I've been holding back some fun news that I can finally share. I've felt like a canned biscuit waiting for someone to pull back the tab. Last night, I signed a three-book deal with my amazing and supportive publisher, Lake Union, and I wanted to tell you a little about what you can expect from me in the coming years. I think you'll want to keep reading…
An Echo in Time, my story set in England and what I think is my best yet, will hit shelves next August. In 2025, you're gonna get two books from me, both February and August! Then back to regularly scheduled programming with the third book in my contract publishing in August of 2026.
Though my agent doesn't want me to share the titles, I can give you a few details. As you'll see, I have the best publisher in the world; they are completely behind me stretching myself into new territory and quenching my creative thirst.
Firstly, in both my newsletter and social media channels, I've mentioned my method-writing. I have now officially become Detective Quentin Jones, as depicted in the photo below. He is who my wife is married to for the next few months.
Who the heck is Q? Well, let me tell you a tale that may well blow your mind like it did mine. You might have read
An Unfinished Story, which is about a widow who asks a washed-up writer to finish her deceased husband's book. On release day for that book in 2020, I hosted a party in Pass-a-Grille, Florida, where I was living at the time. A woman named Leigh approached me and said, “You won't believe this, but I have an unfinished story from my mother, Peggy, that I'm considering tackling.” We walked on the beach later that week and chatted, and I gave her some tips on writing and publishing.
Fast-forward to a few months ago, and Leigh popped back into my life. She asked if I'd take a look at her mother's work and at least consider finishing it. I acquiesced, thinking I'd read a few pages and then offer a polite no. Considering the serendipity, I had to give it a shot. But I had no interest in writing someone else's story. It's just not my bag. Or is it?
I was at our little island cottage, and I sat down on the porch to give it a go. The next thing I knew, I'd finished every word she'd written. I tore through it, I tell you! But it stops right in the middle of a chapter, leaving the reader begging for more. It's about 45k words long and takes us maybe halfway through the story of nine absolutely fascinating characters, including Detective Jones. To give you an idea, my books are generally about 115k words.
You can see a wonderful picture of Peggy Shainberg below. Is she not the coolest woman ever? Having been a journalist/writer all her life, this was her only attempt at long-form fiction. Her story is an Agatha-Christie style, locked-room murder mystery set on an island in 1970 Florida, and it's sensational! I got both Agatha and John D. McDonald vibes while reading. In fact, her sister was who typed out all of McDonald's books.
Her words hit me right in the heart and soul, and I felt a deep connection to Peggy. We share a similar style and sense of humor, and I thought that this might be the only book in the world I'd ever be interested in finishing.
So that will be the first book in this contract, my effort to bring her vision to life, and I think you're going to absolutely adore it. In truth, I was thinking of you the whole time, convinced that if you like my writing, you'll eat this up.
As if it wasn't enough that this story struck me so deeply, I soon discovered a wild connection between our families. Peggy and her husband won a contest on Bride and Groom radio out of Los Angeles in 1948 and were flown out to California and given the wedding of their dreams. Guess what, my grandparents won the same contest in the same year and were also married in LA. Chill bumps for days!
