TRAVELS

We've been traveling again. Had a family reunion up in north Georgia and made a trip out of it. While we rode through some of the small towns, my guy took some pix of county courthouses.

My light mystery, TAXED TO THE MAX, features a courthouse murder. When I get the ebook rights next year, I plan to self-publish. My talented guy has been learning to do covers so I'm excited that he'll be using one of his photos for it.

Here are a couple he took on this trip. The first is in Washington, Wilkes County, GA. Built in 1904, the top part was destroyed by fire in 1958. Repairs gave it a flat roof and allowed it to be used until an approximate restoration of the top portion was done in 1989. The original clock tower was taller.

And this one in Lexington, Oglethorpe County, GA was constructed in 1887. It is the oldest Romanesque Revival style courthouse in Georgia :

NEW BOOK OUT

My sequel to TAXED TO THE MAX is now available from Amazon. Ebook only right now but in a few days, the print copy will be out too. And if you buy the print copy, you can get the ebook version free.

Not sure why anyone would want both but anyway, that's the deal.

Here's the cover for OVERTAXED AND UNDERAPPRECIATED. Collin Beishir designed it, using one of the pix my guy took in Old Town. Pretty, isn't it?

And here's the link on Amazon if anyone's interested. http://www.amazon.com/Overtaxed-Underappreciated-Cheryl-B-Dale-ebook/dp/B00I25JU9C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391961620&sr=8-1&keywords=overtaxed+and+underappreciated

Whee! I see I have a review! That's exciting since I don't get many! And it's a good one!

READING CLUB

While in Alabama, I visited a reading club who call themselves the Same Sweet Girls. Don't you love that name? But the women lived up to it. They were very warm and welcoming. Not to mention delightful and lovely. And of course, anyone who reads is intelligent by default!

We met in a beautiful house, with a fish tank built into the mantel above the fireplace--I wish I'd asked how  she managed to clean it because it looked like it was inserted into a frame made just for the aquarium--and a gorgeous view of a lake. They offered wine and nibbles, of course; all gracious people offer wine and nibbles! And they were kind enough to act interested in my hardback mystery TAXED TO THE MAX, even though I'm sure their tastes run to more literary stuff than my light mystery.

All in all, I had a great time. I have a picture, but I hesitate to post it on my blog since someone might not want to be seen with me. So I'm posting my book cover instead. You'll just have to imagine several beautiful women facing the camera with one nerd in the middle and that'll be us!

MAILINGS

Well, this morning we mailed out a hundred and fifty-eight first chapters of  TAXED TO THE MAX, my light mystery hardback. There should have been a hundred and fifty-nine--the number of tax commissioners in Georgia--but evidently we lost one somewhere.

Don't know where we lost it or how we lost it. We had 159 first chapters, a label for each county, and we put them together and stuffed them into a box. We took it to the post office, got a hundred sixty stamps, put them on and had two stamps left over instead of one.

So I counted the chapters and yep, there were only a hundred fifty-eight first chapters.

I hate it when things like that happen!

GOODREADS GIVEAWAY

I gave away two Advanced Reader Copy proofs of TAXED TO THE MAX in GoodReads. The giveaway ended October 23rd. This morning I sent off ARCs to the two winners. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they like it.

The Publishers Weekly review was not bad but not great. Kirkus Reviews was much kinder. Lines from both are going to go on the final book cover, I learned yesterday.

So now I'm thinking since I have more ARCs, why not give away five more on GoodReads? It was really easy to set it up; GR did all the work. The book won't be available till the end of December so why not? Seems to me the more ARCs out there, the more chance for people to recommend it to friends and family.

I also have an ebook gothic with paranormal elements, THE WARWICKS OF SLUMBER MOUNTAIN, coming out in November. I'm wondering whether to try to give away some advanced copies of it, too. A little more difficult since it's an ebook. I'm not sure GoodReads handles them. Guess I'll have to check.

And I'm also giving away earrings on the blog, remember! Anyone who comments with the word 'earrings' somewhere in it will be entered.

A different set will be given away next month, too. I believe they'll be tied in with my re-release of TREACHEROUS BEAUTIES.

A lot going on. And I still have to write!

FINAL COVER FOR TAXED TO THE MAX

I'm very excited since I just got the final cover for TAXED TO THE MAX coming out in late December from Five Star/Cengage. Since it's a hardback, the cover's kind of wide. I'm hoping I can get it all in here!

