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Monthly Midden - JULY 2010 NEWSLETTER
Hi Everybody!
We hope you’re all having a wonderful summer. It’s been an interesting few months for us.
Firstly, for those of you who’ve been having problems getting PEOPLE OF THE LONGHOUSE—which was just released—at Amazon, we apologize. We’re working with the great people there to get the problem fixed. The book was selling quickly and apparently they couldn’t keep up with the demand and had to backorder some copies. They should be shipping very soon. In the meantime, we know there are many of you who collect the first editions. If you’re afraid Amazon’s delay may result in you’re getting second or third editions, we recommend you go to your local bookstore, Barnes and Noble.com, Borders, Hastings, Books-A-Million, or other places where books are sold. We understand many retailers still have the first edition available.
And for those who’ve already finished PEOPLE OF THE LONGHOUSE, we’ll soon have a special treat on the website…the first few chapters of Book 2: THE DAWN COUNTRY, A People of the Longhouse novel. We hope you enjoy this rare glimpse into the future of the story. We genuinely love these characters and this time period, and are hoping you will, too.
The past ten days have been exciting. We’ve had Dr. Laura Scheiber’s archaeological field crew from the University of Indiana on the ranch. Dr. Scheiber’s student, Katie, is finishing her Ph.D. on the Nostrum Springs Stage Stop along the Fort Washakie to Thermopolis Stage Road. The station began service some time between about 1880-1900. We can’t say for certain because the historical records are scanty. Hopefully archaeology will be able to answer this fundamental question, as well as many others. A few days ago, the crew found a curious object. If any of you have ever heard of this tradition, please let us know? Tucked into the mortar between the walls, the crew discovered a small, round, brass canister, about two inches in diameter. It was clearly deliberately placed in the wall, then mortared over, and plastered over that. The box makes a metallic clink when gently shaken, so there’s something metallic inside. Once we’ve all determined how to open the box without damaging it, we’ll let you know what’s inside. It’s been hidden for over a century, so a few more days won’t matter—though such things always bring out the “Indiana Jones” frenzy in archaeologists. “What do you mean we have to wait to open it? Where’s the hatchet?”
Three days ago, Dr. Linda Scott Cummings came up from PaleoResearch Institute in Colorado to talk to the crew about paleo-botany, and take home some samples from the stage station. Linda is one of the top paleo-botanists in the world and listening to her is always a revelation. We got a few results back today, and they’re intriguing. The large main roof pole of the stage station is Douglas fir and the cross beams are ponderosa pines. This is intriguing because neither species grows nearby. That means they must have traveled to the Owl Creek mountains, 20-30 miles away, to cut the trees and drag them back, probably with a team of horses. That was a lot of effort. Clearly the Nostrum’s planned to build a quality stop for the people traveling the stage road. We also know from historical records that the Nostrum’s had an apple and pear orchard that they used to dazzle stage travelers by providing fresh fruits as well as pies, jams, and jellies.
On another front, three weeks ago we attended Thrillerfest in New York, the annual conference of the International Thriller Writers, where we participated in a panel with Katherine Neville about religion in thrillers. We, naturally, were talking about prehistoric spiritual traditions. A great time was had by all. For beginning writers there is no better conference than the Craftfest portion of Thrillerfest. Even old hands like us learn something new every year.
Incidentally if you’ve never read the books of Katherine Neville, we think they’re fascinating and suspect you will also enjoy them. And our favorite newly discovered authors are Tosca Lee and Jon Land. Wow. They can write. It’s such a pleasure to find new authors who transform their reader’s world. We know how hard that is to do.
Lastly, we will soon be adding a new video section to our blog: “Campfire Readings with the Gears.” We hope you enjoy it.
We send our best regards,
Michael and Kathleen
Monthly Midden - December 29, 2009
Happy New Year to All!
On the personal side, Michael judged the Western Bison Association show and sale on December 3-5 and had a great time with co-judge Bill Rogers. At the WBA fun auction two autographed advance reading copies of Coming of the Storm brought $1,000 each! How’s that for anticipation? Thanks to everyone who attended the show and sale, and came to support the organization at the fun auction.
