MKC Books

Normally I do a cover reveal before I release an ebook. Maybe even give a teaser about the book. But as I only finalized the cover this past week, I figured I'd just announce both cover and ebook. A two-fer! And no wait...

Dead Rote is out in the wild in ebook format at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Smashwords. The last is a distributor to Apple, so it may be a while yet before it appears there.

A trade paperback version is forthcoming and I will announce it here on the blog.

Here is the blurb:

School is hell...

Art teacher Nikki Solberg is having a very bad day. Her job is on the chopping block, her estranged relatives are cheering her downfall, and someone trashed her art room. If that wasn't enough, a contentious school board meeting comes to a grinding halt when the new superintendent keels over from natural causes... or is it murder?

Nikki's boyfriend, Detective Marek Okerlund, has troubles of his own, as his third-grade daughter is threatened by a classmate. Not to mention going back to school reminds Marek of his own hellacious years with undiagnosed dyslexia.

Along with Sheriff Karen Okerlund Mehaffey, Marek has to put all that aside and concentrate on an investigation into one bad apple.

Who will get schooled... the good guys or a killer?

Cover blown!

You may possibly have noticed (or not) that I have kept a very low profile on this site. No pictures of me. Little to no biographical information. Instead, it was just about my books. You know, my writing. That was hard enough to put out there for everyone to see when I first released Dead White in 2011.

Why the secrecy? That's largely because I am of that rarely seen subspecies of homo sapiens known as Introvertus Extremus. But it's also because I happened to work for the government for my entire career. Which when you are a peon as I was, meant keeping off everyone's radar and keeping your mouth firmly shut, especially when working for elected officials whose views may or may not reflect your own.

To be clear, nothing I did was political. Nor was I anything fun like a spy or a Navy Seal. I was a technical writer for 10 years in New Mexico and an archivist in Missouri for 21 years. But I am now retired as of last summer and moved back to my hometown to be here for my mother, who is now in care. And I finally realized that I no longer have to keep a low profile unless I wanted to do so. 

Though still very publicity shy, I thought I might put a (little) toe in the public water... eventually. Maybe contact South Dakota Magazine to see if they wanted to mention my books in their writers and artists section or show up at a South Dakota book festival. That got blown completely out of the water (and into a swimsuit shot as it were) earlier this year when my mentor, friend, and fellow South Dakotan Linda M. Hasselstrom turned down an interview for a documentary called Books Across America. The idea was to interview 50 authors in 50 states in 50 days. Linda gave the documentarian (Mason Engel) a list of other South Dakota writers (which I wasn't privy to) that included my name.

For some utterly baffling reason, perhaps because my hometown wasn't too far of a drive from the Nebraska writer's, Mason chose me to represent South Dakota. And despite my best efforts to discourage him, he persisted. I kid you not, when I realized that this was actually going to happen, I completely lost my voice for several hours. For me, speaking in public ranks right up there with the Spanish Inquisition. I tried to prepare for what he might ask and even wrote up a cheat sheet. But I really fumbled on the questions I didn't expect. (I did warn him.) I just don't think well on my feet (or on my seat in this case). That's why I am a writer. I can often think of the perfect comeback... a week or two later.

What remains useable for the documentary, I can't say. Literally. I have only seen some stills (Mason and yours truly above) and the trailer that they recently sent ahead of the Kickstarter campaign to gain funding for full production. (They very wisely chose not to scare off potential sponsors by including me. They went for the money shots like James Patterson and Joyce Carol Oates.) Books Across America is meant to air on PBS eventually. Rumor has it, next year sometime. We'll see if I didn't tank the entire thing!

But my face is now out there. Eek! (When I was a kid, I actually jumped out of a canoe once just to avoid getting my picture taken.)

Yes, after years of playing coy by using my initials, I am now outed as a retired woman of a certain age who is about as photogenic as regurgitated sour milk. I grew up on a rural prairie bluff just outside (and now inside the city limits of) Vermillion, South Dakota, with a short stint in Minnesota, where I started school. I went to college in Illinois (B.A. in Literature) and Ohio (Master's in Technical and Scientific Communication) and later back in Illinois (Master's in Library and Information Science with Archival Emphasis).

There you have it, the story of my life. A life that has very little in the way of plot. Two parents (one deceased), three brothers, eight nieces and nephews. No kids, no pets (despite my first word being Dog). Just me and my writing. That's why this site is about my books. There was actually not much cover to blow.

