Progress on Murder on Money Mountain
This is a sample of a "Tip Sheet" a tool used for selling a book when you are not there to remind the customer what your book is about and why they should buy it. My Tip Sheet will be left with bookstore buyers who decide which books to keep in stock. Hopefully the Tip Sheet will remind them of our conversation long after after I am gone.

Murder on Money Mountain
Distributor: Ingram
PUB DATE: 07/12/2024
FICTION / Mystery & Detective /
Historical

AUDIENCE
• Murder mystery readers
• History buffs
• Fiction readers

MURDER ON MONEY MOUNTAIN
Author G. ELDON SMITH
DESCRIPTION
Attorney, Andrew Coyle returns to do legal battle in the American Wild West. This time, Coyle
is summoned by a close friend to Cripple Creek to defend a “working girl” accused of murdering her madam. Coyle, traveling with his wife and daughter, enters a tumultuous mining town of roughnecks, prospectors, and assassins. Coyle’s investigation proves unsettling to some, and he himself is accused of yet another murder. His life threatened, Coyle resists and stubbornly tries to solve both cases.

Other paragraphs include Marketing,  Author Bio, and Selling Points. Now the real begins. The Tip Sheet is simple but effective tool in a successful campaign or just another book.

,Denver Dumb Friends League Furry Scurry
The Furry Scurry is one of the Dumb Friends major fund raisers each year. It is an announcement that winter is over and it is officially spring. About 4,000 people showed up on a cold morning and raised $750,000 for the animal shelter. That is less than half of the annual budget.

So, of course, we took our little dog, Red, to join the masses at Washington Park in Denver. The clouds and temperatures in the high 40s and low 50s didn't seem to deter anyone.

Our dog seemed to enjoy the day. He walked the whole two miles sniffing and being sniffed without complaint. At the end of it all, he gratefully partook of the doggie snacks offered by the vendors.

Murder on Money Mountain
My third mystery, Murder on Money Mountain, is at the publishers and has been through the editing and formatting phase. The next step involves the ARC (advanced reader copy).  We are still looking to be released in July. Stay tuned

                      Mexican dancers in traditional costumes celebrate Cinco de Mayo

Denver Dumb Friends League Furry Scurry
The Furry Scurry is one of the Dumb Friends major fund raisers each year. It is an announcement that winter is over and it is officially spring.

Colorado Spring:  Snow Showers will Kill Little Flowers

Bumper Sticker,  "Don't Shop, Adopt"
There are many places in the Denver area where you can adopt pets. Use these examples and look for shelters near where you live that have features that you like.

The biggest and most popular adoption agency in Colorado is the Dumb Friends League which was started by Mrs. Jean Milne Gower who founded the League after learning about a similar organization in London, which she visited and sought advice to start an animal shelter in Denver.

There are four locations, (including one for horses) and a full list of services, lost and found, veterinary medicine, spay and neuter services, public education, and youth camps. DFL has one of the highest placement rates in the United States. In 2018, it processed over 18,000 pets and over 300 horses.placements.

You can find any breed and age of pet or have your name on a list to be called when your selection is available. All pets are required to be neutered before they can be adopted.

Foothills Animal Shelter is another shelter that requires neutering of all  pets before adoption. It  is a smaller shelter than Dumb Friends but provide an unique service by their Behavior Team which keenly observes each animal to understands their preferences. We adopted our last two dogs from Foothills Shelter. Loved them both, in spite of two vastly different personalities.

Longmont Humane Society most of the usual services plus:

• Complimentary Bag of Science Diet Dog or Cat Food
• Complimentary Veterinary Visit to our Well Pet Clinic
• 15% to 25% Off LHS Dog Training Classes

The sample shelters above give you an idea of the range of agencies. Do your research and visit the shelter that meets your needs and go back more than once until a pet adopts you and you know this is the pet that you can live with for a long time.

Introduction
"My, what big eyes you have," said Little Red Riding Hood.
"The better to see you with my dear," said the Big Bad Wolf.

The Problem
Colorado may not be the best place to see wolves, but many ranchers wish it would be a place not to see any wolves. The reported number of  calves killed since wolves were reintroduced in Colorado in 2024 is six. Oregon sent ten wolves to Colorado as a result of an election in 2020 to reintroduce the breed to the state.

Maybe Oregon wolves have not learned how to kill mountain deer and find easier prey in cattle, particularly calves.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife refused to say which wolves were involved in the attacks. The Middle Park Stockgrowers Association sent a letter asking CPW to kill the wolves that killed five head of livestock this month in Grand County, Colorado. "We ask that CPW leadership demonstrate the same level of cooperation we have experienced at the local level and address our request as soon as possible."

