A Reason for Blogging

Yes, things are heating up. The release of my first novel, A Reason For Dying is getting closer to being a reality. Suddenly, what always seemed an eon away is right on top of me. I don’t have a particular date yet, but after talking with my publisher the other day, it seems we’re less than 60 days away from the launch.

After 1 1/2 years of writing and rewriting and queries and rejections and more rejections, came a year of waiting and witing after signing a contract. The past couple of months have been very busy. The things they don’t tell you about being an author. There’s getting blurbs, pulling together review contacts, setting up the web site, author photos, back jacket copy, preparing discussions to talk about during signings, and on and on.

Not to mention the promotion and marketing activities.

Some of the most important writing an author should do is the text that will appear on the book jacket that entices readers to buy your book. Being too close to a complicated, 100,000 word thriller, I had a bit of trouble writing a tagline and the couple of paragraphs that appear on the back cover. I finally found someone who specialized in the task and here’s what we came up with:

Tagline:

“Shortly after the terrorist cell behind the post-9/11 anthrax attacks is ordered to strike again, a mysterious virus sweeps the Western U.S. Suspicions of terrorist links are rising as fast as the death toll.”

Back Jacket:

“Agent Laura Daniels’ career soared when the FBI assigned her to the anthrax letter case after 9/11. But failing to crack the case landed her in the Seattle Field Office, where she feared her life would be relegated to the routine.

While investigating the theft of low-level radiation devices, Daniels is led to the site of Interex Corporation’s controversial oil and gas exploration well just outside Yellowstone National Park, where crucial fossil records lie buried. Arriving at the site, what she encounters is unthinkable — not only have large radiation sources gone missing, but an unidentified virus is killing members of the drilling crew, and shows no signs of stopping.

Now Daniels’ career rides on getting the answers she needs. But as the virus continues its deadly rampage, she discovers the stakes are far higher than she anticipated. And the answer she gets is the last thing on Earth she’d expect.”

My thanks to Mary Erickson for her help.

And here is what one best-selling suspense author had to say:

“A Reason For Dying is an intelligent, heart-thumping thriller that will keep you reading and guessing and reading some more. Bereswill is an author who knows how to engage and hold the reader. His many talents are evident in this strong mix of suspense and action.” — John Lutz, NY Times & USA Today Best Selling Author of Suspense.