Tuesday, December 13, 2011

In which I plug my Christmas stories . . .

Did I mention that my editor asked me why I don't write a "winter" Booktown Mystery?  Because I don't live in New Hampshire.  I can't knowledgeably write about winter in a state where I've I've never been during that season.  I mean, I could fake it, but from what I hear, southern NH doesn't get half the snow we get here in Western New York.  (And Tricia doesn't live near the mountains, so she isn't going skiing any time soon.)

Okay, so I'm writing about ALMOST winter in New Hampshire by setting the 7th book in November.  Of course, they probably will schedule it for summer.  My friend Ellery Adams is lamenting the fact that her latest book, THE LAST WORD (which is wonderful, by the way), set at the beach (hence, a beach read), has just come out in December.  Go figure!  What were the schedulers thinking?

But I HAVE written two SHORT STORIES (and let me be clear that they are SHORT STORIES, NOT NOVELS -- because some readers have given me terrible Amazon reviews because they DIDN'T READ THE PRODUCT DESCRIPTION and were disappointed that they got a SHORT STORY instead of a novel.  Again I repeat, Go Figure!) that are set at Christmastime.


We're So Sorry Uncle Albert is about a family that finds their stingy Uncle Albert, who's been mooching off of the family for years, is actually quite wealthy.  Naturally the family isn't all that happy and decide that Uncle Albert has overstayed his worldly welcome.  And they plot to get rid of him.  It's a jolly holiday all right!  It's only available as an e book.  You can find it at these links.



Bah! Humbug is a different kettle of fish.  It's a Jeff Resnick short that immediately follows the novel CHEATED BY DEATH (as in the very next day).  Jeff and Maggie have Christmas dinner with her family, but Jeff isn't all that welcome at the dinner table, and even Maggie is puzzled as to why.  If readers go on to the 4th book in the series (and I sure as heck hope they do), this story sets up one of the subplots.  You can find it at these links.

Okay, and now for a question.  Do you think readers would rather buy ALL my short stories in one ebook collection, even the romancy ones, for a discounted price, or wait until I have more mystery-oriented short stories and then do an anthology?  (And that could take a while because I don't crank out short stories very quickly.  When The Spirit Moves You, my latest (Jeff Resnick) short story,  took me over a year to write.)  I'd be very interested to know what you think.

And if you do buy/read the above-listed stories, and like them, I hope you'll think about writing a review.  I'd sure like to see the stories judged for what they ARE and NOT what they AREN'T.

Thanks!
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2 comments:

  1. I rarely read anthologies and when I do, it's for a particular author and that's the only story I'll read.

    If you have a collection of related short stories - either same theme or characters - that I'll read.

    I would buy your mystery-oriented short stories.

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  2. I'm kind of like Dru. I don't (typically) LIKE short stories. Mainly because if I like the character(s) in the short story, I feel kind of cheated when I can't enjoy them over the length of a full novel. (OK, so I'm weird. That's already been established.) HowEVER, that having been said, I'm not everyone! (And aren't you glad of that!) To continue, there are lots of people who love short stories. Why can't you put together an ebook of ALL your short stories, even the romance ones, and sell it at a marginal price and then (when you have enough mystery short stories) put THEM out as another ebook, even if some of the mystery shorts have already appeared in the original anthology?? F'heaven's sake, OTHER authors do that all the time! People can't grumble TOO much if they're only paying .99 cents or 1.49 for these ebooks! Esp. if you have (in the mystery anthology) a couple of NEW stories, maybe one set in each of your series' worlds! (Also helps introduce those characters to the people you fear don't know all your pseudonyms.) Shoot, add in a couple of short-short stories set from Miss Marple's viewpoint and/or any other pets you have now or in the future in your books, and you're GOLD!! ;-)

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