Due to my knee replacement, I have made zero progress on my next book. Pain and pain medications are not compatible with creative writing.

I have been, however, taking advantage of my convalescence to listen to a lot of books on Audible. A fun one was Fannie Flagg’s The All-Girl Filling Station’s Last Reunion. Better than the book itself, was listening to Fannie Flagg’s vocal interpretation of the characters as she narrated the story.

I also read the first of fifteen of Margaret Coel’s mysteries that take place in the Arapaho Wind River Reservation. And, I have listened to six of R. Allen Chappell’s books set in the Navajo Nation.

Coel’s and Chappell’s mysteries are wonderful examples of using strong geographical and cultural canvases to tell their stories. In several books, Coal successfully takes a bit of Arapaho history and uses it as kernel for a completing fictitious story. The little bit of real life at the story’s center makes her mysteries even more believable.

I have not spend all my time on mysteries. For book research I read Skunk Works by Ben R. Rich, Bogeys and Bandits by Robert Gant, Viper Pilot by Dan Hampton, TopGun Days by Dave Bio Baranek, Operation Overflight by Gentry and Powers

I already have the story for book seven, my next book, in my head. When I finally start putting it into the computer, it will be a better story because of time I have spent with Flagg, Coel, Chappell, and others.

Writers don’t just write; they read! They read a lot.

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For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and eBook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores. Audio versions of The Claret Murders and Diversion are available from iTunes, Audibles and Amazon. eBook editions are also available through Apple iTunes’ iBook’s Store and Smashwords.com.
Published by I-65 North, Inc.