Sequel

Back Text

This time, it’s not a job.

After proving his innocence as a murder suspect, taking down an assassin, and being an instrumental part in solving a high profile murder, Calvin Watters believes he can finally move on—until Ace Sanders’ prison escape catapults him into action.

This time, it’s personal!

Something has always bothered Detective Dale Dayton about the arrest of Ace Sanders. Call it police intuition, but his inner ‘cop alarm’ keeps twitching. When Dale reopens the case, he’s introduced to new evidence that leads him into a political nightmare.

Who will play the Wild Card to survive?

While Calvin tracks Sanders across continents and into unknown, unfriendly surroundings, Dale remains in Vegas to uncover the truth behind police corruption, prison escapes, and hired assassins. But Calvin and Dale must be vigilant, because there’s a deadly, new player in town.

Bio

Luke Murphy is the International bestselling author of Dead Man’s Hand (Imajin Books, 2012) and Kiss & Tell (Imajin Books, 2015).

Murphy played six years of professional hockey before retiring in 2006. His sports column, “Overtime” (Pontiac Equity), was nominated for the 2007 Best Sports Page in Quebec, and won the award in 2009. He has also worked as a radio journalist (CHIPFM 101.7).

Murphy lives in Shawville, QC with his wife, three daughters and pug. He is a teacher who holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing, and a Bachelor of Education (Magna Cum Laude).

Wild Card, a sequel to Dead Man’s Hand, is Murphy’s third novel.

For more information on Luke and his books, visit: www.authorlukemurphy.com, ‘like’ his Facebook page www.facebook.com/AuthorLukeMurphy and follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/AuthorLMurphy

Review Blurbs

“All the danger, treachery, and action a thriller reader could wish for.  Luke Murphy has the touch.”

—Steve Berry, New York Times bestselling author of The Lost Order

“Hold on for a wild ride that doesn’t end until the last page.”

—Jordan Dane, bestselling author of the Sweet Justice series

“Murder, sex, hackers…an elaborate criminal chess game: Luke Murphy delivers.”

—Bryan Gruley, author of the Starvation Lake trilogy

Buy link: Luke Murphy

Time Management

Time Management

I can’t speak for everyone who is self-employed: be it a small business owner, a consultant, an artist, etc.—anyone who works for themselves. But the biggest challenge as a writer is time management.

I’m not saying that I’m any busier than anyone else. Writing is a part-time job for me (if it was fulltime my family would have starved or left me long ago). I work four jobs in the winter: teacher (fulltime), tutor (part-time), hockey ref (part-time) and writer (part-time). I’m married, and I have three small children, whose ages are 4, 7 and 9, so they expect and take up much of my time.

For me, writing the novel—coming up with ideas and characters—is not the most challenging part of being a novelist, it’s actually finding the time to sit down in a calm, quiet environment and being able to write. When I sit down to write, it can’t be for twenty or thirty minutes. I need a good two-hour stretch to actually sit down with my ideas and transfer them to my laptop.

So when do I write?

Summers are a little more flexible, since I’m a teacher and have all of July and most of August off for holidays. But my children are still around, and they need constant stimulation from dad, so sitting down in lengthy increments isn’t always as easy as it sounds.

Winters are brutal. This is what my day looks like:

6am – wake up for short workout.

6:30am – start making lunches.

6:45am – kids wake up, do breakfast, help with clothes, hair, teeth, etc.

7:30am – bus picks up kids

8am-3pm – teach

3:30pm-4:30pm – tutor, kids get home from school.

4:30pm – pick up youngest at daycare

5pm – prepare supper

5:30pm-8:30pm – supper, homework, bath time, family time, etc.

8:30pm – story and bed time

The first point in my day where I have time to myself to sit down with my thoughts is nine o’clock at night. By this time, I’m pretty tired, my brain fried from a full day’s work. Some nights are more productive than others, but I always try to push through, and at least get an hour of writing out of it.

Not always easy, but when you are determined and disciplined, you find a way to get things done.

 

Author Bio (2017)

Luke Murphy is the International bestselling author of Dead Man’s Hand (Imajin Books, 2012) and Kiss & Tell (Imajin Books, 2015).

