CAPA 15th Anniversary Celebration

Last night my wife and I (we've become busy folks lately) attended Connecticut Author's & Publishers 15th Anniversary meeting in Avon, Connecticut. With food, drink, and music on the menu it was an enjoyable three hours. I meet quite a few members and relished the opportunity to spend some time with people who share the same writing interests as I do. I'm looking forward to CAPA's April meeting which has agent Gina Panettieri as its featured speaker.

KATE BUCHANAN

Katelyn Nelson and James Buchanan became high school sweethearts when they were each seventeen. Upon graduation, they left for the University of Montana, Jim on a football scholarship and Kate to study music. Five years later, Jim proposed to Kate and they married three years after that. Kate's and Jim's souls were spiritually bonded but their lives were emotionally separate. Kate became an accomplished guitarist playing before local and regional audiences while Jim had difficulty determining who he really was. A mixed-blood native of Scottish and Crow Indian descent, Jim played in the NFL for three years, then spent four years in the U.S. Air Force, and then began a career in law enforcement. Although Jim was uncertain about his career aspirations, he didn’t have any second thoughts about Kate. She was the love of his life. Tall and athletic with long brown hair, Kate could have passed for a model. She recorded a country western CD (see song list below) that was acclaimed by those in the professional music business and was on the cusp of national notoriety when, in 1995 she vanished. My novel ‘Montana Harvest’ (expected completion date of December, 2009) details the circumstances, events, and the official investigation into the disappearance of Katelyn Nelson Buchanan.

When You Talk To My Heart (Kate’s CD)

1) Tennessee Waltz (ballad)
2) Take This Train (country rock)
3) Silos In September (bluegrass)
4) When You Talk To My Heart (ballad)
5) Great Northern Lights (country rock)
6) Holes In My Pockets (bluegrass)
7) Mountains To Remember (ballad)
8) Any ‘ol Cave Will Do (country rock)
9) Stardust Trails (ballad)
10) He’s My Man (country rock)
11) Another Clip off the Chain (bluegrass)
12) Montana Skies (ballad)
13) Thirteen Eggs and a Pound of Bacon (country rock)

(all songs written by Katelyn Buchanan except Tennesse Waltz written by Redd Stewart & Pee Wee King, and When You Talk To My Heart written by Renee LaChapelle)

NATIVE AMERICAN GIs

http://naihc.net/NAIHC/files/ccLibraryFiles/FILENAME/000000000454/Native%20Veterans%20Returning%20from%20Iraq%20Ask.doc

Use the above web address or click on the heading of this post to go to a MS Word article which explains what returning Native American GIs are facing today. With a new administration in Washington perhaps attitudes will change for the better. It cannot get much worse.

The Rimrocks

Like a monument to the vast prairie, the sandstone cliffs just outside Billings, Montana are integral to my new novel, 'The Killing Zone'. A portion of the Rimrocks, called Sacrifice Cliff, was where fearless Crow youth rode their blindfolded ponies off the precipice with the hope that their offering would cure their tribe of a deadly Smallpox epidemic. On that plateau in my novel, under a summer’s night sky, Indian lore, hopes and dreams and criminal intent draw a group of companions into an unlikely encounter with a homicidal ex-convict and his gang of cohorts. With no witnesses except perhaps the spirits of the 19th century Crow horsemen, it’s a race for Sheriff Jim Buchanan to find and bring to justice the runaway murderers before they make their escape to Canada.

Connecticut Authors & Publishers

Last week, I joined Connecticut Authors & Publishers (CAPA) and received two warm and gracious welcomes from the organization's leadership. This week, I found the February issue of CAPA's newsletter, 'The Authority' in my mailbox. I brought it into my house and immediately read the 8-page mailing from cover to cover. Topics included developing a mindset and environment in which to write, website links intended to assist authors with their writing and to help them publish their work. There was also a calendar of upcoming CAPA events and a recap of January's monthly meeting in Avon, CT. Next month's meeting will be CAPA's 15th Anniversary Party. With a membership in excess of 160, I'm looking forward to meeting an energized group of people with whom I share a
common interest.

