Missing in Montana - a Jim Buchanan novella

As the author of the Jim Buchanan Novels, a mystery/suspense series set in western Montana, I was working on my next novel in the series titled, Miracle of the Talking Stick during the month of March, 2018. It was then that I was contacted by author Mark Reps of the Sheriff Zeb Hanks mystery series that is set in the 4-Corners section of the American West. He proposed that we collaborate along with another author and publish a 3-novella set and offer it as a free Kindle ebook on Amazon as a means to promote our other books and to introduce new readers to our protagonists.

I suggested that we meet at the 2018 Western Writers Convention in Billings Montana and iron out the details of this collaboration. We soon obtained a third partner, R. Lawson Gamble, author of the Zack Tolliver novels about an FBI agent in the American West. The three of us soon began work on our novellas. 

While in Montana, and viewing Troy Montana's 2018 Old-Fashioned 4th of July Celebration, I realized that it would make a great opening scene and cliffhanger ending scene for my novella. I researched the location and immediately began writing the novella. I finished the forty-six thousand word novella within six months of my initial contact with Mark. 

My novella, Missing in Montana was published along with Mark Reps' Native Roots and R. Lawson Gamble's The Dark Road in a volume titled, Western Justice. The 3-novella set became the #1 free book in Amazon's Kindle Store and is currently the #12 free book in Native American Literature in Amazon's Kindle Store. You can still download the Kindle edition for free.

I registered my novella with the U.S. Copyright Office and then applied for and received a Library of Congress Control Number for Missing in Montana.

After the first of the year our intent was to each publish our novellas separately in whichever format we chose. I decided to publish Missing in Montana in both paperback and Kindle versions.

I contracted with my web designer to work on a cover and from there things went pretty fast. Within a one-month time frame, I published Missing in Montana in standalone paperback and Kindle editions. You can see the full-sized cover below this text. 

The paperback version became available on Amazon on January, 31, 2019 -

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0990568415

The Kindle edition is scheduled for a March 1, 2019 release and Amazon is currently accepting pre-orders -

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NCW9NNQ

I hope you enjoy Missing in Montana and its sequel, Murders at Middle Fork expected to be published sometime in 2020.