The Sam McRae Mystery Series!

As I will be in writing hibernation for some time, I'm delighted to have fellow writers visit and spread good news or information about their work. I've known Debbi Mack since I started on Twitter a couple of years ago and her story is an unusual one, so I hope you enjoy it!!

ABOUT DEBBI MACK

Debbi Mack is the New York Times ebook bestselling author of the Sam McRae mystery series. She’s also published Five Uneasy Pieces, a short story collection that includes her Derringer Award–nominated story “The Right to Remain Silent.” Her short stories have appeared in various other anthologies and publications. Her most recently published short story is “Jasmine”, appearing in Chesapeake Crimes: Homicidal Holidays.

Debbi is also a screenwriter and aspiring indie filmmaker. Her first screenplay has placed highly in both the Scriptapalooza and the Austin Film Festival screenwriting contests.

A former attorney, Debbi has also worked as a journalist, librarian, and freelance writer/researcher. She enjoys walking, cats, travel, movies, music, and espresso.

So I’ll hand you over to Debbi….

I never planned to self-publish my work. My first novel, Identity Crisis (part of the Sam Mc Rae Mystery Series) was published by a small press that went out of business nine months after the novel came out. Identity Crisis is a hardboiled mystery involving identity theft, murder, and how past mistakes and lies can lead to trouble. In 2009, I decided it couldn’t hurt to reissue the book myself, in print and ebook formats.

Much to my surprise, my ebook sales made significantly more than I expected. Frankly, I hadn’t expected to make much money at all from writing fiction. However, when I saw how well I could do selling ebooks, I decided to stop freelancing and devote all my time and effort toward writing and marketing my novels.

It was in 2011, after publishing the second Sam McRae mystery, Least Wanted, that my first novel hit the New York Times ebook bestseller list. Further, both novels became Kindle bestsellers in the U.S. and the U.K. Least Wanted also took the series into a darker direction than the first book.

In 2012, the market became flooded with ebooks. My sales suffered as a result of that, as well as having been worn down by the continuing demands of writing and marketing. Nonetheless, I published a third novel, Riptide, in which Sam solved the mystery in a strange — even hostile — environment, and her relationship with her best friend is tested and deepens, as a result.

This year, I re-published Identity Crisis under my own imprint. Now, I’m just months away from releasing the fourth novel in the series, Deep Six, another story that explores Sam’s personal relationships and delves into the subject of land use, politics, and corruption. I’m also releasing Invisible Me, my first young adult novel, as well.

In anticipation of releasing the new Sam McRae mystery, I’ve published a boxed set of the first three novels, Law Can Be Murder. I’m also throwing a big Facebook party for the boxed set’s release. The party is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 2, from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. EST. There’ll be trivia contests and prizes for the winners.

If you can would like to find out more information, you will find Debbi online here:  http://www.debbimack.com

Twitter: @debbimack and @debbimacktoo

YouTube at: http://bit.ly/13AZEWT

Instagram at: http://instagram.com/debbimacktoo/

Tumblr: http://debbimacktoo.tumblr.com/

 Law Can Be Murder is available on Amazon, B&N, Kobo, Apple iBooks, and Smashwords!

Launch of Riptide

One of the great things about Twitter and blogging is all the fantastic people you can connect with.  I guess writing is a lonely path in many ways, after all the only way your words will get written is by going off on your own and writing them. 

Perhaps this is why writers who meet on line are so supportive of each other.  We have all travelled a similar path, have failed and failed better, and have kept on going because by and large we have no choice.  At some point in all our writing journeys, we realise that we are writers, and that writing is something we will hopefully always do.

 

Anyhow, one of the fantastic people I've been lucky enough to meet is a writer called Debbi Mack. This week she launches her novel Riptide and it sounds like a real page turner! I will post all Debbi's details below, so feel free to join the Riptide Launch Party on Facebook during the book launch week from March 12 to March 17, 2012, and/or comment with this post.

All details on the launch are posted here.

Author Bio:

A former attorney, Debbi Mack has also worked as a journalist, reference librarian, and freelance writer/researcher.

Debbi Mack has published two other novels in the Sam McRae mystery series: the New York Times ebook bestseller Identity Crisis (on Amazon UK) and the sequel Least Wanted (on Amazon UK). She’s also published Five Uneasy Pieces (on Amazon UK), a short story collection that includes her Derringer Award–nominated story “The Right to Remain Silent.”

Her short stories have appeared in various anthologies and publications, including Shaken: Stories for Japan (on Amazon UK), an anthology created to benefit Japanese tsunami relief efforts. She is currently working on a young adult novel, planning Sam’s next adventure, and generally mulling over other projects.

You can find her online at her website. She also has five blogs, including My Life on the Midlist,The Book Grrl and Random and Sundry Things. You can find her on Facebookand Twitter.
Plot summary:

Stephanie Ann “Sam” McRae’s stay in Ocean City for the annual Maryland bar association convention turns into a busman's holiday when her best friend Jamila is arrested for a murder she didn’t commit. All signs point to a frame, but Jamila’s local counsel must plea bargain, placing a permanent stain on the ambitious attorney’s spotless record, unless Sam and the private investigator on the case find evidence to clear her.

Sam has her work cut out for her, given that the victim is the stepson of a local wealthy entrepreneur and poultry producer and no one will talk to her, including the investigator hired on the case. Meanwhile, Jamila herself appears to be holding out on Sam.

With the clock ticking down to the convention and preliminary hearing, Sam must uncover secrets, lies, and fraud to find the real killer. At what cost will that knowledge come for Sam?