Between January 23-25 Kathleen will be judging buffalo at the National Bison Association’s Gold Trophy Show and Sale, which occurs every year at the National Western Stock Show in Denver. We’re honored that she has been chosen as a judge for the National Bison Association’s ultimate competition. Mike will watch from the sidelines and help at the NBA tent by giving public tours of the buffalo pens. If you’re in Denver, do stop by. Anyone in the city can give you directions to the stockyards. Tours run from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.
We’re in the final countdown for the release of Coming of the Storm. This is the first novel in our new Pocket Book series Contact: The Battle for America. So far the reviews from both Booklist and Publisher’s Weekly have been outstanding. Normally we don’t get that worked up over reviews. We work hard to produce novels that feed our long-time fans’ appetite for historical accuracy, great characters, and absorbing story. This time, however, we chose to write in the first person—something we’ve never done before.
Why first person? It’s challenging and sets the Contact novels apart from the People series. Coming of the Storm is told from Black Shell’s perspective. He’s a Chickasaw trader gone in search of the mysterious “bearded sea people” everyone is talking about. Unfortunately for Black Shell, he finds them. It is 1539 and Hernando de Soto’s army has just unloaded in Florida. Things go from very bad to really worse in a hurry. Thankfully, Black Shell has managed to hook up with Pearl Hand, a former slave, who knows something about the invaders. When it comes to classy heroines, Pearl Hand is the sort you want on your side: smart, clever, resourceful, and innovative.
We’re very excited about this project. And Pocket Books has done a bang-up job publishing it. The cover is gorgeous. Coming of the Storm will be available in your local bookstores starting February 10. Amazon may ship earlier. The good folks at Books-A-Million, Borders, Hastings, and Barnes & Noble should have copies out in New Fiction as well as with our other titles on the fiction shelves.
For those of you living in the upper Midwest, you can find autographed copies after February 7 in grocery stores, drug stores, and airports served by News Group. Look for the yellow “Autographed Copy” sticker on the front of the book. Yes, those really are our signatures. Pocket Books is working with the outstanding folks (thanks Marianne and Angie) in Spring Arbor, Michigan, to get us there to sign the copies.
In other news, we have just completed the sequels for both Coming of the Storm and People of the Longhouse. We’re beginning work on the third Contact novel, and on People of the Sky, the next Iroquois book. We have also contracted with Leubbe Books in Germany to write another eco-thriller tentatively titled Carbon Cauldron. The book asks the question, “What happens after we hit the Tipping Point of 450 ppm of atmospheric carbon dioxide?” As with Comes a Green Sky, there is no American publisher yet so you have to read German. Tor/Forge has contracted for another two prehistory novels, tentatively titled People of the Sky and People of the Black Sun. With four books to write our schedules are filled for the next couple of years. Wish us luck and nimble fingers.
Check gear-gear.com for our public appearances. We’ll be on tour from February 7–16 in Florida for the release of Coming of the Storm. See our website for details.
Finally, we want to introduce the latest addition to our family. His name is Jake, a tri-color Shetland sheepdog puppy. As of this writing Jake is five and half months old. He comes from Al Harris’ wonderful Worthingtons’ kennel in Roswell, New Mexico. Along with being an all around great guy, Al raises some of the finest shelties in the country. Jake is a charming, smart, and loving addition to Red Canyon Ranch. While he’s taken on responsibility for ranch security, we’ve noticed at least five Arapaho cows that have sneaked into the creek pasture. Hey, he’s young, right? Look for future updates on Jake’s progress.
That’s about it for now—we’ve got Arapaho beef to chase out of the creek bottom. We wish everyone the best of health, happiness, and joy for 2010.
All the best,
W. Michael and Kathleen O’Neal Gear
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Monthly Midden - October 06, 2009
Dear Readers:
We know that most of you are aware that Coming of the Storm will be published in February of 2010. The good folks at Pocket Books asked us for a short marketing piece. Since we have been receiving numerous questions about the new series, we thought you might be interested in a preview. So, here it is, just like we sent to New York.
