Last week my second novel, Whispers in the Mist, landed in bookstores. It launched! Yay! I love the word "launch" to describe publication day for novels. It's a word that begs for a little fanfare, doesn't it? I always picture a rocket with mega-tons of potential energy stored up inside it, ready to ignite and achieve lift off.
Well, we've got lift off! It's always exciting, if a little hectic. There's a ton to do to help prepare books to meet the world -- social media, book events, giveaways, and launch parties, just to name a few tasks.
What was funny about my launch prep was that I realized I didn't know how to describe WHISPERS in a succinct yet enticing way. Yeeks! Somehow, I'd forgotten to think about that. You'd think it would be easy, but it's not. In part, because my head is inside the next novel I'm writing, and, in part because coming up with succinct yet enticing three-sentence synopses is an art form I haven't mastered yet.
Whisper in the Mist is about the search for a mysterious man that the Garda (Irish police) call "Grey Man," who appears to be connected to a series of deaths, past and present. When a brother and his mute sister arrive in Lisfenora village to hunt down their mother's killer, Detective Sergeant Ahern finds himself helping them with tragic results. The investigation turns personal for him in ways that he could never have imagined, and Grey Man becomes more elusive the closer Danny gets to the truth.
How does that sound? Pretty good?
I always end up mentioning other aspects of the story, like the French Mastiff named Bijou who plays a small but heroic role in the outcome, like the teenage boy who dies in DS Ahern's arms, like the phantom graffiti artist who leaves cryptic messages around the village.
You can read more about Whispers in the Mist on my website.
Here are a few pictures from my launch party last Friday night. As fitting for a novel set in Ireland, I held the party at O'Connor's Pub in Portland, OR.
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