The weather was perfect, and the crowds were huge. And oh my the cars were incredible. There was this 1959 Corvette which had the most gorgeous paint job. There are 2 photos below, but they don’t do it justice. I’m still in search of a 1969 Mustang Boss 302 that matches the car private eye Jarvis Mann drives. I heard of one in a town nearby but didn’t get to search for it. More car photos from Goodguys are on my website.

Our trip to Nashville wasn’t all work, as we did some sightseeing. We went to Madame Tussauds Wax Museum to pose with many famous stars. Then we took a trip to the Grand Olde Opry. And we ate at some great restaurants. You can find more pictures on my website.

We got to take a break this past weekend with no events. We did help our daughter Dakota finish painting her bedroom. Kim and her doing the painting, while I helped move all the furniture out and back in again. The new lighter color helped to brighten her room.

Starting this Saturday it’s 5 straight weekends with 6 different events, the first 2 being outdoor events in Broomfield and Sheridan. You’ll find future events listed at the bottom of each newsletter and on my Events Page on the website.

With the two events I did in Nashville, I’ve lined up a lot of great authors who’ve agreed to be on future episodes of my video podcast, Bringing Life to Characters. On Oct 7th at 7 PM Mountain time I’ll have award-winning and best-selling author Margaret Mizushima where we’ll talk about her new book, Gathering Mist: A Timber Creek K-9 Mystery which you can watch live via this link. And I’ll be interviewing my audiobook producer, Phillip Polite on Sept 19th at 9 AM Mountain Time to talk about all the work involved in producing audiobooks. You can watch this interview live via this link. I’ll have many more amazing authors and content providers to chat with in future shows, including a husband and wife lawyer team who both write fiction. You can find upcoming shows and watch all my recorded video interviews on my website or YouTube Channel.

This month’s featured author is Amy Rivers. Amy is an award-winning novelist, as well as the Director of Writing Heights Writers Association. She was named 2021 Indie Author of the Year by the Indie Author Project. Her psychological suspense novels incorporate important social issues with a focus on the complexities of human behavior. Amy was raised in New Mexico and now lives in Colorado with her husband and children. You can find her website via this link, and sign-up for her newsletter and find offers for books via this link.

Amy is also making this wonderful offer to my readers. Dive into A Legacy of Silence with a chance for one reader to win signed copies of each book in the trilogy (US Shipping Only). If you’re interested in these thrilling books, either reply to this newsletter or send me an email and we’ll enter you into the drawing.

This month you can download more free eBooks via the Sleuths and Suspense: Mystery Group Giveaway. You can find 26 books until Oct 15th via this link.

We’ve always had great luck with plants and flowers in our garden. But not a lot of luck lot growing vegetables, other than cucumbers. We are picking 8-10 a week from our garden, which is more than we can eat. If you love cucumbers and live near Westminster, give me a shout. We’d love to share some.

I will wrap up this month’s newsletter with a big shoutout to all the readers and authors I met this past month in Nashville. It was a great adventure, one I’ll remember for years to come. Now I need to get back to working on my latest book, which I’ve fallen behind on.

All the best!!

R Weir

What Lies Ahead in 2024

Published on January 1, 2024 by R.WeirLeave a comment

Happy New Year to you all! I hope you had a wonderful holiday. We had our usual holiday dinner at Kim’s parent’s house on Christmas Eve. Then on Christmas Day, Kim, Dakota, the dogs and I opened presents and played a few games. A relaxing time for all of us.

I finished off the craft fair season doing 25 events this year, compared to 24 last year. Unfortunately, my sales were down about 18% from last year. However, most vendors I talked with said they were down as well. I already have 15 events scheduled for 2024, with more in the pipeline.?Keep you’re eye open in the newsletter for more information about future events or on the Events Page on my website. I did have two more winners of the $10 Amazon Gift Cards from the drawings I did at each event. Avalyn and Sam have been contacted and received the gift cards. Here are a few pictures of several buyers from my last couple of events in December.