CONTACT: THE BATTLE FOR AMERICA—THE COMING OF THE STORM.
Coming of the Storm important because one out of five Americans claims Indian ancestry--from the mythical to full-blood. If you are one of that 20% this novel is about your heritage. But then without the first white guys, the rest of us wouldn’t be here either, so the novel has relevance for all of us.
Here’s how Coming of the Storm shatters the mythic de Soto: No other single European killed as many native people as de Soto. His name deserves to be included with the great war criminals and genocidal maniacs of history. The guy was 16 when he burned his first man alive! At Napetuca he killed hundreds. At Mabila he killed thousands. And that doesn’t include the thousands he worked to death in chains, or had savaged by his dogs. Why then do we have counties, parks, elementary schools, and highways named after him?
What did de Soto destroy? He cut a swath through a series of Native American nations that spanned the Southeastern US. We call these peoples Mississippian moundbuilders. Moundbuilding cultures had existed for almost 6,000 years when de Soto arrived. Unfortunately for them, de Soto showed up during a “dark ages” following a climatically induced collapse in the 1400s. He records small states, what anthropologists call polities--or collections of small cities that control large territories. Many of these were ruled by kings and queens; and all had elaborate art work, agriculture, sophisticated religion, and thriving international trade. Despite de Soto, the “Five Civilized Tribes” of the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole would survive.
Pocket Books has contracted for three novels in the CONTACT: BATTLE FOR AMERICA series dealing with de Soto. The fact is that our native peoples defeated the most sophisticated military invader this country had ever seen. They destroyed de Soto’s army, supplies, and mobility, a feat that not even the Inca could match. The big myth is that Europeans always won. Actually, our native Indians won most of the early rounds. It’s something that every American should be proud of, and in Coming of the Storm, we tell that story.
The major characters are Black Shell, an outcast Chickasaw trader. These traders carried goods throughout the Southeast, packing ritual plumage, drugs, medicines, jewelry, and luxury goods such as copper. Much of the freight was carried by pack dogs, or by canoe. The woman he falls for is Pearl Hand, what we would call a courtesan. She’s beautiful, smart, and has been everywhere. While her mother was a North Carolina Chicora, her father was one of Ayllon’s Spaniards, so she speaks some of the Kristiano language. We chose two such widely traveled characters for the breadth of interpretation they’d give the reader about the diverse cultures inhabiting the Southeast.
We want to make the following points: Coming of the Storm is an entertaining and exciting read. It will change the way you think about our nation and its indigenous peoples. You’ll discover America’s fascinating and sophisticated Indian nations. The whitewash of Hernando de Soto is ripped away. And finally, if you like great, heartwarming, dogs, this is your book!
We hope you enjoy the story. It was really fun to write.
Regards,
Michael and Kathleen
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Monthly Midden - July 20, 2009
Hello all:
In an attempt to actually keep up with events, we’re sending the July newsletter in July!
The biggest news, of course, is the publication of CHILDREN OF THE DAWNLAND in the United States and Canada. This is our first children’s book written for ages 8-12. That doesn’t mean that adults can’t read it, too. A teacher’s guide is available and can be downloaded online from the publisher. We set the novel at the end of the last ice age, during a time archaeologists call “Clovis culture.” Clovis apparently only lasts for a period of 250 years, spanning all of the U.S., most of Canada, and some of Northern Mexico. The highest site density, however, is in the eastern United States. Then, like shutting off a light, Clovis is gone from the archaeological record at approximately 12,900 years ago.
The story revolves around a twelve year old girl, Twig, and her best friend, a ten year old boy named Greyhawk. Twig’s decision to go and study with the peculiar old man known as Screech Owl is going to cause her no end of grief—especially with her mother. Meanwhile, the sinister Thornback Raiders are attacking nearby villages, seeking to collect all of the sacred artifacts they can find. And next, they are coming for Twig. If she can’t find the most Powerful dreamer in the world, Cobia, and convince her to help the People of the Dawnland…they may well be doomed to die in the mysterious green light that keeps exploding in Twig’s dreams.
