The Talking To The Dead Guys tour of Lockhart (we had a fun time of it)

TALKING TO THE DEAD GUYS is a humorous mystery set in the small Texas town of Lockhart, featuring our dog Boo Radley. Most of the settings are real. But this is a real courthouse.

And believe me, I made up all of the characters (except for our dog), even though local readers josh me from time to time about how they recognize so-and-so in certain scenes.

Boo Radley

Boo Radley

If you live in Lockhart and have read the book, then it’s pretty easy to scout out the real places. But for readers from outside the area, (we had the opportunity last week showing a nice couple from Seguin around) we came up with the TALKING TO THE DEAD GUYS Lockhart tour.

We started at the City Park (where the novel begins), drove past the site where the first dead body was found down by the creek bed (in the book, guys. it’s all made up). Then down into the historical cemetery right next door. One of the inspirations for TALKING TO THE DEAD GUYS was the yearly Speaking of the Dead nighttime cemetery tour the historical society holds out here. The last year we walked it, when I couldn’t keep up and came close to tripping over grave borders, I started laughing, picturing our dog Boo Radley dragging me through the dark and onto something scary. Angel

After the cemetery we drove to look at the mansions along Main Street, one of which served as Grady William Pearce’s fictional abode. Then to the Caldwell County Historical Society Museum, which is commonly known as the old jail. It looks like a castle on the outside, and up on the second and third floors it’s definitely a 19th century rusted-out jail. We still think it would be a great place to have an overnight ghost story party.Lockhart

 

 

We were there too early in the morning to tour.

From there we passed Grace Lutheran Church, then to Maple Street and the house standing in for the Gruene House in my book. Then to the Maple Street walking and biking trail. The year I wrote the book, the fields alongside it were planted with cotton. Every other year, it’s corn. Here’s a photo of the corn. Walking Boo Radley past the corn or cotton fields day by day and dealing with her quirky personality was the other inspiration for TALKING TO THE DEAD GUYS. I really did make part of it up walking the dog (getting dragged by the dog is more accurate).Corn

 

From there we drove all the way up to the field alongside the junior high school where the fictional Barkie Bark and Sophia got into so much trouble. Then back down to the park where the fictional FBI agent got into so much trouble.

Ended it with a short look inside the Dr. Eugene Clark Library (where the third installment of my Boo Done It series will see a murder done). And then we really ended it with a great BBQ meal at Blacks BBQ.

The couple we took on this tour wanted photographs to send along with TALKING TO THE DEAD GUYS to make it more special for the recipient. We volunteered to drive them around because it sounded like a fun thing to do, especially since they liked our mystery novel.

Clark Library

 

The friendliest BBQ place in town. Good BBQ, too.

 

I doubt we’ll ever get any more Boo Done It fans visiting Lockhart just to see the places I’ve written about, but if we do, we might be up to showing them around. Front yard flowers

 

 

 

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:  Watch Me Die by Lee Goldberg.

Check out our website http://rixcafetexican.com.

The Talking To The Dead Guys Tour

LockhartWe’re doing a Talking To The Dead Guys Tour of Lockhart this weekend.

Taking a couple of readers around town to shoot photographs of the actual sites I used in my murder mystery novel Talking To The Dead Guys.

http://rixcafetexican.com

There are a lot more of them than I remembered. And I’m not even counting the ones from the sequel Tea With A Dead Gal.

A Boo Done It Mystery

A Boo Done It Mystery

The high school gymnasium. The police department. The Maple Street walking/biking trail. Black’s BBQ.

The Maple Street walking/biking trail and my experiences on it with our dog Boo Radley actually inspired the book.

The old jail house. Maple Street Park. The Main Street mansions.

The old jail house gave me a really neat idea for the end of the mystery.

City Park. City Cemetery. The Caldwell County Courthouse.

The Speaking of the Dead graveyard tour held in Lockhart’s City Cemetery every October inspired the murder and mystery I made up for Talking To The Dead Guys.

The green house (Gruene) where much of the action takes place.

One look at the real house this was based on and you’ll understand why I populated my fictional setting with all those newspapers, photographs, and ….to say anything more would spoil the surprise.

The friendliest BBQ place in town. Good BBQ, too.

The friendliest BBQ place in town. Good BBQ, too.

