Phil Temples

Yesterday, I read to the fourth graders at the St. Columbkille Partnership School in Brighton, as part of BC’s Read Aloud program. Previously, I had mentioned to the kids that I was now a published author. They begged me to read from my book, The Winship Affair. I told them that it was for “adults only” but the prologue is “G-rated” so I read that section to them. Afterwards, about a dozen came up to me with little scraps of paper. They all wanted my autograph!

It’s amusing how many of my friends think that I’m going to make a lot of money from publishing a novel. Shown here is my first (and possibly last) royalty check from book sales. A large part of this “profit” is no doubt derived from the book copies that I personally purchased for gift copies for friends and family. 😉 But, hey, at least I did not “self publish” which means someone else believed in the book and underwrote the production costs.

After a pleasant conversation with the store manager, Von’s Books in West Lafayette, Indiana has agreed to carry copies of The Winship Affair. It’s a great little independent book store! http://www.vonsshops.com/Book_Shop.html

There’s something magical about seeing your novel appear for the first time in a world-class bookstore! Here are copies of The Winship Affair in the mystery/fiction section of the Harvard Cooperative Society (a.k.a. “The Coop”) in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Here’s another blurb from the back cover of The Winship Affair:

A grisly murder under the dark moonless sky and a mysterious package in the mail set the perfect stage for intrigue in this sophisticated nail-biting page turner. […] With style, wit, and a robust cast of fascinating characters, The Winship Affair keeps readers in their seat right up until the last page.

-Robin Stratton, Boston Literary Magazine

I queried my publisher today regarding availability of the novel in e-book format. Here is their reply, “the e-book has been uploaded to Amazon’s Kindle library…it should appear there sometime today or early tomorrow…it does take them a few more days to get it linked up with the printed copy as well. Or, rather, it has in the past at any rate…”

Here’s one of the blurbs for the novel that will grace the back cover. William McKeen, a successful Boston area writer (“Outlaw Journalist” and “Mile Marker Zero”) and Chairman of the Boston University Journalism Department writes:

This is one of those books that you pick up and when you blink you realize you’d just read 60 pages. It’s written with the economy of James M. Cain and the quiet grace of Robert B. Parker. You’ll fall in love with the heroine, Carrie Bloomfield. This is a stunningly good tale.