Manning Wolfe's Blog, page 13

Round-Ups from Across the Web

Hello Readers:

As you know I’ve been traveling since January and it’s been fun promoting the fabulous bookstores that are allowing me and Dollar Signs to hang out with them.

I’m also thankful to have been featured by some great publications across the web this last month, so I’d like to share a quick round-up with you!

Deborah Crombie over at Jungle Red Writers asks me about Hip Austin and I respond by telling her about some of the restaurants featured in Dollar Signs: Uchi, Barley Swine, and Franklins BBQ!

I had the chance to talk about the hardest part of writing Dollar Signs and what superhero I would choose to be on Books With Wine and Chocolate! Hint: it’s a cross between Rosie the Riveter and Wonder Woman.

Over at Austin Mystery Writers, I shared with VP Chandler a few of my favorite authors, as well as what’s in store for the second book in the series!

On Fiction Zeal, I talked about the creation of one of my favorite characters in Dollar Signs.

Happy Reading,

Manning

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Spring Travels!

Whew! I’ve been a busy author since you last heard from me. It’s great fun for Bill and I that our new normal, at least for the next couple of weeks, is traveling and spending our days on the road meeting readers and signing books.

Our home-base is Austin and we’ve been launching from there every couple of days to hit the road for another signing. We’ve been so grateful to have been welcomed by many warm faces in every city we’ve visited!

One of our favorite places where we spent time last week was jazzy New Orleans. It was a whirlwind of beignets, crawfish, books, and walking through the beautiful Garden District where we stayed.

We started our day with breakfast at Café Du Monde – one of my favorite New Orleans spots with beignets to die for!

Later,we headed to Bourbon street for lunch. You can’t leave New Orleans without having an Oyster PoBoy!

We came and went from the Garden District home of historic mansions and beautiful flowers!

We signed books at the Garden District Bookstore, a historic home for a large collection of books. Dollar Signs bling was displayed by these lovely ladies!

Thanks for sticking on this journey with me!

Please remember that reviews are an authors best friend. If you have time, please post one on Amazon or Goodreads.

Happy Reading,

Manning

Dollar Signs: Texas Lady Lawyer vs Boots King
Now Available From Amazon and Wherever Books Are Sold!

Buy Here!

BOY TOY OF THE MONTH

Brad Pitt

As you all know, Merit dates younger men in the Texas Lady Lawyer Series. I’ll be sending you a little eye candy each month.

A Spooky plot and a mysterious wine with bold berry flavors make this book and wine a perfect pairing.

Book: Between the Living and the Dead: A Dan Rhodes Mystery by Bill Crider

Wine: Messina Hof Tempranillo

The post Spring Travels! appeared first on Manning Wolfe.

Greetings from Fabulous Louisiana!

Hi Friends,

This morning I find myself in beautiful Lake Charles, Louisiana for a book signing this afternoon as part of the Kroger Author Program. My time on the road with Bill has been busy, exciting, relaxing, and such a dream come true. I’ve done so much work to get to this point and now that Dollar Signs is finally out and I get to share it with all of you, all the hard work is paying off! 

For anyone who came to our signing at Murder by the Book on Saturday, thank for partying with us - we had a great time! Even Bill Crider, one of my favorite authors, showed up to give his support!

Yes, I’ll admit I was a little starstruck!

For those of you who caught us at the Garden District Book Store in New Orleans, Louisiana, thank you for such a strong feeling of southern hospitality!  There was time for some fun in the Crescent City, including beignets and chicory coffee at Cafe du Monde and a walk through the Garden District.

I had the low cal version - right!

The Camellia were in full bloom!

I’ve been pinning away on Pinterest during our drive time and posting on Instagram as well. We’ll be sad to leave but excited to head up to Full Circle Bookstore in Oklahoma City, OK to sign next week. More on that and our St. Patrick’s Day party in Tulsa, Oklahoma soon.

Until then, Happy Reading,

Manning

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On the Road Again!