Here is a picture taken of myself and these two ladies at the Grandview High School Craft Fair. I saw their t-shirts when they walked by and thought they were hilarious. I told them I’d post it in my next newsletter.

I do still have a few paperback books sitting on the shelf at home. If you’re interested go to the form on my website, fill it out, and click Submit at the very bottom and I’ll get them signed and shipped out right away. Normally within 24 hours.

Exciting news, as I learned two of my books were listed in the top ten of best books of 2024 by Amy’s Bookshelf Reviews. Lethal Blues was #2 while Divine Retribution was #5.

Reviews continue to come in for the audiobook version of The Divine Devils. My narrator Phillip Polite does a wonderful job on the book. Here are a couple of those new reviews.

This book was not my normal genre but I am very glad I branched out, I was a little concerned at first that the number of characters introduced so quickly would be hard to keep up with. Fortunately the author did an amazing job at introducing them and giving you their story and weaving them together perfectly, So many twists and turns that kept me on the edge of my seat through out and even had my gasp out loud a few times once in a busy store as I was listening while grocery shopping. I am so glad I branched out of my normal read – Christina

This story was action packed with some mystery and drama. I’m looking forward to more books by the author that may becoming available through audible. The narration performance was great and Phillip showed his versatility – Daneisha

If you listen to books and have an Audible account, be sure to add this to your listening list. You can find The Divine Devils on Audible via this link. I do still have a few promo codes for Audible versions of The Divine Devils for the US and UK. Just send me an email for more information.

Speaking of reviews, I could use more reviews for my two latest releases, Lethal Blues and Divine Retribution. Reviews for both books have been wonderful but on the low side. If you’ve read the books, I’d appreciate you posting a review on Amazon, Goodreads, and/or Bookbub. It would really help to boost those books, especially on Amazon with their algorithms.

In 2023 I released two books and I hope to have two more released in 2024. As I promised last month, I have news on those two books. The first I’m working hard on is a new book in the Jarvis Mann Private Eye series which I’m about 77k words into writing. This will return Jarvis Mann with a new case and will include the trial of Simon Lions Junior. Those who have read my previous books will know him from my award-winning book, The Front Range Butcher. The story is coming along, and I’ll be reaching out to my beta readers in the coming weeks to get early feedback on the story. The working title: Murder by a Hundred Cuts. Keep your eye open for more news on this coming release in future newsletters.

With the end of The Divine Devils Series, I’ve begun work on an idea for a new series. I’ve written a beginning to book one but will hold off writing more until I’m done with the new Jarvis Mann book. But it will feature a former Westminster Colorado Police Officer, who travels the country to solve cold cases. I have his name and the name of the new series, but that is all I’ll tease for now. Keep an eye out for news on this as well.

I’m beginning a new feature in my newsletter which I hope to run each month, where I’ll promote another author I know and their books. This month the author is someone I met at a craft fair years ago. Well, actually I met his wife first as she stopped by my table to say hello. Andre Gonzales is a local Colorado author with multiple books and series, plus his own publishing company, M4L Publishing that he has built from the ground up. We’ve been friends since and he has some very popular books, including the Wealth of Time time-travel thriller series. You can join Andre’s Newsletter via this link and get 4 free Novellas which is a fabulous deal. To learn more about Andre and his books, go to his website or his Amazon Page. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

I’m starting off the new year with two new events. I have one in January and another in February. They are listed below.

This month’s Prolific Works free ebooks begin with Crime Scenes – Mystery and Thriller G.G. which runs until January 15th and includes 18 free ebooks to check out at this link.

Next is Home Alone (…Finally): A Young Adult Novel Giveaway with 13 free ebooks available until January 21st at this link.

And finally Merrystery: A Mystery Book Giveaway with 10 free ebooks available until January 21st at this link.

I will wrap up this month’s newsletter with more pictures from our family holiday. We played miniature golf at night among a sea of Christmas lights and decorations which were breathtaking.

Thanks again for all the support throughout the year. I hope 2024 is prosperous for everyone!!

R Weir