GOOD MORNING, DARKNESS - L.A. noir mystery

[kayakruthie]

Originally published by Mysterious Press, now on Kindle.  An LA noir with as many twists and turns as Sunset Boulevard.  Selected by Publisher's Weekly as "one of the ten best mysteries of the year" (2004).  

Good Morning, Darkness:

Everyone is in love with Laura: the Mexican fisherman who admires her through her kitchen window as he walks in the predawn darkness to the ocean; her boyfriend, Scott, a successful real estate agent who asks her to marry him and won’t take no for an answer; the detective who instructs her in martial arts; and her lascivious boss.

Then one day Laura disappears.  There is no evidence of foul play—she had quit her job and claimed to be visiting her sick mother on the East Coast.  But while wandering the beach one night, the fisherman finds a woman’s severed arm.  When another one turns up shortly afterward, he believes they must be Laura’s.  LAPD Detective Sergeant Reggie Brooks is also wondering if Laura is alive or dead.  Yet without a missing person’s report or any evidence to suggest that the arms belonged to Laura, he cannot officially investigate.

Unofficially, however, Reggie Brooks can’t stop thinking about what happened to the vanished, beautiful woman who took his martial arts classes and now haunts his dreams.  Soon he is driving up and down the windswept, lonely coastal highway in search of answers.  He risks his job and his marriage as his obsession deepens.  And his passion will lead him to a dark, terrifying place of unthinkable acts, irrational behavior, and premeditated murder...

[Betsy the Quilter]

Ruth--

Congratulations on getting your rights back!  And thanks for the great pricing  

I know you know the deal, but we like to post a refresher in each book thread.  So here it is!

We invite you to use your book cover as your avatar and have links to your book and website in your signature.  Although self-promotion is limited to the Book Bazaar, most of our authors have found the best way to promote their books is to be as active throughout KindleBoards as time allows.  This is your target audience--book lovers with Kindles!

Thanks for being part of KindleBoards!  Feel free to PM us if you have any questions. Now, off to sample!

Betsy & Ann
Book Bazaar Moderators


The fine print:
Please add to your existing book thread when you have news about your book rather than start a new one, it helps the members who are trying to follow you.  You may have a separate thread for each of your books.   We recommend you bookmark your post so that you can find it in the future.    You may respond to all posts, but if there have been no member posts, we ask that you wait a week before "bumping" the thread by posting back-to-back posts of your own.  And we ask that Amazon reviews not be repeated here as they are easy to find at your book link.  Also, full reviews from other sites should not be posted here, but you may post a short blurb and a link to the full review instead. All this, and more, is included in our Forum Decorum. From time to time our site rules may change; be sure to check Forum Decorum for the current guidelines and rules.

[scottnicholson]

Cool. Publishers might be tempted to shuck authors who will then go into competition with them. This will be interesting. I am beginning to get some rights back so I can release "author's preferred editions." Great time to be a writer. Good luck!

Scott

[kayakruthie]

I agree, Scott, it is an exciting time to be a writer.  I like your idea of marketing your books as "author's preferred edition".  In one of my titles, "Confessions of a Deathmaiden" I was requested by the publisher's legal department to make a lot of changes that were simply silly--and since I didn't want to make them, they kind of clunk around in the prose.  Now I can do a little rewriting.  And, of course, it's great to have the chance to correct little errors that slipped through in the first edition. 

[Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake']

This is great news. If the publishers won't listen to the readers (their customers), maybe they'll have to start listening to the authors (their suppliers). It's another crack in the system.

Congratulations!

[Tangiegirl]

Didn't even need to finish the first page of the sample before deciding to 1-Click.  So I did.  

Thanks for the affordable pricing and congrats on reacquiring your rights.  Though I'm not an author, I was a publishers' rep for years and you all are right.  This is a very interesting era in this rapidly changing industry and it must be a particularly exciting (and invigorating) time to be an author.

I wish you all the best.

[kayakruthie]

The publishers' reps, the sales force, the PR people, the bookstore owners--all the folk who were instrumental in helping us authors will probably be out of jobs as the industry changes.  I'm really sorry for that because they loved books and really seemed to care about authors.  A bit like BP oil riggers, I guess--inevitably as we switch to new technologies, some will have to find new jobs.  I just sorry we'll be losing all their enthusiasm.

