So, I have a new book coming out in May, my first in quite awhile, and I totally want people to read it... But how do I get anyone interested? I have a handful of fans, mostly from having written a bunch of zombie books in the mid-90s, but this novel (it's called The Summer Man, and you can pre-order it right this very second from Amazon! See how cleverly I slipped that in?) has no zombies. The Resident Evil books were, like, survival horror, and this book is slower, big on character development, creepy, thriller-ish... There are some excellent murders in it, but no zombies. No automatic weapons or exploding heads. No Star Trek characters or Aliens, either, which is mostly what else I'm known for.

So here I sit, trying to figure out what to say to get people to read my book. My kids are chattering randomly at me, Spongebob's on the TV, I have a hectic, rotten work schedule coming up this week which I'm depressed about... It's Sunday late afternoon and I'm still wearing my robe (which totally needs washing; it has developed a smell) and I'm at a loss. How do I convince you to buy Summer Man? I would like money from sales, obviously--contrary to popular belief, many writers don't make much $$, and I'm no exception--but WAY more importantly, I'm proud of the book and I want people to read it and like it. I want to know what people think of the characters. I want the story to be admired, which is crazy-arrogant, but there it is. I've been writing for twenty years, and while I'm not the greatest (I read Joe Hill or Neil Gaiman and my pretensions are shot all to hell), I'm pretty good. I think. I want to know what readers think.

My agent and the book team at Amazon seem to think I should Tweet and blog and work my web presence, in order to create interest. I don't have the salesman gene, though... All I can think of is to be honest. Taste in fiction is subjective, so my style/plot may not be your cup of tea, but I think Summer Man is a neat story. It was neater before I had to cut it for length, but it's still neat, and I want to share it.

Anyway, that's my pitch. Buy it or borrow it, but please read it and post a review somewhere. I hope to have a web site someday soon, maybe with a message board. The book will be out in early May. If it's as good as I think it is (as I hope it is, as I meant it to be), it will do well. If it does well enough, I'll be able to cut back on my day job hours and write more. If not... Well, I'll still write more, but I'll likely publish a lot less often. Either way, I'd appreciate an opinion. Oh, by the way, the picture of me on Goodreads, the earnest-looking girl signing a book? That's not me. She's cute, but I have no idea who she is.

Thank you for reading. Peace, yo.