A Good Day to Die

I finished my morning coffee and stared into the empty cup. I'd been sitting in my office for over an hour, struggling with what to share in this blog post, but soon I began to write: 

Set in the fictional town of Midpoint, A Good Day To Die follows recurring character Jacob "Twenty-One" Black Elk as he has a run-in with a pair of sicarios who threaten to kill Emily in a case of mistaken identity at the roadside diner. As the story begins, Twenty-One is standing at the bar, drying glasses with a white towel. It's only five o'clock, but the sky is growing increasingly dark. 

A deluge of rain and hail pelted the skylight. Strong winds were making travel difficult and it was unlikely that anyone in their right mind would be cruising Route 66 looking for a place to eat. Most of the truckers and motorists on the Interstate would have pulled off at an exit somewhere closer to Amarillo. He straightened and looked at Emily who was perched on a stool at the other side of the counter. The pink uniform against her pale white skin reminded him of the evening primrose that grew wild on the reservation. As soon as the chores were done, he planned to lock the door and switch off the lights so they both could go home for the night.

"Twenty-one.” Emily mused. “That’s not your real name, is it?”

He took a deep breath and pursed his lips. “No, it’s a nickname.”

Emily turned and looked over her shoulder toward the booth beneath the red neon sign in the window, squinting to see through the endless sheets of rain on the other side of the glass. It seemed as if she was gazing at something far away. “They say, a nickname is the hardest stone you can throw at a man.”

His gaze followed hers as a farm truck lumbered by. “I earned it as a teenager because I didn’t talk much. Someone followed me around, counting the words I spoke, and that’s how I got the name."

Suddenly a set of headlights flashed across a sign directing motorists to the roadside diner. The car seemed to race along the old road, gaining speed for a few seconds before the driver hit the brakes and turned into the driveway. As the vehicle approached, he could see it was a black sedan. It rolled at a snail’s pace across the gravel and came to a stop in front of the restaurant, engine and lights turned off. Twenty-one could make out the silhouettes of two men sitting in the front seat.

I'm delighted to announce a new edition of A Good Day To Die is set for release on June 1, 2025. I appreciate your ongoing support and look forward to sharing the story with you. Happy reading!