A judge in the 22nd Annual Writer's Digest Self Published Book Awards on Sin Walks Into The Desert

I entered Sin Walks Into The Desert in the 22nd Annual Writer's Digest Self-Published Book Awards. Winners won't be notified until December 31. But each entry comes with written commentary and advice from a judge. Here is a portion of what mine had to say, good and bad:

"What we have here is a hardboiled detective novel without the theatrics, stripped bare to the bones with prose that is tight and taut, that causes as much damage as a loaded gun. It's a thrilling ride and the story not only grips the reader because of the expressive characters, like Sin himself, but because of the way the phrases turn and return like a stacked deck of cards. The story bounces around in time a little bit and while this makes sense, overall I'd suggest that these transitions be played up a bit, prepared for in a way."

There's more to it, but that's the gist. I have no idea what this means for the awards, but I'm honored to be considered. And taken with the reviews from CrimeFictionLover.com, IndieReader.com, Kirkus Reviews and San Francisco Book Review, well, I guess I'm pretty convinced my book doesn't suck.

Review of Sin on crimefictionlover.com

Crime Fiction Lover is one of the best blogs for mystery and thriller readers. They feature pretty much all of the latest releases, including bestsellers by Ian Rankin, Lee Child and so on. So I was taking a bit of a risk asking them to please, please take a look at Sin Walks Into The Desert. They published their review Oct. 27:

Sin Walks into the Desert is a tense novella, a neo-Western noir with a cast of larger-than-life characters who will earn your respect and interest despite their flaws and personal vendettas. It’s a little coyote of a book that holds on and doesn’t let go. In some places, this is the best self-published writing I’ve read – original, well-edited, and filled with interesting and compelling characters. 

"A little coyote of a book." That's just perfect. Go read the whole thing.