For years we have been asked to write a children’s book. We heard you, and here it is. Look for it in the children’s section at your local bookstore. So far we haven’t seen CHILDREN OF THE DAWNLAND shelved with our adult fiction. Two weeks ago the book won the Flamingnet “Top Choice Award.” Flamingnet.com is a review site run by and for children. Great site if your looking for books for children.
Also published in July: Das Ende Aller Tage by Bastei Lubbe, our German publisher. The novel is of course available throughout Germany in softcover, and the price is 8.95 Euro. The tag line on the jacket copy calls this “The Most Provocative Thriller in Years!” which we think is pretty cool given that Bastei Lubbe is one of the largest publishers of thrillers in Germany.
The story was sold under the title of COMES A GREEN SKY and sees the return of Dr. Maureen Cole. Fans of Dusty and Maureen’s Anasazi Mystery series will just have to wait for it to come out in English. Maureen has been digging up war-crimes bodies in Iraq when she is called to investigate what seems to be a mass murder aboard a cruise ship. The White Star is carrying Bobby Box’s Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land when everyone on the ship is mysteriously killed. But who did it? Several fundamentalist Muslim organizations claim credit. Maureen finds herself the target of bombings, threats, and rage. Enter Skip Murphy, executive protection specialist, and security consultant. But when the American government asks Maureen to publicly speak out against fundamentalism, can Skip keep her alive long enough to finish the tour? And, just who is the real enemy?
We love this thriller, and are still trying to sell it to an American publisher. American publishers seem to think it’s too controversial. Meanwhile, if you read Russian, it will be available this fall. We’ll keep you informed of the pub date.
Coming in November—finally!--PEOPLE OF THE WOLF, PEOPLE OF THE FIRE, and PEOPLE OF THE EARTH are being given new covers! We’ve seen the flats, and they look great. The style is based on the jacket design PEOPLE OF THE THUNDER sported. Also neat, the books are coming out at a special $4.99 price. If you’re thinking about Christmas gifts and want to introduce people to the series, this might be the time. For those of you who live in Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana there will be autographed copies available at your local grocery, airport, truck stop, or Walgreens. Angie and Marianne, the good folks at News Group up in Jackson, Michigan, are bringing us in to sign 10,000 copies for distribution throughout their region. We’re already stockpiling Aleve and Red Bull, ready to take a crack at breaking our old record of 9,881 books for Levy Home Entertainment back in 2007.
That’s it for now. We wish you all health, wealth, and wisdom. During these stressful times we hope that everyone sees their situation improving.
All the Best,
Kathy and Mike
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June 23, 2009
Dear Friends:
Yes, we’ve been remiss about the newsletter. The past six months have been like living inside a tornado, but we’ve made some major changes in our lives. Most notably, we now only own five buffalo, and have leased the ranch to our long-time manager and friend, John Gerrells. Disentangling and shutting down the buffalo business has been a long and involved process, and distracted us from the newsletter, for which we beg forgiveness. But we found a wonderful home for the animals we’ve loved for sixteen years. They’re being well cared for, and have about thirty times as much land to roam.
But we have been writing! The immediate news is that CHILDREN OF THE DAWNLAND will be in bookstores on July 7th. For years people have asked us to write a children’s book, and we have always wanted to. At last, here it is. The YA novel is set at the close of the Clovis, Paleo-Indian culture. Our best guess these days is that the disappearance of Clovis Culture may be tied to a comet strike over the Laurentide ice sheet. Think apocalyptic! The story is about how Twig, a girl on the verge of womanhood, deals with a gnarly spirit-helper and the coming catastrophe. A teacher’s guide is also available.
