Recommending to Fans

 

Reading:  Do you recommend books to your fans? Do you recommend books like yours, or books you enjoy? Have you noticed your book tastes changing during quarantine?

From Frank

Do you recommend books to your fans? Absolutely! Sometimes it is the result of a reader asking about other books like mine, but most of the time it is something I do without prompting. This happens most frequently in social media.

I'm not great at SM. There are some masters out there that I really admire, who initiate things with great observations. JJ Hensley is one. Jim Thomsen is another. Asa Maria Bradley is a rock star in my opinion, finding that perfect balance between self-promotion, life sharing, and promoting others in an interesting and entertaining way.

Me, I mostly counterpunch. That's a fancy way to say I'm not half bad at answering those compelling questions others put out or commenting on their brilliant post. But most of my own posts in social media are centered around writing news about myself. I have always seen the medium as a way to keep up with friends on a personal level and to make readers aware of my work on a professional one. This is most certainly a weak point in my public persona, and if we were to rate all of the 7 Criminal Minds bloggers on this skill, I'd likely come in last.

But I do use my social media space to recommend other books, too.

Do you recommend books like yours, or books you enjoy? Whether or not it is a book like mine or one I like is usually context-specific, and tailored to the intended recipient. It is a joy to be able to trumpet a friend's book or a classic that I love.

Have you noticed your book tastes changing during quarantine? Not a bit.

To be honest, "quarantine" hasn't been a huge lifestyle change for me. I am retired from law enforcement and writing full time. My days before Covid-19 were spent at home at the keyboard. That hasn't changed. Of course, I've dealt with the same limitations everyone else has - going out to restaurants or movies, traveling to see family, that sort of thing - but my day-to-day hasn't really changed much. My wife is a teacher, so she's home during the summer, and that's how it has felt since March. That's really the only substantial day-to-day difference - I used to have the house to myself all day and now I don't.

Can't complain, to be honest. As housemates go, Kristi is A-Okay.

The quarantine period has actually been a rather prolific one for me, as the below self-promotion will attest...

So... how about that blatant self-promotion?

Two to talk about! 

First up, my sixth River City novel, Place of Wrath of Tears, is out now. 

What's this one about? Well, it takes place in 2001 and...

It is the nightmare of every community – a school shooting.

When a disturbed teenager masterminds this terrible event, everyone in River City is plunged into the darkness that surrounds it. The students and teachers try to survive, and the men and women of RCPD try to save them. But when things go horribly wrong, everyone seems to be looking elsewhere for someone to blame.

Officer Katie MacLeod is among many who discover that the nightmare doesn’t end when the shooting stops.

Second, we're less than a month away from the third book in the Charlie-316 arc, Badge Heavy (out 9/14). I write this series, published by Down and Out Books with Colin Conway, and we are racing toward the finale in Code Four (November 2020).

Whereas the previous entry, Never the Crime, focused on some higher level city politics, Badge Heavy drops down to focus largely on the squad level. It follows the Anti-Crime Team as it runs and guns, trying to crush crime in Spokane. However, everyone on the team and behind the scenes has an agenda, and that leads to an explosive ending...

Badge Heavy is available for pre-order now.