It was a pleasure to work with Theolyn Brock on Lake City: Stories From a Country-Ass Town, a collection of fiction based on her family’s lore. And though fiction, you’ll recognize the truths contained in the stories of love and loss, quirkiness and quiet resolve, ambition and desperation that unfold between the covers.
“I’ve worked with Elizabeth on both self-published and traditionally published books. Each time I found her to be extremely professional, timely and she provided a great knowledge of the genre of crime fiction, as well as fixed my grammatical travesties. I could go with any number of people to correct my spelling, but Elizabeth gave my writing a bit more that I feel really helped push it to its final stage.” — Mike McCrary
What’s ahead of you is always more dangerous than what’s behind. — Calvin McGraw
Eric Beetner first introduced readers to the Iowa-based McGraw and Stanley clans in Rumrunners (280 Steps), in which eighty-six-year-old McGraw patriarch Calvin had pretty much garaged his ride for the last time and the family business—driving for the Stanley clan’s off-the-books enterprises—was being handled by his son, Webb. And even though Calvin was drawn back into things over the course of the wild ride that was Rumrunners, you couldn’t help but wonder what he was like in his prime. Well, wonder no more.
It was supposed to be a fun, freewheeling life.
There’s certainly no fun going on in ex-cop/PI Jackson Donne’s life, and any freewheeling taking place is of the acting in desperation to stay alive variety rather than the footloose and fancy-free type.
After watching his life implode over a series of decisions gone from bad to worse, Donne finally gave in and accepted the fact he could no longer stay one step ahead of the avalanche that had been bearing down on him for so long.
“I don’t mean to be unkind, but I’ve known you a long time now. You have a habit for building narratives. Getting too wrapped up in wanting to fight dragons.” — Tibo
Ashley (Ash) McKenna has been fighting dragons of one kind or another his entire life. When readers first met the Staten Island born and bred McKenna in series debut New Yorked, he was a man who had allowed long-simmering anger to creep in on and rule his life, driving him to abuse both substances and those around him. After bringing his personal investigation into the murder of his longtime friend and unrequited love, Chell, to a violent conclusion, McKenna pulled up his stakes and headed for Oregon.