PEOPLE OF THE THUNDER, our New York Times bestseller, will be available in paperback—yes, we hear you cheering—by Thanksgiving, and February will see the release of our new series, CONTACT: THE BATTLE FOR AMERICA. The first novel, COMING OF THE STORM, will be out in hardback February 1, 2010. For those of you who read the blog, this is the story of Black Shell and Pearl Hand. They encounter Hernando de Soto’s 1539 entrada into Florida. You’ll be surprised to discover that de Soto was not the “hero” you learned about in school, but a really brutal piece of work. And, despite all the odds, Black Shell and Pearl Hand have to figure out how to beat the monster. This is currently the first of three books, so we hope you like Black Shell, saucy Pearl Hand, and their faithful dogs as much as we do. They’ll be around for a while.
PEOPLE OF THE LONGHOUSE will be released in July of 2010. This will be the first in a series of People books about the origins of the Iroquois Confederacy; it’s set during the 1400s. All across America, the 1400s were a period of warfare, and resource competition. The climate had cooled off, shortened the growing season, and people simply couldn’t produce enough food to feed their children. The Northeast was especially hard-hit. The Iroquois were under severe stress. Set against the backdrop of war, young Odion is stolen during a raid and sold to the witch, Gannajero. It is up to War Chief Koracoo and her deputy, Gonda—Odion’s parents--to find him before Gannajero kills him. If you like forest chases, with mysterious characters, and many twists and turns of plot, we think you’ll enjoy PEOPLE OF THE LONGHOUSE.
Currently we are working on sequels for both COMING OF THE STORM and PEOPLE OF THE LONGHOUSE. Delivery for both manuscripts is set for August. We don’t know yet when they’ll be published but will let you know as soon as we do.
As a final note, we have just learned that our long-time friend, Don Coldsmith, author of the “Spanish Bit” series, has passed on. We pray, Don, that divinity, in all of its wonder, wraps itself around you and bears you to the afterlife. Keep the coffee pot on, will you? We’ll see you on the other side.
Best wishes,
Kathleen O’Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear
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November 2008
Dear Friends:
What a couple of months! Through September and October we spent quite a bit of time on the road in an eight-state sell-in tour for PEOPLE OF THE THUNDER. We alternately drove and flew all over the Southeast, meeting with booksellers and conducting seminars on both PEOPLE OF THE WEEPING EYE and PEOPLE OF THE THUNDER. Finally we ended up at the Delaware Book Festival on the first of November, where we had a wonderful time.
Excitement seems to be growing for the release of PEOPLE OF THE THUNDER. To tell the truth, we’ve been a bit anxious about this one. For those who haven’t heard, due to changes in the marketplace, the publisher decided to split our eleven-hundred page manuscript into two volumes—something unique in the PEOPLE series. We’ve done long books before, as those of you who read PEOPLE OF THE LAKES, PEOPLE OF THE SILENCE, and PEOPLE OF THE MOON know. That was before so many of the grocery stores, airports, and other retailers decided that a minimum of five books had to fit into the pockets.
Why so big? PEOPLE OF THE WEEPING EYE and PEOPLE OF THE THUNDER deal with the highly complex Mississippian civilizations that filled eastern North America after the fall of Cahokia. We were looking to create an epic story that did these majestic cultures justice and provided an idea of the depth, diversity, and sophistication reflected in the archaeological record. Then, as is so often the case, the characters took over and ran with the story.
How did we do? So far the critics seem to love PEOPLE OF THE WEEEPING EYE. Most of the reviews on Amazon and B&N.com have been great. We’re really anxious to hear how our readers react when they have both books back-to-back. Writing the ending of PEOPLE OF THE THUNDER was especially powerful for us. Great epics are supposed to end that way. When you read THUNDER, please let us know if we pulled it off. Meanwhile, while we love to hear from you, save the postage, you’ll find out how the story of Old White, Two Petals, Trader, and Morning Star ends in January when the book lands on your bookseller’s shelves.
Also, this is a heads up for those of you waiting for the paperback of WEEPING EYE. It should be on the shelf just after Thanksgiving.