Hi y'all!

Can you believe we've made it to March already? I'm just glad I survived another Texas winter; that one day we had of 39 degrees really concerned me.

I've had a few requests from you, my readers, to share more about where this new book is taking me. Over the next month, Bill and I will be traveling the country signing at our favorite places and spending time with so many of our favorite people. I don't want anyone to feel left out, so through this blog I'll be bringing you along on the journey as well!

This week alone our travels will take us from San Antonio to Houston, Texas, then over to New Orleans and Lake Charles, Louisiana. If you find yourself in any of these places, check out the books page on my website to see where and when I'll be signing.

While on the road, we're hoping to make stops at as many of our favorite restaurants and shops as possible. You can bet you'll find us at The Twig, Murder By the Book, and Garden District Book Store. We’re hoping to have some great meals at Bohanon, Ninfa’s, and Casamentos Oysters. If you want to follow along with what we're doing, hop on over to Facebook or Instagram where I'll be sharing fun pictures of our adventures.

Amidst all the signings and fun comes a great deal of travel time. Lucky for me because I’m editing the second Texas Lady Lawyer book!

So, friends, here's to exploring a couple of my favorite cities, having some fun with Bill, and meeting more of you, my faithful readers!

Happy Reading,

Manning

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Case Study: Southwest Royalties v. Glenn Hegar, Comptroller of Public Accounts – Texas

Introduction: Texas faces possible Billions in tax refunds in an oil driller’s lawsuit, as energy companies are hoping for a huge windfall from the Texas Supreme Court. The state’s highest civil court last week agreed to hear a case hinging on whether metal pipes, tubing and other equipment used in oil and gas production should be exempt from sales taxes. Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar is sounding the alarm that a ruling favoring the industry could force the state to issue tax refunds of as much as $4.4 billion. Oral arguments are scheduled for March 8, 2016.

 

Background: Southwest Royalties, a subsidiary of Midland based Clayton Williams Energy, sued the state in 2009, just before the drilling boom, for refunds on purchases dating back to 1997. Susan McCombs, Hegar's predecessor, rejected the claim. Over the years, the case has wound its way through the court system to the Supreme Court.

 

Issue: Texas Supreme Court justices are set to weigh the company’s appeal of a lower court’s ruling amid concerns that a prolonged drilling slowdown might hurt Texas’ bottom line. The oral arguments will require the justices to parse the language of a sales tax exemption for goods and services used in the “actual manufacturing, processing, or fabrication of tangible personal property,” and debate how that description relates to the mechanics of petroleum extraction.

The case hinges on whether certain extraction equipment, such as casing, pipes, tubing and pumps, fits the definition cited in the exemption. Southwest Royalties says it does. The equipment, it argues, “processes” West Texas crude by separating it into marketable oil and gas. The Texas Oil and Gas Association backs the position.

The state counters that the equipment does not fit the exemption's definition since underground minerals are not “tangible personal property.” They assert that natural pressure and temperature changes, not the equipment itself, transforms crude as it rises to the surface.

Texas also warns that granting the exemption would spread far beyond the Southwest Royalties case and “impose a severe financial penalty on Texas taxpayers” amounting to $4.4 billion in 2017, and $500 million each year after that as companies around the state seek to cash in, according to estimates compiled in 2012. Texas would stand to lose up to $1.5 billion a year, and $6 billion in initial refunds, if it loses a separate legal challenge involving the franchise tax levied on businesses, Hegar warned.

 

Appeals Court:  An appeals court in Travis County upheld the lower court’s written decision, backing the comptroller’s interpretation due to “a lack of clarity” in the way lawmakers wrote the exemption. Hegar cited those earlier rulings in expressing confidence that Texas would ultimately prevail.

