News on the March

I know it's been a little quiet around here lately, news-wise. So plug your ears, folks. I'm about to strike up the band. There's so much to trumpet I can't even get to it all into one post.

The cavalcade kicked off yesterday when I got a terrifying e-mail from Crafty Keith Kahla, my editor at St. Martin's Minotaur. It was actually good news, but I didn't know that at first. All I saw when I checked my Yahoo account was this subject header: "THE CRACK IN THE LENS/PW."

Context: The Crack in the Lens is the new "Holmes on the Range" mystery, due out July 21; PW is slang for Publishers Weekly, one of the most influential sources for pre-release book reviews.

Inference: Keith had seen the PW review for the new book.

Emotional response (being, as my wife likes to call me, "Mr. Worst Case Scenario"): EAAAAAARRRRRRRRGHHH!

But no "EAAAAAARRRRRRRRGHHH!" was necessary. It was a Best Case Scenario. PW didn't just like the book, they starred it -- the publishing world equivalent of an A++ at the top of your spelling test. Here's what they said, redacted for reasons of national security:

The Crack in the Lens: A 'Holmes on the Range' Mystery by Steve Hockensmith
Set in 1893, a few weeks after the events of 2008's The Black Dove, Hockensmith's excellent fourth mystery to feature Otto "Big Red" Amlingmeyer and his older brother, Gustav (a.k.a. "Old Red"), takes them to San Marcos, Tex. The laconic Old Red, whose life took an unexpected turn after his brother introduced him to the deductive methods of Sherlock Holmes, reveals that SPOILER. The pair's efforts to investigate put them at odds with SPOILER as well as the law. The brothers discover that SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER. The personal stake Old Red has in catching the murderer adds an emotional dimension to the puzzle, which Edgar-finalist Hockensmith nicely leavens with witty prose and cliffhanging chapter endings.

The only downside is it's not super-blurby: All I can pick out of it for BSP purposes is "excellent...witty." But hey -- a star's a star!

And not only is Crack out of the gate with a lovely first review, at long last we know what the thing's going to look like. This morning, Keith's assistant Canny Kathleen Conn sent me a jpg for the final cover art. (An early mock cover has been drifting around the Internet, but that version actually got the heave ho months ago.) Click on it to check it out for yourself.

As fun as all that is, though, Crack has to share the limelight with one of its elder siblings. The Black Dove, you see, comes out in trade paperback tomorrow, and it's being given a warm welcome indeed by Rich Prosch over on his Meridian Bridge blog. Not only does Rich have some very kind things to say about the book, he'll be posting a two-part interview with yours truly in the near future. So stay tuned.

And as if taking over someone else's blog for a few days wasn't enough, I recently learned that I've taken over an entire site, permanently...without even trying! "Holmes on the Range" supporter extraordinaire Matthew Szewczyk has taken it upon himself to create his very own Big Red Amlingmeyer fan site. And he's done a bang-up job, I must say: Not only is his website easier to navigate than mine, Matthew's a heck of a lot better about posting news and such than I am. With me you get mega info-dumps like this every once in a blue moon, whereas Matthew's site looks like it's being updated at a nice, steady, orderly pace.

Kudos, Matthew -- you've beat me at my own game. But I hope to scoop you soon, dude. Seems there's one more update I didn't have room for this time around, and it's a doozy. Stick around, kids, and you just might learn what it is by the end of the week.

Heh heh. Doncha just love those cliffhanging endings?

Steve Hockensmith
May 11, 2009

Comments

[Adam McFarlane]

Wow! Thanks for the post--lots of great info! Should fans stay away from the PW review so we avoid its spoilers?

I like the new cover! The magnifying glass and cowboy figure seem to match with the first couple books' covers, but wasn't the cover work going in a different direction with The Black Dove? Did someone decide to go back to the earlier books' look?

Congrats on the starred review!!!

[Steve]

Thanks for the congrats, Adam! And thanks for asking about the PW review, too. I would actually prefer that readers stay away from it, if only because it gives away a twist that comes along more than half-way into the book. I'm guessing most of the other reviews will mention the same twist, though, so it might be tough to avoid the spoiler for the next two months. I'm pretty bad at circumnavigating spoilers myself: I haven't had a chance to see the new Star Trek flick yet, but I could tell you everything that happens right up to the last frame. Sigh.

You're right about the cover being a new direction. I have mixed feelings about it, myself -- I was hoping to see something more in keeping with THE BLACK DOVE. And I think it's different enough from the first two books to be classified as its own look. So this'll be the third cover style in four books. Hi ho. I'm very curious to hear what everyone else thinks of it....

-Steve

[vicki galloway]

Can't hardly wait til July!!! Your books are truly fun filled. We've sent copies to our son in Michigan too. "The Boys" should be in a movie, really would be entertaining.

vicki galloway
vicki.galloway@bannerhealth.com

[Richard Prosch]

I second Adam's "Congrats!" Great news on the PW front!

Thanks for the Meridian Bridge plug too--and the link to Big Red's Fan site; a beautiful job by Matthew!

[Linda]

I like it. Wait a minute, I like everything you have written (that I have read)

[sherlockmarcy@woh.rr.com]

The cover is perfect. I love it and really want you to come to Dayton so I can meet you in person.

Keep on writing,
Marcy

[Steve]

Thanks for stopping by, everybody! It's good to know folks seem to like the cover. Maybe this is all I need to finally crack the New York Times bestseller list!

Well, probably not, but one can always dream, right...?

-Steve

[John Schramm]

Steve, at the rate you're going, it won't be long (for NYTBR). I am really happy for all your success. See you soon, next signing.

[Steve]

Thanks, John! I hope all's well for you these days. I haven't finalized all my tour plans yet, but I do know Sophie Littlefield and I will be at "M" Is for Mystery August 4. See ya there, I hope!

-Steve

[Linda McMaken]

Yeah! A new book. It has been far too long to wander on the range without a new book. Starred at PW - you should pour yourself a tall cold one. Congrats and it is well deserved.

[Steve]

Thanks, Linda! The tall, cold one has been poured and enjoyed. Now I'm just praying there'll be three more tall, cold ones (for Kirkus, Booklist and Library Journal) sometime soon.

Yes, that's right -- I want to go on a review bender. Wish me luck!

-Steve

[Linda McMaken]

Hmmm - Kirkus, Booklist and Library Journal! Kinda like the Triple Crown. I sure hope so!