In the end, I hope that it's what's between the covers of my books that keeps you here. Cheers!
​

This notification can only be understood to have come from MK's mother*:

I don't know how, I don't know why, but my always-has-her-nose-in-a-book daughter has somehow managed (despite her best efforts to stay out of the limelight) to actually win an award!

Of course, it's from a library group. Just more of those peculiar bookish people patting themselves on the back. I mean, who ever heard of the Mountain Plains Library Association's Literary Contribution Award**?

Maybe she'll get a plaque or something. Or the plague. It's downright embarrassing. I swear, they give kids awards for everything these days...

MK's Baffled Mom

*True Dakotans only brag on the kids or the sports team.
**There are 12 members states and nominations come from member librarians. Past South Dakota writers to win the award include Kathleen Norris and Linda Hasselstrom. Other mystery writers are Tony Hillerman and Craig Johnson.

A trade paperback of Dead Spirits is now available for purchase at Amazon. You can also obtain it by requesting it from your local bookstore.

Finally. It's here. I hope you enjoy Dead Spirits as much as I enjoy being done with it!

Dead Spirits is available in ebook format at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Smashwords. The last is a distributor to Apple, so it may be a while yet before it appears there. There's also a glitch at Barnes & Noble in populating the new book page, so if it's still wonky, wait a day or two. If it continues to glitch, let me know.

A trade paperback version will be available soon and I will announce it here on the blog.

Here is the blurb:

Instead of the Corps of Discovery...

A corpse is discovered at Spirit Mound, a Lewis and Clark exploration site in South Dakota reputed to harbor evil spirits. Sheriff Karen Okerlund Mehaffey, newly married and wanting nothing more than to jet off on her honeymoon, must deal with a clash of white and Native cultures over an archaeological dig at the mound. 

To further depress Karen's spirits, the victim was a childhood friend of her inscrutable Native American deputy. Her and Two Fingers's relationship has always been somewhat standoffish, but will this freeze it entirely despite the August heat? 

From dusty museums to colorful powwows to backstabbing academia, Karen and Marek must dig far into the past for a killer in the present who's stirred ancient spirits—evil or otherwise. 

As ever, my wonderful cover artist (Glendon Haddix) nailed the cover for Dead Spirits. In a first for me, it's adapted from a photograph that I actually took. Of course, he made it look a lot better! ​

Wow, it's been a wee little while since I last posted! Sorry about that. Life happens.

Just wanted to give an update on what's happening on the writing front. I just handed the draft of Dead Spirits off to my editor. I hope to have the revisions done and the book out by the end of the year.

In writing Dead Spirits, which is largely about Deputy Two Fingers' backstory, I discovered an error in Dead Poor. Namely, I said that Two Fingers was under the blood quantum of 50% for tribal enrollment. Since then, I have learned the true percentage is 25%, so I have adjusted accordingly in the new book.

The trade paperback version of Dead Ball is now available on Amazon. It can also be ordered through your local bookstore using the ISBN (9798485711474).

At long last! And despite much teeth gnashing.

Dead Ball is out in the wild in ebook format at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Smashwords. The last is a distributor to Apple, so it may be a while yet before it appears there.

A trade paperback version is forthcoming and I will announce it here on the blog.

Here is the blurb:

Summer was for fun...

A former star basketball player, Sheriff Karen Okerlund Mehaffey just wants to have fun watching the local girls' summer team play against an elite Dakota team that sports the country’s top uncommitted college recruit. True, life-changing scholarship offers are on the line, but no one expected that murder would be done. 

To make things even stickier, the talented and unfairly maligned daughter of Karen's boyfriend is vying for one of those scholarships, and this may be her last chance to catch the eye of scouts.

Someone is playing for keeps, but who? From entitled players and helicopter parents to classless coaches and dubious sponsors, Karen and her detective-uncle, Marek Okerlund, must play a deadly game of justice to find a killer.

i always seem to start out my blog posts with apologies for the long silence! This one does not, unfortunately, break that trend.

Last heard from, I had a delayed my editing date to February for Dead Ball and was hoping to get the book out by summer or early fall. Alas, due to more 2020-like ills extending into 2021, the only thing that got done by February was the ebook cover. As always, my cover artist (Glendon Haddix of Streetlight Graphics) nailed it. 

My new editing date is in June. Assuming I make that date (never assume anything these days!), that will likely mean a late fall publication.