Announcing the Code Name 711 blog tour, part 2: a celebration of George Washington's birthday

It's Presidents Day next week, and George Washington's birthday on Feb. 22!

Okay, so our first president isn't alive anymore, but that doesn't mean we can't celebrate what a cool spy guy he was.

Since Double Vision: Code Name 711 features George Washington's spy history as the head of the Culper Ring, I thought I'd add a mini blog tour next week. Plus, the virtual cake is on me.


Here's the schedule; I hope you'll follow along!

Feb. 1-22: Goodreads giveaway of signed copies of Code Name 711 (see the handy-dandy gadget in the sidebar of this blog, to the right).

Feb. 17: Marvelous MG Monday review of non-fiction book George Washington, Spymaster. Right here, on the blog.

Feb. 19: Educator resources (links) to lots of information on George Washington and his role in the Revolutionary War as a Culper spy.

Feb 21: Author interview at the Secret Files of Fairday Morrow blog--plus, a giveaway of Code Name 711. 
And if you live near Jackson, MS, come see me at Lemuria Bookstore! I'll be doing lots of school visits around Jackson that day, and I'll be at the store to sign books at 5 p.m.

Feb. 22: George Washington's birthday!

I promise that by the time I finish this little blog tour, you'll look at George Washington in a whole new light.

Now I want to know: who is your favorite U.S. president, and why?

My (Strange) Path To Publication, And Win A Signed Copy Of DOUBLE VISION

Fellow writerly people always want to know: how did you get published? It's an unusual saga for me and Linc, and I talk about it over at the awesome Smack Dab In The Middle Blog.

Come on over, comment, and enter to win a signed copy of Double Vision...

You've Made It As A Writer When....

How would you answer that question, fellow writers? Are you in it for the money (ha!), the fame (double-ha!), your name on the book cover?

I shared my 'Made It Moment' with Jenny Milchman, and it wasn't about any of those things... Check it out here.

What's yours?

I'm Over At Patti Abbott's, So Join In...

Over here. It's one of my favorite blogs--Patti's always in the know on the best in crime fiction, books or movies, new or forgotten.

It's like my favorite local pub. You know, virtually anyway.

So check it out, find out how Linc came about, comment, stay awhile.

Book Launch Realizations, And Announcing The Double Vision Book Tour

Three things I realized as I worked on launch events (since, you know, I have to market this new book and everything):

Realization #1: I'm a little homeless.

Well, not in the literal sense--I live quite comfortably (see the current Casa Bradley on the left). But given that my love wears combat boots, home is pretty much where ever he's assigned. Right now, that's the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

But when I hear fellow debut authors talk about their launch parties in home towns with dozens of friends attending, I have to scratch my head, feeling lost. Truth is, I have friends all over the world. Colorado, North Dakota, California, Holland, France, England, India--you get the idea. So no home town as such. And most everyone's too far away to have a party. I had fun in Birmingham, but still...

The world is my home town. Strange but true.

Realization #2: I really hate talking about myself.

I love Double Vision, and I'm really excited people get to read Linc's story now. I'm proud of this book. But there are only so many times you can talk about it to promote the book. Buy the book, please.

See? Nuf said.

I'd rather talk about someone else.

Realization #3: Book tours are expensive.

Even though the world is my home town, I don't have the budget to tour or host a launch party everywhere. Hence the virtual cake last week. But I'd really like to do a book tour.

Solution: A virtual book tour. Instead of going myself, I thought I would send Linc, since he's a cool dude between missions (hopefully, he'll stay out of trouble this way, too...).

He's going on a tour around the States (since the world is a wee bit ambitious), visiting my favorite book stores along the way. Seattle Mystery Bookshop, Tattered Cover, Hooray for Books!, Little Shop of Stories--and many others. Linc will get the scoop on what's happening at each of these bookstores and what to do for fun in their city or town, and we'll talk gadgets too.

It'll be fun, so I hope you'll tune in! Linc's tour kicks off tomorrow...

And here's a Monday Music song, apropos:

How A Great Editor Makes A Better Writer (my post over at ITW's The Thrill Begins)

Every writer needs an editor. Me, I need an editor more than most... 

Over at ITW's The Thrill Begins, I talk about how working with editors has made me a better writer--or at least has improved me some.

Come say hi!