The entries below are contributed directly from John R. Corrigan. If you have suggestions for future blog topics, please contact John with your idea.

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November 1, 2007

Welcome back. Thanks for taking the time to visit. I hope you like the revamped Website, courtesy of Shawn Lahey and SLiNK Designs. I write this from the island known to authors as “between contracts.”

This island holds many terrors.

As a writer, you hope not to be pushed into shark-infested waters of self-doubt by publishers who reject your work. As a published writer, you hope not to make a decision that lands you in the water. Either way, your ego gets chewed up.

But at the end of the day, you just write and let the chips fall where they may. I invented PGA Tour pro Jack Austin one morning while standing before a mirror in El Paso, Texas. This was 1997, during the second year of my MFA program. CUT SHOT came out in 2001. It was followed by four others, OUT OF BOUNDS (2006) being the most recent. (I dare not say “the last” because you never know.)

While I was working on OUT OF BOUNDS, I decided to try something new—a different character, a female no less. (What the hell. Let’s up the anti, see if I can write a woman.) I liked what I had but had a deadline to meet with OUT OF BOUNDS, so I put Kylie White on the shelf and finished Jack Austin No. 5.

Once done, I went back to Kylie White and VALLEY OF THE SHADOW. It was risky. My publisher had offered a two-book contract—one more Jack Austin and VALLEY OF THE SHADOW. I declined. I wanted to focus on Kylie, on the new series, and see where it would lead. I finished the book in August. And I’m pleased with it. VALLEY OF THE SHADOW is the best book I’ve written.

However, I know the industry is continuing to shrink. So as my agent begins submitting, I stand by the water’s edge with my fingers crossed.

JRC