KEVIN PAUL TRACY

Available for PURCHASE: The Lucifer Strain

Tuesday, July 17, 2018

NOW AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE everywhere: The Lucifer Strain! Look for it on Amazon and other top booksellers ! The long awaited sequel to my acclaimed adventure/thriller Rogue Agenda! This time Lainie Parker must face down a band of Canadian terrorists bent on releasing history's most deadly programmable virus, unleashing a pan-global genocide that will devastate the world. Read More...

Available For Pre-order: The Lucifer Strain

Tuesday, July 3, 2018

Good news! The long awaited sequel to my acclaimed adventure/thriller Rogue Agenda is NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER on Amazon.com (to be released on July 17): The Lucifer Strain! Look for it on Amazon and other top booksellers ! This time Lainie Parker must face down a band of Canadian terrorists bent on releasing history's most deadly programmable virus, unleashing a pan-global genocide that will devastate the world. Also dropping on the same day, the newly designed cover to the first Lainie Parker adventure: "Rogue Agenda." Read More...

New Release: The Lucifer Strain

Thursday, June 28, 2018

Good news! The long awaited sequel to my acclaimed adventure/thriller Rogue Agenda is going to be released on July 17: The Lucifer Strain! Look for it on Amazon and other top booksellers ! This time Lainie Parker must face down a band of Canadian terrorists bent on releasing history's most deadly programmable virus, unleashing a pan-global genocide that will devastate the world. Also dropping on the same day, the newly designed cover to the first Lainie Parker adventure: "Rogue Agenda." Read More...

FUN TO READ

Thursday, November 10, 2016

I am a regular contributor to the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers blog. My articles appear on the first Thursday of every month. I have four books currently in print, a game, and two anthologies that I have either written for or edited. I have at least three other projects in the works and bound to be released soon. I don't always do well in promoting myself and the stuff I have out there that readers might enjoy. I've always found self-promotion rather unsavory, the people quite adept at it equally as brutish and unpleasant to be around. But I really do think there are a lot of readers out there who will enjoy the books I've written, so when I encourage you to buy and read my books, it is only partially self-serving (I actually don't really make much on sales of my work) but it truly is an honest desire to share with others some fun, interesting, diverting, and quite entertaining stories and really do believe they will get a kick out of. Ma Read More...

BOOK SIGNING IN DENVER, SEPTEMBER 9

Friday, September 9, 2016

I will be joining about 40 other authors from across the fiction world at a book signing in Denver Friday night September 9 at 8 PM. Come to the Renaissance Hotel at 3801 Quebec St, Denver, CO 80207 and say hi. There will be a cash bar. I look forward to meeting each of you! Read More...

PATRICIA DUFFY - FROM PLAIN TO PLAIN AWESOME!

Friday, September 2, 2016

Patricia Duffy is the foremost female heroine in my latest thriller, Presence of Malice. Many readers have asked how someone as nice as Patricia ended up working for such a prick as Dr. Gerald Gannery, and moreover, why she stayed.     Such things happen gradually. To a wide-eyed college student still several months away from graduating from business school, it seemed like a dream job come true, at first. Not only was one of New York's most prominent plastic surgeons and purported philanthropists willing to hire her as his business manager before she graduated, but he would pay all of her student loans and buy back the mortgage her parents had put on the family ranch to pay for it. When, after a year beyond graduation, Gannery never did get around to signing the mortgage back over to her parents, well it seemed ungrateful and rude to press him on it. So she waited, hoping he would remember his promise himself. Read More...

Jet Gatling - Man of Mystery

Monday, August 29, 2016

Jet Gatling is the central character in my latest book, Presence of Malice, and yet very little of the book is told from his point of view (only two short narratives, in point of fact.) I did that deliberately, I wanted Jet to remain a mystery to the reader, with a big question - is he the good guy or is he another bad guy? If a bad guy, why didn't he outright kill Dr. Gannery, the man he'd been contracted to take out, given multiple opportunities to do so? If a good guy, then why doesn't he warn of the bomb that takes out an entire hotel floor? These and other burning questions are answered in Presence of Malice, hopefully to the satisfaction of the reader. All except one - how far is Jet willing to go? What lines in he willing to cross? What, if anything, will make him stop and reconsider his rage-blind determination to accomplish what he sees as necessary? Add Jet to any situation and he immediately becomes the wild card. There's no pred Read More...

Politics Religion

Friday, August 19, 2016

I have maintained a strict "no politics, no religion" policy when it comes to my public writings, such as this blog. Believe me, that isn't always easy, especially this election cycle with everything that's going on. I long to speak out on my views, defend my beliefs and take to task the deliberately twisted rhetoric of the other side. I have opinions, expressed or not, and it goes against the grain not to express them in the public forum, be heard, and add my voice to the strength of those on the same side of the important issues of the day as me. There are those who have told me that, given the public platform I've been able to gain through my publicity and my books, that I am even obligated to use it to add my voice to the public square, lend my reason and logic to the strength of my "side," and exercise my freedom of speech and the soap box I've been granted through my success in a way that matters for the lives of current and future generations. But I'm not Read More...