Rocco Salentino

One of the supporting characters in the Jim Buchanan Novels is Rocco Salentino or 'Rocky' as everyone calls him. Rocky is a 1st generation Italian-American. His parents immigrated to Brooklyn, New York from a town called Avellino which is near Naples. Arriving in the 1950's with just the shirts on their backs, Rocky's parents moved in with relatives and took whatever jobs they could find. Shortly thereafter, Rocky was born. Rocky's dad borrowed some money and opened a restaurant. Success came easy for the hard-working Salentino's and Rocky grew up making meatballs and kneading pizza dough. Now in his 30's, a six-footer with crew-cut, black hair and a muscular build, Rocky is the Assistant County Sheriff of Sanders County. Rocky is Jim's old Air Force buddy and although they are best of friends, Rocky longs to be back home in Brooklyn where he used to sing street-corner ballads with the rest of his friends. If you ever met Rocky and he liked you, he might bond with you and call you Paesano but watch out. If you came across with not too much on the ball, he might refer to you as a googootz, a stounad, or a cabbadost.

Titles of upcoming novels

A few titles of upcoming novels in the Jim Buchanan series are:

The Disappearance of Joshua Nelson
The Great Lakes Mystery
Cries from the Flathead Valley
The Vanishing Tribe
The Legacy of Dan McCoy
Justice for Little Hawk
Mission Mountain Mystery

CAPA-U

I'm attending CAPA-U in Hartford this year. CAPA (Connnecticut Authors & Publishers Association) is hosting its 6th annual writing conference (link attached) on Saturday, May 9th. I'm hoping to meet some interesting people and acquire some fascinating insight into the writing and publishing business. I will complete a final edit on my most recent novel by next month and then work on finishing my 3rd novel by year's end. I've already begun my 4th novel, titled 'Secrets of the Cabinet Mountains'.

http://www.aboutcapa.com/

New Jim Buchanan Novel Completed!

After a tulmultous start to 2008 with 2 broken ribs, a punctured lung, bruised kidney, heel spur, and a herniated disk, I'm back to writing. As a follow-up to my first novel (Mystery at Little Bitterroot), I've finished my 2nd novel (The Killing Zone) and am hoping to see it published soon. I'm halfway through my 3rd novel (Montana Harvest) and will begin the 4th novel (Secrets of the Cabinet Mountains) of the Jim Buchanan Series in late 2009.

ANGEL - SANDERS COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE

Angel, a female German Shorthaired Pointer, is Jim's constant companion and spiritual connection with his late wife, Kate. Rescued from a puppy mill at the tender age of six weeks, Angel is trained in search and rescue as well as cadaver detection. Officially a member of the Sanders County Sheriff's Office, Angel participates in criminal investigations and suspect apprehensions. When Jim is reminiscing about Kate or stumped during a particular investigation, he can always rely on Angel's sixth sense to guide him through his personal crises.

Who is Jim Buchanan?

No, I'm not referring to the 15th President of the United States. Jim Buchanan is the main character of my novels. A mixed-blood county sheriff in Montana, Jim is 34, 6’4”, with shoulder-length brown hair, worn in a pony tail. His father was Scottish and his mother a full-blood Crow Indian. Also known as Little Hawk, Jim was a 3-sport athlete at Thompson Falls High School. He graduated from the University of Montana where he was a football star, winning the Outland Trophy in his senior year. A 1st round National Football League draft pick, Jim played defensive end for the Chicago Bears before an injury-filled three years convinced him to retire. He then became a United States Air Force Military Policeman (dog handler) and next, a Montana Highway Patrolman before he found his calling as Sheriff of Sanders County, Montana. Jim is principled, self-disciplined, and strives for perfection. He holds himself and society up to strict ideals. He sees other people and their actions as either right or wrong. There's no middle ground with Jim unless common sense dictates otherwise. His decisions to sometimes do things his own way, send him on a separate path with the law though he always achieves the intended results.