Book Expo America kicks off June 4 at Javitts Center in New York City. The biggest book show in America, it includes the ancillary meetings of the IDPF Digital Book Conference and BEA Bloggers Conference.

But who can afford a trip to NYC from Seattle? Not me. So for the third year, I'll be participating remotely via ArmchairBEA. This is a great way to keep up with what is happening in the book world, find out who the movers and shakers are in book blogging, and even read interviews with authors, watch video from the expo, and make new friends who love to read.

I'll be celebrating the launch of Elder Road Books by giving away ARCs of our first two fiction releases and there will be eBook giveaways each day. Register at ArmchairBEA.com to participate. It's free and fun!

My new publishing arm is almost up and operating. Our first release is coming next week. The company name is Elder Road LLC and the imprint is Elder Road Books. Over the course of the next few months, titles that were formerly Long Tale Press titles will also begin to appear at Elder Road. Plus new titles!

Next week: Phil Lemmons: "Stealing Home: A Con's Guide to Inheritance Theft" will be the first title completely under the Elder Road name. Non-fiction, Aging and Elder Abuse.

July 20: Jason Black: "Pebblehoof" Middle grade historical adventure.

August 16: Nathan Everett: "For Toil and Trouble" Noir detective fiction, prequel to the popular "For Blood or Money" featuring computer forensics detective Dag Hamar.

Also available soon: "Life Happens - Live It!" Inspirational stories of people overcoming incredible adversity by Jake French. (Kindle and Nook)

And don't forget that ArmchairBEA is coming in just two weeks. Lots of good posts coming!

I promised my annual New Year posting and have been tardy—okay, lazy—about getting it together. I guess I’ve been beaten down a bit by the past year so it’s hard to get motivated for the new one. Especially since I know what it is going to take. I need to be more aggressive.

That’s not a characteristic that anyone who knows me well would apply to me. I am not an aggressive man. I’m not even sure I’m even an active player most of the time.

Not to say that I don’t do anything. I published two books in 2011 and wrote two more. I had half a dozen book design clients and posted over 1000 Tweets, 100 blog posts, and who knows how many “updates.” For the most part, I kept my pledge made in January last year to write every day. Sometimes I wrote in my blog and sometimes in my books. I have two books headed for publication this year with a possible third waiting for me to resolve my final schedule.

I’m busy.

I’m just not aggressive about getting the word out. Funny. I wrote about that last January 1, saying “This year I will be aggressively marketing Gutenberg's Other Book and The Volunteer.” I changed my tactics somewhat early in the year and chose to become an independent publisher. I published Steven George & The Dragon in March and the retitled The Gutenberg Rubric in July. I did market a heck of a lot of stuff and the sales on these two titles also dragged For Blood or Money forward in sales. But I think I’ve been too wrapped up in my own confusion and To Do List to effectively sell my three titles. The aggressive part just didn’t quite materialize.

My publishing plan this year includes a July release of a non-fiction documenting the trials and tribulations of becoming an independent publisher. It is tentatively titled, “Wrote a Book—Please Help.” The second release on my schedule is a prequel to my first published novel tentatively titled “For Toil and Trouble.” In this volume, beloved detective Dag Hamar is just starting his career in computer forensics. It’s slated for release in September. I may toss a third book into the mix this year. It will either be in March or December and is the sequel to my YA Fantasy tentatively titled “Steven George & The Terror.”

( What Happened This Past Year? )

There you have it. In 2011 I moved from being a writer to being an author. In 2012, in need to become—in every sense of the word—a publisher.

That’s it for this year! New works coming soon!

There are prizes to be awarded in a new promo for four authors new books, but that isn’t why I’m writing this post. For some time now, I’ve been expounding on the idea of authors getting together to promote each others writing. Yes, when we slap our names on something, we want to know it is as good as what we do ourselves, but sometimes you also have to trust others.

So before I agreed to join this promotion, I bought and read Shannon Mayer’s new book Sundered. It’s not the kind of book I’d normally read. Urban fantasy, even with a strong dose of romance tied in, just isn’t what I spend my time with. But I found that Shannon was a good writer with a well thought-out idea and nicely executed story. Her concept that a new miracle drug quickly snatched up by a huge percentage of the population that then discovers it turns them into slobbering zombies was a great setup for an apocalyptic tale. But her sensitive drawing of the leading characters is what made the story worthwhile.

