April 21, 2010
Orange County Noir
Gary Phillips (Editor), T. Jefferson Parker (Foreword)
Akashic Books
Available 04/01/10 in Paperback
Orange County, California, brings to mind the endless summer of sand and surf, McMansion housing tracts, a conservative stronghold, and tony shopping centers. It’s a place where pilates classes are run like boot camps, real estate values are discussed at your weekly colonic, and ice cream parlors on Main Street, USA, exist side-by-side with pho shops and taquerias. Orange County Noir pulls back the veil to reveal what lurks behind the curtain.
Features brand-new stories by: Susan Straight, Robert S. Levinson, Rob Roberge, Nathan Walpow, Barbara DeMarco-Barrett, Dan Duling, Mary Castillo, Lawrence Maddox, Dick Lochte, Robert Ward, Gary Phillips, Gordon McAlpine, Martin J. Smith, and Patricia McFall.
Editor Gary Phillips is the author of many novels and short stories. He lives in Southern California.
March 28, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Lynda McWhirter
Director, Marketing & Promotion
office: (913) 322-0520 ext. 103
mobile: (936) 581 4287
LyndaM@MidMerc.com
FINALLY! A SUSPENSE/ESPIONAGE NOVEL WITH AFRICAN-AMERICAN MAIN CHARACTERS.
(Kansas City, MO, March, 2010)
THREE LIVES
At the core of Joe Washington’s debut novel, Three Lives, is Nicholas Gambit, a young African American hero in training that hails from the center of the nation.
Like a lot of mid westerners, Gambit can’t help but to be genuine, evident even when he’s in the process of dismantling a team of well trained “people killers”. This quality draws readers ever closer to him, leaving them invested in his survival and desperate to see him flourish. Without pandering, Washington’s main character is extremely likeable, transporting readers into his adventures rather than merely witnessing them.
Though the story takes the reader all over the world and has shown remarkable promise with people from all backgrounds, this book will hold special interest for people of color. Except for Mosley and the Alex Cross novels by Patterson, we seldom see black characters in today’s literary marketplace, both male and female, portrayed with such strength, diversity and legitimacy.
For readers of any ethnic background however, Three Lives delivers a host of attributes that will surprise and move: action that literally causes one to grip the pages of the book a little tighter; Joe’s clear understanding and familiarity with issues related to combat and international espionage; and most importantly, characters that ring true because of their humanity — flaws and all.
Throughout the development process, we have endeavored to find legitimate comparison titles. The outcome of our search was surprising. We simply could not find any. Three Lives could become the new standard for African American fiction, especially in a genre that has been virtually untouched by black authors.
THREE LIVES
Joe Washington
Publisher: Midnight Mercury
Price: Paperback $12.99 ISBN: 9780615279930
Hardcover $22.95 ISBN: 9780982417409
EBook $7.99 ISBN: 9780982417416
Availability Date: 4/30/2010
Publication Date: 5/15/2010
Pages: 357 Trim: 5.5/8.5
Subject Category: Fiction/Suspense
Distribution Website: www.midmerc.com
Distribution: Book Hub, Inc., Wholesalers: Ingram, Baker & Taylor, Bookazine
Description: For most of us, one life is enough. Imagine having three. Nicholas Gambit did. One man, three very different reasons for being. Almost graduated from University and soon to leave a Kansas City ghetto he can’t wait to get away from, Nicholas is drawn into a conflict he wants no part of. His world crashing down around him, surrounded by violence, he learns he has some very special talents. Even with those talents, he finds he can’t protect everyone and when the nightmare is finally over, he is consumed. He is devoid of purpose, inconsolable, lost.
Upon observing how Nicholas conducts himself, and what he is capable of, agent John Wilkes devises a new purpose for him. He soon invites his protégé to enlist in a program few know exists. Too emotionally drained to see that it is a mistake, Nicholas allows himself to be secreted away into a life that he thinks will give his existence meaning and pit him against those who place themselves above the law. Instead, he finds himself at war with his own principles — fearful he will become the enemy he has sworn to fight.
In the course of the transformation from artless college student to inconceivably skilled government operative, Nicholas finds love where it is forbidden, is made into a cold blooded murderer, and ultimately seeks out redemption by allowing another a chance to rediscover her own humanity.
Marketing Strategies:
• Marketing will include 10 city author tour (coast to coast with heavy emphasis on the Midwest), trade and consumer advertising, mailings, trade show-BEA, online promotion
• $15,000 marketing budget over course of first year title is in print
• Publicity team promotes book on websites that cater to readers that read Ludlum, Clancy and Patterson novels and author interviews and television during tour
• Staged marketing approach. Local, then national and international. Target African Americans, the military, college age readers, adventure readers and general readers of fiction in bookstores, libraries, book clubs and discount stores
• Amazon, Borders, Barnes and Noble, all AALBC properties, Blackexpressions.com and military distributor’s Bestseller lists.
