Before discussing Blue Heaven, I must point out that Bill wore his LSU Tigers yellow and blue hat to work this morning. He refused to wear it during the National Championship game last night (as he does with his Bulldogs hat during all ZAGS games) because his Tigers had to win first.
They won. He's proud. He pulled out the hat to rub it in down at the office today. Apparently, he's got an LSU accomplice down there in colleague Jeannie Mikkelsen whose cell phone even rings to the Tiger fight song. Bill's mother earned her Master's in library science from LSU, so he's been a "Hold that Tiger" fan all his life. Congratulations to LSU.
And, congratulations this morning to best-selling and award-winning author C.J. Box. His latest novel Blue Heaven will be in bookstores across the nation today. The Schoonovers of Western Pleasure Guest Ranch at (http://www.westernpleasureranch.com/) and we Loves are kind of excited because we each got to spend some time with C.J. when he was in the Sandpoint area about four years ago researching local trends, opinion, happenings, attitudes, culture, etc. for his novel's setting.
Readers won't see the name Sandpoint in the novel. The fictional town goes by a different but familiar name. They will see lot of the influences of late that made this place the perfect setting for C.J.'s murder mystery. I have to tell you, also, that I was amazed when I saw the names of the two children who witness a murder and then become prime targets of the folks who commit the crime.
I read the review copy of the Blue Heaven a couple of months ago. It took me less than three days (during a very busy time) to flip through those 340 or so pages. I blamed C.J. for making me lose some sleep because I couldn't put the book down. It's riveting, it's fun, it's quirky and it's amazing how he gets all the pieces of the puzzle to fit perfectly at the end of the 48-hour plot. FYI: there's a summary of this thriller at (www.amazon.com).
More information about C.J., his books and his upcoming events schedule for today's release can be found at his website (www.cjbox.net/). For locals, he's coming to Sandpoint's Vanderford's Bookstore Thursday, Jan. 17 at 2 p.m. I was proud to include C.J. among the writers who poured out their souls for the young authors' conference blog at (www.ohwriteucando.blogspot.com). C.J. contributed some wise words for potential authors.
When I was down in St. Anthony, Idaho, this past November, the South Fremont High School librarian told me that she uses C.J. Box novels to turn on her non readers, and it works. So, that's a pretty good recommendation, as if he needed it.
C.J.'s done quite all right for himself, and we're happy and proud to have met and spent some time with him. A Wyoming cowboy who serves on the board of directors for the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo can't be all that bad. With that in mind, I encourage everyone to pass along the word about Blue Heaven and go to your favorite bookstore today for your copy. It's guaranteed to keep you transfixed for the next few days.
Good luck, C.J., and how 'bout them Tigers!
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