So, based on my experience with 1/4 of the authors involved in this promo, I’m throwing what little weight I have behind it and encourage you to do so, too. Link to this post, or for that matter, copy and paste it into your own blog. Let’s get some new authors launched!

Now here are the details:

With this contest, there is something for everyone and it’s SO simple to be in on the winning!

On November 28 and/or 29, purchase 1 or all 4 of the debut author’s books listed here. Then forward proof of purchase (the receipt Amazon sends you will do just fine) to : motionsrider@yahoo.ca and get up to 4 entries into a draw for a $100 Amazon gift card!

It’s that easy, no reviews, no hoops to jump through. Just a great .99 book or two. Or three or four. AND, if the person who wins the $100 Amazon Gift Card has purchased all 4 books, an additional $25 Amazon Gift Card will be awarded to the winner!

On top of that, 2 random commenter’s picked from 2 of our participating blogs will receive $5 gift Amazon gift cards . So, be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think of the promo, the books, or the authors.

Winners will be chosen randomly, one entry per person, per book.

All winners will be announced on December 7^th on Wringing Out Words (http://shannonmayer.blogspot.com)

“Between” by Cyndi Tefft

It just figures that the love of Lindsey Water's life isn't alive at all, but the grim reaper, complete with a dimpled smile, and Scottish accent.

After transporting souls to heaven for the last 300 years, Aiden MacRae has all but given up on finding the one whose love will redeem him and allow him entry through the pearly gates.
Torn between her growing attraction to Aiden and heaven's siren song, Lindsey must learn the hard way whether love really can transcend all boundaries.

Link: http://www.amazon.com/Between-ebook/dp/B004XZUMBA/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1322190792&sr=1-1

“Until Dawn: Last Light” by Jennifer Simas

When darkness falls, whose side will you be on?
For the past six years, Zoë has been anything but “normal.” Struggling to accept her immortality and thrown into a war that’s been waging in the shadows for over a thousand years, Zoë must now become who she was meant to be, joining the other Chosen to save what’s left of humanity.

When the endless night falls over the Earth, will she be able to save the one man who reminds her of what it is to be human, or will it be too late?
Until Dawn: Last Light is a story of death and despair, love and longing, hope and hopelessness, and the ability to survive and keep going even when it seems impossible – when you want nothing more than to give up.

Link- http://www.amazon.com/Until-Dawn-Last-Light-ebook/dp/B005QUIXJY/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1322190717&sr=1-1

“The Kayson Cycle” by Jonathan D. Allen

A stranger enters a dying town and makes a desperate plea…

The Kayson Cycle introduces the Kayson Brothers, a pair of faith healers who once wowed crowds in a traveling show but went their separate ways after a night in which a healing took a dark turn. Jeffrey Kayson disappeared into the wilderness and William Kayson, wracked by guilt, moved to the failing mining town of Calico Hills to build a nice, quiet life – one that has lasted for over ten years.

His quiet, predictable life crumbles when a mysterious stranger walks into his tavern bearing a proposal to find his long-lost brother and do the one thing that William has sworn to never do again - have his brother heal a woman. William soon learns that he can’t escape his family – or his destiny.

Includes an exclusive sample chapter of The Corridors of the Dead. Please note that this is a Kindle Single, and around 6,000 words in length.

Link: http://www.amazon.com/The-Kayson-Cycle-ebook/dp/B0061FDUA0/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1322190892&sr=1-1

“Sundered” by Shannon Mayer

A miracle drug, Nevermore, spreads like wildfire throughout the world allowing people to eat what they want, and still lose weight. It is everything the human population has ever dreamed of and Mara is no different. Only a simple twist of fate stops her from taking Nevermore.

As the weeks roll by, it becomes apparent that Nevermore is not the miracle it claimed. A true to life nightmare, the drug steals the very essence that makes up humanity and unleashes a new and deadly species on the world that is bent on filling its belly. Locked down within their small farm home, Mara and her husband Sebastian struggle against increasingly bad odds, fighting off marauders and monsters alike.

