Booksigning for The Solomon Effect

Steve and I will be doing a booksigning for The Solomon Effect at the Garden District Bookstore in New Orleans this Saturday, October 10, from 1-3. The Garden District is always a wonderful place to have a signing, with wine and cheese and friendly, book-loving people. If you're in the area, hope to see you there!

Solomon Released Today

Today is the official release date for The Solomon Effect. After all that has happened--or should I say, all that has not happened--I must admit to watching its debut with a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. But the great folks in the Harper Collins publicity department have been scrambling to try to rescue its maiden voyage from a Titanic-like fate.

A friend flying up to New York tells me she saw the book sitting at the #18 slot at the airport bookstall, evidence that they have indeed come up with at least some last-minute coop. And if you go to bookpage.com you'll see that The Solomon Effect is their third featured book, right after Paterson and Albom.

The "featured book" highlight is only there for today, Tuesday, but it links to a piece we wrote that can be read here.

On Birthdays, Pregnant Publicists, and Websites

My very first published novel, Night in Eden, came out twelve years ago this month, on my birthday. You see, publishers tend to release books on the last Tuesday of the month before their official publication date. So since Eden was an “October release” and my late-September birthday just happened to fall on a Tuesday that year, the planets aligned to give me one of the nicest birthday presents I have ever received.

Well, the planets have aligned again this year: my second thriller, The Solomon Effect, is due to be released on my birthday. But I’m not so sure this is a good omen. You see, my publicist went on maternity leave just when she should have been sending out review copies and press releases and such, and Solomon basically fell through the cracks. Fortunately my agent and I eventually realized what was happening and the folks at HarperCollins have worked really hard to salvage some things. But there will be no Publishers Weekly review, and the Romantic Times review won’t appear until their December issue. The Library Journal and Kirkus Reviews are also iffy. If this sounds like the kiss of death for a book, believe me, it is.

That said, I’ve updated the C.S. Graham website and added a new feature, A Pictorial Tour of the World of The Solomon Effect. You can see it here.

The Cover of The Solomon Effect Makes Its Debut

The cover of the next C. S. Graham thriller, The Solomon Effect, has now been authorized for official release, so here (drum roll) it is…



This is the book that was once named The Deadlight Connection. The editors and marketing department both liked the original title, and it was used for the “teaser chapters” at the back of The Archangel Project. But when it came time to cover conference the book, the art department “couldn’t get their heads around” the original title. It’s the first instance I know of a book retitled in this way. But after months of going back and forth, I finally came up with a new title that everyone liked. All it took was a couple of little rewrites and it, ahem, even fit the book.

I’ve reached the point that I actually like the new title better than the original. What do you think of the cover? I think it's striking, but you can be honest--I’m not the one who designed it!