Merry Christmas to all from Northwestern Montana (USA)!

As the snow falls gently outside, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in these mountains lurking beyond our windows.

Some of you are receiving this Newsletter as a result of the current free (giveaway) promotion of BRIDGET'S STORY. Others have not yet received or read that novelette. If you belong to this second group, please follow the link here to download your free copy. A short read, but provides some background for the LONGSHOT SERIES. Either way, I hope you enjoy or have enjoyed it.

Hold on tight now, here comes our latest Cover Reveal!

This is the cover for the first book in a new series. The Thatchery (Monica Haynes) has again applied her considerable cover design talent and experience in bringing this forth. I couldn't be more delighted with the result of her fine efforts.

The Title: NORTH OF THE SUN, tells where the bulk of the story takes place, north of the Sun River in western Montana. It is a tale of the conflict to take over the lands of the Blackfeet Tribe and the Whiskey Trade which made that possible. The characters battle over lands, Buffalo hides, fair practices and against one another; some fight their own consciences. At times it is hard to imagine that anyone truly wins in the end. But such is the history of progress in the North American West of 1870.

You'll recognize a couple of the main characters, and a few peripheral ones. There are a few new players that populate the pages, one or two of whom might even survive to the end of the book. We'll notify you when NORTH OF THE SUN is available for order.

Thanks for your patience and patronage. We love our loyal fans and readers!

With best wishes for peace and prosperity in the New Year,

Keith R. Baker

P.S. I'm participating in a couple of free book promotions. Be sure to check out the Wild West Shootout and the Civil War History and Fiction Giveaway for all of the historical fiction books your reading device can handle!

Wild West Shootout

Download Your Free Western Books

Civil War History and Fiction Giveaway

Download your Free Civil War Fiction Books

TELLIN' IT LIKE IT IS

First off, I proudly stand upon my promise to you when you signed up for this newsletter that, "I would not send you a lot of unnecessary emails and stuff." I hope you have noticed how well that promise is being kept. Haven't sent out so much as a scrap in these past four months.

This page used to be called the 'Blog' page on this website. As of right now, I've asked Monica to change it to Newsletter. I hope she does. She knows how and is good at that sort of thing. Me? Not a chance that I wouldn't mess that up. You'll know right off if Monica has made the change: The Home page will say 'Newsletter' where it formerly proclaimed, 'Blog'. Not that you would or should care.

Having now brought you up to speed on the important IT functions of this site, we're bringing in the bigger news items below.

What's happened since last Newsletter (April 11th, 2016)?

Longshot Into Darkness by Keith R. Baker

BOOK NEWS

In that last newsletter, I stated that Longshot #3 had an elusive working title. That's changed. The title is now fixed and the cover is finished for the Kindle version. I think Monica outdid herself, especially given how little info she's received from me in doing the design. As a reward for your faithfulness, subscribers here can now see what is referred to as a cover reveal. I really hope you like it! You may also recall being told in that last letter that Book #3 would open in a mining camp. That's still technically true, but not entirely accurate. The first page of LONGSHOT FROM DARKNESS takes place on a battlefield, in an entirely different part of the country in one of the States of the United States. It opens in 1863, and I promise you'll recognize some of the places and some of the names, just as in the earlier books of the series. Others that you don't recognize are just as real; it's just that you may not have learned of them previously. This third book in the series has presented me a few unexpected challenges that I hope will translate to making it the best of the three when completed. No, I can't say when it will be finished. But I do promise you that I am working diligently and daily toward that end.

Also, in case you are interested, LONGSHOT IN MISSOURI, (the first book in the series), achieved #1 ranking in the Entire Amazon Kindle Store for two days, June 22nd and 23rd! We're all pretty jazzed about that around here, and I have to say that Monica had more to do with it than did the writing effort. Marketing, (as an independently published author), is what makes the difference. With over 500,000 active independent authors around writing our fool heads off, it's easy to get lost in the crowd. And that doesn't even take into account all the books pouring forth from the traditional huge publishing companies and their massive stables of authors. So a big THANK YOU to YOU, my reader(s) for making that first huge milestone possible. I am more grateful than mere words can convey.

