My Commitment to YOU
Between my hardcovers released by Thomas Dunne, the continuing Antarktos Saga, the Jeremy Bishop books and the ever expanding Jack Sigler/Chess Team series, I have promised fans and readers a large number of books to be released on a yearly basis. 2012 is no exception as I prepare to release CALLSIGN: KING – BLACKOUT, SECONDWORLD, THE LAST HUNTER – LAMENT, THE RAVEN, RAGNAROK and THE LAST HUNTER – ONSLAUGHT, in that order.
It's a crazy schedule, but I don't like keeping my fans waiting, especially for series books like THE LAST HUNTER. When there isn't a large publisher involved, laying out a book-a-year schedule, why wait? After all, it's YOU who spends your hard-earned money on my books. It's YOU who pays my bills. It's YOU who spreads the word about my books. Without YOU, my reader, I would be unemployed.
Of course, maybe I'm just saying this to make readers like me more. Could be a subtle manipulation designed to have readers buy more books and introduce my novels to friends. After all, there's no tangible proof that I am truly committed to my readers.
Well, that's not entirely true. Granted, you'll have to take my word on this, but if I were going to conjure up something for personal gain, this wouldn't be it. Plus, I'm an honest guy. Ask anyone who knows me (except for my brothers—they have memories of Monopoly insider trading and real estate scams).
So, what is this proof of my commitment to you? Twice in the past two years I have been offered a large sum of money—double any advance I have ever received—to ghost write a book for someone far more famous than me. I can't give details for confidentiality reasons, but the projects were cool and the money really good. My answer to both offers was easy to make: NO.
Err, what? No? Why would I turn down easy money?
Here's the deal: both projects would have also required me to delay the release of my books. Most of my books are self-published. Rearranging the schedule is a simple thing. And money certainly wasn't an issue. So what was the deciding factor? YOU. The reader. Accepting the latest offer would have pushed THE LAST HUNTER – LAMENT to the end of the year. THE RAVEN and THE LAST HUNTER – ONSLAUGHT would have been delayed until sometime in 2013! Had I also accepted the first ghost writing offer, these books wouldn't be out until 2014! If you're a fan, I think you'll agree with me when I thrust an index finger skyward and declare, "Unacceptable!" My long term commitment is to YOU, and a quick payday isn't enough to change that. We're in this together, for the long haul, and I thought you might like to know that the new, attractive sugar-mama failed to woo me. Twice.
So here's my belated Valentine's Day message to my readers: 
