Jackrabbit Junction Jitters: Jackrabbit Junction Mystery (Volume 2)
Dear Reader,I wrote the first draft of Jackrabbit Junction Jitters in 2006, after my son was born. Because I couldn't finagle a trip to Arizona at that time, I did the next best thing and read books about Southeastern Arizona geology, fauna, and flora. I scoured the internet for write-ups about the area from other travelers. I watched movies set around Tucson.The result was a very long sequel to Dance of the Winnebagos with a few too many details about rocks, animals, and plants. But it was written. And then it was shelved after publishers rejected the first book in this series time and again. When was I going to learn that mixing my genres would not land me a publisher?Apparently, I was too hard-headed to accept that because at this point in my writing career I wrote the first in my award-winning Deadwood Mystery series, Nearly Departed in Deadwood, which mixes mystery, romance, humor, and paranormal.Last fall, Corvallis Press published Dance of the Winnebagos, the first book in the  Jackrabbit Junction Mystery series. I was thrilled for many reasons, especially since I knew that Claire's second book in the series would see the light of day. So, off the "shelf" came the book in your hands.As  I began to read through and make edits on this story, I realized that what the book and I both needed was a trip to Southeastern Arizona to really soak up the setting and give the book a desert polish. Well, that's the excuse I gave to my family when I was talking them into going  with me on a road trip "to the desert."Fourteen days and five-thousand miles later, we returned home from our Arizona 'research' trip, covered in dust and filled with wonderful memories of cacti and sunshine, wild flowers and tamales, frybread and canyon-filled landscapes. I had stood at the location where I'd placed my fictional town, Jackrabbit Junction. I had looked over the huge open pit mine that  I'd used as a basis for the Copper Snake Mining Company. I had found the ravine where Ruby's Dancing Winnebagos R.V. Park was located. Finally, I could hear and smell and see the setting for this story and could smile wide at the knowledge that all of my previous research had paid off--I'd gotten it right.Now, it's finally your turn to read Claire's continuing story and return to the Southeastern Arizona desert, where the Grackles chatter, the coyotes howl, and the monsoons thunder.As always, beware of deadly critters, including over-bearing  mothers whose good intentions are delivered via razor-sharp tongues.  Welcome back to Jackrabbit Junction!ANN CHARLESanncharles.com--This text refers to an alternatePaperbackedition.