In case you were not aware, LONGSHOT IN MISSOURI is already available as an Audiobook. Monica is attaching a link to the free sample clip as well as to where you can find it on Amazon. A.W. Miller is a superbly talented and experienced voice actor and narrates the book in such a way that, when I listen to it, I am caught up anew with the characters–all of them. He manages to capture the essence of each character with their voices and accents. Mr. Miller is a Theater coach and teacher as well as an accomplished actor and writer in his own right. It is no wonder that he is known as the "man of 500 voices"–he really delivers all the characters extremely well. We are so fortunate to have him narrating the LONGSHOT series. A.W. Miller is presently producing LONGSHOT INTO THE WEST in the Audiobook format. I cannot wait to hear it!

WHO IS THIS MONICA?

Monica Haynes is a talented book cover designer and personal assistant who provides marketing and design work for authors. If you or someone you know is needing such help, you can contact her here: info@thethatchery.com or visit her website here: www.thethatchery.com. There is no one more competent, nor easier to work with and no one more efficient with her time and mine. Period.

REVIEWS

Despite the great advice I regularly receive from more experienced authors, publishers, Personal Assistants, my wife, friends, relatives and all ... I read every review my work receives. EVERY SINGLE ONE! And most of them multiple times. I don't get involved in arguments with those who critically rate or review my work, but there are many times I'd like to do so. You know, the folks who say in their review that they loved the book and then rate it THREE STARS!!!!!! Amazon star ratings have meanings that have been assigned. Three stars is a NEGATIVE rating on Amazon's scale of 1 to 5. How can folks read entire books and then not bother to read the three words alongside their rating choice? Then there was the person who "loved" the first book in the series while rating it FOUR STARS and (same person) rated the second book FIVE STARS while commenting that (in his opinion), "it was not as good as the first book." What's an author to think? My real quest in this paragraph is this: If you like my work and have signed up for this newsletter, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE give it an honest rating on Amazon. It REALLY IS THAT important. And if you have already reviewed my book(s) there, THANK YOU! I LOVE YOU! Especially if you gave it a great rating and wrote a great review. YES I SAID LOVE!! LOVE YOU!! Man or woman! Doesn't matter to me, I'm Bi-Polar.

ON A MORE PERSONAL LEVEL

I've just entered the stage of life where I am officially closer to the beginning of my 8th decade than my 7th. You might think about that for a minute to make certain you are counting your decades correctly. As a result of the insane number of hours my aging eyes are focused on computer, or tablet, or smart phone screens while writing and researching, I've developed an annoying condition know as, "dry-eye syndrome". Some of you likely have it. The "gamer's glasses" I'm now wearing to mitigate the problem are ridiculous to behold. Perhaps I'll one day post a photo of myself, thus accessorized and typing away furiously. Don't hold your breath.

A new office chair arrived yesterday to support my ever-increasing writing effort*. (You'll figure that out, too, if you give it a second) I must say that, so far, it is a superior delight in every way over its three predecessors. I go through office chairs like some of my neighbors change pick-up trucks.

*In English the word 'butt' is actually an acronym for this italicized phrase. I know the letters don't quite line up, but I think the guy behind it may have been speaking a Welsh dialect. At least, he was probably wishing that he had been ...

And with that important and informative last bit of information, I'll leave you alone again for a while. Comments and reviews are always welcome. We wither here without 'em.

Thanks,
Keith

PSSSSSTTTT. SALE OVER HERE!

P. S. LONGSHOT INTO THE WEST is on SALE for a very limited time. Pick up your Kindle copy for only $0.99 and please, spread the word.

Just in Time for Christmas...A Cover Reveal