At times it has felt like I’m trying to get somewhere in the charming old truck that sits on our ranch.

Yes, I’m still around. No, I haven’t finished the fifth novel in the Highway Mysteries series yet. Yes, I’m currently working on the last chapter and it will be finished soon.

After blowing past several of my self-imposed deadlines, I hesitate to make any promises but The End is certainly in sight. I will soon let the world know when Yellowhead Blues is ready for release.

Just to tease those of you who have been waiting for the next novel in the Highway Mysteries series, here’s a sneak peek at the new cover. Many thanks and a shout-out to my talented cover man, Steve Johnsen, at Hunter|Johnsen for this marvelous graphic.

If you have been looking forward to more of Hunter Rayne’s semi-professional investigations, you’ll be happy to know that I’ve started to do some research and gather material in preparation for the sixth book in the series as well.

Meanwhile, I hope all of Hunter’s fans have had a great 2019 so far, and are looking forward to Spring.

Just two weeks until Left Coast Crime 2019 A Whale of a Crime in Vancouver, British Columbia. I lived and went to school in West Vancouver, just across the Lions Gate Bridge from Vancouver’s Stanley Park, so being in Vancouver will be almost like coming home. It’s been a long time, though, since I’ve prowled the streets of downtown Vancouver, and I’m looking forward to seeing old familiar sights along with exciting changes in the heart of the city.

If you’re planning to attend Left Coast Crime, please look for me and say hello. I’ll be taking part in the Author Speed Dating on Thursday morning, March 28th, from 9 to 11 a.m., and will be hosting a table at the Saturday evening Awards Banquet along with fellow BC mystery writer, Debra Purdy-Kong.

I am also taking part in one of the last panels of the conference on Sunday, March 31st at 10:15 a.m. The title of the panel is “Not So Traditional Traditionals” (hmmm — could it be that my trucker hero is considered an unusual detective?) and it will also include authors Becky Clark, Marsali Taylor and Ingrid Thoft, as well as moderator Anne Louise Bannon.

Lost Lagoon at the entrance to Stanley Park

If anyone attending is interested in an Author Connection with Yours Truly, I’m open to guiding a few people down Georgia Street on Friday afternoon to visit Lost Lagoon at Stanley Park, weather permitting. It’s about 4 miles return including a stroll around the lagoon, so from 4:00 to 6:00 will give us time for a leisurely walk and a return via trendy Robson Street. If it’s raining or otherwise unpleasant for walking, a visit to Notch8 Restaurant & Bar in the historic Fairmont Hotel Vancouver for a Happy Hour cocktail would be fun instead. (Notch O’s will be on me!)

Left Coast Crime is a great conference for both writers and fans of crime fiction. I hope to meet some of Hunter Rayne’s fans in Vancouver this year, or maybe next year at Left Coast Crime 2020 in San Diego for Murder is a Beach.

Thanks to those of you who have contacted me over the past year to inquire about the fifth novel in the Highway Mysteries series. I wish I could tell you that it’s ready for release, but unfortunately it’s not. The book was already behind schedule and it’s been a crazy summer, thanks in part to the burning Elephant.

The Elephant Hill wildfire came too close for comfort.

The Elephant Hill wildfire started near the town of Ashcroft, BC, on July 6th, 2017. It roared northwards for over two months to cover a 75-mile distance and almost 750 square miles. For a period of time it closed two major highways in the central Interior of British Columbia and it has destroyed 130 homes. It is still burning, albeit with less intensity, within a few miles of our ranch in Lone Butte.

Baling our hay while the Elephant Hill wildfire rages south of Green Lake

We have been on evacuation alert here since July 9th when an earlier wildfire near 100 Mile House was burning out of control. At that time, we evacuated our horses to a safe place where they still remain over two months later.  On two occasions in July and August, we evacuated ourselves and our dogs when the smoke hung heavy in the air while ash and burnt pine needles rained from the sky, telling us the out-of-control fires were getting too close for comfort. We were ordered evacuated a third time on August 31st, and were finally able to return home two days ago. Thanks to some recent rain and colder temperatures, we can hope we’re home for good this time. We are grateful that our house is still standing, and have great sympathy for those who weren’t so lucky during this summer of fire and flood.

Smoke glowing at sunset as the Elephant Hill wildfire blazed its way northward.

I generally don’t share much of a personal nature on this site, but felt that I owed fans of the Highway Mysteries series an explanation for the delay, since I’ve told many of you in private correspondence that the next novel in the series — Yellowhead Blues — would be out this summer. I’m hoping to get back to work now without further interruptions, but I doubt very much that I can get it ready for publication before 2017 comes to a close.

Thank you for your patience, and thank you for following the series. Wishing for the best possible outcome for those reading this who may be dealing with any kind of “wildfire” in their own lives.

If you’ve enjoyed the Highway Mysteries, please recommend the series to your friends.

The Kindle edition of the latest in the Highway Mysteries series is now available on Amazon. The print edition is available through the Proud Horse Publishing e-store and through most on-line retailers, as well as for order through your local bookstore. The other digital editions will be released in June. As I mentioned in an earlier post, writing a novel set in Alaska and the Yukon was a real journey to the past for me. I visited there several times between 1979 and 1994, albeit not to all of the locations mentioned in the novel, but had to do a lot of extra research to make sure I got things as realistic as possible. My research gave me increased respect and admiration for those people who choose to make the north their home. My recent move to the South Cariboo region of British Columbia (Lone Butte, to be exact) helped, because I experienced first hand a long winter, months of snow and below zero temperatures, seeing animal tracks in the snow – foxes, deer, moose and various unidentified critters – and often the animals themselves. I’m hoping that my readers enjoy travelling with Hunter Rayne and his biker friend, Dan Sorenson, north on the Alaska Highway to Fairbanks, with an unplanned detour from Whitehorse to Dawson City, hub of the Klondike gold rush. They also travel the Top of the World Highway from Dawson to the eastern side of Alaska, the watershed of the mighty Yukon River. The people they meet are unique to the land of the grizzly, wolverine and caribou. I enjoy hearing from readers, so after you’ve read it, please let me know what you think! And, as always, thank you for reading my books.