[davinci]

Glad to see you got your rights back, Ruth.  For everyone who hasn't read it, this is a great read, (perfect for the beach) twists and turns galore, great writing, great villains.  Just when you think you've figured it out, the author throws in a new twist.  If you like Hitchcock, you'll like this.  Reminds me a little of "Body Heat".  Would make a great movie, BTW.

[kayakruthie]

"Body Heat"!  That's a great compliment.  Thanks davinci.

[kayakruthie]

David Wisehart posted an interview with me today about Good Morning, Darkness.  He is interested in interviewing other Kindle writers, so drop by and take a look.

http://kindle-author.blogspot.com/2010/07/interview-ruth-francisco.html

[Sky Warrior]

Ruth, congrats on bringing another book onto Kindle. You are one prolific writer. Love the cover.
Steve

[kayakruthie]

Thanks, Steve.  I'd love to say I'm prolific, but most of these books I wrote a while back--my backlist, which I recently got the rights to and put up on Kindle, and several novels my agent never sold.  I only wish I could write a novel every month.  But some of these books, like "Primal Wound" took years--setting it aside, then going back to it.   BTW, I'm waiting for your third in your series.  You've got something good going.

[tomthompson]

Hi Ruth, I picked up a copy of this after reading "Amsterdam 2012" and I really enjoyed it.  Masterfully written, I thought, and also would make a fabulous movie.  Keep up the good work.

[kayakruthie]

Today we're featured on Spalding's Racket, the very excellent indie blog promoting independent authors.

http://spaldings-racket.blogspot.com/

Thanks, Nick.  You're fabulous.

[kayakruthie]

Today we're featured on The Kindle Reader as the Frugal Kindle Book Pick.

http://kindlereader.blogspot.com/

Thanks, Jan, for all of your encouragement.  It's really gratifying to be part of such a supportive community.

[CandyTX]

I'm half way through this one... what a great ride so far... interesting for several reasons, I'm really interested in seeing where this goes

[kayakruthie]

Today we're featured in Candy's Raves, one of the most literate review sites on the web.  I discuss some of my experiences with Kindle publishing with Candy.  Thank you, Candy, you are terrific.


http://candysraves.com/

[kayakruthie]

Today we're featured on Cheryl's Book Nook:

http://cherylsbooknook.blogspot.com/2010/10/good-morning-darkness.html

Thank you Nancy and Cheryl.  You are such a help.

[kayakruthie]

Today, out of the blue, we're featured on Tuesday Morning Com.  I can't even figure out who to thank.  Best Digital Products?  Well, I guess a general thank you to readers of mystery fiction will have to do.  Thank you so much--without readers, writers are lonely dreamers.

http://tuesdaymorningcom.blogspot.com/

[kayakruthie]

Today we're featured on Debra Martin's Two Ends of the Pen.  Debra has done so much to help Indies, and is now offering very reasonable sponsorships.  Thanks you, Debra.  You're the best!

http://twoendsofthepen.blogspot.com/

[kayakruthie]

Today Debra Martin has posted an interview with me for "Good Morning, Darkness".  What a great way to start off the new year!

http://twoendsofthepen.blogspot.com/

[kayakruthie]

I've uploaded the screenplay for "Good Morning, Darkness" on Amazon Studios:

http://studios.amazon.com/projects/3491

If anyone has a screenplay of their novel up on Amazon Studios, I'd be interested in doing a read/critique swap.  Anyone?

[Mark Feggeler]

Hi Ruth!  Great reviews on the book and, of course, my favorite genre (Crime Noir!) means I will have to check out Good Morning Darkness.  Also, glad to hear I'm not the only writer out there who can't crank out a book a month.  I gave myself a 1-year deadline for my first mystery which should be out sometime this summer.  It's been excruciating but highly rewarding.  Best of luck with managing your own product online!

[kayakruthie]

Thanks, Mark.  With summer coming on, this LA noir makes a great beach read, too.  (It starts with an arm washing up on Venice Beach).

[kayakruthie]

Now translated into French and Japanese.  I guess they have a taste for noir.

[kayakruthie]

Noir makes good winter reading, too.  I've been thinking about a sequel--it was really a lot of fun to write, and I set it right where I lived in Marina del Rey.  In the very house I lived in!

[kayakruthie]

Summer is here on the beach.  A good time to bring out that summer reading.