My first novel, Millstone City, was published a few months back. It’s a thriller set in Brazil about Mormon missionaries caught in the cross-fire between some Brazilian cops and gangsters. It’s an odd kind of love letter to the place where I served my mission. And an appreciation of classic pulp/noir greats like Hammet and Chandler. And a meditation on coming of age and manliness from a decidedly Mormon perspective. Not to worry though–the love letter/appreciation/mediation stuff is well-obscured by a fast-moving plot and plenty of violence!

In other words, based on my years of faithful reading and irregular commenting here, I think this book is right up your alley, Jr. Ganymede brothers and sisters!

Millstone City has received some pretty good reviews. Check it out—I aggregated links to them at my home-made author vanity website! Here’s the thing though: despite the book’s general awesomeness—and despite the good reviews—selling books like this is amazingly difficult. People say the market for Mormon fiction is bad. I knew that in a general sense going in. But I have been surprised by how bad it is. By how much I have had to hustle to sell relatively few (so far) copies of this book. And I have an aversion to self promotion. Naturally, I prefer being promoted by other people. But, as a first-time author with a small, independent publisher, I don’t have that luxury yet.

So here’s my attempt to pique Jr. Ganymede’s readers’ interest in Millstone City:

Millstone City portrays Mormon missionaries in peril. In my days, I have heard lots of good stories of missionaries in peril, whether it be from crime, natural disasters, youthful hijinks gone awry, or whatever. Post your best story of missionaries in peril in the comments. I will send a copy of Millstone City, 100% free of charge, to the person who posts the best story. This is supposed to be good fun, so please avoid actually tragic stories where the peril was not averted, etc. This little contest will end unexpectedly and without warning (but at least one week hence). The determination of “best story” will be made on entirely subjective grounds, and possibly through consultation with soothsayers and/or certified public accountants. Finally, I am willing to autograph the prize, but I respect that the winner may elect to forego any modification that may hamper his ability to subsequently sell or gift it. It occurs to me that it would be awesome if I could get another author, someone really impressive, to autograph the prize. But no guarantees. Cheers!