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It may have escaped your attention that today, July 22, is National Day of the Cowboy.

Likely, you already marked this on your calendar.  But just in case, I thought you might appreciate a reminder. 😎

An event labelled Day of the Cowboy might evoke images of John Wayne or Clint Eastwood.

For me, it’s the perfect opportunity to make a big announcement: I recently signed with Elk Lake Publishing to produce my novel, Someplace North, Someplace Wild!

That’s the fruit of a six-year project, and a big answer to prayer.

Someplace North, Someplace Wild is a contemporary western romantic suspense novel. The story reflects some of my own experiences, including two years of missionary service in a district of huge ranches in British Columbia.

What if a young cowboy—resourceful, honest but impulsive—left Texas for Canada to pursue his dream of punching cattle in the wild, got a job on a remote mountain ranch, met a beautiful girl, all while overcoming impossible odds … then out of the blue got arrested and deported because he’d been framed for murder?

And not only framed, the county attorney is crooked and he can’t trust the system.

What would he do?

That’s the premise for Someplace North, Someplace Wild.

For a quick summary of the book, read the back-cover copy.

Elk Lake is a traditional publishing house with a goal “to point people to Jesus Christ.” In my experience, that’s a rare clarity of mission in the world of fiction publishing. When I read that I was immediately interested in working with them.

I submitted the first three chapters of my book almost a year ago. That launched a back-and-forth process which culminated when I signed their contract offer July 3.

The writing’s done, the publishing begins

Here’s what will need to happen for the manuscript to become an actual, physical book.

1. 1. Several months of working with an editor to agree on needed improvements.
   2. Up to sixty days for the publisher to review and suggest further changes.
   3. Securing endorsements, writing acknowledgements, designing the back cover copy, etc.
   4. All the technical aspects: proofing, layout, final corrections, creating the audio book version and printing.

Best case scenario, it could be ready by February 2024; worst case, June. Which is about a year shorter than most of the publishing houses I have talked to.

That seems like a long wait, but it gives me time to get ready for the launch. You’ll hear more about that in the coming months.

As for how to celebrate the National Day of the Cowboy, the organizers suggest attending a rodeo or studying cowboy culture at a museum.

Here are two further ideas from your humble correspondent. 😊

First, go to garybrumbelow.com, enter your email and click Subscribe.

Three promises: 1) I won’t share your email address with anyone. 2) I won’t flood your inbox. I expect to post once every 6-8 weeks. 3) You can unsubscribe anytime.

When you click subscribe you’ll receive a “Confirm your subscription” email in your inbox (if you don’t see it there, check your spam folder). As soon as you confirm, you’ll receive a free short story, “Death of a Steer.” It’s a yarn about something that happens to Cody Brandon, the protagonist of Someplace North, Someplace Wild, eight years before the novel begins.

(If you’re already a subscriber just enter your email and click as if you were not. Nothing will change in your subscription.)

Second, if you like the story, share it with your friends!

See you down the trail!

Gary