Best part of being in the dealer’s room for two and a half days at ArmadilloCon 37 this past weekend:

Number One: Getting to talk with Howard Waldrop! We’ve met him before, have heard him read before, but have never had the opportunity to chat. Priceless.

Number Two: Selling a copy of my short story collection TWISTED RIXTER to Joe Landsdale! Joe Lansdale, people! And we didn’t even twist his arm.

Number Three: Getting to meet Facebook friends Juan Perez and his lovely wife Malia, trading a copy of my TWISTED RIXTER for their SEX, LIES, and CHUPACABRAS.

Number Four:The birds-eye view we got of the autographing sessions that were smack dab in front of our two tables of books.

Number Five: Selling 32 books.

Number Six:  Meals delivered to the dealer’s room, a very good hotel experience, an totally easy and safe drive there and back again. Hotel was the Omni off I35 South.

Number Seven through Ten: Meeting and talking with all the other dealers in the room, some of whom we knew from other ArmadilloCons and others new to the con. Bought two novels from new writers selling in the dealer’s room, bought a lot of tea (a lot of tea), bought artwork. Spent more than we made, actually. Had fun being there.

Thank you ArmadilloCon staff and participants. Good job.

Here’s the book we sold the most of:

http://amzn.com/B00HQ0PH1O

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:  All Clear by Connie Willis.

Photo by Roxanne Rix (doesn’t have anything to do with ArmadilloCon or the hotel)

Come visit us at Armadillocon 37 at the Omni in Austin, Texas this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We’ll be in the dealer’s room with my books (more than these three titles) and books by Patrick Kampman. All good reading. Giving away free rubber ducks. You know you’ll want one.

WHAT I READ THESE PAST WEEKS:  Day Shift by Charlaine Harris.  The Rescue by Nicholas Sparks.  To The Hilt by Dick Francis.  Blackout by Connie Willis.

The Cowboy’s Baby has a crossover book called Baby Sings the Boos. 

What’s a crossover, and what is The Cowboy’s Baby crossing with?

A crossover book marries two different novels that seem to have nothing in common, but they do. The Cowboy’s Baby is tied into Talking To The Dead Guys and its sequel Tea With A Dead Gal by virtue of setting, time, and the coincidence of quirky animal characters.

You see, the made-up town of Creighton where The Cowboy’s Baby takes place is less than thirty miles from the real town of Lockhart,Texas, where Boo Radley, the dog character in the Boo Done It mysteries, lives and wreaks havoc.

So I had them meet.

Yes, Boo Radley meets Baby.

At the State Fair of Texas. 

At the local comic-con in San Marcos.

Baby Sings the Boos contains humorous short stories combining the two characters in adventures.

Photos by Roxanne Rix.

http://amzn.com/B00SBJNRKC

http://smashwords.com/books/view/511674

http://amzn.com/B0094FBA8S

http://amzn.com/B00R9FEXK2

Bet you didn’t know there was a sequel to THE COWBOY’S BABY. Here’s the cover.

THE COWBOY’S BABY GOES TO HEAVEN. It’s a better book, I think. Takes the characters of Ralph Maybeath (the preacher man) and Leona Robin (the recently retired diplomat) and throws them in with Baby and Little Leon. But you’ve also got Cassie and Frank and a couple of new characters, and hay falling from the skies.

Next year there will be a third book, THE COWBOY’S BABY GETS MARRIED.

http://amzn.com/B00G99P8WG

http://barnesandnoble.com/c/gretchen-rix

http://amzn.com/B003UYUVZC

About a year after publication, I decided to stop using the DIY method and hire the hard stuff out to the professionals. By that I mean the cover and the formatting. This is what The Cowboy’s Baby looked like afterwards.

This was done by Streetlight Graphics (aka http://streetlightgraphics.com ). I’ve used them for everything since then.

How’d I find these marvelous people? Well, it was through the rising fantasy and science fiction writing star Lindsay Buroker (http://lindsayburoker.com).

I honestly don’t remember how I first found Lindsay, but it was most likely that she’d put one of her books up for free on Kindle and I took advantage of it.

When I started following her on Twitter, I decided I liked her covers and took a chance that she would answer a fellow writer’s business-related question. Thus my introduction to the Streetlight Graphics people.

So, thank you Lindsay Buroker, thank you Streetlight Graphics, and thank you Kindle, and Twitter, and Facebook.

What a great new world of publishing!

Photos by Roxanne Rix

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:  Midnight Crossroad by Charlaine Harris.