The Importance of Reviews

As an author, you are always looking for feedback from your readers. But equally important to an author are reviews. The reason for this is that reviews drive interest and that interest translates into increased visibility on sites like Amazon.

Ever get the "you might also be interested in" suggestions? This is how Amazon links products and the chance of becoming one of those suggestions is driven by your popularity.

So remember, if you read a book and like it, take a moment to give the author a review.

Illinois Stories - TV Show (PBS)

Had an interesting day today. Mark McDonald, host of Illinois Stories on PBS came out with his cameraman Tony and did a half hour show on Nancy and I.

The piece spotlighted our insignia business and my patch collection but also touched on the topic of Perfect Pawn.

Not sure when the show will air, but as soon as we have the details I will let you know. The nice thing is that they also post a lot of them up on youtube, so for those who don't get the local stations it might be a way of watching.

I will keep you posted as to the air dates.

Queen's Gambit - Sequel Announcement

For those of you who have been chomping at the bit to find out what happens next with James Maguire, your wait is almost over.

I am happy to announce that the manuscript for Queen's Gambit, the sequel to Perfect Pawn, has been completed and is currently being edited. 

Once we get the edited MS back we will make the corrections and hopefully have the book released shortly thereafter.

There are wind's of change on the horizon, and not everything is as it seems.

Barnes & Noble / Kobo - Update

Please to announce that Perfect Pawn is now available on different e-Book platforms.

If you have a Nook you can obtain it through Barnes & Noble by following this link

Perfect Pawn (Nook)

If you use the e-Book website KOBO, you can follow this link:

Perfect Pawn (KOBO) 

Sequel Update

First let me apologize to everyone for the hiatus I have taken from posting. Rest assured that in the time I have been away from the blog world I have not been piddling away my time.

We have been tweaking the MS for the sequel and will be adding an additional chapter for character development. If all goes as planned we are looking at a late winter launch.

In addition to the work we have been doing on the sequel, I have also been plugging away on a stand alone novel introducing a new character. I'm about 2/3 of the way through it. It is something that I am super excited about. Originally I had only intended it to be a short novella piece. Something to just bridge the time between the James Maguire series releases.

However, as I progressed the character became so fun to write that I had created what I felt was a captivating story line. An opinion shared by my wife when she read it.

The story will not interfere with the Maguire ones, but rather complement them in a side column sort of way. Hoping to have this one available in time for the summer.

Just to let you know I am not slacking in the research & ideas department. I already have a working outline for the 3rd Maguire novel.

I promise to keep the news coming at a more steady pace as we go forward.

Happy New Years 2014

I hope that everyone had a safe and healthy New Year 2014 and it is my sincere wish that this new year will be a prosperous and joyous one for all of you.

Merry Christmas

Wishing everyone a very blessed Christmas !!