I Love Seattle

Sunday, August 14, 2016

I do, I really, do! Don't get me wrong, Colorado will always be my home. Nothing compares to cool Rocky Mountain breezes on a hot summer day, the lovely moderate crispness and earthy colors of a Colorado Autumn, or the view of the lights of Denver as you emerge from the front range hogbacks that are the gateway between the rustic mountains and the metropolitan city. But I have often had occasion to visit Seattle, and while most people have really only heard about the rainy weather there - in point of fact it's really not that bad - what I like to focus on is how much there is to do there, and how truly unique those experiences are from any other city in the world. Aside from the common tourist tracks of Pike Place Market, the waterfront shopping districts, and of course the Space Needle - all of which you absolutely must see - there are other less commonly known things I wouldn't have missed for the world. Some of the Read More...

OF LIONS AND HEROES

Thursday, July 30, 2015

It is ironic that in the news people deeply concerned with the humane treatment of animals have found a cause célèbre in the hunt and killing of a wild African lion in Zimbabwe this week, when in the latest Kathryn Desmarais Gothic Mystery, Bloodtrail, Kate is faced with just such a situation - a group of people who hold life cheap and have placed a weakened and starved lion into an arena with two healthy, heavily armed men bent on torturing him for the pleasure and entertainment of onlookers.     Read Bloodtrail and see how our heroine deals with the situation! Read More...

THE HERO ETHIC

Thursday, June 11, 2015

Many of you have asked me to publish this and here it is finally: my manifesto of The Hero Ethic, the ethics and qualities of a true-blue fictional hero. Dyed in the wool heroes are no longer in vogue these days, we like our protagonists flawed and damaged, struggling themselves with things such as ethics and morality, very much human and prone as much to be the authors of disaster as they are to be the solution. But in my opinion, it's hard to write any kind of hero, even a flawed one or an anti-hero, unless you have a solid understanding of what the real thing is. In just the way that we cannot effectively break the long-standing rules of narrative and prose until we understand those rules completely, we cannot truly create an effective anti-hero or flawed protagonist unless we have a sense of what the brand spanking new, out-of-the-package, shiny, non-dented or scratched model looks like. One last disclaimer: these items are my own beliefs and opinions of what make up a Read More...

THINGS TO DO IN VEGAS WHEN YOU'RE UNDEAD

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Sorry it's been a while since I posted on this blog. Been busily promoting the release of Bloodtrail, the enthralling sequel to Bloodflow. Sales are steady and we're pleased. I'd like a few more reviews on Amazon.com and Goodreads.com but I am pleased with the ones I have. It strikes me as I read these reviews though, that many readers are reluctant to reveal certain details about the book for fear of giving spoilers. Well, as the author of the book there are certain details I don't mind you knowing, as I think they help readers see what a fun and exciting adventure the book is! So below is a list of some of the details I don't mind you knowing about Bloodtrail before you buy: In the first book, Bloodflow, Kate only had enough time to learn a few things about what it means to be a vampire when it became necessary to betray Darkthorne and help Litchner's militia destroy him. Even then, she was in a haze of denial. Now, in Bloodtrail, a year later, she Read More...

"BLOODTRAIL"

Sunday, February 22, 2015

"Bloodtrail," the hotly anticipated sequel to "Bloodflow" and second volume in the Kathryn Desmarais Gothic Mysteries is finally complete and at the presses now, release data to be announced!     "Bloodtrail" takes Kate to sin city, Las Vegas, in search of a misguided runaway teenage girl. Kate, who is still struggling to come to terms with what she has become, runs afoul of a cabal of strange subhumans who feed off of the basest, most prurient emotions of human-kind. These creatures may seem harmless at first, but underestimating them may just be the last mistake Kate ever makes.     As part of our promotion, because Bloodtrail takes place in Las Vegas, the world's adult playground, we are giving away decks of "Bloodtrail" poker-size playing cards. Go to KevinPaulTracy.com to enter!     Thanks to these sites for listing our contest for us. visit Read More...

SEQUELS

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

I'm back from a long hiatus. I apologize to regular readers of my blog - it appears when I'm writing a manuscript, most of my writing energy is taken up by that. Between that and certain outside obligations - most notably my monthly contribution to the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers blog the first Thursday of every month - and it seems I have little energy left to keep up my own blog. I'm going to work on that in the future, because this blog is every bit as important to me as any of those other projects. It's how I keep in touch with my readers, after all.     The good news is Bloodtrail, the hotly-awaited sequel to Bloodflow, is off to the editor. Now the rest is up to him. But this has prompted me to share a few thoughts I have on sequels. A new perspective, as it were, gained by working on this project and facing the age-old challenges of all writers struggling to write a series.     For exampl Read More...

