Category: News of Note

New Book: ASK HAGAN

I’ve got a new book out! ASK HAGAN is a collection of six short stories that originally appeared in such diverse places as Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, the Los Angeles Review, Pulphouse, and Fiction River. It’s a short read, but it also won’t set you back much, so if you’re looking for some twisty tales that pack an emotional wallop (my usual fare), please consider buying it. Sooner rather than later. I have a daughter in college, you know.

Just kidding. Kind of.

Oh, and one last thing you might find interesting. The lead story (about a struggling writer who hits it big when he invents an obnoxious Ann Landers-like advice columnist named Hagan T. Stone, hence the title Ask Hagan) actually did start out as column idea. I pitched it to an editor of an edgy, genre-crossing magazine, basically saying “What if someone like Hunter S. Thompson wrote a Dear Abby column?” Hagan T. Stone would be completely made up, of course, but nobody but me and the editor would know it was me. And while the editor liked the idea, he decided it wasn’t quite the right fit. Undaunted, I even toyed with the idea of starting a website myself, going so far as obtaining a domain name before sanity (or maybe it was my wife?) thankfully prevailed.

But the idea stayed with me. Then one day I wondered what would happen if the column not only became a huge hit, but one day an imposter showed up on the scene to reap all the rewards, and before you knew it I was writing. As usual, the story went in a completely unexpected direction, with a whiz bang ending readers will hopefully enjoy as much as I did. Janet Hutchings certainly thought so when I sent it to her, buying it for Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, where it appeared last year. I hope you enjoy it too.

More info below, including where you can buy it. And thanks for reading!

Ask Hagan anything. Anything at all. Even how to outwit a madman …

Once a promising young novelist with big literary dreams, John Winsley wakes up on the other side of forty as a third-rate hack with a perpetual hangover. Fueled by bitterness, he creates an obnoxious online persona as something of a lark—a funhouse version of Ann Landers named Hagan T. Stone with mad eyes, a black beard shaped like a spade, and an irreverent wit. The Ask Hagan advice column becomes a surprising worldwide hit. And it makes Winsley a very rich man.

Wracked with guilt about the wife and daughter he abandoned, Winsley feels conflicted about his anonymous success … until an imposter claiming to be Hagan T. Stone shows up to reap all the rewards. Now Winsley only has to answer one question: How far will he go to get what he deserves?

This taut, suspenseful tale kicks off Carter’s latest collection. From a mysterious elevator in an Iowa cornfield to a crowded superstore where android spouses are bought like toasters, these six provocative forays into Carter’s wide-ranging imagination never fail to surprise.

Ebook:
Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iBooks | Google Play

Paperback:
Amazon 

New Garrison Gage Book: A COLD AND SHALLOW SHORE

Gage is back … and I’ve got a new book out! A COLD AND SHALLOW SHORE is available in paperback and ebook at Amazon, B&N, Kobo, and all the other assorted places that books are sold. It’s hard to believe I’ve written eight books in this series, but I’m still having a blast with Garrison Gage and his assorted friends in the Oregon coastal town of Barnacle Bluffs, so hopefully many more to come. I’m also eternally grateful to my Gage fans, because they are ultimately what allowed me to make the leap to full time writer.

Oh, and if you want try out the series (or know someone who might like it), the first book THE GRAY AND GUILTY SEA, is currently available for FREE as an ebook on Amazon (as well as elsewhere) and has nearly 6000 reviews…

More information about the book (and links to retailers) is below.

A Cold and Shallow Shore

A Garrison Gage Mystery

Gage hates birthdays. So when his daughter throws him a surprise party on the coldest night the Oregon coastal town of Barnacle Bluffs has seen in years, Gage finds himself in an equally frosty mood. And when a police cruiser stops him as he trudges along Highway 101, minding his own business, he can’t imagine the night could get any worse.

Oh, but it does. For the cranky private investigator with the bum knee, it can always get worse.

When the cops collar one of the people closest to Gage for murder, the desperate hours ahead become a frantic push to right a presumed injustice. Add in a daughter’s secret life, a bad boy Hollywood star, and a troubled new police chief with something to prove, and the night doesn’t just get worse.  It forces a quickly unraveling Gage to choose between cold, uncomfortable truths—about himself, about someone he loves—and shallow but comforting deceptions.

Ebook: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iBooks | Google Play 

Paperback: Amazon | Indiebound

Audio: Audible (Coming Soon)

New Book Published: The Dragon Lottery

I’ve got a new book out! While it’s aimed primarily at middle grade readers, The Dragon Lottery is one of those stories that I hope appeals to adults too. If you enjoyed Wooden Bones, The Castle on the Hill at the Edge of the World, or some of my other books for younger readers (and the young at heart!), I think you might enjoy this one as well. Starting with one of my most provocative story ideas, I certainly had a great time writing it from start to finish. Suspense, secrets, twists, bravery in the face of great danger, and a lot about the power of knowledge against evil, it’s packed with everything I hope will make it an entertaining read . . . More info below!

The Dragon Lottery

Win the lottery? Congrats! You get to fight the dragon—to the death!

The Dragon Lottery (cover)

Each summer, the kingdom of Dunbury holds a lottery. The prize? The right to face the Black Dragon in a fight to the death.

Nobody ever returns.

Widespread hunger. Banned Books. Harsh royal decrees to keep the citizens in line. After nearly fifty years, the poor, downtrodden people in the isolated country between the mountains and the sea have lost all hope. Somehow, mysteriously, the cruel King Goodheart controls the dragon. And with the dragon, no one dares defy him.

Until thirteen-year-old Lucky Grayblock, the clumsy, gangly, decidedly unlucky assistant in the dusty old library, finally becomes eligible for the dragon lottery … and discovers one last chance to turn everyone’s luck around.

Ebook:
Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iBooks | Google Play

Paperback:
Amazon 

Cover for Lethal Beauty (Karen Pantelli #2)

The second Karen Pantelli book, Lethal Beauty, is just about done. I’ve finished going through the copy edits and the book should be out in the world in the next week or so. That’s the cover below. A description to follow soon, but needless to say, Karen gets herself in a whole lot of trouble again. She’s great fun to write. Very different than Garrison Gage, of course, and very different kinds of books, but I’m glad she’s finding her own fans. I happen to like her quite a bit.

A few readers have asked if the Pantelli books will be available in audio. The answer is . . . yes. Eventually. I’m debating some options there. Sorry I can’t say more, and that they’re not available now, but I do plan to make them available in audio eventually.

As a quick reminder, if you want to be one of the first people to know when I’ve published something, please do sign up for my very infrequent newsletter. I don’t spam. I don’t give your email to others. It really is just a way to make sure that people who like my work know when I’ve got something new in the world. It’s getting harder to break through all the noise these days, so my email list is the best way to make sure you don’t miss something, especially since I continue to be such a social media minimalist. (And I do try! I just don’t seem to be wired for it!) I’ve been thinking of doing a few more special discounts and giveaways just for my fans, so if you’re thinking of signing up, now’s a good time.

More soon.