 

Collateral law:  In April, Texas' 3rd Court of Appeals sided with AMC movie theatres in a parallel case by widening the definition of "tangible personal property" under the state's tax code to include more of the theater chain's expenses. AMC argued that screening movies fits under the “perceptible to the senses” definition in the code, meaning it should be able to use its costs for theater space to offset revenue when calculating taxes. Hegar fears that most any product could fit that definition, leading to a flood of refunds. The state is asking the appeals court to reconsider the AMC decision, and will then appeal to the Supreme Court if necessary.

 

Bottom Line:  “It is hardly likely that the Legislature intended such an expansive and costly interpretation of the manufacturing exemption,” Texas’ attorneys say. Southwest Royalties disagrees, and says the financial impact has no bearing on who has correctly interpreted the policy. Ideally, judges decide such cases only on their merits, but when a judge is informed that the comptroller thinks that the ramification of these things is huge, they may approach them much more cautiously.

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Hello Readers and Welcome to Pub Day!

It’s thrilling to finally reach publication day and see Dollar Signs: Texas Lady Lawyer vs Boots King on the shelves of my favorite bookstores and on Amazon! Thank you all for your support.

CONTEST:

PRIZE for following the antics of the Texas Lady Lawyer Gang is a signed copy of Dollars Signs: Texas Lady Lawyer vs Boots King, a mini billboard like the one in the picture above and plenty of Dollar Signs and Texas swag.

You can swap out the sign and add pictures of your family, your pets, or your favorite landscape. Its sturdy metal frame will last a lifetime.

To enter, simply order Dollar Signs on Amazon or purchase it in your local bookstore, and send a copy of the receipt to: media@starpathbooks.com. Since most of you have already pre-ordered the book, just pull out your receipt and send.

Put CONTEST in the subject line. Deadline is the last day of February – the 29th.

As you cruise around this newsletter, you may wonder why there is a billboard, a boy toy, and a wine pairing.  The first person to answer all three of these questions and email their response to media@starpathbooks.com will receive an additional entry in the CONTEST.  Hint: Merit Bridges, the attorney in Dollar Signs, really enjoys her vices while she’s holding off the bad guys!

I’m looking forward to hearing from you through my website, and on Facebook and Twitter about Merit, Betty, Ag and your favorite Dollar Signs characters.

Happy Reading,

Manning

Dollar Signs: Texas Lady Lawyer vs Boots King
Now Available From Amazon and Wherever Books Are Sold!

Buy Here!

BOY TOY OF THE MONTH

Josh Duhamel

As you all know, Merit dates younger men in the Texas Lady Lawyer Series. I’ll be sending you a little eye candy each month.

Enjoy the smoky texture of a Conundrum Red Table Wine with Mark Pryor's Hollow Man - Makes for a mysterious blend!

The post Hello Readers and Welcome to Pub Day! appeared first on Manning Wolfe.

Oil Slump Prompts Rise of Zombie Energy Companies!

Our Guest Post today is by Suzanne Edwards, staff writer for the Houston Business Journal.  The following article was originally published on January 19, 2016. It speaks to the use of tax advantages to make lemonade out of lemons in the current oil industry by turning its NOL into an advantage for investors.

As the article originally appeared:

The continuing oil slump has given rise to a new kind of begraggled energy company – the “zombie energy company,” a term employed by Scott Gaille, fomer general counsel of Houston-based ZaZa Energy Corp. who left to start his own law firm.

A zombie company refers to a public company that’s still trading, hence it being half alive, but doesn’t have enough money to invest in growth or pay off debts. So it exists, but only marginally. “It’s basically what happed to ZaZa,” Gaille said (sic).

But even as shells of their former selves, these zombie companies still retain a certain appeal to investors. When companies have a substantial net operating loss (NOL), lenders can’t foreclose on the loss. And that NOL status can be a strategic advantage from a tax perspective.

If the NOL is large enough, investors might have an incentive to take the company through a restructuring, convert its debt to equity and use the copropration for future acquisitions and developments, said Gaille.

Whether or not ZaZa Energy can turn its NOL status into gold remains to be seen, but another Houston company has already made significant headway on the back of its net operating loss: Par Pacific Holdsing Inc. (NYSEMKT: PARR).

Par Pacific CEO William Pate said the company would likely keep its acquisitions within the U.S. because that’s where its tax assets – or NOL – was advantageous.

Par officially reversed its operating losses in the first quarter of 2015 when it reported a net income of $462,000, up from the $39.5 million net loss the company reported for the third quarter of 2014.  But both Pate and Joseph Israel, the CO of Par’s subsidiary Par Petroleum, told the Houston Business Journal that the company’s prior net operating loss tax advantage was substantial in resetting the company’s trajectory.

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Announcing the 2016 “Boots on the Ground Book Tour”

Happy New Year Dear Readers!

As you’ve probably seen on Facebook and Twitter, Bill and I are spending January in beautiful Port Aransas, Texas. The picture above is the view of the Gulf Coast from my favorite reading chair. I’ve been editing the second Texas Lady Lawyer novel while preparing for the launch and book tour for Dollar Signs: Texas Lady Lawyer vs Boots King.

It’s no secret that I love to travel, and I also enjoy one on one conversations the most. With that in mind, I have a lot planned for this year and intend to meet as many of you in person as I can during the 2016 Boots on the Ground Book Tour.

I’m starting on January 23, 2016, with a Launch Party for friends here in Port Aransas. I’ll also be visiting readers in nearby Rockport and Portland. If you are in the area, please come by for a free glass of wine on Merit and me!

After that, it’s back to Austin and full speed ahead to the official book launch on February 18, 2016 – National Drink Wine Day! Please check my website and this newsletter for readings and signings in your area. There will be contests, lots of giveaways, and free “stuff” all year.

Thanks to each one of you for your support. I can’t wait to shake your hand or give you a hug and thank you in person!

Happy Reading,

Manning

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Top Ten Oil And Gas Production Counties In Texas.

Just how much has oil and gas production dropped off in the last year? Texas Oil and Gas Production Stats from 2014 to 2015 obviously show a decrease in production, but how much?  And, what counties are still the top producers?

According to the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC), last month the following production was reported by operators from Texas oil and gas wells:

74,686,442 barrels of crude oil, and

636,226,447 MCF (thousand cubic feet) of total gas.

These figures are compared to last year’s production for the same time period, which was:

68,675,991 barrels of crude oil preliminarily, updated to a current figure of 86,735,398 barrels, and

610,601,042 Mcf of total gas preliminarily, updated to a current figure of 742,625,520 Mcf.

With oil and gas production down as indicated above, the following counties are ranked the top ten in crude oil production:

Karnes
La Salle
Dewitt
Midland
Martin
Upland
McMullen
Andrews
Reeves
Gonzales

During the same period of time, the following counties ranked as the top ten in gas production:

Webb
Tarrant
Panola
Dimmit
Johnson
Karnes
Wise
DeWitt
Denton
La Salle

For additional oil and gas production statistics, visit the RRC’s website.

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Happy Holidays Dear Readers!

It’s been an exciting 2015! As those of you who read my blog know, Bill & I have been traveling a lot this year. I’ve also been writing and preparing to publish my first Texas Lady Lawyer novel, Dollar Signs, on February 18, 2016 – National Drink Wine Day.

My favorite trip of the year was a month on a houseboat in San Francisco Bay in October. If you missed the photo journals, you can still check them out on my blog page. We also really enjoyed trips to Santa Fe and Port Aransas. The most moving travel moment of the year was when we drove up to the majestic El Capitan in Yosemite National Forrest. I still can’t find the words to describe how amazing that was. I’ll never forget seeing it for as long as I live!

I have a lot planned for 2016 and will be telling you all about it in the January newsletter. For now, as the holidays close in around us, I hope that we all find the spirit of peace in our hearts. Merit & I raise a glass to you, your health, your family, and your ever unfolding journey through this adventure we call life. Happy Holidays!

And as always, Happy Reading,

Manning

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