Jess Butcher's Blog

September 23, 2014 - SUN DOG Release

Hello again,

Today is the Amazon release date for my latest Mike Bishop title, SUN DOG. A special thanks to author Robert Pobi as he gave me a significant nudge toward producing this third installment in the Mike Bishop-series.

Speaking of Robert, his newest release AMERICAN WOMAN continues to earn rave reviews. AW is not for the feint-of-heart but it is an absolute thrill ride that you won't soon forget.

I'm a lousy blogger still struggling to understand the Goodreads platform. I appreciate the ratings and reviews the Goodreads audience have offered and I look forward to launching SUN DOG here soon.

To promote this latest title, I will be offering free short story titles at Amazon through the end of October. I hope you find time to take a quick look at a few of these 1,200 to 1,500 word short fiction titles.

Thanks again for your interest and comments.

Best regards,

Jess

Robert Pobi - AMERICAN WOMAN

Jess Butcher - SUN DOG

Jess Butcher - Author Website

January 28, 2014

Good afternoon:

I recently stumbled across Robert Pobi’s, Bloodman. Bloodman is a cross-genre work with roots in both Mystery (great characters and story-line) and Horror (you’ll be thinking about this one long after you turn off the lights). I highly recommend this excellent title but be advised, the violence is graphic. As it turns out, Robert Pobi is not just an excellent writer but a nice guy who offered me some words of wisdom at a time when I needed them (which is always!). In any event, I hope you read and enjoy Bloodman . I’ve copied a link to Robert’s website below.

Robert Pobi

As I mentioned in my last update, I’m excited that Paul Fleschner is producing the Audiobook-versions of MULESHOE and Sidewinder Requiem . The Audiobooks will be available this spring.

Paul will be appearing soon in the feature film, The Drunk . Paul and William Tanoos Co-Produce and Direct the film also starring Tom Sizemore. The Drunk will premiere in February.

Paul Fleschner

Beginning February 3rd, MULESHOE will be featured at BookBub.com in a free promotion that will extend through February 7th. I hope you’ll visit BookBub and take advantage of this offer.

BookBub

Thanks again to all of you who have taken the time to post reviews of my work at Amazon.com. I sincerely appreciate your input and thoughtful comments.

Best regards,

Jess
Jess Butcher

December 4, 2013

Good afternoon:

I am pleased to announce that Paul Fleschner will be producing the Audiobook-versions of my Mike Bishop novels, MULESHOE and Sidewinder Requiem . Paul is an experienced actor, filmmaker, and audiobook narrator and I am grateful for his commitment to these projects.

I hope you will visit Paul's website to gain insight into his various endeavors.

Paul Fleschner

It has been interesting to follow the recent release of Silent Night, the new Robert B. Parker Spenser-novel. When Mr. Parker’s passed away in 2010, he left behind a partial manuscript and his long-time friend and literary agent, Helen Brann completed the project.

With Ace Atkins already doing a superlative job of continuing the Spenser-saga, some reviewers have been tough on Ms. Brann and Silent Night. Everyone is entitled to an opinion but we shouldn’t forget that Robert B. Parker himself once completed an unfinished manuscript by Raymond Chandler; that novel Poodle Springs also had its critics. I personally appreciate and enjoy both these titles.

I’ve been re-reading some classic Robert B. Parker-Spenser. This classic genre dialogue is the real deal:

“How much that fancy jacket cost you?” Day-Glo said. At 9:50 in the morning he was already a little glassy-eyed. I was wearing jeans and a leather jacket, and in Tunny’s Grill I felt like Little Lord Fauntleroy.

“Free,” I said. “I took it away from a loudmouth in a barroom.”

Day-Glo’s brow furrowed for a minute while he thought about that. “You think you’re funny?” he said.

“No,” I said, “I think you’re funny. You know where I can find Wilfred Pomeroy, or not?”

“Maybe you want to get your wise city-boy ass stomped.”

“Don’t be a dope,” I said. “You’re half gassed already and you’re fifty pounds out of shape.”

Parker, Robert B. (1991-05-01). Stardust (Spenser) (Kindle Locations 1979-1986). Penguin Group. Kindle Edition.

I hope each of you enjoy a happy and healthy holiday season.

