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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.