Our tour should be fun.

I hope we get to do it again.

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK: The Peyti Crisis by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.

Photos by Roxanne Rix

Boo Radley

Boo Radley

Caldwell County courthouse

THE GOODALL MUTINY

I’ve finished my next book. It’s with the beta readers for proofreading. It’s with my critique group for fine-tuning. And it’s my to-do chore (proofreading and proofreading again and again) for the entire month of January.

THE GOODALL MUTINY. Science fiction. If you like the steampunk novels of Lindsay Buroker, you’ll probably like my new series. No banter, however. If you like the young adult novels of Robert Heinlein you’ll probably like THE GOODALL MUTINY. 

Look for it late February.

I’m starting on the sequel Friday, January 1. I’m really interested in seeing where the story is going to go. Photo below is of me at Armadillocon in Austin. Two years ago.

Go to http://rixcafetexican.com to see a complete list of my already published fiction.

Photo by Roxanne Rix

 

Dealers Room at ArmadilloCon in Austin, Texas 2012

THE COWBOY’S BABY GOES TO HEAVEN

For this last post before Christmas 2015, let me mention the sequel to THE COWBOY’S BABY. (And Merry Christmas, you all!)

I named it THE COWBOY’S BABY GOES TO HEAVEN. You can find it here http://amzn.com/B00G99P8WG and also at Smashwords and Barnes & Noble.

It’s a better book than THE COWBOY’S BABY. Funnier. Better written. It’s got two full romances going. I call it a romantic comedy. It’s pretty much the type of book that would have been made into a Sandra Bullock movie back when she was taking on light romantic roles.

No explicit sex, though. And don’t worry.(Spoiler) Baby doesn’t die. Heaven’s the name of a town.

romantic comedy

 

 

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:  Search and Recovery by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. The Giver by Lois Lowry.

Boo Radley, Talking To The Dead Guys

darwin

Talking to the Dead Guys

A Boo Done It Mystery

A Boo Done It Mystery

 

Right now, Talking To The Dead Guys is $3.99 for the e-book version. This won’t last forever. So, if you’re interested, this might be the time to buy. Available at Amazon at http://amzn.com/B0094FBA8S and at Smashwords at http://smashwords.com/books/view/273657. It’s also available for Nook.

Talking To The Dead Guys is a humorous murder mystery set in Lockhart, Texas, and loosely based on our family dog Boo Radley. It’s also loosely  based on the real annual graveyard tour called Speaking of the Dead that’s held in October. The last time I took that tour, I began wondering what would happen if our dog was out here and I got dragged into a murder scene.

I’ve published a sequel, Tea With A Dead Gal, and a third mystery novel is planned. Actually, I hope for this to become a long series.

I lowered prices in an experiment. At the end of the year I’ll look at the figures. But I’m pretty sure the prices will go up.

Here’s a photo of the real Boo Radley dog, taken by Roxanne Rix.

Boo Radley

Boo Radley

 

 

 

 

 

WHAT I READ THESE LAST WEEKS:  Fuzzy Navel by J. A. Konrath. Black Jack by Max Brand. Orders Is Orders by L. Ron Hubbard. Grave Passage by William Doonan. Anniversary Day by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Blowback by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.

Visit us at our website http://rixcafetexican.com

Finished First Draft Next Book

From the State Fair of TexasLast month I wrote THE END to my most recent novel. This upcoming month I’m editing it. I have read it from beginning to end, and am mostly very pleased. It’s a very quick read, which was my goal. And because I did a bit of editing as I wrote it, it’s pretty clean. I’ve already made a list of discrepancies I had found, and have cleaned up problems in chapter one and chapter two.

When all of this revision is done, THE GOODALL MUTINY goes to my first reader. Hopefully she gives it a big okay. From there it goes to my three Beta readers and I start proofreading the hell out of it.

If you’re a writer, you know the drill.

And if you’re reading this, you might wonder why the delay. Well, to steal from Dean Wesley Smith’s blog, life got in the way. I had and still have a more important role to play than writer right now. Hopefully, everything will be back to normal in a week or two. Until then, most everything is on hold.

 

 

 

 

WHAT I READ THESE LAST WEEKS:  Dress Her In Indigo by John D. MacDonald.  Wool by Hugh Howey.  Spurs & Lace by Bonnie R. Paulson. Tiffany Tumbles by Kristine Grayson.

