January 2017

Greetings,

Several readers have tried emailing me from their AOL email address. While I’ve answered each of them, AOL has stubbornly refused to deliver my emails and bounced them back to me. My tech person is looking into it but this isn’t the first time AOL has been *cough* difficult on delivering emails.

Here’s a good example. Fran is a loyal reader of mine. She has emailed me some wonderful emails over time. But every time I try to answer her, AOL bounces the emails back to me.

Here’s what Fran wrote to me recently:

[QUOTE] Gone Too Far – Started book today & almost done – really enjoying it & hope you are planning a sequel. Have already read all Kyle Simmons series so hopefully more forthcoming. Have thoroughly enjoyed them. My Mom was born/raised in Philly so can relate to the area -so much of it has changed!!![END OF QUOTE]

Since many readers have asked me about future Kyle Simmons and Cole Hutchinson books, I’m going to share my (bounced) email reply to Fran:

[QUOTE]
Hi Fran!
Glad to hear you’re enjoying Gone Too Far. If you wouldn’t mind terribly, can you leave a review for my book when you finish reading it? I would greatly appreciate it.
Yes, I am planning another Kyle Simmons which hopefully will be ready before summer. I have plans to do another Cole Hutchinson book at some point but it probably won’t be until later this year. I don’t like to work on more than one book at a time because it increases the likelihood that none of them ever get finished.
In terms of my next release…
I have a Kindle Worlds Novella called Operation Freedom which releases on 2/1. It’s part of a multi-author multi-book launch so contractually I have to wait to share full details until then.
Yes, Philly has definitely changed over the years. But it’s still my favorite city so that’s why I based the Simmons books there.
Thanks again for writing.
Sincerely,

E.G.
[END OF QUOTE]

On February 1st, I will send out an email and post on my blog more details and cover art for Operation Freedom.

I am currently working on the outline for the next Kyle Simmons book along with another potential new book series.

My current writing plan is to publish three additional books this year: One Kyle Simmons, the next Cole Hutchinson book, and a third book to be determined. That’s pretty vague but I will share more details when I have them to share with everyone.

One last thing: I’ve kept the price for “Gone Too Far” at 99 cents since it launched on 12/29. It will be rising to its regular price of $2.99 on Monday 1/30 so if you haven’t grabbed your discounted copy, then time is running out to do so.

Here are a few Amazon links to “Gone Too Far”:

“Gone Too Far” On Amazon USA
“Gone Too Far” On Amazon USA

“But E.G., it’s not a Kyle Simmons book. I’m not sure I’ll like it.”

I understand completely. As a writer, sometimes you need to write about a different group of characters and a different type of story. It helps keep your creative juices flowing to write about different things.

When I first came up with the story idea for “Gone Too Far”, it didn’t make sense for Simmons. As many readers already know, Kyle has a sister so I couldn’t exactly say he suddenly didn’t have any siblings. And a new mysterious second sister, that didn’t sound right to me either.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized I needed a new lead character for the story. But I did not want the new character (or the new book) to be a carbon copy of the Kyle Simmons series either.

I recently received a 5 star review from David for “Gone Too Far”. David says it even better than I could and I’m truly grateful for his wonderful review…

“E.G. Michaels is already the successful author of the Kyle Simmons books. Now he has changed genre and tried his hand at what can best be described as the Jack Reacher type novel and I am both surprised and delighted at how well he is done it. Up until now only Noah Boyd (who sadly died after only two books) has been in the same league as Child, now Michaels has definitely established himself in that league. Although, it is a Reacher style book, this is in no way a clone. The characters and plot are Michaels’ own and Kyle Simmons readers will know how well he does both those. I don’t like to detail plots in a review for risk of spoilers so would only say:
– if you are a Kyle Simmons fan, don’t be put off by the genre change because you won’t be disappointed.
– if you are a Lee Child or Noah Boyd fan please give this book a try, especially as Michaels has made it easy by making it available on Kindle Unlimited.”

I’ll be back in touch next week with the full scoop on Operation Freedom.

Have a great weekend,

E.G.

Greetings,

I recently added this to the Amazon book description for “Gone Too Far” and I thought it was worth sharing here as well.

Without further ado…

E.G. Michaels on “Gone Too Far”

“Gone Too Far” is my first standalone novel and it introduces former Philadelphia cop Cole “Hutch” Hutchinson. My previous five books were a series featuring Philadelphia Homicide Detective Kyle Simmons. “Gone Too Far” shares some similarities to the Simmons series, in that there is always a crime which needs to be solved, and the fight scenes are fast-paced events filled with martial arts and gun-play. There are also moments of humor, however not as frequent as the Simmons series.

But “Gone Too Far” also has some distinct differences which make Hutch a different character than Simmons.

In “Gone Too Far” Hutch has recently been forced into retirement due an eye injury suffered while on the job. It was not the type of decision he would have made on his own because he doesn’t feel the injury was severe enough to end his career as a cop.

As part of my early research, I interviewed an active Philadelphia Police Officer to get a very clear idea of what type of injuries in the line of duty could force a medical retirement even though the injury itself may not limit the person from doing most of what “ordinary” people do every day.

Back to “Gone Too Far”. Since Hutch was forced to retire from the career he absolutely loved, this story finds him feeling a bit bitter and cynical towards the world. He doesn’t suffer fools gladly, and he’s slow to trust others until they have proven themselves worthy of his trust. Having said that, Hutch is naturally warm to women, children, and older people, and he’s the type of person who will always look to step in and help those in need.

Since Hutch is no longer a cop, he doesn’t have access to the tools and technology which many law enforcement members use to solve crimes. Instead, Hutch’s crime solving shifts towards using more traditional investigation methods. As the reader, you have a front row seat as Hutch starts to work the case on what happened to the Klines and figure out once and for all if she is indeed the sister he never knew he had.

In the Simmons series, there are times where the reader gets a brief glimpse into Kyle’s love and sex life. In Gone Too Far, there are several sex scenes which are a bit more in-depth but still try to show the passion and bond between emotionally connected lovers. My intent was to present these scenes in a respectful manner and based on feedback from my female editors and my beta readers, the consensus is that I was successful in that regard.

“Gone Too Far” is a nice blend of thriller, mystery, and vigilante fiction and I had an absolute blast writing it. There are characters who aren’t talking to or cooperating with Hutch, but you won’t know why until later in the story when the powerful reasons that have forced their silence are revealed. You may have a hunch early on who committed the crimes, but you likely won’t know why until nearly the end of the story. No hints — you’ll have to read “Gone Too Far” to find out.

Until next time,

E.G.