Spring Is Here!

It's 62 degrees outside. Finally! I am so tired of cold and snow I could scream. Our first snow storm last year came in November...makes for a long winter. Don't get me wrong. I love snow, I love northern Wisconsin...wouldn't move anywhere else for the world. Just tired of winter! Call it spring fever, call it cabin fever, call it "she's just damned sick of snow and wants to see green grass". Whatever you call it, I'm just grateful that spring has finally arrived.

Okay, now to my writing. "Checkmate" is ready to go to print. The galley has been proofed, the cover is done...just waiting to hit the printer and binder. It will be available on Amazon.com, HerOrbit.com and other on-line retailers beginning May 1. You can also get an autographed copy through my web site at www.jeanhackensmith.com.

I can't tell you how proud I am of this book. It is definitely my best work yet. (I think I said that before, didn't I?) The stalker incidents are both chilling and mind-boggling. I'll be anxiously awaiting both professional and reader reviews. The professional reviews are nice, but it's my readers that I really love to hear from. You are, as it says in the Author Note in "Checkmate", my bread and butter...or at least a portion of it. My husband works in the engine room on an ore boat on Lake Superior. Don't know it I told you that before, but he does. My ultimate dream is that my writing will one day support us and he can quit sailing. He hates it. It takes him away from home too much. He's gone for 3-4 months at a time. So, answer your question as to why I have so much time to write, and why I can generally do two books a year?

"Checkmate" was so much fun to write, because I strayed away from the "norm." At least the "norm" for me. Granted, all of my books are filled with action and adventure, even the romances, (which is one thing people seem to love about them -- and the reviewers rave about) but "Checkmate" goes to the next level. For one, it's contemporary; I've only written one other book set in the present. ("Tender Persuasion") I love history, so I guess that why I've always chosen historical times and settings for my books. "Checkmate" is also a book that my readers can relate to, since it IS set in 2008. Stalking is a real problem in this country. In fact, you really don't see it much outside of the U.S. It's an "American" problem. I'm sure there will be some readers out there who have experienced some of what Caryn Deaver goes through in this book. I shudder to even think that someone out there has actually experienced what I just wrote about.

Okay, I'm rambling. Sorry. If you do choose to read "Checkmate", be sure to reply to one of my blog posts and let me know what you thought, or just go to my web site and make a comment in the guest book. I answer ALL comments from my readers, so you'll be sure to hear from me.

More later....take care.