But Sebastian carries a dark secret, one that more than threatens to tear them apart, it threatens to destroy them both and the love they have for each other.
Now Mara must make the ultimate choice. Will she live for love, or will she live to survive?

Link: http://www.amazon.com/Sundered-Nevermore-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B005KOIVH0/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1315021535&sr=8-3

Lay on, Macduff,
And damn'd be him that first cries, 'Hold, enough!'
—Macbeth V. vii

As soon as I could confirm that Andi was okay with Cali, I headed to my apartment. I was on a mission. I knew now that Mel had been snatched from the street by someone who knew where she would be and when. I knew that there was more than one person involved. And I knew that Mel’s time could be up already.

I launched all computers and dove directly into my previous searches. One of these bastards had to be Patterson or involved with him. Whom had Mel told she would be downtown on Thursday morning. Who was waiting for her? And where had she been taken? I received an amber alert notice on my cell phone as I was just diving in. Jordan’s timing was perfect….

A kidnapped teen, a burning building, and an impossible choice in Chapter 28 of For Toil and Trouble.

I cannot strike at wretched kerns, whose arms
Are hired to bear their staves:
—Macbeth V. vii

I sat in a food court a block away from the office drinking black coffee and setting up my plan of attack. Someone with access to the company security cameras had set me up by editing footage from security cameras to show me making a midnight raid on the manufacturing facility. That someone had made the mistake of capturing footage from my incident in front of the building and posting it on a video sharing site. It was as if I was being taunted. If I could triangulate on the two events and the missing ten seconds of network logs, I was pretty sure I would find my antagonist inside CCS. I set up my laptop with a 4G connection and logged onto the company network….

The endgame begins in Chapter 27 of For Toil and Trouble.

Make all our trumpets speak; give them all breath,
Those clamorous harbingers of blood and death.
—Macbeth V.vi

About 11:30, Andi slipped out of bed and started feeling around for her clothes. I turned on a bedside light and just watched her beautiful body as she gathered her things together.

“Do you have to leave?”

“Curfew,” she said. “What’s fair for the daughter is fair for the…”

A little video clue in Chapter 26 of For Toil and Trouble.

The Queen.
She should have died hereafter;
There would have been a time for such a word.
—Macbeth V.v

By a quarter till five I was wrung out. My software chimed and I looked to see that it had over 4,000 correlations. I groaned. I couldn’t face it now. I saved the results, shut down the computer, and lay down in my bed. I was asleep instantly.

And just as quickly awakened….

True confessions of the new girlfriend. Chapter 25 of For Toil and Trouble.

The time approaches
That will with due decision make us know
What we shall say we have and what we owe.
—Macbeth V.iv

Two mountain ranges, back to back across the continent with a vast high desert between—a desolate wasteland or a fertile playground? When I awoke on Sunday morning facing a wall, I glanced over my shoulder and on the other side of the bed saw Andi, still asleep with her back toward me. I felt a pang of… regret? No. Guilt. I’d betrayed our friendship. I’d turned my best friend into my lover. My love. And now we each hugged opposite edges of the same bed with a cold chasm between. I could feel a sob welling up in my throat.

Then she turned toward me, her eyes opening a slit and then her smile causing them to crinkle up as she looked fully at me and I rolled toward the center of her bed. We met in the middle with arms wrapping around each other and a kiss that welcomed more than bodies together….

The morning after. Read Chapter 24 at For Toil and Trouble.

Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow,
Raze out the written troubles of the brain
And with some sweet oblivious antidote
Cleanse the stuff'd bosom of that perilous stuff
Which weighs upon the heart?
—Macbeth V.iii

Andi drove from the theater to her house in silence. I was afraid to break it. My arm resting on the seatback let me softly touch her shoulder as she drove. Once at a stoplight, she pulled my fingers to her lips and kissed them, then put my hand securely back on her shoulder. Much though I wanted to, I didn’t dare put my hand on her leg beside the console. I didn’t want to seem pushy. I hadn’t felt this nervous since high school….

A love scene? Oh my! Chapter 23 of For Toil and Trouble.