Reb MacRath and His Sexy New Partner

She's a curvy little thing, built just the way I like 'em:  compact, sleek and hard-bodied.  I take her everywhere with me.  And, for all practical purposes, we've gotten hitched:

Reb and his new Kindle reader w/Wi-Fi and 3G.

Oh, I know, there are fancier readers around, with gadgets that might make me pant.  And I know, I know, now and then there will be books I'll want to have in print form.  My baby won't have any problem with that because she knows I love her so.

Portable?  You bet she is!  Not all that much bigger than a large index card, she weighs well under half a pound and fits easily in a coat pocket.

Convenient?  Aye, she surely is.  In addition to two dictionaries included, she can hold hundreds of books and I can travel without Customs needing to examine them.  Nor need I pause to wonder which books to bring along with me.  With just a little button work, I can switch from one book to another...and the Kindle will always remember precisely where I left off.  Furthermore, the cool screen and ink display allow me to read indoors or outdoors in almost any light.

Writer-friendly?  She's that too.  I'm reading a nonfiction book to review and don't need my usual rigamarole:  pencils and index cards.  I can highlight passages I like while adding notes as I go.  Done reading, I'll pull up my notes and highlights, and write a no-sweat, informed review.

Cheap?  Who wouldn't love such a cheap date?  So far, this first week, I've downloaded two books for under $4.00 apiece, and three more for free.

Even so, all this considered, some will wonder nervously:  But are e-books really books?  Friends, in terms of human time, books as we've known them amount to roughly a couple of heartbeats.  But stories date back to the dawn of mankind.  Readers aren't having much trouble adjusting to the change. Now writers need to hustle to the beat of a groovy new drum.

Coming Soon: Reb Visits the Future--and Loves It!

Be sure to drop by later this week for a report on Reb Van Winkle's incredible adventure:  a thriller that only begins with receipt of a used ebook reader--and then goes on to tell about the changes in a stagnant life within a single week.

Should be posted by Thursday or Friday at the latest.

"You must change your life."  Rilke
"Go Kindle."  MacRath

Two-Day Two-Free-Book Event!

They say, Don't give away the store.  They say, You've worked hard and deserve to be paid.  They say, You'll spoil readers and they'll never pay for future books they hope to get for free.

I say:  I've been away for twenty years and have chosen to return as a brand-new writer, with a brand-new bag.  I'm prepared to introduce myself at a price of 'two for none' with hopes of spreading the good word and building that magical thing called The Buzz:  Hey, these books are different and they rock...They're edited professionally...And they're written by a pro who's spent decades mastering his craft...

To that end, download like banditos!
Dates:  June 18-19
Free Amazon Kindle titles:
1) SOUTHERN SCOTCH: www.amazon.com/dp/B008B8H8PS
2) THE VANISHING MAGIC OF SNOW:  www.amazon.com/dp/B007VCCI0K

Welcome to MacRathWorld, your free introduction to a new name in excitement.

Southern Scotch & The World's Greatest Cowboy

A while back I made a chart showing how various TV shows and mysteries were indebted to Have Gun Will Travel's Paladin:  from Travis McGee to Spenser to the Equalizer to Vengeance Unlimited (Michael Madsen played Mr. Chapel).   Since I'd gone to great lengths to pay a really distinctive homage to that show, I pointed out in the chart how my rivals stopped short at the gimmicks:  quoting from the classics (all)...love of food (McCall and Spenser)...palatial digs between gigs (The Equalizer)...that famous card (The Equalizer)...black working clothes (The Equalizer/Mr. Chapel)...The heroes, generally, were big men, like Richard Boone (6'1, 180 lbs.), with Jack Reacher topping the charts at 6'4".  Interesting trivia:  Mr. Chapel stays in the Boone Paladin Motel.  And, as for The Equalizer, in one episode of HGWT Paladin was called just that.

In Southern Scotch, I did not ignore the gimmicks:  Boss MacTavin has a card that rivals Paladin's, I hope, and he is sometimes based in a San Francisco hotel.  But when I riffed on the gimmicks, I made sure these were in character.  So, Boss quotes from Lord Byron but also from Mickey Spillane and David Morrell.  He loves food--but as a former fattie, he restricts himself to one gargantuan breakfast each day, then nibbles miserably till the next dawn.  Paladin's black uniform has already been done unto death.  Boss, as a Scotsman who's had the South beat into him, required a different color scheme:  shades of gray with a subtle dash of red.  Now, then, Paladin's secret weapon had been a derringer tucked behind his belt.  Boss' buckle, we learn, is a detachable blade.  Size? Compared to the other studs, Boss looks deceptively skinny:  6'1", 162 lbs.  And so on.

But the heart of Paladin was far stronger than his gimmicks.  And I hoped to tap into that mighty heart, the qualities that fueled it, while allowing Boss to remain his own man.  So, like Paladin, Boss loves both life and money, true love and tomcatting,  Like Paladin, he can roar in delight or moral indignation.

Meet Boss in SOUTHERN SCOTCH as he sets out for revenge--but performs his first classic Correction instead:

http://tiny.cc/qcmp1w

Southern Scotch is on the way!

My second ebook, Southern Scotch, will launch later on this week with a two-day, two-free-book event, whose dates I will announce.  Stay tuned and download like banditos!  I conceived of Southern Scotch nearly twenty years ago and it was a long time a-borning.  But I'm pleased with the result and I think you will be too.  If you like hardboiled action...and have a taste for the wild and new...Boss MacTavin, head of Boss Corrections, should leave you wanting more.

If so, the sequel's already been wrapped.

Today's bit of trivia:  The book was first called Mister Excitement.  And I still feel that the idea had an off-the-wall comic book appeal:  a poor Scot, beaten half to death, returns five years later as a wealthy and powerful hero...now calling himself Mister Excitement.  But another, stronger idea won out:  he returns as Boss MacTavin--still quirky as all get-out, but grounded in a realistic blend of Southern Scotch.

Tomorrow I'll tell you how, after other false starts, I found a way of blending in my lifelong passion for Have Gun Will Travel's Paladin.  Others have gone for the gimmicks--I saw a way to tap into the heart.  And the heartbeat has made all the difference.