Best regards,

Jess

October 10, 2013

Good morning:

What wonderful news that Canada's Alice Munro has been awarded the Nobel Prize in literature for her body of short story work. Like poetry, short fiction is a tough sell in today's literary marketplace. I'll bet Jack London, Flannery O'Conner, and Hemingway are smiling.

Thanks again to those of you who participated in my Sidewinder Requiem promotion. The reviews and Facebook Likes are most appreciated.

The Kindle-versions of MULESHOE, Sidewinder Requiem, and Final Thoughts are priced at ninety-nine cents this week at Amazon. Thanks in advance for considering a copy.

Best regards and keep scribbling,

Jess

Jess Butcher - Amazon Author Page

Jess Butcher - Author Website

September 25, 2013

Good afternoon:

Just finished Ace Atkins’ Wonderland and I wanted to offer a quick comment about Atkins’ role in continuing the Spenser-saga.

I am a loyal and appreciative Parker fan. When Spenser emerged in the early 70's, Travis McGee was justifiably the genre benchmark, for the most part Elmore Leonard was producing Westerns, and Robert Crais’ Elvis Cole had not yet arrived. For me at least, Robert B. Parker ignited a passion for the hard-boiled genre.

Initially, I approached Ace Atkins' Lullaby with some level of skepticism but I've since become an enthusiastic fan. Obviously, Atkins will continue to explore the existing Spenser themes but I find his approach fresh and interesting. If you give Lullaby and Wonderland a go, I believe you will continue reading the series.

As for my own work, the Goodreads Sidewinder Requiem Giveaway promotion ended on September 22nd and I've forwarded copies to the ten winners. Thanks to each of you that entered the drawing.

Sidewinder Requiem for the Kindle eReader will be listed for free for one-day only during October at Amazon. If you would like to download a free copy, please send me an email address using the Contact-tab at my website Jess Butcher-Author and I'll notify you prior to the scheduled free-promotion date.

At Amazon, two of my Lexington Avenue Express short stories are listed for free promotion these next few days (The Process and The Protector). Please download and enjoy them

Best regards and good luck with your own scribbling,

Jess

The Process

The Protector

September 19, 2013

Hello again:

Just finished Robert Crais' Stalking the Angel. Crais' skills are so sharp. For example:

“You ever notice,” I said to the cat, “that sometimes the bad guys are better people than the good guys?”

Crais, Robert (2011-04-20). Stalking the Angel (Elvis Cole). Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

In a genre blessed with many talented authors, Crais is a contemporary master.

As for my own work, the Goodreads Sidewinder Requiem Giveaway promotion will end on September 22nd. If you have an interest, I hope you will register for a free copy.

Over at Amazon, several Lexington Avenue Express short stories are listed for free promotion during the next ten days or so (The Jongleur and The Magi followed by The Protector and The Process). Please download and enjoy them.

Regards and keep scribbling,

Jess

The Jongleur
The Magi
The Process
The Protector

September 16, 2013

Hello again:

Just finished revisiting John D. MacDonald's The Green Ripper. Utterly amazing that MacDonald's work remains fresh in spite of the passage of three decades.

'When you see the ugliness behind the tears of another person, it makes you take a closer look at your own.'

Macdonald, John D. (2013-01-08). The Green Ripper: A Travis McGee Novel. Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Classic work. If you enjoy the genre and haven't read MacDonald (or haven't read him for a number of years), give yourself a treat and try The Green Ripper. MacDonald's influence on Lee Child will be evident.

As for my own work, several Lexington Avenue Express short stories will be listed for free promotion over the course of the next two weeks or so at Amazon (The Jongleur and The Magi followed by The Protector and The Process). Should you have an interest, I hope you will download and enjoy them.

Regards and keep scribbling,

Jess

The Jongleur

The Magi

The Process

The Protector

September 4, 2013

Hello again from the world's most introverted blogger.

I've listed two of my Lexington Avenue Express short stories for promotion this week at Amazon (Pay-per-View and Remnants). Should you have a few spare moments, I hope you will download and enjoy them.

Regards,

Jess

Pay-per-View

Remnants

August 30, 2013

Good afternoon:

Two of my short stories are free on Kindle for the next few days (Nine Minutes and Flight). If you frequent Amazon Books, I hope you enjoy them.

