The Book Launch Party for A Silver Medallion was a smashing success.

But First —

Next Sunday afternoon, June 26, from 1 – 3,  I am participating in an “Oldie Authors Book Selling & Autographing Event,” or some such name, in Dallas, at the huge Half-Priced Book Store near the corner of Northwest Highway (Loop 12) and Greenville Avenue.  If you are in – or even near – Dallas next Sunday, please stop by and say hello.  No need to buy anything, just have a visit.  Of course, I will have books to sell – just in case.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming – last Saturday’s book launch party. It was my first such event, even though it is my eleventh book to be published.  We, my wife Earlene and I, had no idea what to expect. But with the help of the Pittsburg Texas Pizza Inn owner Bob Sehon, we got it set up before the first person arrived.  Perhaps the biggest help came from Galand Nuchols, an author of middle grade and YA books.  She helped in many ways, not the least of which was to handle all the sales, while all I had to do was visit with people and autograph  books.

Two people arrived about five minutes before the advertised start time, and then people came in steadily after that.  Some stayed a short time, got books and left. Others stayed for most of the party.

Midway through, I read the first chapter of A Silver Medallion.  Then, Bob Hibbard, a professional actor and expert on all things Tarzan, read a short scene from the period when Crystal is in Mexico. Fortunately, I read first, or they would have thrown rocks at me.  Bob’s read was amazing.

We had a large glass jar filled with pieces of candy. People could write their name and a guess as to how many pieces were in the jar.  Shortly before the end of the party, we opened the jar, revealing the actual number of pieces, and then checked all the entries for the one closest.  Writer Linda Hobbs made an amazing guess of 108.  The actual number was 107.  Lori McAdoo was second with a guess of 110.  Linda won a pair of books.

All in all, it was a rewarding experience, with an excellent crowd, plenty of book sales (including some of my other fiction and non-fiction), and good refreshments  Best of all, everybody seemed to enjoy themselves with a lot of visiting between writers and readers.

“A Silver Medallion is a gripping, action-packed adventure from talented author James Callan.  Crystal Moore is a tough and savvy heroine…”
New York Times Bestselling Author Bobbi Smith

“James Callan’s A Silver Medallion is a fine blend of colorful characters, action, suspense, and serious.  Crystal Moore and her grandmother, Eula, are a great team as they take on modern-day slavery and academic fraud in this nonstop novel.  Check it out!”
 Bill Crider, bestselling author of the Sheriff Dan Rhodes series

A Silver Medallion is a Crystal Moore Suspense. It follows A Ton of Gold, the first Crystal Moore Suspense. In A Silver Medallion, Crystal meets a woman, Lucita, held slave in today’s Dallas, Texas. The woman is held, not by chains, but by threats to harm her two young daughters she has left behind in Mexico.

Lucita’s husband died and she found it impossible to support her family in her small town in Mexico. A man offers to get her a job in Texas where she will make a lot of money. He will pay her transportation and he will take care of Lucita’s two small girls until she can save the money to pay for their transportation to Dallas. She is told she will make very good money and can save enough to bring her daughters up in a few months.

But once in Dallas and at the home of Hunter Blackwood, it’s a different story. She is paid nothing and told that if she leaves, or even tells anybody of her situation, her girls will be killed. She quickly learns Blackwood is a ruthless man and will carry out his threat. Out of fear for her children, she says nothing and will not consider escaping.

Crystal would like to forget she ever found out about Lucita. But her conscience won’t let her. She finds she cannot sleep without nightmares about Lucita and her two young girls. Crystal’s only hope to return to a normal life is to free Lucita and her daughters. That means rescuing the girls first, for only then will Lucita consider escape.

And that means going into the Mexican jungle and challenging a merciless drug lord.

A Silver Medallion is in print and Kindle editions. Click on the cover to visit the book’s site on Amazon.   Or, better yet, stop by the big Half-Priced Book Store in Dallas Sunday, June 26 between 1 and 3 and visit. I hope I see you there.