Slightly Off the Mark

            I’m going to delay my official announcement about Storm Chaser’s publication and availability until I actually see it up on the Whiskey Creek Press website. It’s not there yet, but don’t panic until the day is gone. Well, you don’t panic – I’ll be panicking enough for everybody. Rest assured, as soon as I see it go live I’ll let everyone know; I’ll most likely be checking every five minutes until I fall asleep.

            Otherwise, I’ll celebrate publication day with a visit to the dentist to see about capping this aching tooth. So now I know what the first royalty check will be going toward …

            Meanwhile, please go over and vote for one of the four very deserving short stories at TwisterPalooza: http://ozma914.livejournal.com/454324.html#cutid1

            There’s only been one vote so far, and even if you aren’t familiar with the two fandoms represented (one of the stories is an original fic), I think you’ll enjoy them. I’ll be posting my weather related short story, set at the beginning of Storm Chaser, later this week.

            Also meanwhile, here’s the final clue in the Storm Chaser quiz, something meant more for local residents that will show the actual location of Hurricane, the fictional town from Storm Chaser. I’d already established that it was in central Noble County, and even produced a photo of Hurricane (or at least, where Hurricane would be).

            Only once in the book is an actual address in the town mentioned. 1432 East Prickett Street is not real (but is named in tribute to a former publisher of the Albion New Era, the newspaper I work for). However, the numerical address matches Noble County’s addressing system, so anyone familiar with how homes in rural Noble County are numbered can narrow the location down to a very small area.

            If that’s not enough – and I’ve been thinking that the whole thing’s going to be very anticlimactic – here are two short snippets from the book:

     Allie looked at him, but Chance’s gaze stayed on the narrow, hilly State Road 8 as they continued west. “The name of your hometown. What is it?”

            And then:

Moments later Chance turned right onto a narrow county road. Allie snapped a quick shot of a deer peering at them from the crest of a grassy hill. “It’s lovely here.”

“You’ve seen one corn field, you’ve seen them all.”

            That should get you there. Read the TwisterPalooza entries, please!

I accidentally posted this on my personal Facebook page instead of my fan page yesterday, so if you see it there twice (or more) ... the problem is that I write well because I do everything else badly.



Storm Chaser Quiz, Clue #5:

The little town of Hurricane, Indiana, is within visual distance of one of the biggest hog farms in Noble County. However, this is a trick clue, because during my research I discovered the official address of that business isn't the same as the farm complex I'm familiar with. In any case, don't worry -- if Hurricane really existed you could see it from the farm, but it's not close enough for that wonderful summer hog scent to be an issue!

Next time I'll give you a dead giveaway: An actual photo of Chance Hamlin's hometown, Hurricane, Indiana. How do you suppose I'll manage that?

I keep forgetting that I was going to do a fun little contest in advance of Storm Chaser -- or I hope it's fun. I’m not offering any prize beyond bragging rights because it'll be strictly for local people … not because of any legal restrictions, but because only those who are somewhat familiar with the Noble County area are likely to figure it out.

Storm Chaser is largely set in and around the little town of Hurricane, which is in northeast Indiana. Now, Hurricane doesn’t exist – but, for the sake of keeping my locations clear in my own head, I did set it in a real spot. So just for fun, about once a week between now and the June release date I’ll give a clue as to the actual position of Hurricane, Indiana – or where it would be. It’s a pretty obscure location, so I don’t anticipate a lot of people will figure it out until I get very specific, but you might learn a few interesting things about the novel along the way.

Here’s a teaser to start: Chance Hamlin, the male protagonist of Storm Chaser, and his family make their home there. Hurricane’s too small to have a fire department of its own, but Chance is a volunteer with the Albion Fire Department – a real fire department in a real town. In order to be a member, Chance must live within the AFD’s 96 square mile response area.

That doesn’t narrow it down much – but it gets you within one area of one county, at least! More clues to come.

Oh, and a bonus for anyone who follows me on my Facebook fan page (Mark R. Hunter): The clues will go up there first, a day or so before coming to my other FB page, Dreamwidth, and LiveJournal.