Check this out ... a spooky short story for Christmas. 

Gabrielle, her mother, and her great grandfather, caretaking an abandoned cannery in Southeast Alaska, get a Christmas visitor they weren't expecting. 

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=christmas+skiff

On "Memoir," ... an excerpt

I'll trade you an ebook for a review!

Yes, it takes more than humor and charm, I need reviews. 

Happily, I'm selling pretty well. But because I don't know most of the people who buy my books, I can't track them down to twist arms or to plead for a review. 

In my world, reviews are a big deal. On Amazon for example, I'm nearly invisible to their algorithms until I get more than 25 reviews ... and 50 is better.

Once they know I'm really there, really being read, I am much closer to the front of the line when it comes to their higher-level reviews, "best of" book lists, and so forth. 

How you can help. 

Simply read one of my books and review it. If you're willing to do that, I'll send you a free ebook. Of course, give it any rating you want to, say anything you like in your review. 

And ... tell your friends!

To get your free ebook, reply to this column or message me on Facebook. I'll do the rest. 

If you like mystery, I'll send you the first of my Father Hardy mysteries. Here's the link: Indecent Exposure

(If you're reading this blog on Facebook, remember to click on the blog to get out of FB to get the links to work.)

Books for adventure readers 

Or how about reading an Alaska adventure?! I'll send you "Cheechako," also recommended for reluctant readers. Check it out at this link: Cheechako

"Cheechako" is a great tale to read aloud, not so much when you're traveling with strangers on an airplane. But when you're traveling with kids in your own car, it helps keep them from hurting each other.  

Whichever book you decide to read ... 

Thank you! For helping out. 

How to speak from the grave. Really.

When you die ... you're dead. 

Most of us have lost someone and then wished, fairly desperately, that we could hear something from the one we lost. Just one more thing. We can't. When we die, it's all done. 

As I go through my life, finally figuring things out, achieving my small victories, I find myself imagining that somehow I'll share all this with the ones who follow ... my kids, grandkids, their kids and grandkids. All the stories, the hard-won advice, the warm words. 

There is a way to do this but you have to do it now. It's no good if you wait. It's called a memoir. Don't let that scare you. It's just a bit of remembering or story-telling that will linger after you're gone.

As simple as writing a letter.

Some people sit down in front of a video camera ... a smart phone works. Or they record audio, or ... heaven forbid ... they sit down to write.

It's not difficult. Think of writing a letter. You can send them now or, if it suits you, have them delivered after you've gone. 

What to write about? Family stories, history ... the things you already know people get confused about. "Why was Grandpa in prison?" 

It's your one best chance to have the last word about something, if that's important. 

Sometimes photos are a good jumping-off point. Pull out a collection of the ones that need explaining, maybe number them, and begin explaining. Who were these people and why are they all naked ... or whatever ... so that after you've gone on, people can make sense of who you were and why you were here. And who they are. 

A memoir is not an autobiography

So what is a memoir? Just an episode. A memoir is just one small part of the whole picture of your life. It can be quick, easy and painless. You don't have to do the whole thing from A to Z. 

You already know where to start ... with those stories you find yourself telling after dinner, around the table or the campfire ... "tell the one about ..." 

Start with that one. "The one about ..." 

But, life is uncertain. Start today.  

        

"Grantchester?" In Alaska! Meet Father Hardy.

An email from an Australian reader.

Okay, I had never heard of Grantchester, or of the vicar/detective Sydney Chambers. And I've still not read any of the books. But I'm very much enjoying the British series which I'm seeing on Amazon. 

My reader said: "Hardy has a contemporaneous colleague ... an Anglican priest detecting  in Cambridge (England). The series is written  by James Runcie, son of the former Archbishop of Canterbury (so not so different to you) ..."

Set in the 1950s

He's right. My Hardy character is very loosely based on my own father, an Episcopal (Anglican) priest who served in Alaska at Nenana and later in Sitka, starting in 1955. 

I had long wanted to write a mystery but couldn't find a character who hadn't already been written. Until Hardy. 

Alaska was remote in the 1950s, not a state, not a lot of law enforcement, not much communication. At the same time, just down the road from Nenana, the government was building a huge RADAR installation, to track incoming Russian bombers. Of course, who ever heard of a project like that one that didn't come with hot and cold running spies! At least in my mind. 

It's also worth mentioning, that I was attracted to a character with moral code in place. We all know what he believe from page one, and we expect to watch him be true to those beliefs. Being true to himself is part of the attraction to any of the great mystery characters.

Did you know there are said to be more than 300 clergy detectives in fiction!

"Will it make me blush?" 

Recently at a book show, a reader picked up the first Father Hardy, "Indecent Exposure," and asked if it would make her blush. I told her I didn't think so. In Alaska, the natural result of being indecently exposed isn't blushing, it's freezing! She bought the book. 

If you like Grantchester, I'm pretty sure you'll like Father Hardy

Here's one more quote from my reader: "These are real ripping, roller coaster yarns ... The action never flags: there are murders aplenty to solve, conspiracies to unmask, near-death experiences to survive, moose meat to eat, love interests to follow and a psychopath around every corner."

Sounds pretty heavenly, for mystery readers.

Available on Amazon in paperback or ebook, Smashwords (in any e-format), or order from your favorite bookstore. And I'm always most grateful for your posted review.