Busted!

It’s the holiday season and, although there’s no snow on the ground in our area, Brian and I have put up our Christmas tree (yes, we have a fake one). This is no small feat…particularly when there’s “feline assistance” involved…! As you might imagine, having spent more than 30 Christmases together, we have quite the collection of bright and shiny ornaments to display. And as you might also guess, bright and shiny ornaments are just thing to attract the attention of our cats…!
For the most part, they’re pretty good…but every now and then we’ll come into the room and find an ornament or two on the floor. Of course, when that happens, it’s pretty difficult to know who the culprit was. But sometimes, if we’re lucky, we catch one in the act…BUSTED…!

 

All-New Web Site

Welcome to my all-new web site!

The latest generation of www.bfreemanbooks.com gives me and Marcia much more control to manage the site day by day, in order to provide readers with news about upcoming books, events in your area, and other tidbits about life in publishing.

On the home page, you’ll always find “sliders” that alert you to what’s coming next.  In this case, I’ll have TWO books available in 2017…an all-new San Francisco-based thriller called THE NIGHT BIRD on February 1 and then the next Jonathan Stride novel, MARATHON, on May 2.  You’ll love them both!

On each book page, you can find links to buy the books at your favorite retailer — as well as audio samples and book club discussion questions.

And you’ll find links to connect with both me and Marcia on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.

Enjoy the new site!

Panda Lover

A great benefit of Brian’s career as an author is all of the wonderful people we meet at events and here on Facebook. And last year around this time, I met a lovely woman who saw one of the pictures that I posted here on Facebook…one with Brian and our neighbors’ adorable little dog Maggie. She is a fan of Brian’s books…and she just happened to live in an area that Brian and I were going to be visiting on that very same day! Talk about coincidences…!

panda-ornamentSince that time, she and I have become wonderful friends…we exchange messages and talk regularly and we try to get together whenever our schedules permit. Last night was one of those times…and I was so touched when she gave me a very special gift…this hand-painted Christmas ornament…! Of course, I’m a cat lover…but I’m also a panda lover—having seen live pandas at the San Francisco, Washington DC and London zoos. Over the years, Brian and I have collected panda-themed items, many of which are prominently displayed around our house. In fact, you should see our stuffed panda collection.

As I sit here, looking at this beautiful ornament—and thinking about how wonderful it is that Brian and I have friends and fans around the world–I can’t help but also think…”uh-oh, Christmas isn’t really that far away…!

THE NIGHT BIRD. Coming February 1, 2017

The Night Bird

Memories can kill.  Don’t forget.

Get ready for an all-new thriller from me on February 1, 2017:  THE NIGHT BIRD.  It’s available for pre-order right now…just click here for more information.

THE NIGHT BIRD uses the foggy, dramatic locale of San Francisco as its backdrop, with settings from the Bay Bridge to Golden Gate Park to Coit Tower. The book introduces a sexy new hero, Homicide Inspector Frost Easton, who patrols the city’s murder beat with his adopted cat, Shack.THE NIGHT BIRD. Coming February 1, 2017

And the plot? It’s wonderfully creepy. San Francisco psychiatrist Francesca Stein treats patients by erasing their most terrifying memories — but now her patients are dying, and Frost has to hunt down a killer who can turn memories into a murder weapon.

THE NIGHT BIRD will be landing soon…get your copy as soon as it’s available!

Duck Duck Yellow Duck

One of the interesting things about traveling around as much as Brian and I do is that when we stay in hotels, we get to see all kinds of bathroom amenities. Of course, most places will give you nice soaps and shampoos…remember the “stack” of neutrogena products…? But we really love it when places will take that extra step to leave something fun. Out of all of the places we’ve stayed and all of the things we’ve seen, I would have to say that this–from a hotel in Appleton, Wisconsin a few years ago–remains my all-time favorite hotel room amenity…!

rubber-duck

What Makes a Great Thriller?

Are you looking for a great thriller? (Well, after you read GOODBYE TO THE DEAD, of course.)

Check out my post at bookish.com, where I talk about the 10 essential qualities of a great mystery or thriller — and highlight 10 novels that get it just right. A sense of place? A spectacular twist? A gripping first chapter? These are just some of the important elements that readers expect — and that the best writers always deliver.

Click here to read the post.

The Huffington Post

Go behind the scenes on GOODBYE TO THE DEAD and 10 years of my Jonathan Stride thrillers in this great interview from The Huffington Post.

Columnist-author Mark Rubinstein delves into the inspirations behind the book, the series, and my writing career. If you want to know how I approach my thrillers, this is a terrific place to start.

Do you have your copy yet of GOODBYE TO THE DEAD? Fresh Fiction says: “Master storyteller Brian Freeman knocks it out of the park with his latest Jonathan Stride crime thriller…hugely addictive with each unexpected twist and turn in the investigation….This compelling police crime thriller should be on everyone’s must-read list.”

Click here to read the HuffPo interview!

Available Now

The wait is over! Jonathan Stride is back…and GOODBYE TO THE DEAD is available right now.

I think this is one of those books you will want to add to your permanent collection. It’s a story that brings the past and present of Stride’s life together once and for all. I hope you enjoy it — and that you’ll help me spread the word to your reader friends.

goodbye-final-coverHere’s what Fresh Fiction had to say about the new book in their review:

“Master storyteller Brian Freeman knocks it out of the park with his latest Jonathan Stride crime thriller…hugely addictive with each unexpected twist and turn in the investigation….This compelling police crime thriller should be on everyone’s must-read list.”

I’ve got book tour events coming up in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Colorado, Arizona, Texas, and North Carolina. If I’ll be in your area, please stop by my event and pick up a signed copy! I’d love to meet you.

Happy reading!

Ten Years: A Pioneer Press Retrospective

CLICK HERE TO READ THE PIONEER PRESS ARTICLE.

With the release of my latest Jonathan Stride thriller GOODBYE TO THE DEAD just days away, Mary Ann Grossman of the Pioneer Press has written a wonderful retrospective on my ten years in the book business. It’s a great way to get to know me and my novels.

Sometimes it’s hard for me to believe that I’ve spent a decade writing and publishing thrillers around the world — about a third of my working life. As someone who dreamed of writing books from a young age (I was working on a mystery novel in sixth grade!), this really has been the achievement of a life-long goal. The publishing business is one of the toughest ways to make a living, but it also offers rewards that you can’t get anywhere else.

More than anything, as you’ll see in Mary Ann’s article, I’ve been fortunate to run this business as a partnership with my wife, Marcia. (She gets the first two words in every book!) We do this all together — editing, marketing, hitting the road, doing events — and that’s the best part of this new life we created ten years ago.

I hope you enjoy getting to know us in this article — and I hope you buy a copy of GOODBYE TO THE DEAD and fall in love with it. It’s one of my own personal favorites among my novels.