Prepare For More Guesthouse... (A LOT more!)

So it's mid-September. That can mean only one thing (Pennant chase baseball!) (No, wait.): Autumn is on its way.

It's mid-September. That can mean only two things (Jewish holidays!) (No, wait.)

Okay. It's mid-September. That means a great many things. But one of them this year certainly is that fans of the Haunted Guesthouse mystery series are about to have a LOT to celebrate!

Coming October 1 (that's pretty soon), the second Haunted Guesthouse eSpecial novella, AN OPEN SPOOK, will be available for Kindle, Nook, and every other e-book format. It's a shorter story, with a lower price: it's listed at only $2.99!

In AN OPEN SPOOK the story is told by Loretta Kerby, Alison's mother. Loretta has come to Alison's house to help her deal with the oncoming Frankenstorm (which the newspapers were calling Hurricane Sandy before it hit), and also dealing with a perplexing ghostly mystery.

It seems that a spook nobody in the house has seen before, Sgt. Robert Elliot (who died in the Vietnam War) is on a quest to find an object he considers essential to his continued existence: the Prisoner of War bracelet bearing his name that was issued in the 1970s. And he thinks it can be found in the Haunted Guesthouse. Loretta, who remembers that time well, promises to help, and telling you any more, even while the storm bears down upon them, would be telling too much.

Just a little over a month after AN OPEN SPOOK hits the e-shelves, the next full Haunted Guesthouse novel THE THRILL OF THE HAUNT will make its debut on bookstore shelves and in e-readers on the same day: November 5!

The latest book picks up not long after the events of CHANCE OF A GHOST. Alison's dad is back in the fold, and she's tentatively--okay, very tentatively--starting a romance with Josh Kaplan. But she gets saddled with two cases she doesn't want to touch (so what else is new?): The death of a local homeless man, stabbed multiple times in a gas station restroom, and a woman who asks that Alison confirm her suspicions that her husband is carrying on an affair--so the wife can emotionally blackmail him for the rest of his life.

When another murder occurs on Alison's watch, the two cases begin to have some eerie similarities. But Alison might have to figure them both out before the killer(s) get(s) annoyed enough to take action. But what's worse is that her arch rival Kerin Murphy (NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEED) is back, and that's just too much for Alison to bear. This time, her ghost pals might not be able to help her out.

That's it for now, but keep watching this space: I promise there'll be a couple of surprises coming in the next few weeks!

THRILL OF THE HAUNT cover!

We know you've been waiting--here it is, the cover of THE THRILL OF THE HAUNT, the fifth Haunted Guesthouse mystery, coming in November, 2013! No spoilers just yet, but please comment below and let us know what you think. (One spoiler--I think this might be my favorite of the covers so far!)

What's That I Hear?

I've gotten a number of emails and queries the past few years asking when the Haunted Guesthouse mysteries might be available as audiobooks. Readers whose eyesight is not perfect, or who simply like to listen to a book in the car or on a job, felt they were missing out on the adventures of Alison and crew.

Well, the wait is almost over.

An agreement has been reached with Audible, a New Jersey-based company (and subsidiary of Amazon, in the interest of full disclosure) to record all the Haunted Guesthouse books--including the fifth, sixth, and seventh I haven't even written yet--and make them available as audiobooks! Not sure about the timing yet, but the contracts are signed, so things will start to happen soon. I promise, I'll keep you informed.

There just might be more news coming, but until that's certain, thanks again for making all this possible. If you weren't reading the books, well, there wouldn't be any books (or audiobooks)!

E.J.

Contest winner--and Launch Day!

It's pub day (that's not a trip to the local bar--it's short for "Publication Day") for CHANCE OF A GHOST, the latest Haunted Guesthouse mystery! And to celebrate, we chose the winner of the CHANCE OF A GHOST Kindle contest. The winner receives a new Kindle (her choice of e reader) with every Haunted Guesthouse title--including the brand-new CHANCE OF A GHOST--already loaded on.

And that winner is: VICKIE HARTWELL, a fan from Arizona. Congratulations, Vickie, and thanks to everyone who entered!

