Publishing Plans

I have a three-book contract with Encircle Publications for my Omnipodge trilogy. Here’s the schedule: Old Detectives Home to be published April 27, 2022; The Last Gasp Motel April 2023; and A Mystery Yarn April 2024. I also have a number of completed manuscripts that I will plan to get published. From the time I retired in 2007 until 2015 when we moved to Lakewood, CA, I had a very productive period, writing every morning (except when doing family activities). My wife is a night person and I’m a morning person, so I had each morning to write. Since 2015 I have only written one new book that I self-published in 2020, Coronavirus Daze. From our move until now I have focused on tuning some of my unpublished manuscripts. Currently, I’m working on a non-fiction book. More to come on this as it progresses.

The Importance of a Positive Attitude

I've learned in dealing with adversity that I have 4 alternatives: I can change my situation, change my attitude, suffer, or get out. As I'm recuperating from my third surgery on my left knee with one more surgery to go this summer, I've been testing these four alternatives. I'm not going to suffer; if it gets too bad I have pain meds. I'm not going to get out through suicide. But here are two small examples of changing the situation and changing my attitude.

Change the situation: I kept knocking things off my nightstand or misplacing them. Simple solution: I reorganized my nightstand and put some items in the drawer below.

 Change attitude: when I first came home from the hospital my attitude was I HAVE TO brush my teeth and shave. Now my attitude is I GET TO brush my teeth so my mouth will feel fresh and I GET TO shave so I won't have a scratchy face. I’ve had my ups and downs, but I’ve learned a positive attitude is key when dealing with adversity.

 

Getting Close to Publication Date

The first book in my Omnipodge Trilogy, Old Detectives Home will be released April 24. It’s always exciting to go through the launch of a new book. It’s now available for pre-order from Amazon:  

Old Detectives Home: An Omnipodge Mystery (Omnipodge Trilogy): Befeler, Mike: 9781645993438: Amazon.com: Books

Here’s a short preview: Imagine a retirement home populated with residents such as an aging Hercule Poirot and a dementia-suffering Sherlock Holmes and run by staff including Art Doyle, Dash Hammett and Dot Sayers. In this light-hearted spoof of the mystery genre, every character is either a namesake of a person from the mystery writing world or a character from a mystery novel. On anything but a dark and stormy night, a dead body is found. The staff managers find themselves unable to control the unruly old detectives. Mix in clues and red herrings galore as the cast of suspects investigate each other. Hold on to your rockers as the top detectives of all time reunite at Old Detectives Home to solve their most difficult whodunit—but first without killing each other.

Handling Daily Ups and Downs

As I recovery from knee surgery, my mood swings between good and bad during the day. I have a flurry of activity when I get up and then settle into a pattern of activity and rest. There are lots of daily frustrations to deal with and all the physical therapy and medication to apply. We get a newspaper delivered every day and I look forward to relaxing in bed and reading the news. I’m also more interested in reading than I was a few weeks ago, so that’s progress as well. My appetite is coming back and I’m more interested in meals now. Still, by the end of the day I’m tired and ready to fall into a good sleep.

Importance of Attitude

As I have been spending most of the day in bed recovering from my knee surgery, I’ve explored my own attitude about the situation. Victor Frankel in his book Man’s Search for Meaning describes his experience being in a Nazi concentration camp. Although his whole physical existence was controlled by others, he learned that he was still the master of his own attitude. I’ve gone through the various reactions to my medical condition: Why me? This isn’t fair. How long am I going to have suffer through this? I also have moments of appreciation: my family is taking good care of me; we have medical insurance and good doctors; this too shall pass. This is an ongoing challenge.

Recovery from Knee Surgery

I’m trying to get my life back in order after my recent knee surgery. I’m not supposed to put much weight on the bad knee, and I’m moving around with a walker. I have to work in short spurts with a rest in between. It’s taking me a long time to get things done, but I’m plugging away on my to-do list.

 

Life Throws Its Curves

My last post was about moderating the Meet the New Authors Breakfast at the Left Coast Crime Conference in April. This isn’t going to happen as I had emergency surgery for a knee infection, so no getting on airplanes for me. I also missed my post last week because I was in the hospital. My family has been terrific is helping me. On to recovery.