BOOK GIVEAWAY: BLOODFLOW

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Sorry, folks, no posts for the next couple of weeks. I'm right down to the wire on "Bloodtrail," the amazing sequel to "Bloodflow." Meanwhile, why not enter to win your free copy of "Bloodflow?" .goodreadsGiveawayWidget { color: #555; font-family: georgia, serif; font-weight: normal; text-align: left; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; background: white; } .goodreadsGiveawayWidget img { padding: 0 !important; margin: 0 !important; } .goodreadsGiveawayWidget a { padding: 0 !important; margin: 0; color: #660; text-decoration: none; } .goodreadsGiveawayWidget a:visted { color: #660; text-decoration: none; } .goodreadsGiveawayWidget a:hover { color: #660; text-decoration: underline !important; } .goodreadsGiveawayWidget p { margin: 0 0 .5em !important; padding: 0; } .goodreadsGiveawayWidgetEnterLink { display: block; width: 150px; margin: 10px auto 0 !important; padding: 0px 5px !important; text-al Read More...

BACKGROUND NOISE

Thursday, September 25, 2014

This week's article is going to be a brief one. I wanted to wax rumanitive about background noise when you're writing. Some people are not only able to write in a cone of utter and complete silence, or as close as one can get, but they even require it. I can't imagine that - silence drives me crazy. To me, and this is just my opinion, but I'm sure certain others of you out there agree, silence isn't anything in an of itself, but rather the lack of something...noise.     I've been known to write in noisy places: the cafeteria in high school; at home with parents and siblings talking or arguing or playing loudly; at a restaurant or cafe; etc. Once I lived in a house in which my den window overlooked a preschool. It was about a half a block away, so it wasn't too loud, and I actually found the mixed and incoherent sounds of children playing soothing and very conducive to concentration. Some of you probably find that hard to believe, Read More...

WHAT'S THE WORST THAT COULD HAPPEN?

Thursday, September 18, 2014

We all know it. Like the demon possessing the man from Gadara, it is Legion, and it goes by a hundred different names. The bog; the swamp; the stairway to nowhere; the wall; the well; the pit; the wasteland; the middle part; etc. It is that part of our story past the setup and the inciting incident, but before the build to the climax. It's the middle part of our book in which the story must be carried forward, but we have no earthly idea what to do with it. Understandably, the opening and inciting incident of out book gets a lot of attention - often it was the idea that sparked us to write this book to begin with. Generally the climax and denouement of our story has gotten at least some focus, as well - we've at least imagined variations on how to bring our story to a close. But the middle part rarely gets much thought until you're there. And then, you're stuck.     Generally I find this is a great time to introduce complications Read More...

SO MUCH TIME AND SO LITTLE TO DO!

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

"Wait...strike that...reverse it...okay." - Willie Wonka So many of my friends have asked me how I stay so laid-back, easy-going, and calm all the time. One friend even described me once as having a perpetual island attitude, referring to the relaxation one experiences on vacation in the Caribbean or some such place. Well, first of all, those who know me best know that isn't always me - I can sometimes get tweaked, just like everyone else. Usually what sets me off is when I feel as if I'm being mischaracterized to others by someone who has no real clue who I am or what I'm like. I know, ultimately it says more about them than it does me, but we all have our triggers. But it is true that most days it takes a lot to stir me up. It isn't that I don't have overwhelming demands on my time, like everyone else, which is the primary cause of stress and mood swings. It's that I've learned - for the most part - to compartmentalize stress and manage the many chores and dea Read More...

THINGS I HATE ABOUT WRITING

Friday, August 8, 2014

I love writing. It's much more than a pass-time or hobby for me. Yes, you could call it a drive, or obsession. But even more than that, it is sustenance, nourishment to me. When I haven't written in a day or two, the urge to do so is much like starving.     On the other hand there are some things I downright hate about writing! Things that drive me bat-shit crazy and make me want to throw my typewriter across the room (if I wrote on a typewriter instead of a laptop.) Here are some things I hate about writing.     I hate it when the final sentence of a chapter ends up, through coincidence, alone at the top of an otherwise blank page, all by itself! Since much of what I write involves adventure and action, most if not all of my chapters end in some sort of cliff-hanger. That means generally the single most important sentence in a chapter is the very last one. I can't just cut it! But leaving a single Read More...

