The Banshee’s Walk sneak peeks!
I’ve mentioned that the new Markhat novel, “The Banshee’s Walk,” is due to be released in ebook format (including the Kindle!) on June 22nd.
You can check out the cover right now by heading over to the ‘Coming Soon’ pages at
Samhain Publishing or by clicking here.
I know the ladies will love it – the model they’ve used for all the Markhat images is a hit. I like the turned-down hat motif myself. A hidden face is one you can imagine any way you want.
I’m excited about Banshee. Sure, I was excited about all the others too, but there are elements in Banshee that are new. Markhat gets a lady friend. The whole thing takes place out of town. Markhat gets a new partner.
It’s a book of changes for the whole crew, and making changes, even fictional ones, can be a scary thing. Like life, the wrong changes can even be deadly — how many fictional series have foundered and ultimately sank because the stupid author just had to try something new and exciting?
On the other hand, take Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe books. The man wrote seventy-odd novels, spanning a good portion of the twentieth century – but by gum, life at Wolfe’s brownstone did not change. Ever. Archie didn’t run off and marry. Nero didn’t slim down and take up kayaking. No, Nero and Archie simply did what they were best at, which was catch murderers, and they did it so well the books are still in print and still being enjoyed by millions.
So who am I to start throwing Markhat curves?
I thought about that long and hard. On one hand, I’d established a simple but I think workable formula, one I could keep using forever. On the other hand, I want Markhat to be a character readers can identify with. I want him to be someone who is more than just a jaunty hat and a few hundred pages of wisecracks.
And to be that character, he has to grow and change.
Too, it just seemed to happen as I wrote it. I was as surprised as I hope readers will be at a certain scene near the end of the book where a certain question is asked and a certain answer is given (how’s that for avoiding spoilers?). I don’t think anyone will object, either – if anything, I think it deepens the story and the characters, and I promise I won’t let it dampen down the action.
But I’m getting way ahead of the release date! Still, if you have a minute, click
here,
check out the cover, read the excerpt.