Thanks and have a nice holiday weekend.

Nine Minutes

August 29, 2013

Good morning:

I'm working on the following short story. I hope you enjoy it.

Thanks,

Jess


Thursday in Tacoma

The Prisoner …
I haven't tasted freedom in nearly three years. This house on Chinook Avenue sags beneath the weight of a half-century of rain-soaked Tacoma winters and I can feel the place melting away around me as I sit, endlessly counting the bars separating me from liberty.

A legion of other victims have come and gone but my suffering continues; she must take special delight in my silent agony. My voice has long-since failed me, destroyed by countless hours of desperate shrieking finally faded to softer cries pleading for release, all greeted by her comma-grin, a lopsided sneer revealing nicotine-stained uppers.

As always, Thursday night marks his arrival. Although she conceals my cell, I sometimes catch a glimpse of his entrance, his eyes flashing, molting away the layers of fatigue, the too many miles driven on an endless highway, the too many dreams buried beneath a numbing diesel-roar.

Hours pass and I hear his cries, not hers. Later he flashes past my narrow portal, toward the front door, always leaving more quickly, with more certainty than he exhibited when he arrived. She is cold; she never joins him at the door in fond farewell. Could it be she cares more for me than this Thursday-night visitor? God, what agony! Sometimes I think I might love my captor … but most times I simply hate myself.

*****
Roy …
This rainy place is the last leg. It's always the same for me; Houston to Fresno with Chiquitas, Fresno to Tacoma with oranges, Tacoma to Philly with apples. I start all over in Philly; my Houston-outbound is margarine in little plastic tubs headed for the Kroger distribution center. I have to doctor my logbook a little, but I make money on this run and spend most Sundays at home. And then there's Tacoma.

She's not like the others. She never sees anyone else on Thursday night, setting this special time aside for us to savor. Though she knows we have something special, she never acknowledges it. I suppose she's been hurt too many times before.

"I'll always love you, Ada," I whisper to her as her head rests on my shoulder. The window air conditioner in her bedroom is summoning the devil with some sort of pulsing, hissing-roar that drowns out my pledge of undying affection. I think she hasn't heard me and decide the moment has passed when she suddenly looms above me.

"You don't love me," she says, her voice flat. Ada's face is close to mine. I can smell her last cigarette, stale, desperate. Her silhouette is strange, zebra-striped, slashed alternately white and black by the street light streaming through the open window blinds behind me.

"I ... could love you, if you'd let me," I say.

"Bullshit," she whispers. I watch as her expression slowly changes, framed in a narrow band of street light painted across thin lips. Her dispassionate smile returns, a show of teeth heralding cynicism. "But I know what you DO love," she says, sliding silently beneath the sheets.

I'm always sad when I leave Tacoma but the regret fades as I get closer to Philly. After sixteen-years and two kids, I suppose my wife knows I'm no damn good. Sometimes I think I might really love Ada … but most times I simply hate myself.

*****
Ada …
I suppose I should get rid of that damn bird. He used to make so much noise I had to cover his cage every time I had company. Then he just stopped singing, or screeching, or whatever it is that birds do. Anyway, I still cover his cage when I have a visitor. I know it seems crazy but somehow I feel he's watching me, judging me.

Thanks to Roy from Philly, Thursdays are a breeze. He drops a trailer-load of oranges at the pulp plant and usually arrives at my place before dark. People around here have gotten used to his rig parked on the street. The kids leave it alone because Roy's a big guy and the truck alarm always brings him running with that heavy, black flashlight he carries in his overnight bag.

Roy's big but he's not really tough. His gut is wobbly and soft from too much TBW; that's what he calls it anyway, time-behind-windshield. Don't get me wrong. Roy is a Godsend. Every day but Thursday I have to work the Great Western truck stop or the corner at Fleischer and 27th just to make enough to buy a rock. These days a smoke is all I have, except for Roy ... and that damn bird.

Each time he visits, Roy tells me he loves me. I know that's bullshit but I suppose I like hearing it. Sometimes when I'm alone, I think I might love Roy, too … but most times I simply hate myself.

Jess Butcher © Copyright 2013