IMAGINE MY SURPRISE WHEN MY ESTEEMED PUBLISHER NOTIFIED ME THAT MY NEW HISTORY BOOK, TITLED, “GONE BEFORE GLORY,” WAS AWARDED NOT ONE, BUT TWO, LITERARY AWARDS THIS PAST WEEK! (MIND YOU, WITHOUT BRIBING ANY JUDGES!) I know what you’re thinking… how does this man do it? Beats me. Some of my good fortune is just plain luck. (Most of it, if you ask my wife!) I like to think that I’m daring, unafraid to have my books judged by others. Daring runs in my family. My Uncle Zeb was the first farmer to look at a cow and say, “I think I’ll squeeze those dangly things and drink whatever comes out.” Well, at least that’s the way the story has been passed down. Sounds like the pasteurized version to me.

In any case, GONE BEFORE GLORY was recently chosen as one of the best U.S. History Books in the 2021 New England Book Festival AND the Southern California Book Fest! Needless to say, I’m pleased as punch and greatly appreciate these literary awards. I had planned on attending the awards ceremony in California, but it looks like my Caribbean voyage is back on track. Our ship, the S.S. Omicron, will be leaving as scheduled from Miami in February! Hooray! (Hopefully we’ll get stuck in St. Kitts or St. Barts!)

Unfortunately, due to Covid concerns, most of the Caribbean book festivals have been cancelled, but we still plan to meet a lot of new readers aboard ship. We will be traveling aboard Regent Cruises, so if you happen to be in the Caribbean basin, please feel free to stop by for an autographed copy of GONE BEFORE GLORY. (The real name of our ship is the Regent SPLENDOR.)

While I’ve been typing this email I had a thought….. If a word is misspelled in the dictionary, how would we ever know? Speaking of words, how come “abbreviated” is such a long word? Furthermore, why do we say something is out of whack? What the hell is whack? (John Wick’s uncle?) If you have any answers to these burning questions, please keep it to yourself.

By the way, since we’ve all been on sort of a “lockdown,” I’ve used my time wisely and have written another “Adam Gold Mystery.” Well, I’m actually on page 310, and have two more chapters to go. I should be finished before my ships departs. For those of you who care, the book is titled, DEAD ENDING. I think this is the best book in the series, and look forward to seeing it in print. I will, of course, keep you posted about its publication. Lucky for me that I don’t have a real job!

Incidentally, if work is so terrific, why do they have to pay you to do it?

Ever think of that?

Well, dear friends, I’m off to Boerne, Texas, for another literary event, so please take good care of yourselves and stay safe. I wish you and yours a wonderful and prosperous NEW YEAR! Love to all,

Doc Yanoff