Here's what it's about in case you can't read the blurb:

Auto tag clerk Corrie Caters hates the tax office. The customers are irate and her co-worker Delores is grouchy. If Corrie ever gets through college, she's waving bye-bye.

When rumored arsonist and delinquent taxpayer Billy Lee Woodhallen attacks the tax commissioner, Corrie decides to call it quits. Too late. The next morning she and Delores find their boss murdered.  Billy Lee must have done it to keep his property from being sold.

County officials want to appoint Corrie tax commissioner, but she's not that stupid. Then the man who jilted her at the altar in front of two hundred people—most of them local—shows up.  A Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent, Bodie Fairhust thinks Billy Lee will strike again and tells her to refuse the job.

Like any self-respecting north Georgia woman, Corrie won't listen to a sneaky snake-in-the-grass. She takes the job to spite Bodie. But the snake was right. Billy Lee comes up with an alibi and is free to go after the new tax commissioner. Her.

Now obtuse deputies guard her 24/7, a state auditor breathes down her neck, and a pothead IT guy is doing heaven knows what to the tax digest she's responsible for. Not to mention Delores snubbing her and the weird tax office customers trying to do all kinds of illegal things. If Billy Lee doesn't do her in, the stress will.

A light mystery, TAXED TO THE MAX shows what really happens in property tax and tag offices.

ARC for TAXED TO THE MAX

Excited last week to open one (of two) boxes and find they contained the Advance Reading Copies for my light mystery TAXED TO THE MAX coming out in December from Five Star. This will be a hardback, but I still didn't expect such nice Advance Copies. They're like trade paperbacks.

Now I have to figure out places to send them out to for review. Five Star has already done the main ones so I must dig around and find smaller places. Can't remember if the Atlanta Journal Constitution still does book reviews or not.

Oh well. Guess I'll soon find out.

GOT EDITS

Finally got edits for TAXED TO THE MAX. Not many and not bad, thank goodness. Mostly grammar and punctuation problems.

But the best part was the editor, who wasn't the acquiring editor so she hadn't seen the manuscript before, sent me an email along with the ms saying, "I absolutely *loved* this book!" complete with exclamation point and asterisks.

Made me feel really good, like maybe somebody else gets my sense of humor.

EDITS FINALLY BEGIN

I had word from the editor on my tax office mystery, TAXED TO THE MAX (I hope they'll keep the title; you can't always tell) that she's about to start her editing. This means she goes through, picks out things that are wrong, scenes that need to be strengthened or omitted, and stuff like that. Then she sends it back to me and I have to try to give her what she wants.

I'm excited because this is a book dear to my heart. All the funny (and not-so-funny) stuff that happens in tax offices gave rise to it. Like when some assessors got locked in the courthouse attic one time and had to throw down toilet paper rolls to get someone to come let them out. Like how tag customers refuse certain tags. And other stuff about a lot of customer types tag/tax clerks deal with every day.

I hope it's funny enough that people will enjoy it. But I mostly hope it'll give everyone a new respect for the public employees on the front lines.

Course, it doesn't come out till December of next year. But at least it's getting worked on now.

FIVE STAR PRESS

I got the executed contract today so I feel safe in announcing that Five Star Press has offered for my light mystery, TAXED TO THE MAX. It's due to come out in December of 2012 in hardback since Five Star, I understand, sells mostly to libraries and educational facilities.

TAXED TO THE MAX is a light murder mystery. It isn't R rated, maybe not even PG-13 rated. No heavy thinking is involved to enjoy it. In case like most people, you've been dying of curiosity about what really goes on in a property tax collections/tag office, this is your chance to find out.

As for what it's about, well...

When a tax commissioner is murdered, a young tag clerk is asked to replace him. Ha! She's not crazy enough to take on the thankless job.

But then her ex-fiance who jilted her at the altar in front of two hundred people - most of them local - tells her to turn it down, that whoever killed the tax commissioner will be gunning for her. Naturally, she can't let the snake-in-the-grass talk her out of a job he probably wants one of his buddies to have. She becomes tax commissioner to spite him.

But the snake was right. Now the murderer's after her.

So obtuse deputies guard her 24/7, tag buyers try to do all kinds of illegal stuff, and the property tax digest she's responsible for, is in the hands of the pothead IT guy.

With this much stress, what's a gal to do?

I hope all tax office people out there enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it!