IT is a whole new year, and in the first few days of 2019 we have already embraced new ideas. We have never before published a novella. Most of the novels in our Zack Tolliver, FBI series run to 250 or 300 pages. THE DARK ROAD; The Beginning checks in at less than 120 pages. Writing a shorter work requires a different mind set; plots develop more quickly, there are fewer sub plots, fewer characters. The POV tends to remain limited. It is a different perspective for the writer. I have no doubt it will be a somewhat different experience for the reader.

Another new experience for us is what I term project overlap; that is, conceiving or even beginning the next work before the first is sold, within the same series. For us, there is always a general writing overlap––far too much, in fact. But our new work in the Zack Tolliver series, THE LAS CRUCES GHOST, was begun even before we have sold THE DARK ROAD. That is new for us.

Project overlap led to our third new experience. Because a portion of THE LAS CRUCES GHOST is already written, we are able to include an excerpt of that work in the back pages of THE DARK ROAD e-book edition, now on pre-order at Amazon. It presents an interesting contrast––Zack’s first moments in Navajo Land followed by a chapter describing his very latest experiences.

We hope to pique your interest in both adventures. THE LAS CRUCES GHOST is planned for launch by the beginning of April. The prequel THE DARK ROAD might naturally lead to the first book of the series, THE OTHER (although as stand-alone novels, the order is not as important). Many who purchase the prequel may already have read the other series books.

And so the new year begins with an experiment. Thanks to digital technology, if the inclusion of the excerpt proves too awkward, we are able to remove it following the pre-order and early launch period. We’ll see. If you have a thought to share with us on the matter, we are eager to hear you. (RLawsonGamble@gmail.com).

Regardless, we know you will enjoy these stories. Look for the new cover art for THE DARK ROAD to appear shortly.

(Check out RLawsonGamble.com for latest updates)