Don't worry; there'll be more news and excitement coming soon, but first, those of you who've read the new book: What did you think? Let's see some comments, people!

Win a Kindle or Nook (and there's MORE)!

It's a new contest, and this one's a doozy! (Yeah, I went there. Doozy.)

You think the gift-giving season is over? Not here at Sliced Bread!

To promote the releases of both A WILD GHOST CHASE (now available as an ebook in all popular formats, for about $2.99) and CHANCE OF A GHOST (coming Feb. 5 as a paperback and/or ebook for about $7.99), I'm going to be giving away an e-reader, either a Kindle or a Nook--winner's choice--but that's not all.

The winner will receive either one of those e-readers and this one will be special: It'll have ALL FIVE Haunted Guesthouse stories, the four novels and the eSpecial A WILD GHOST CHASE pre-installed! (That, of course, includes CHANCE OF A GHOST, the latest in the series.)

(I know. I'm pretty excited, myself.)

So here's the deal: If you'd like to be entered to win a stuffed Nook or Kindle, you should log on to Twitter or Facebook. At Twitter, post something about the contest or the series (we'd appreciate it if the message was a positive one, but all messages will count as entries), and be sure to include the hashtag #hauntedguesthouse AND directly mention @ejcop. That way we know you've entered. If you don't include both of these tags, we won't know about it, so you won't be entered.

At Facebook, please post a status update mentioning the series or one of the titles, but make sure to tag "E.J. Copperman" in the status. Again, that's how we'll know you entered.

Because there are five titles in the Haunted Guesthouse series (so far), you may enter only once a day, but up to five times. Please mention the series or

On February 5, the day CHANCE OF A GHOST is published, we'll choose one entry at random as the Nook/Kindle winner! The winner will receive a base model Nook or Kindle (no data plan) with all four Haunted Guesthouse book and A WILD GHOST CHASE pre-installed.

We're really excited about the contest, and hope you'll be too! And if you want to see how much time you have left, there's a countdown clock to the drawing--and to CHANCE OF A GHOST--at www.ejcopperman.com so we hope to see you there!

Just to be clear, there will be only one winner, chosen by us at random on February 5, 2013, from all entries. All decisions about the contest and the winners will be ours alone. Winner is not responsible for shipping of the prize and may request a base model Kindle or base model Nook. The five titles will be included on the unit when shipped.

Best of luck to everyone who enters!

New covers!

You can find the covers for the eSpecial Haunted Guesthouse novella A WILD GHOST CHASE and the next Haunted Guesthouse book CHANCE OF A GHOST at the web site! Please take a look and make a comment--I'd love to know what you think!

Been a while...

Sorry I haven't updated in so long. I always assume you guys will be annoyed if I bust into your life without any news to report.

Suffice it to say life has been interesting here at the farm (those who know me will understand how absurd that sentence was): We're gearing up for a raucous fall and winter, with an appearance at Bouchercon--among the roughly 5,000 other authors attending--at a panel called OLD FRIENDS, NEW FRIENDS which will examine the trials and tribulations of writing more than one series and keeping it all straight in your head. More on that coming soon.

After the trip to Cleveland (the land of cleve), we'll be waiting for the release of the eSpecial novella A WILD GHOST CHASE, told from Paul Harrison's point of view and bringing a few surprises along the way. Look for that on New Year's Eve (everyone's favorite night to stay in and read). I'll supply a few links below.

The fourth Haunted Guesthouse novel, CHANCE OF A GHOST, will be published early in February, and hopefully you'll find it worth the wait. It involves Alison in the death of a gentleman who lived in her mother's active adult community--who claims (he's now a ghost) that he was murdered by electrocution in his bathtub. But Alison's mind is really on her ghostly father, whom her mother reports is missing--and about whose death questions start to arise.

There'll be more coming about both of those in the coming weeks. Thanks for being patient with me; I promise not to drop out of site (get it?) for so long again.

Here's the link to A WILD GHOST CHASE on the Amazon Kindle

and here for the Barnes & Noble Nook. Preorders are available, and it's priced at only $2.99!

And... if you'd like a look at the cover of A WILD GHOST CHASE, well: