Hugh Lessig's Blog: Between The Lines

Your Man in Nashville

Bouchercon is biggest gathering of mystery writers and readers you're likely to see. It is held in a different city each year, and 2024 has brought us to Nashville.

There is something special about bonding with other writers. Sharing tips, complaints, stories of success, boosting each other to keep going. Writing tends to be a lonely business, and writers themselves tend to be introverts. Which is why we tend to get along so well.

I'm not up for any annual awards this year - that's another big part of Bouchercon -- but I am pleased that FADEAWAY JOE was nominated by for Best Debut Novel of 2023 by the Strand Music Critics Awards. Who knows what September will bring?

Meanwhile, I'm close to finishing a manuscript for a second, stand-alone novel, and I'm looking for a new crop of beta readers. If any of you are interested in providing feedback -- please ignore the typos -- let me know!

Thanks for playing

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

More than 10,000 people entered my first Goodreads giveaway to win a copy of my debut novel, FADEAWAY JOE. Twenty people came out winners, and I'm in the process of putting books in the mail.

Tip: Office Depot has a great selection of padded envelopes.

To the rest of you, thanks for entering, and I hope you find it in your hearts -- and your wallets -- to pick up a copy of FADEAWAY JOE at some point. It was released in August 2023, and although I prefer independent bookstores, Amazon sometimes drops the price on the Kindle version. I'll try to keep you in the loop.

FADEAWAY JOE tells the story of Joe Pendergast, an aging, small-time criminal who is showing signs of early-onset dementia. He's abandoned by his longtime boss, who he considered a big brother. Now he wants revenge.

Early in his journey, he meets a young homeless woman on the run from labor traffickers. She needs protection. Joe now has a choice. With a clock ticking inside his head, what are his priorities?

My dad passed away after a dementia diagnosis, and I dedicated the book to him. Pop was a Marine in World War II, a truck driver and a star baseball player in high school. It was tough to see the disease take him. Creating Joe Pendergast -- about as different from my dad as night and day -- gave me some distance to write about what was going on inside my own head.

If you do pick up a copy, I hope you like it.

Questions? Comments? Let me have it.

Until next time.