WHAT OTHERS DON'T GET ABOUT WRITERS

Thursday, July 24, 2014

My friends don't understand how I can write so much. For that matter, my family doesn't get me, either. Only other writers, with the same devotion, the same passion, the same drive as I have, get me. Which is why attending critique groups and writers conferences can be such an important part of being a writer - just a couple of hours' exposure to other writer can energize the creative batteries more than almost any other writing-related activity.     So what is it that others don't get about writers?     Well, for one thing, they think it is a lonely, solitary profession. What they don't understand that when I'm sitting alone at my computer writing, I'm not as alone as it may seem. That room is crowded elbow-to-elbow with characters, all clamoring to be heard. Granted, not all of them are very likeable people, and some are down-right despicable human beings. But it's anything but lonely, and the fur Read More...

BOOK SIGNINGS: UTILITY OR VANITY

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

In a prior life I used to manage local music talent, mostly helping teen garage bands make the transition into actual performance venues and the like. It was not uncommon, unfortunately, to schedule an opening act and a headline act for a venue and, no matter how much advertising is done - print, social, marquee, etc. - the bands are the only ones to show up, some stragglers aside. The headliners would sit and watch the opening act perform, and then they'd trade places on the stage and the openers would watch the headliners perform. I used to call nights like that, none too politely, Incest-a-poloozas. Maybe we could say it was good performance practice, but let's agree that's just putting lipstick on a pig.    Sometimes an author's book signing can feel like that - the number of friends and fellow writers that show up can be counted on one hand, and the rest of the time you're left smiling at passers-by, attempting to look friendly and app Read More...

SUSPENDING BELIEF...OR HANGING IT BY THE NECK UNTIL DEAD?

Sunday, April 13, 2014

First, let's all agree - fiction isn't real life. Readers of fiction read for diversion from real-life cares and woes. One can become invested in the lives of characters without paying the very real price, which more often than not is a broken heart. Still, in order for readers to care, the characters in the novel and the world in which they inhabit need to bear as much similarity to our real world as is necessary for us to identify with them and their dilemmas. Even in speculative fiction - Asimov was a master of taking creatures utterly alien to us (read "The Gods Themselves") and making us care about their lives and the challenges they face. The key is creating a world who dangers, pitfalls, and rewards are those we, as readers, can identify and sympathize with.     There have been certain (I hate the word - so overused these days) tropes that writers fall back on, whether writing novels or screenplays, that will not go away, a Read More...

UPCOMING APPEARANCES

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

I'm lucky enough to have four appearances scheduled over the next four months (see Appearances in the sidebar at right.) I certainly would like to have more scheduled, but I still think that's pretty darn good. So in this week's post I'd like to say a word or two about each of the venues I'll be appearing at in upcoming signings and panel discussions. Hearthfire Books of Evergreen1254 Bergen ParkwaySuite D118Evergreen, CO 80439FRIDAY, MARCH 14, 3PM-6PM      Hearthfire Books in Evergreen is a cute shop set in one of those strip malls where some of the stores face away from the street. The store is one of those, down a short set of steps, tucked cozily in the corner. It's a quaint shop open to a cafe next door where I will have a table set up signing copies of both of my books: Rogue Agenda and Bloodflow. Drop by and say hi to Kappy and Luda and have a look around. You'll really like this place! Cove Read More...

OPEN LETTER TO A BOOKSELLER

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

In today's post I'd like to reprint an email I sent to a local independent bookseller in response to their email detailing their outrageous policy for hosting book signings for local authors. This is not, of course, any representation of independent booksellers as a whole. In general these are some of the warmest, friendliest people with the biggest hearts that has ever been my privilege to know. But I do think the last paragraph of my letter to this particular bookseller says it all. "Dear M. Bookseller,     "Thanks for your courteous and professional email. Unfortunately it appears I will not be able to do a book signing at your store after all. Let me explain why.     "Your requirements are, to be brief: a reasonable expectation of 40-50 attendees; at least 20 sales at the event to consider it successful; a $200 co-op fee; a 40% discount on at least 50 books; and a $5 vouche Read More...

YEAH vs.YAY, YEA, YAH, YA, YADA-YADA-YADA

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

As a writer of fiction that as often as not takes place in an urban or commonplace setting I'm not nit-picky about grammar when it comes to dialog, especially when it comes to informal speech. Who really knows how to spell most modern slang, anyway? A lot of it is as subjective as, say, naming your child Tammi with an 'I' or Tammy with a 'Y.' People often leave their participles hanging in every-day conversations. And it is just as common to end a sentence in a preposition as not. In fact many people look at you oddly if, instead of, "That's something I won't put up with," you were to say, "That's something up with which I won't put."    But there are one or two things that irritate me when I read them. Not out-right anger, but like an errant cat hair in your eyelash that you just can't quite seem to get hold of, they nag at me, and I'd prefer not to have to put up with them. One of these things is the consistent misuse of the wor Read More...