The coolest thing is happening in a couple of weeks.

On March 5, Down and Out Books releases THE NIGHT OF THE FLOOD, a novel in stories, conceived by J.J. Hensley and edited by E.A. Aymar and Sarah M. Chen. (You can read a great interview with them here.)

A number of us who write for The Thrill Begins, International Thriller Writers’ online magazine for aspiring and debut authors, and a few other writers collaborated on this collection that – from my viewpoint at least – came together astonishingly seamlessly. But don’t take my word for it. Lee Child – yes, of the Jack Reacher series – calls it “a brave concept, brilliantly executed.”

That’s probably because Ed and Sarah did all of the hard work. It was a fun project and I can’t wait to see it in print.

Then, just three days later, my fifth Lola Wicks novel, UNDER THE SHADOWS (Midnight Ink) comes out. This one takes Lola to Utah, Salt Lake City specifically. She’s spent so much time in the wilds of West that I thought it would be fun to put her back in a city for awhile. Lola being Lola, she’s grouchy about it.

I’m celebrating by reading Laura Lippman’s SUNBURN and listening to Tom Sweterlitsch’s THE GONE WORLD, both highly anticipated and each delivering in spades. Life is sweet when you’re drunk on good books.