JanDunlap.com

My publisher, North Star Press of St. Cloud, tells me that the third Bob White Birder Murder Mystery is scheduled for release on September 1, 2010. It’s titled “A Bobwhite Killing,” and I will be reviewing the proofs in a few weeks and finishing the back cover copy.  The opportunity to be so involved with the production of the book is one of the many reasons I love working with North Star. A few weeks ago, I participated in a small panel of mystery authors at Normandale Community College’s bookstore, and we compared notes about our input to our finished products. My two colleagues (both with large East Coast publishing houses) told me they have no authority when it comes to naming their books or making creative decisions about cover ...more...

I just received confirmation that my second Bob White Birder Murder, “Murder on Warbler Weekend,” has been nominated for the 2009 Minnesota Book Award. That makes it two for two, since the first book in the series “The Boreal Owl Murder” received a nomination last year. Finalists will be announced in February.

This coming March is shaping up to be an interesting marketing month for me. The first weekend of the month I’ll be at the International Owl Festival in Houston, MN. Last year’s event was delightful, so I’m looking forward to meeting birders and signing books there again. For the last weekend in the month, I’ve been invited to come speak and sign books at the National Eagle Center in Wabasha, MN. I haven’t visited the new center there yet ...more...

Last month was a great kickoff for the release of my second Birder Murder, titled “Murder on Warbler Weekend.” The Launch party at Once Upon a Crime was a blast, and the next day I was at the reception for the Hawk Ridge celebration in Duluth, MN, where I met birders from across the upper Midwest. I spent the following morning at Hawk Ridge, watching migrants and people! When one of the naturalists walked by me with a bird tail sticking out of the bottom of an orange juice can, I had to stop him and ask about it. Guess what was in the can? A merlin! The naturalists catch birds for banding at the Ridge, and to keep the birds calm, they slide them into empty cans, which not ...more...