You can find my books here http://amazon.com/author/gretchenrix

Do Free Books Do An Author Any Good

The Cowboy's BabyDo free books do an author any good?

It’s been a question debated lately. I’d like to answer it from my viewpoint. First as a reader. And next as one of the authors who has given away one or more of my books for free.

Authors! As a reader, I love free books. And I love you for giving me your book to read for free. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. But sometimes I won’t look at it for months. Or maybe even a year. I promise, though, I’ll get to it eventually.

And guess what? If I really enjoy that free book, I’ll go search you out and BUY one of your other books. And if I really enjoy that one, then I’ll go back in and buy as many of your books as I can afford. IF your prices are reasonable.

Lindsay Buroker. I’ve bought seventeen of your books after reading that first free one, The Emperor’s Edge. The Emperor's Edge

William Doonan. Keep those cruise ship mysteries coming. I’ve bought all three of the other ones after getting the first of them free.

Steven F. Havill. So far I’ve only bought six of your novels, but I’ll get around the the rest, given time.

And J.A. Konrath. I’ve bought twenty of your books so far. Thank you for being so damned entertaining. And especially for the free books, and for keeping your prices low.Draculas

Does every reader do this? Unfortunately, no. It would make an interesting survey, finding out the percentage of readers who go on to buy a writer’s books after accepting one for free. I’d guess we make up less than twenty percent of readers. I bet we’re pretty loyal fans, though.

Now, from the other side of the equation. As a writer.

I put my romance novel The Cowboy’s Baby up for free on Smashwords in 2014 and Amazon price matched it down to free within a couple of days. I’d remembered that we gave away a lot of copies, and when the interest waned several months later, we took the book back up to a $2.99 price.

I got quite a shock preparing a spreadsheet on the Kindle sales for The Cowboy’s Baby earlier this year. And I’m only talking Kindle sales, not Smashwords or Nook and not paperbacks. Just Kindle.

From publication to end of year in 2014, The Cowboy’s Baby had earned a little more than $1,500. That’s not a lot of money, but it’s comparable to the advance it would have received from a traditional publisher at this point in time. And that would likely have been the only money I saw from it. The Cowboy’s Baby continues to sell.

But what shocked me, were the freebies. Just from the Kindle, we gave away 13,321 copies of The Cowboy’s Baby. That’s right, thirteen thousand. And there were quite a few through Smashwords as well. Pipsqueak numbers to the best selling of us, but not so pipsqueak to me. (Wish I’d made a dollar for every one of those downloads, though).

So, back to my question. Do free books benefit the author?

In my situation, my answer is not yet. The run on this book was almost exactly a year ago. We pulled the book from free when the numbers started to significantly slide, and we never saw any evidence other than about twenty extra book reviews that anyone had ever read the book. So, my answer is still, not yet.

I’m saying not yet because of how I’ve treated the free books I downloaded. I’ll get around to reading all of them (or at least sampling all of them) eventually, but it might be years before I get back to them. What I’m hoping, is that a significant number of these thirteen thousand potential readers finally see my book in their TBR pile and give it a chance.

I don’t think I’d do it again, though. Giving away a book for free over three months or more. It’s very possible that the entire market for this sweet romance/romantic comedy book was about twenty thousand, and they’ve almost all, already got their copies.

Purple and blueOh, well.

Check out our new website  http://rixcafetexican.com  where you can see all my books and stories.

 

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:  Pale Gray For Guilt by John D. MacDonald.

New Rix Cafe Texican website

My website Rix Cafe Texican has just gotten a makeover. Actually, we scrapped the old one, and Molly Humphrey of Molly Pop Design www.mollypopdesign.com took our suggestions and created a new site for us.   http://rixcafetexican.com.

It’s cleaner, shows off my books better, and looks more fun.

There are going to be a lot of Darwin pictures! Our dog Darwin

Go over and take a look.

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK: Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. The Changeling Prince by Vivian Vande Velde. The Conjurer Princess by Vivian Vande Velde. The Last Town by Blake Crouch. The Enemy Within by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.  (Actually, it’s two or three weeks). And The Quick Red Fox by John D. MacDonald.