The release of Where the Road Ends this fall marks my thirty-fifth published novel – and the twelfth in my Jonathan Stride series, set in the winter wonderland of Duluth, Minnesota. Whew, what a road it’s been these past 20+ years!
Of course, publishing a new Jonathan Stride book makes me think about the launch of my very first novel (and first in the Stride series), which was Immoral, released all the way back in 2005. We had such an amazing run with that book. IMMORAL was sold in 17 languages, named an International Book of the Month, and chosen as a finalist for the Edgar, Barry, Dagger, Anthony, and Macavity awards for Best First Novel.
Was I excited to finally be publishing a novel after years of knocking on the door? Absolutely.
But there was one person in my life who had mixed feelings about this – and that was my mom. Oh, she was excited, too – after all, she’d waited every bit as long as I had to see me publishing a novel. But when that finally happened, what was the title?
Immoral.
She wasn’t too crazy about that.
Nonetheless, she became my unofficial marketer-in-chief, telling all her friends that they had to go out and buy her son’s book. Well, that included the doctor at the clinic she went to. Sure enough, her doctor ran out and got a copy of Immoral. He read it – and loved it – but he wanted to make sure he remembered to tell her about it the next time she came in for an appointment.
So he wrote Immoral on a Post-It note.
And put it in her file.
Yes, you can see where this is going. The next time she went to the clinic, my mom wound up seeing a different doctor – who was looking at her VERY strangely the entire time!
So when she finally saw her regular doctor again, he came into the office laughing. Apparently, this other doctor had come to him after her appointment and said, “Why did you put that note in her file? She seems like such a nice woman!”
My poor mom! She was pretty relieved that we didn’t use those salacious one-word titles for very long. But I know she’s looking down now, extremely proud of my two-decade journey in the book business.
And even though this new book is called Where the Road Ends, I hope this road continues for a very long time.
Brian Freeman is a USA Today and New York Times bestselling author of psychological thrillers, including the Jonathan Stride series and many popular standalones. His books have been sold in forty-six countries and translated into twenty-three languages. His thriller Spilled Blood was named Best Hardcover Novel in the International Thriller Writers Awards, and his novel The Deep, Deep Snow was a finalist for the Edgar Award. Brian is widely acclaimed for his vivid “you are there” settings and for his complex, engaging characters and twist-filled plots. He lives in Florida with his wife, Marcia. For more information, visit bfreemanbooks.com.
