Happy New Year to All!
On the personal side, Michael judged the Western Bison Association show and sale on December 3-5 and had a great time with co-judge Bill Rogers. At the WBA fun auction two autographed advance reading copies of Coming of the Storm brought $1,000 each! How’s that for anticipation? Thanks to everyone who attended the show and sale, and came to support the organization at the fun auction.
Between January 23-25 Kathleen will be judging buffalo at the National Bison Association’s Gold Trophy Show and Sale, which occurs every year at the National Western Stock Show in Denver. We’re honored that she has been chosen as a judge for the National Bison Association’s ultimate competition. Mike will watch from the sidelines and help at the NBA tent by giving public tours of the buffalo pens. If you’re in Denver, do stop by. Anyone in the city can give you directions to the stockyards. Tours run from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.
We’re in the final countdown for the release of Coming of the Storm. This is the first novel in our new Pocket Book series Contact: The Battle for America. So far the reviews from both Booklist and Publisher’s Weekly have been outstanding. Normally we don’t get that worked up over reviews. We work hard to produce novels that feed our long-time fans’ appetite for historical accuracy, great characters, and absorbing story. This time, however, we chose to write in the first person—something we’ve never done before.
Why first person? It’s challenging and sets the Contact novels apart from the People series. Coming of the Storm is told from Black Shell’s perspective. He’s a Chickasaw trader gone in search of the mysterious “bearded sea people” everyone is talking about. Unfortunately for Black Shell, he finds them. It is 1539 and Hernando de Soto’s army has just unloaded in Florida. Things go from very bad to really worse in a hurry. Thankfully, Black Shell has managed to hook up with Pearl Hand, a former slave, who knows something about the invaders. When it comes to classy heroines, Pearl Hand is the sort you want on your side: smart, clever, resourceful, and innovative.
We’re very excited about this project. And Pocket Books has done a bang-up job publishing it. The cover is gorgeous. Coming of the Storm will be available in your local bookstores starting February 10. Amazon may ship earlier. The good folks at Books-A-Million, Borders, Hastings, and Barnes & Noble should have copies out in New Fiction as well as with our other titles on the fiction shelves.
For those of you living in the upper Midwest, you can find autographed copies after February 7 in grocery stores, drug stores, and airports served by News Group. Look for the yellow “Autographed Copy” sticker on the front of the book. Yes, those really are our signatures. Pocket Books is working with the outstanding folks (thanks Marianne and Angie) in Spring Arbor, Michigan, to get us there to sign the copies.
In other news, we have just completed the sequels for both Coming of the Storm and People of the Longhouse. We’re beginning work on the third Contact novel, and on People of the Sky, the next Iroquois book. We have also contracted with Leubbe Books in Germany to write another eco-thriller tentatively titled Carbon Cauldron. The book asks the question, “What happens after we hit the Tipping Point of 450 ppm of atmospheric carbon dioxide?” As with Comes a Green Sky, there is no American publisher yet so you have to read German. Tor/Forge has contracted for another two prehistory novels, tentatively titled People of the Sky and People of the Black Sun. With four books to write our schedules are filled for the next couple of years. Wish us luck and nimble fingers.
Check gear-gear.com for our public appearances. We’ll be on tour from February 7–16 in Florida for the release of Coming of the Storm. See our website for details.
Finally, we want to introduce the latest addition to our family. His name is Jake, a tri-color Shetland sheepdog puppy. As of this writing Jake is five and half months old. He comes from Al Harris’ wonderful Worthingtons’ kennel in Roswell, New Mexico. Along with being an all around great guy, Al raises some of the finest shelties in the country. Jake is a charming, smart, and loving addition to Red Canyon Ranch. While he’s taken on responsibility for ranch security, we’ve noticed at least five Arapaho cows that have sneaked into the creek pasture. Hey, he’s young, right? Look for future updates on Jake’s progress.
That’s about it for now—we’ve got Arapaho beef to chase out of the creek bottom. We wish everyone the best of health, happiness, and joy for 2010.
All the best,
W. Michael and Kathleen O’Neal Gear