Progress report: We’re hard at work on PEOPLE OF THE LONGHOUSE, dealing with the origins of the Iroquois Confederacy set around 1425 in New York and Pennsylvania. To date the manuscript is over two hundred pages in length, and the story is really starting to cook! Given the new constraints on length, we’ll have to struggle to keep everything acceptable when it comes to spine size. We project that this will be a duology.
The next bit of news is that we’re working on a spin-off series: CONTACT: THE BATTLE FOR AMERICA. How many times over the years have we been asked if we’d write a novel that dealt with the native peoples first contact with Europeans? Our reluctance has always been that Europeans just didn’t fit the established PEOPLE framework, and we really believe that North America’s lost heritage deserves a series all its own. Face it, more Americans know about Ankor Wat in Cambodia than Cahokia in America—and Cahokia, just outside St. Louis, is a World Heritage Site. The archaeology in our own backyards remains a mystery to most. Therefore, we will continue to write the PEOPLE series as intended for years to come. We sure won’t run out of archaeology. And in the BATTLE FOR AMERICA series, we will chronicle the contact period between the native peoples and Europeans.
A great number of myths have been spun about the arrival of the first Europeans. Most are fanciful enough to fit into a fantasy series, and the Native Peoples come off either as saints or savages. Our mandate is to tell the story from the original inhabitant’s point of view. We’ll keep you posted as the series progresses.
We’ve had questions about THE BETRAYAL. Oh, yeah, and some really interesting fan mail, too. For those of you who haven’t picked it up, this is our recently released novel about how Constantine’s minions essentially bent and folded early Christianity into the Roman Empire. And, yeah, we have expertise in that field, too. One of the questions we constantly hear is: Why? What you get here, in the Midden newsletter is an inside scoop. Part of the answer is that one our friends, John Gritts, a Cherokee, once asked why we don’t take a serious look at the mythology and religion in our own culture. That’s the reason THE BETRAYAL is the only novel we’ve ever written with footnotes. Outside of the characters and plot, we didn’t make anything up. The assertions in the novel can be checked against the actual sources. So, read the novel, consider the footnotes, and make up your own minds. If you’re not into the theology, it’s a rollicking thriller, and Kalay, with her checkered past and handy sharp knife can really drive pious monks insane.
That’s all for now. Thanks for subscribing, and with fewer weeks on the road through this winter, we should be able to keep in better touch.
Read in peace, and remember, a book lasts longer than a movie in these financially trying times.
All the Best,
W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O’Neal Gear
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August 2008
READ OF THE MONTH: Tess Gerritson's Body Double.
Wow! August already? Time is like a good bottle of cognac: It's tough to make it last.
As an update, we've been really busy and learning how to work the new website is going to take some getting used to. First we've had a very busy summer including trips to the Western Bison Association board meeting in California, a West Coast book tour for The Betrayal, a journey to New York for the 3rd annual ThrillerFest where we met with agents and publishers, then to the BMWMOA national motorcycle ralley in Gillette, Wyoming. In August we were off to Denver, Colorado, for the World Science Fiction Con--our first attendence at such an event in 13 years.
So far this year we've put over 12 thousand miles on our BMW 1100RT and over a thousand on the Moto Guzzi Norge. As noted in our new blog, we do many book events and a great deal of research on our motorcycles. Both of the bikes average right around fifty miles to the gallon, and riding cross country is our favorite mode of travel. At the BMWMOA rally our RT even received a blue ribbon for being an outstanding specimen. We were tickled, having made the Beemer into a perfect long-distance ride. By the time the RT is shut down for the winter the odometer will read close to 85,000. In all that time we have only had to replace one fork seal, and recently had to have the ABS system fixed. While the BMW is our long-distance ride, the Moto Guzzi is our take-the-afternoon-off-and-ride-to-Cook-City bike. Only this year we haven't been able to take an afternoon off to ride to Cook City. The Guzzi has only made Mike's birthday ride, and a trip to Denver to have a luggage rack replaced on a factory recall. Maybe next year?
Perhaps. We'll have to see how many books get written in the meantime.
