Wuz Bin Goin’ On?

I figured I’d come up with a new way of saying “updates,” so the title above is my first stab at it…

Anyway, a few things to talk about. First, the 18th of January will be here before we know it and with it, the long-awaited release of THE KENSEI. So far, I’ve booked 3 signings in January (1 in Cambridge & 1 in Burlington, MA and one in Concord, NH). Expect more to come, although in the course of my conversations with the publicity person at St. Martin’s, signings don’t seem to be the draw they used to be. I find that extremely interesting, since the drive was always to schedule as many as possible. Having done that, however, and not always with fruitful results (the signing down on Cape Cod in 2003 was like watching tumbleweeds blow through the store since that was the day President Dumbass decided to invade Iraq for absolutely no good reason whatsoever, comes to mind…) I can’t say I’m too broken up about the change in things. But I’ll definitely schedule more, probably just not to the extent that I’d planned. Guess we’ll see how it goes.

I’ll be shooting some new author photos this weekend. St. Martin’s needs one for the back of the book. I’m always torn about this type of stuff. I don’t think my smile looks all that good since I have two very sharp and pointy canines that actually make me look like someone who takes the vampire thing WAY too seriously. They’ve always been there, so I normally end up grinning in some sort of fashion. Ah well we’ll see how it goes…

The website for THE FIXER television series and all things Lawson Vampire is coming along incredibly well. Nick, the same genius who created this website, is hard at work and we expect to debut it in another month or two, if not earlier. The snapshots I’ve seen of the work thus far are incredible. Expect a lot of interactivity and a lot of fun. And yes, the TV series is still moving ahead, albeit slowly. “These things take time” has never rung so true as it does when you are literally trying to bring something into being where it never existed before. And operating outside the Hollywood production system is a terrific challenge, but one we are meeting and defeating, I assure you.

My YA series, The Ninja Apprentice, is still circulating among prospective editors in NYC. We’ve had a few rejections from some smaller houses since the flavor of the series wasn’t right for them. We weren’t surprised by this, but figured it didn’t hurt to try them all. I have very high hopes for the series and think that the YA market will really dig it as well. Keep your fingers crossed.

Finally, my friend Ken Richardson is still trying to raise funds for his program to help at-risk kids avoid the lure of drugs and gun violence on urban streets. I’ve pledged to help him as much as I can by donating proceeds from my direct ebook sales to his cause. I’ve tweeted about this quite a bit, but frankly, the response has been pretty awful. The program is just starting up and so far, Ken has sunk a ton of his own money into it. I’d like to help him as much as I can, so if there are any of my ebooks that you don’t have yet, please drop me a line jonfmerz AT verizon DOT net and let me know what you’d like. Once you Paypal the money over, I’ll send you the ebook. A $50 donation gets you everything I currently offer on Amazon in the format of your choice. Otherwise, individual novels are $2.99, novellas are $1.99, and stories are $.99. The Fixer Files is $9.95. I really hop that most of you reading this (actually, I hope ALL of you reading this) will take a moment to help out a great cause. Ken grew up on the incredibly mean streets of Baltimore back when it was the murder capital of the US, and saw his brother gunned down. He’s resolved to do his best to keep other kids from suffering that same fate. Thank you for your support!