Murphy played six years of professional hockey before retiring in 2006. His sports column, “Overtime” (Pontiac Equity), was nominated for the 2007 Best Sports Page in Quebec, and won the award in 2009. He has also worked as a radio journalist (CHIPFM 101.7).

Murphy lives in Shawville, QC with his wife, three daughters and pug. He is a teacher who holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing, and a Bachelor of Education (Magna Cum Laude).

For more information on Luke and his books, visit: www.authorlukemurphy.com, ‘like’ his Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/AuthorLukeMurphy and follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/AuthorLMurphy.

Buy link: Author.to/Author

FREE ebook by Author Luke Murphy

FREE, from June 26-28

My International bestselling crime-thriller, DEAD MAN’S HAND, is now FREE, from June 26-28. I’ve been so happy with the success and reviews since releasing my debut novel back in October. DMH hit International Bestselling status almost overnight.

There are so many crime-thriller writers and so many books in the genres that competition is at an all-time high. Many people have asked what makes my story so special and who would enjoy my book.

Why will this novel generate an audience?

- Dead Man’s Hand has tension and excitement as a result of the action taking place in a single week.

- The African-American protagonist is not stereotypical. While his race is significant, he does not moralize about the issue or his situation. 

- The “find out who framed you to save yourself” plot has a twist in that Watters researches the crime online, primarily using analysis of character rather than physical evidence.

- Point of view is easy to follow but engagingly complex, with scenes from the perspectives of Watters, the detective, the cheating wife, and a hired assassin. 

Who is my MAIN target audience and why?

- Thriller readers looking for an atypical thriller hero—an African-American who is no saint.

- Sports fans will be fascinated by Watters’ struggle to recover his decency and win, a kind of Blind Side story with little sentimentality and few illusions.

- A Las Vegas setting—the world of The Hangover movies and many youth films like Bridesmaids—will appeal to 20s-30s readers.

- Watters’ romance with a former prostitute will appeal to younger female readers.  The marital tension between Detective Dayton and his wife will interest adults. Both men and women will enjoy the twist on the femme fatale figure of the murderer’s lover, who has her own schemes.

Get Dead Man’s Hand for FREE - http://ow.ly/hd4Xv

Back cover:

What happens when the deck is stacked against you…

From NFL rising-star prospect to wanted fugitive, Calvin Watters is a sadistic African-American Las Vegas debt-collector framed by a murderer who, like the Vegas Police, finds him to be the perfect fall-guy.

…and the cards don't fall your way?

When the brutal slaying of a prominent casino owner is followed by the murder of a well-known bookie, Detective Dale Dayton is thrown into the middle of a highly political case and leads the largest homicide investigation in Vegas in the last twelve years.

What if you're dealt a Dead Man's Hand?

Against his superiors and better judgment, Dayton is willing to give Calvin one last chance. To redeem himself, Calvin must prove his innocence by finding the real killer, while avoiding the LVMPD, as well as protect the woman he loves from a professional assassin hired to silence them.

Reviews:

"You may want to give it the whole night, just to see how it turns out."

—William Martin, New York Times bestselling author of Back Bay and The Lincoln Letter

"Dead Man's Hand is a pleasure, a debut novel that doesn't read like one,

but still presents original characters and a fresh new voice."

—Thomas Perry, New York Times bestselling author of Poison Flower

"Part police procedural, part crime fiction, Dead Man's Hand is a fast, gritty ride."

—Anne Frasier, USA Today bestselling author of Hush

Get it FREE - http://ow.ly/hd4Xv

Luke Murphy lives in Shawville, Quebec with his wife, three daughters and pug.

He played six years of professional hockey before retiring in 2006. Since then, he’s held a number of jobs, from sports columnist to radio journalist, before earning his Bachelor of Education degree (Magna Cum Laude).

Murphy`s debut novel, Dead Man`s Hand, was released by Imajin Books on October 20, 2012.

For more information on Luke and his books, visit: www.authorlukemurphy.com, ‘like’ his Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/#!/AuthorLukeMurphy  and follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/#!/AuthorLMurphy