Which, of course, takes us to our writing. We've finished the final, final revisions on the children's book: Children of the Dawnland which Tor should publish in June of 2009. We have also gone through page proofs for the upcoming hardback of People of the Thunder and the page proofs for People of the Weeping Eye in paperback.
Currently we are working on two new novels, one a traditional "People" book will be set in upstate New York and deals with the formation of the Iroquois confederacy in the early 1400s. The second is a novel about the de Soto expedition entering Florida in 1539. This latter is a novel that we hope will spin off into a new series: Contact: The Battle for America. The book is exciting in that we're taking a slightly different approach, writing in first person, and well, we've got Spaniards. The actual de Soto expedition was an abject failure. Native peoples won that first round rather handily.
With regard to People of the Weeping Eye and People of the Thunder, there have been comments from some fans that wish we hadn't split the story into two volumes. We didn't want to either. The grisly facts are that publishing is a business for Tor/Forge and the modern market is changing the kind of books being sold. Had we kept Weeping Eye and Thunder as one volume, the price would have been more than $30.00. So, dear faithful readers, be ready for the second half to land on bookstore shelves in January. In the future we will struggle to keep the page count down as a means of avoiding such problems.
As of this writing we still do not have a U.S. publisher for Comes a Green Sky. For you bilingual types it will be available in Germany next summer. Our literary agent is waiting until publishers get back from their August vacations to send the manuscript out to different thriller editors looking for environmental thrillers.
At the 2008 World Con we had a delightful dinner with Betsy Wolheim and Sheila Gilbert, our publishers at DAW Books. The occasion was to celebrate the 20 year anniversary release of Warriors of Spider. The book has been repackaged with a great new cover and can be picked up at Barnes&Noble as well as Borders and Amazon. If you've never read the Spider trilogy, this is your opportunity. We both offer our most sincere thanks to Shiela and Betsy for their constant support of our science fiction books. With a few exceptions the novels are as relevant today as they were when Michael wrote them in the late 1980s.
Also upcoming on the horizon is the 20 year collector's trade edition of Michael's Long Ride Home. This was the first novel he sold way back in 1987. Tor Books bought it three days before DAW bought the Spider trilogy. For more information on either of these titles, see the book section of the web site.
Upcoming events include a sell-in tour through the Southeast in October. This is currently being planned by Dot Lin in publicity, and we'll try to get events listed in the calendar as the schedule is firmed up. Also we will be appearing at the Deleware Book Festival. You can Google their website for updated information.
On September 5 and 6 the Rocky Mountain Bison Association summer meetings will be hosted by Red Canyon Ranch. We're looking forward to seeing old friends and feasting them on some of the best buffalo burgers in the country.
Also in September we have to bite the bullet and learn how to do Powerpoint presentations. This really eats the slimy banana as far as we are concerned. Slides worked just fine, thank you. Put them in the machine, push the button and look at the machine. Even undersophisiticated primates like us could do it. We have yet to see a powerpoint that didn't take twice as long, have some computer glitch, and bring up the wrong string of photos. Kathy has made the assumption that Mike is smart enough to figure this out. Mike has no assumptions left: he knows Kathy is assuming he's smarter than he really is.
In bringing this to a close, we would remind you that the fall elections are looming. If neither candidate is your cup of milk, please don't sit home on election day. No matter what the right to vote has only been won by blood and sacrifice. If you really don't like either party's offering, remember, you can always write in for the person you think would do the best job. Not worth while? Think about how the parties would react if twenty percent of votes were write ins!
Until next time, all the best and read good books.
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March, 2008
Favorite Read of the Month
Pax Dakota , by Ken Rand. ISBN-10: 1594146721; ISBN-13: 978-1594146725 (Five Star Science Fiction and Fantasy)    
Interview: The Betrayal
Mike and Kathy are interviewed a lot. But this one is special. Recently, they opened their home to Karen Jones for an interview on The Betrayal, a great rarity.
