Chris Forman's Blog, page 4

Killer Surf

Killer Surf is out on Kindle and it will be available in paperback in about a month. You can click the link on the side or here for the Kindle.

Ian Wallace's second outing starts with him walking on the beach and tripping over something somewhat soft and large. After he picked himself up he looks at what he tripped over and realized it was a body. His first reaction, vomit. His second, call 911. Worse yet, the body was that of his neighbor Brenda Dexter.

When Detective Jim Halstead tells Ian it was murder, Ian helps him find the killer. Along the way he meets with some quirky people both in his neighborhood and out of it. Meet Ruby, the stripper who lived next door to Brenda, the two batty old women who order merchandise from television, and the man who sits on his porch all day in his bathrobe smoking cigarettes and drinking beer. Ian also visits the seedier side of town in his quest.

I changed the cover as I thought the original one was a but too monochromatic and the blue washed everything out. For my friends in Wilmington you will recognize the location as Johnny Mercer's Pier at Wrightsville Beach.

Here is an excerpt.

Did you ever have one of those times in your life when everything was going just right and you knew something, or someone was going to come along and ruin it? You know the feeling, everything is in balance and harmony and yet that feeling of dread just shows up.

Well, that's how I felt as I was walking along an empty Wrightsville Beach very early one fine Tuesday morning minding my own business and soaking up some rays with the surf washing over my ankles. I had Beethoven's Piano Concerto Number Five, that's The Emperor Waltz written about Napoleon, in my head, well the iPod was putting it there, and this weird feeling that something strange was going to happen started to crowd out the song. I shook it off and looked out at the waves and watched a flock of pelicans flying in formation looking for fish swooping between the waves.

I was so fascinated by the birds that I wasn't paying attention to my footing and I tripped over something slightly soft and large, landing flat on my face in the sand, my kilt flying up over my waist. I pushed myself up from the beach, wiped the sand from my face, and turned to look at what I'd tripped over. That's when I realized what that feeling of dread was about, I'd tripped over a dead body. I got to my knees, turned, and took a closer look and that only made matters worse. You guessed it. I threw up. I couldn't help it. It started as a gag and ended up with my hurling on the body, and on myself.

Encore Magazine

If you haven't seen it yet, I got a nice write-up in Encore Magazine. That's the arts and literature magazine in Wilmington, NC. Tiffanie Gabrielese called me last week and we had a nice conversation. Check it out at http://www.encorepub.com/welcome/?p=8771

Killer Surf tentative cover

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Book signing in Wilmington, NC August 21

For my friends in Wilmington, NC, and anyone who'd like to travel, I will be at Old Books on Front Street on Sunday August 21st at 3:30 in the afternoon for a book signing and reading. So if you have nothing better to do come on down and pay a visit.

I will be wearing a kilt and I promise there will be an absence of haggis. But there will be authentic Scottish music with Craig and possibly some Scottish Ale from Front Street Brewery.

Killer Surf is almost finished.

[image error] I'm at that almost final stage of my new book, Killer Surf. Almost final means that I'm going through and fluffing the pillows and straightening the sheets by filling in a few details and making certain I didn't leave anything hanging. Once this is done I'll give a few editing passes, have some proofs made and have my editors look at it.

In this story Ian Wallace stumbles across the body of a neighbor while on his daily walk on the beach. Ian helps his friend Detective Jim Halstead investigate the murder. Along the way he mets some of his quirky neighbores, explores the seedier side of the Port City and plans a wedding.

The photo to the left will be the background for the cover and I took it at Wrightsville Beach this July.

The book should be available by the end of September in print and on Kindle.

Book signing in Wilmington, NC. July 14

If you are in Wilmington, NC this Thursday, and you are bored out of your mind, come on down to Old Books on Front Street and I'll be there doing a reading of Killer Cuisine. The time is 7:00 PM. Books will be available for purchase of course.
If you can't make that one I'll be back on Sunday August 21st at 3:30 for more of the same.
Oh, and I'll be wearing a kilt both times.

Book signing in Walden. June 23

I'll be at the Josephine-Louise Public Library in Walden, NY on June 23 for the New York book launch of Killer Cuisine from 7-9 PM. There will be refreshments served and I will be wearing my kilt so it should be good for a laugh. Stop by if you have nothing else going on. The book will be available for $10.00, autographed. That's three dollars off the list price.

New series, new book

My new book, the first in the Port City Mystery series, is about to be released. This new series features Ian Porthos Wallace, a kilt wearing food photographer and writer from Port City (Wilmington) North Carolina who gets involved in solving a murder to help out a friend who is wrongly accused of killing his boss, a famous French Chef.
There is mystery involved as Ian tries to find the killer. There is romance involved as Ian reconnects with Athena, his on again, off again girlfriend. There is suspense involved in the ending. And there is humor involved as he meets some quirky people along the way. Will he solve the mystery and get the girl? Read and find out.
I'll update the post as soon as sales info is available.

Good Customer Service Lives On

I had two very good experiences recently, and one a few months ago with companies that do their jobs right and care about their customers.
The first was over the summer when the Cuisinart coffee maker that our daughter had given us took on a mind of its own and started to turn on spontaneously. I called them and described the problem. The nice man on the other end said that they would ship me a new one immediately. All they asked was that I send the defective unit to their repair center to determine the problem. Two days later a new coffee maker was on my porch. The new one is working perfectly and I'd recommend Cuisinart to anyone.
Monday I called Amazon as I was having problems with my Kindle freezing and restarting. I was told that the cause was the leather case I'd bought was causing a short. The nice girl, Rachel I believe her name was, told me to dispose of the case and that she'd credit my account. She also gave me a twenty-five dollar gift credit so I could order the lighted cover which was not causing problems. Today I checked my account and the full amount had been credited. Way to go Amazon, you made me an even more loyal customer.
Today I had new tires put on the Mustang. I called a local place, Rapid Tire Service in Newburgh and told them what I wanted, four Perelli P4. The girl gave me a price and said she'd have them the next day and that she'd call as soon as they got off the truck. She called me at one, I was there by one-thirty, and was out by one-fifty. Fast courteous service at a good price. If you live in the area, buy your tires there. They even rotate them every six-thousand miles at no charge. My only complaint is that I haven't been buying from them all along instead of those mega-marts. They've made me a loyal customer.

Lower Kindle prices

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For all of you who got a shiny new Kindle for Christmas, I've lowered the prices of all four of my books to a measly three dollars each for the next month. That's right, you can download all four of the Maria Hart Mysteries for a paltry twelve dollars which is less than the cost of one paperback. Buy them and help my retirement fund. Just click on the titles below and you can order.
Dead Men Don't JogEliminating the MiddlemanFive Fingered FirebugsChalk Dust and Chalk Outlines