CPW reimburses ranchers who apply for damages caused by wolves at fair market value of the animal, up to $15,000 per lost animal.
Adapted from info on 9News

Progress on printing Murder on Money Mountain
You can see the cover which will appear on my third book. Click on the link below, scroll down until you see two covers for Murder on Money Mountain. The winner is the one on the left.
https://www.koehlerbooks.com/cover-polls/

My Colorado Thoughts
Murder on Money Mountain
We have learned that progress in some areas leads to digress in other areas.

My book is at the publisher's and they are conducting a poll to choose the cover. Do try the poll voting for best cover design to help us make a decision that will be a big step in getting. my third (and best) book published.
click on:  https://www.koehlerbooks.com/cover-polls/murder-on-money-mountain/ 
a mystery novel based on facts from the Colorado gold rush in 1896-1933.

Play-Offs
Both the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche are involved in the end of the season games that will decide their play-off positions in the brackets for their sports, Basketball and Hockey,
Go teams!

Wildlife Around the World
Many animals live in Kaza, a large animal sanctuary that is within several African countries. These animals include 227,000 elephants. An elephant weighs 200 pounds at birth and can walk an hour after they are born. Many relatives of the newborn calf help care for it. 

Each adult elephant can consume hundreds of pounds of vegetation per day. They help shape the landscape by dispersing seeds which benefits countless other animals.

The results of a large elephant survey suggest the population of these elephants is fairly stable.

Kaza is a good place for tourists to observe elephants in their natural setting.
World Wildlife magazine

Murder on Money Mountain progress
We are currently participating in the editing process and looking at sample, appropriate book covers. You will hear about a cover poll to select the cover for the novel.

A Short Blog This Week
During the time I usually spend writing my weekly blog, my wife and I labored two hours trying to add an extension to  house down-spout. Plus the usual computer problems for a couple more hours.

High School Class of 1957
Some industrious fellow students put together a booklet for our fiftieth reunion gathering a few years ago.
The book allowed ex-students to compare what they had been doing for fifty years to what their classmates had or had not accomplished.
There were no programmers or wireless digital phone salesmen. This was the age before computers or color TV. Actually not every home had a black&white television.
The jobs mentioned in the booklet varied eminently. Here are a few:
One Chief Justice of the Colorado Supreme Court,
One Army Veterinarian who after finishing his 18 year enlistment taught veterinary medicine at a nearby university for several years, 
One construction laborer and one construction contractor both of whom seemed happy with their jobs,
At least three electricians,
A whole bevy of teachers because the only jobs open for woman were secretaries, nurses, and teachers,
Two of the women went into visual arts,
One newspaper columnist.
Finally with the invention of spellcheck, one became a blogger.

                                                     Wolf Pack Hunting

Wolf Killing Livestock Bill
In order to collect reimbursement from the Colorado state for livestock killed by predictors the livestock must be protected by nonlethal means. A bill aimed at wolves was introduced by Rep. Tammy Story D-Evergreen to encourage ranchers to use nonlethal tools such as flashing lights and noise makers or employing guard dogs to scare away wolves.

Story told a newspaper in an interview,"I'm hoping it will encourage livestock owners to commit to utilizing nonlethal coexisting tools in order to protect their herds and their livelihood."

Sage Grouse
The ground-nesting bird, Sage Grouse, that lives on the prairies of the eleven western states has decreased in numbers by 40% since 2002. The Biden administration has proposed a plan that would introduce restrictions to drilling, mining, and other commercial activities on public lands.

The plan would set off a debate between the Bureau of Land Management against Western Energy Alliance and other legal challenges. The Bureau of Land Management controls the country's largest block of land with almost 70 million acres under the Bureau's control. The plan would hopefully increase the number sage grouse.

The proposed plan would be aimed at balancing the conservation and commercial activities. "This plan represents the last best hope to save the sage grouse and avoid a listing under the Endangered Species Act," said Aaron Weiss, deputy director of the Center for Western Priorities an environmental group.

            Sage Grouse displaying for hens who look more frightened than impressed.

Murder on Money Mountain.
When the editor is done and we are satisfied, this 1890s mystery will go to the cover artist for formatting and illustrations. Some more steps, some more progress.

 NASA Graduation
March 5, NASA celebrated the graduation of ten candidates to be Astronauts. After two years of intensive training, the class of 2022 will be available to be assigned to be part of future crews to spend six months on the International Space Station and other missions beyond.

One member of the graduation class is Nichole Ayers, from Colorado Springs, Colorado. Nichole is the 17th person from Colorado to join the NASA team as an Astronaut. She was one of the ten chosen out of a group of 1,500 applicants for this class. She had been a fighter plane pilot in combat and had the rank of Major in the Air Force. At the time of her selection as a NASA astronaut candidate, she was the assistant director of operations in the 90th Fighter Squadron at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska

Nichole Ayers is the second person on the left end. New astronauts graduates join the team.
Plus one instructor on  end of the line.
From NASA

Murder on Money Mountain
My manuscript is now at the publisher and will be edited this week. And then it will be sent to the designer to be formatted and the covers will be illustrated. Look for it in June.