• Midmerc.com advertisement and promotions on search engines
BIOGRAPHY
After serving in the military, Joe distinguished himself in the private sector, working with detective and contract security firms throughout the United States. His new company, MidMerc L.L.C. offers unique perspectives on many fields: Real Estate; Holistic Healthcare, and of course – publishing.
Joe has long held a passion for literature and the arts, writing media scripts and freelancing for corporate firms as well as performing in advertising campaigns, television and print.
Reader Comments:
On my last deployment, I took the book to Iraq with me. After arriving, a friend asked me to read it so I told him he could borrow it. It took me five months to get it back and by that point, every Marine on the base had read it except for me! When I finally did get a chance to read it, I understood why it been in such high demand. Three Lives is a great, fun and unique book. I DARE you not to get sucked into it.
- Carl Orrell, Iraq War Vet and Purple Heart Recipient
Although I don’t find myself reading a lot of books in this genre, I have to admit . . . this book drew me in from page one and kept me caught up in the action until the very end. I loved it and I can’t wait to see what comes out of Mr. Washington’s brain (pen) next.
- Sandra Moran, Professor of Anthropology and Freelance Writer
February 8, 2010
Dafina
Available 04/01/10 in Paperback
From Mary Monroe, beloved author of God Don’t Like Ugly and God Still Don’t Like Ugly, comes the entwined stories of two lifelong friends, their secrets and lies, and a new challenge that could destroy their relationship once and for all…
With a handsome husband, a beautiful daughter, and a lovely house to come home to every night, forty-five-year-old Annette Goode finally has it all. Heaven knows she paid her dues–from a childhood filled with abuse to a rocky start as an adult. Annette’s friend Rhoda knows too, for Rhoda has been both her savior and her greatest fear. Their erratic relationship has survived some serious bumps in the road. But now that things are good, someone apparently thinks they’re a little too good…
When Annette receives an anonymous–and menacing–birthday gift, it’s just the beginning of a slew of hostile letters, vicious phone calls, and vile packages from a female who is obviously disguising her voice. Gaining comfort from the support of Rhoda and Rhoda’s teenage daughter, Jade, Annette hopes that somehow the problem will go away. But when the threats extend to her little daughter, Annette realizes the situation is dire. And she’s right, for soon her tormentor reveals exactly what she wants–and how it could destroy everything Annette has built…
December 5, 2009
Atria
Available 9/22/09
From award-winning, national bestselling author Tracy Price-Thompson comes a sexy, thrilling new novel featuring a working woman whose obsessive clients are determined to get her all to themselves.
Bertha Sampson is a sensuous but severely disfigured woman who turns to selling phone sex in order to satisfy some of her most erotic fantasies. Blessed with a silky voice, a kinky wit, and the ability to construct erotic portraits through words, she lulls men into her fantasies and builds a colorful clientele base as a phone sex worker. Bertha’s distinctive voice allows her to escape the bonds of her physical limitations. But intimate attachments can be formed in many ways, even through a phone line, and to her horror anonymous sex is not always anonymous. Her sumptuous voice and phone skills are so captivating that two of her clients become obsessed with meeting her in the flesh. They both relentlessly track her down — one seeking her love, the other seeking her life.
August 29, 2009
Goldman House Publishing
Available 11/01/09
Waverly Sloan is a down-on-his-luck lawyer. But just when he’s about to hit rock bottom, he stumbles upon a business with the potential to solve all of his problems. In Waverly’s new line of work, he comes to the aid of people in desperate need of cash. But there’s a catch. His clients must be terminally ill and willing to sign over rights to their life insurance policies before they can collect a dime. Waverly then finds investors eager to advance them thousands of dollars — including a hefty broker’s fee for himself — in exchange for a significant return on their investment once the clients take their last breath. The stakes get higher when Waverly brokers the policy of the cancer-stricken wife of Lawrence Erickson, a high-powered lawyer who’s bucking to become the next U.S. Attorney General. When Waverly’s clients start dying sooner than they should, both Waverly and Erickson — who has some skeletons of his own to hide — are unwittingly drawn into a perilous web of greed, blackmail and murder.
May 13, 2009
Deadly Charm
(Amanda Bell Brown Mystery Series, Book 3)
by Claudia Mair Burney
Howard Books
Available 03/24/09
When the ominous Thunders roll into Dr. Amanda Bell Brown’s town, the sassy sleuth sees a storm brewing. Disgraced playboy preacher Ezekiel Thunder and his seductive first lady, Nikki, are on the comeback trail, but Bell is less than charmed by the pair. When their toddler, Baby Zeekie, is found dead from an accidental drowning, forensic psychologist Bell suspects foul play in the fatal family, especially after the mama in mourning flirts with Bell’s estranged husband, Jazz. Bell is sickened by the woman’s behavior and the thought of someone murdering an innocent child — or is it morning sickness that’s plaguing her? Between babies and bodies, she pushes past the limits to discover the deadly truth.
