It has been awhile since I touched basis with all of you. Hope the new year is getting off to a good start. It has been tough selling books the last four months since 9-11 but I’ve noticed here the past two or three weeks a vast turnaround in the market. Maybe the worst is over.

As you may know in Second Chair Harry Hertel was a real live person who bought his character at the Bouchercon Mystery Convention in Philadelphia. Detective Harold "Bingo" Besch in the new Stan Turner Mystery, Ca$h Call, is also a real live person. He bought the character at the Bouchercon auction two years ago in Denver. Now it's time to select a winner in the Stan Turner Mystery Character Contest which we have been conducting at my website. Each of you are eligible to win. Since some of you may not want to be a character in Cash Call, I'll need you to email me if you want to participate in the drawing. Just say on the email "count me in" and I'll put your name in the hat. I must warn you, however, I get to select the character that will bear your name. It could be the murderer, a stripper, Stan's old flame or even the Judge -- who knows. WilliamManchee@aol.com

Other than a leisurely swing through northern Florida in mid-January, Janet and I have been taking it easy. I’ve been spending every spare moment making final changes to Ca$h Call and getting it ready to put into production. For those of you who haven’t been to my website in the last few days, we have new cover design for Cash Call. View it at http://williammanchee.com.

Congratulations to Juli Pettijohn of Irving, TX and Sifang Chu of Plano, TX who won free Trouble In Trinidad audio CD’s in a drawing we had at our last two signings. If you like to listen to audio CDs or cassettes you ought to pick one up. They are available at the Las Colinas Barnes and Noble, Earful of Books in Plano and North Dallas or at http://amazon.com or http://bn.com.

February activity will be pretty light. Next week (Sat 16th at 2pm) we’ll be at Barnes and Noble in the Stonebriar Centre in Frisco, TX and that’s about it.

March will be busy with an appearance at Barnes & Noble in Lewisville, TX on March 10th, trip to Tulsa, Oklahoma 15th-16th starting with an appearance on the Noon News at KOTV-TV CBS and then a Barnes & Noble and Waldenbooks signing. On the 19th I’ll appear in a Mystery Panel at the Davis Library in Plano, then March 29th we’ll fly to Jackson, MS where I’ll be a guest on the Morning Show at WLBT TV NBC with Barbie Bassett. That will be followed by several book signings that weekend.

Here is the official blurb on Cash Call. You can view an excerpt at my website if you like.

CA$H CALL, A Stan Turner Mystery, Vol 4

Stan and Rebekah’s good friends, Don and Pam Blaylock, are in deep trouble. An imprudent investment in a Golden Dragon franchise and their son’s arrest for DWI trigger an avalanche of misfortune culminating with the murder of Luther Bell, the smooth talking, restaurant promoter responsible for their impending demise. While Stan conducts a preemptive investigation to prove his clients are innocent, he is inundated with lawsuits and claims from their growing list of creditors and must deal with the inevitable marital strife that threatens these once proud families. Then one of Stan’s old flames resurfaces and makes a play for Stan’s affections sending Rebekah in a rage that culminates in a confrontation with the intruder and a .38 special. A wrongful death suit worth millions, ancient Peruvian pottery filled with diamonds and a confrontation with a gang of mobsters round out this nail biting legal thriller.

When my kids were young I used to tell them stories from my childhood. They loved to hear them over and over again so I’ve reduced them to writing and they are available to read on my website http://willliammanchee.com or http://authorsden.com.

Email me if you have questions or comments. WilliamManchee@aol.com. Take care.