Gumbo Justice

I picked up my copies of Gumbo Justice yesterday from Billie, my publisher at Oak Tree Publishing, and I am amazed at how good the cover looks. I wish I could say I had a lot to do with it, but I don't. The colors are fitting for New Orleans, purple and gold on the cover, purple, green and gold on the back cover, appropriate for the town that celebrates Mardi Gras. My kids learned in pre-K, apparently the history of Mardi Gras is part of the pre-k curriculum in southeast Louisiana public schools, that purple of Mardi Gras stands for justice, green for faith, and gold for power.

I am trying to decide when to hold the book launch. It will definitely be at the bar, whether it is opened as a bar or not. (If we get screwed by code enforcement, we can still have a free private party in the building until we file suit in JP.) In any event, I am looking forward to everyone reading it and letting me know what they think. Hopefully, readers will enjoy it enough to want the read second one I'm working on now.

GUMBO JUSTICE is for sale

I am amped because GUMBO JUSTICE is finally available for purchase. I don't know whether to write "is for sale," or "is on sale." It's actually both, kind of, because the Amazon and BandN price is sale priced from the cover- not that I care. I am just stoked people can finally get it to read it.

I am also a little apprehensive. It's a little nerve wracking, wondering if people are going to get it, if they'll like it, if they'll think parts of it are borderline pornographic. I worry about things like sex scenes in the book, because I don't want people to think I'm a pervert, and sometimes I come away from a regular thriller, say for instance an Iris Johnasen novel, and I think, the book was okay, but the sex scenes were insane. But then she always has those men and women who just meet, immediately hate each other, but immediately are attracted to each other, sort of romance novelish even in her thrillers that are not romance novels.

In any event, the book is like my third child. I've certainly spent as much time raising it as I have my kids, and of course, every mama wants her babies to make a good first impression. I guess I'll soon see.

GUMBO JUSTICE

I am so excited to have seen the tentative cover for Gumbo Justice. It didn't quite seem real that the book was actually coming out until I saw the potential covers. So many decisions still to be made after a book is written and slated for publication. The cover, as I mentioned. What to include in the author bio. Whom to thank.

There are also decisions when proofing for the final draft. Some things may have changed since the novel was written. In my case, the law has changed, so I had to update some things to make sure they were current. Of course, the law is liable to change again, and then the info may be outdated. I put a note to that effect in the foreword. Also, we have had so many shifts in the makeup of the NOPD since Katrina I don't know if anyone could accurately portray it from one month to the next. Our current superintendent may make a run for mayor, and when we get a new mayor, whether it's Riley or not, we will get a new superintendent, who is appointed by the mayor. Then the structure of the NOPD is likely to change again. It's no wonder we can keep a lid on the crime problem.

Not that I'm complaining. It's excellent fodder for writing.