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February, 2008
Mountain and Plains Library Association Award
Wyoming authors W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O'Neal Gear have been selected to receive the 2008 Literary Contribution Award from the Mountain Plains Library Association. Beth Avery, the Chair of the Awards Committee, says "The award is given to an author whose published writings most successfully further an understanding and appreciation of the Mountain Plains region." The MPLA Award banquet will be held at the annual conference, Thursday evening, May 1, 2008, in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The Gears, who say they are "deeply honored" by the award, will give the keynote speech at the conference.
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November, 2007
Michael and Kathy will have an article in the Spring issue of Bison World Magazine. The title is The Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Children of Dawnland is complete, but still no publication date. Other publication dates have changed as well; the new dates are posted on The Books page.
Expect a mass market paperback of People of the Nightland in March, 2008.
Kathy and Michael's new thriller, Under a Green Sky, currently weighes in at 350 manuscript pages. It is due to the German publisher, Lübbe,, in February. No US publisher has signed up yet.
Characters' names get changed from time to time, just ike books. Special Investigator Christopher Keef is now "Skip Murphy".
Some upcoming events are listed on the Public Appearances page.
People of the Painted Canyon, and People of Dawnland are now under contract. The latter takes the characters of Children of Dawnland up to adulthood.
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September, 2007
Under a Green Sky
A new thriller by the Gears is in process.
When a luxury cruise ship is found floating in the Atlantic with 4,000 people dead, three Muslim fundamentalist groups immediately claim responsibility. Even worse, the vessel was carrying a world famous Christian preacher and 2,000 loyal supporters on their way to the Holy Land for a controversial "Crusade" to recover the Holy Land for Christians.
As tensions mount, it is up to Dr. Maureen Cole and Special Investigator Christopher Keef to uncover the truth.
But as Christian suicide bombers begin picking targets, Maureen and Chris begin to understand that another, greater threat may be at play.
To Cast a Pearl has a new title, The Betrayal: The Stolen Life of Jesus. As noted, it is already in print in German, Italian and Russian.
Kathy's Children of Dawnland is complete. It takes place as a comet exploded over eastern Canada, 12,900 years ago. There are over a million elliptical depressions we call the Carolina Bays scattered from New Jersey to Florida. There is a "black mat" layer in the Earth at about this age, laden with iridium, glass sphericles, carbon spheriules, fullerenes and other material associated with large impacts on the Earth. This is about the time that Clovis activity stopped, and Kathy notes that Clovis sites occur below or in the "black mat" layer, but not above it.
The event lead to what we call the Younger Dryas Cool Episode, in which the slow deglaciation of North America was interrupted by a cooling period, and many large mammals such as the mammoth went extinct.
There will be a Teachers Guide. The book will be used in classes such as science and history for children aged 8 to 12.
Two scripts are in progress, for Children of Dawnland and The Betrayal.
Tor Books interviewed Kathleen and Michael at Red Canyon Ranch on People of the Nightland. (21MB file, Microsoft ASF format)
Mike and Kathy are working on contracts for two new prehistory books. People of the Painted Canyon, and People of Dawnland, which takes the characters of Children of Dawnland up to adulthood.
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July, 2007
We've added a new excerpt, from People of the Weeping Eye and People of the Thunder. Release date for People of the Weeping Eye is currently April, 2008. There's no release date yet for People of the Thunder.
To Cast a Pearl is published in Germany, from Lübbe. Look for US publication from TOR in June of 2008.
Michael is pleased to announce that he is now (unofficially) an Iron Butt motorcyclist! On July 13-14, he rode his BMW from Denver to Thermopolis, almost circumnavigating Yellowstone in the process. He rode 1445 miles in 22 hours and 44 minutes, and has the gas receipts to prove it. He qualified for the SaddleSore rating, but is 65 miles short of the BunBurner Gold rating. Once the association certifies his records, his name will go up on the Iron Butt Association's web site.
Kathy, meanwhile, has started work on a book for children ages 8-12, for Tor's Young Readers category. The working title is Children of Dawnland. It takes place some 12,000 years ago as a comet explodes over China, and glaciers begin to melt. Kathy says that writing for children requires a very different writing style. Kathy is freshly elected to the Western Writers of American board for a two year stint. |
