FREE FUNERAL PARTY

Thanks for stopping by! Read FUNERAL PARTY Mystery, Murder & Martinis #1: On The Run for free by going to https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/84240 . Order the book, and at checkout use coupon ER24A to get it free. This offer is good until 10/7/2012. Beware--this is adult fiction with all kinds of bad things happening! But with that scheming, devious Howie Blaser in it, how can you go wrong?
     Any problems with the link to Smashwords, just go to my website www.paulmcmurray.com and get the Smashwords link there. I hope you enjoy the book, and please post a review, good or bad. Really.
     Thanks Deb J.!

Them Changes

I learned a lot of things since e-publishing FUNERAL PARTY in 8/11. The most embarrassing thing I learned is that I need an editor. I mean, I wrote the damn thing, and read it again five times, and had friends read it--some of whom, and I thank you, A.C.--actually told me about mistakes. Most just said it was fine. So I thought everything was fixed.
     Your eyes just glaze over anything you've re-written and re-read. You don't see it. Plus, even though I got an A+ in English in Grammar School, that was eons ago. And all these m--dashes and serial commas and stuff are like little bottles of airplane gin distracting me on a word flight.
     So Funeral Party has been re-edited--professionally--and I will re-publish it. If you bought it, I will notify Amazon.com to send you a fresh edition. If you got it from Smashwords, I don't know yet if they do that, but if not, I'll e-mail you the file in any format you want. If I sent you a free copy, I'll still send you the new file.
     Just let me know, and I'll try to make sure you get a good copy--if you want it, of course.
     I certainly hope you do. And again, I apologize for being too quick on the trigger. I won't do it again.
     BTW, this post was not professionally edited.
     But wait--one more thing: I put up my new website, which is http://www.paulmcmurray.com/. As usual, I am in a learning stage with it, so bear with me. Also, the links to buy the Zak & Freddy caper (FUNERAL PARTY) will have new links to Amazon and B&N and Smashwords in about a week. I'll update the website as soon as I get the new info. Again, any problem, let me know: mrlucky@paulmcmurray.com.
     I'm 1/3 of the way through the next caper: THE WILDING (Mystery, Murder, & Martinis #2: Street Survival). The beginning chapters are on the new FUNERAL PARTY.
     Hope to hear from you.
     Paul
    
  

    

THE WILDING coming soon...

THE WILDING (Mystery, Murder, & Martinis: Street Survival).

First, thank you Indie Books Blog! (http://indiebooksblog.blogspot.com/). You need to check this out if you are an author, a reader, or both.

OK, I’m sending Zak and Freddy back to Chicago so they can give Sheri and Mystique the lame excuse that it’s a vacation while the guys earn some much-needed spending dough from Vince Parisi, the Outfit guy. Vince is after something taken during a wilding, an apparent mob smash-and-grab attack near beautiful downtown Michigan Avenue. But when Vince calls, you know there is more to the tale, and it is: copies of porn-paintings of a high-end model about to be sold, a knock-down meeting with the leader of the Chinatown Tong, a deal with a pimp who might have some knowledge but wants something strange in exchange, and of course handguns, shotguns, and sexy women—I’m talking sex, violence, and vice, pal, just so you know.

            Give it a month or so and then check it out. There's a temporary cover over on the side.

Took you long enough, pal...

Yeah, I'm sorry I'm late. But FUNERAL PARTY (Mystery, Murder, and Martinis: On The Run) is now at Amazon and Smashwords. Hey, I had extenuating circumstances, OK? Here's the description I wrote for the book:

FUNERAL PARTY (Mystery, Murder, and Martinis: On The Run). (Approximately 154,000 words; Adult Content--contains sex, violence, and frequent profanity). Tavern owner and former bagman for the Chicago Outfit while he was a cop, Zak O’Neill is forced to do one more job for his old Mob boss: take the gangster’s girlfriend out on a date to see if she can be trusted. Of course she can’t—but for an entirely different reason than suspected—and Zak is forced to shoot his way out of a set-up and flee, leaving behind his tavern, his house, and the girl he’s in lust with. Driving far north into Wisconsin to hide, low on cash and gas and lost, Zak winds up at a desolate saloon and all too soon wonders if he wasn’t better off back in Chicago, hit-men be damned. Besides the fact that he’s a hated Flatlander in Cheesehead-land, there’s the hulking but too-short Freddy who’s always looking for a fight, the WANTED fax with Zak’s face that brings those darned bounty hunters, the mysterious private club that hosts a funeral party complete with strippers dancing around the casket, and finally the ultimatum: Die here, or head into dangerous territory to deal with gangs, guns, and a lot of missing money.

So it's not a short book, but that's a good thing, in that I read about people complaining they didn't get their money's worth. Then I put in that "disclaimer" so they can't bitch about the sex and swearing and people getting shot etc. I admit there is a lot of swearing, but I conducted a personal study by driving in to Chicago last weekend, and that will get you swearing like (insert your own term here), especially the tolls and the holes. But that was not a real scientific test, like +/- 5% or whatever. So I had to test further, which mainly involved drinking with my friend John, who swears like a Marine, because he was one, and because he drinks Busch Lite during the day (Actual quote: "This is my lawn-mowing beer. You don't want to waste a good beer while you're just sweating it out."). After we did a road trip for some "research" (drinking in Loop bars) we fortified ourselves with 312 beer from a downtown liquor store and drove around and basically swore up a shitstorm about other drivers, upset wives, and stuff in general. It was very soothing. And it proved my point, I think: Two guys drinking (which my main characters seem to do a lot) are gonna' swear.

As for the sex stuff, it's just mentioned. Well, except fot that in-the-car scene, which I really enjoyed writing. And the cave scene. As for violence--well, it is about gangs; just read the Chicago Trib or Times online to get a refresher-course on what I'm talking about in the book (Better yet, read the "secondcitycop" blog for what the papers don't print).

If you're in Chicago, I really do envy you. It is a great City--if you know where to go and where not to go. I lived there for 28 years and come back almost every year as a tourist. I still think I know my way around, but since I've been out of the action for a while, I always bribe a driver who knows better than me about certain areas. It's a smart thing to do, especially at night. 

Don't think so? Say so. See you next time. In the meantime, you can get FUNERAL PARTY (Mystery, Murder, and Martinis: On The Run) by clicking on the book covers to the right. Smashwords gets you all formats except for your Kindle; Amazon for your Kindle and for the free download to view it on your computer (Smashwords has a computer-view also).

PS: Yes, I'll get the web site up asap. Thank you for mentioning it. Got to go--cocktail hour.

Mystery, Murder, & a Martini--Paul L. McMurray

Hello Everyone! Just working on a book and wanted to get my name and site saved. At the rate I'm going, check back in 3 months, OK? In the meantime, I have a YA and a middle-grade book out under aka "Scoop Jackson" on Smashwords and Amazon. But...WARNING! DANGER! "Funeral Party" will be coming soon and it is full of exactly what the title of this blog is...so there!