It's time for some cover reveals and book launch event dates!

In a previous post a few months back, I showed you the cover of HOOKED, my new upcoming thriller, which will launch my new "Katrina & Goode" series on Feb. 1.

What I didn't know at the time, was that my publisher, Thomas & Mercer, was going to tweak the cover. So, now I get to do a second cover reveal post!

I also didn’t know that the launch date was going to change, and that I would have the cover of the sequel, #2 in the series, to post as well!

So first things first. Here’s the new, tweaked cover of HOOKED:

For comparison's sake, here's the original cover.

As you can see, the art designers decided to flip the wave around and they also wanted to make the cover look a little more foreboding. I think they succeeded. I like the colors in the first one, but I do agree that the new one seems much more suspenseful and conveys more danger and impending doom!

Now, for the new launch date for HOOKED. The previous date was Jan. 13 and the launch is now February 1. That’s a Sunday, so I’m going to have my first launch event that Tuesday, when most books usually come out, at the La Jolla Library. You heard it here first, so I hope to see you there on February 3 at 6 pm!

The next launch event will be Thursday, February 5 at 7 pm at the Coronado Library. Now, Coronado has a special place in my heart, because it is where my book about the Rebecca Zahau case, DEATH ON OCEAN BOULEVARD, is set. Coronado also is featured in the closing climax scenes of HOOKED, which take place at the Hotel del Coronado.

The next piece of news is the cover reveal for STAGED, book #2 in the series. Now normally, I would do these one at a time, but what the heck. So, here is the cover for STAGED, which is set to come out on June 16, 2026.

If you are interested in having me speak about my new venture into writing thrillers, I'm happy to come to your group, library, indie bookstore, or book festival or conference, OR appear on your podcast, so please let me know! I am happy to do virtual events and I'm also open to doing some book clubs this time, because I'm switching genres and need all the help I can get!

I'm going to post these on my website and I'll remind you on social media closer to each one of these dates but here are all the live events I've got going so far. Please save the dates, because people always tell me that they didn't know about the events until it was too late because they didn't see my posts:

--Tuesday, Feb. 3 at 6 pm: Launch event at the La Jolla Library

--Thursday, Feb. 5 at 7 pm: Launch event at the Coronado Library

--Saturday, Feb. 7 at 2 pm: Signing at the B&N in Oceanside

--Saturday, Feb. 14 at 2 pm: Signing at the new B&N in La Jolla

--Saturday, Feb. 21 at 2 pm: Talk/signing at Book Carnival in Orange

--Saturday, March 14 at 2 pm: Talk/signing at Partners in Crime, San Diego Chapter of Sisters in Crime, at San Diego Writers, Ink

Also, please note, this is a Thomas & Mercer book, which means it is expected to sell mostly online, not in bookstores. Here is the link to pre-order it at a discount now. The sequel, STAGED, which comes out in June 2026, is also available for pre-order here!