Just got word that Open Road, my eBook backlist publishers, have launched a special promotion, dropping the prices of two books to $2.99 apiece. It’s a one-week-only deal, so I don’t want to waste any time letting y’all know about it.

One of the books is Grifter’s Game, my first crime novel and in fact the first book published under my own name. (It was not, however, initially published under its own name; when it came out in 1961, it bore the title Mona, because the resident genius at Gold Medal, one Ralph Daigh, had bought some cover art with a woman’s face on it and wanted to be able to use it. The cover wasn’t such a much, and neither was the title, but he was the decider, and that’s what he decided. Feh.)

At one point, Berkley reprinted the book with the title Sweet Slow Death. I forget why.

Grifter’s Game has had a good run in recent years as a Hard Case Crime paperback. As an eBook, complete with a new afterword by the author, it’s yours for $2.99 for Kindle or Nook.

Sin Hellcat was the last of three collaborative novels I wrote with Donald E. Westlake, back in our salad days. (You can decide for yourselves which of us was oil and which was vinegar.) Along with A Girl Called Honey and So Willing, it was collected in Subterranean Press’s beautiful edition of Hellcats & Honey Girls, which sold out in a hurry. Good luck finding a copy, but all three books are eVailable courtesy of Open Road, and Sin Hellcat‘s bargain-priced at $2.99 through November 29, for Nook and Kindle (and other platforms as well, but these the ones I’ve got links to.)

If you bit the $150 bullet and ordered Mysterious Bookshop’s deluxe leatherbound limited edition of The Night & The Music, you just got a bonus this afternoon: Screenwriter/director Brian Koppelman, whose intro tells of his own adolescent acquaintance with Matthew Scudder, stopped in at the shop on Warren Street to add his signature to all the copies. (I think all 100 copies are spoken for at this point, but it might be worth a toll-free call to find out: (800) 352-2840.)

I was on Warren Street myself just yesterday, with a similar mission; I was there to sign Otto’s hardcover edition of Afterthoughts, my piecemeal memoir of my early writing days. It’s a handsome book, and while it can’t boast the production values or the numbered/limited status of The Night & The Music, the total press run was well under 200 copies, all of them signed, and the price is only $35. These were mostly sold as of yesterday, so again, if you want one: (800) 352-2840.

If they’re all gone, or if you’d rather get your printed copy of Afterthoughts for $9.99, the Open Road print-on-demand paperback’s available at that price from Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Same links will get you to the eBook edition, for only 99¢. (“It’s remarkable, Sonya. The more this man talks, the cheaper he gets!”)

Thanks to all of you who had nice things to say about my November 8th appearance on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. (I’m on right after Jennifer “I’m Proud to be a Mammal” Tilly.) I stayed in LA after the show, because I had a speaking gig at Men of Mystery 11/19 in Irvine, and a signing the following day at Mysterious Galaxy’s new Redondo Beach store. That gave me close to two weeks to focus on my novel-in-progress, and I’m happy to announce that it’s in progress no longer. It’s a done deal, the fifth Keller novel, coming from Mulholland Press sometime in 2012.

The Keller series began with Hit Man, and each title was longer than the one preceding it: Hit List, Hit Parade, Hit and Run. Keep on like that and it’s only a question of time before the title takes up the whole cover—Hit Him While He’s Down And Stomp On His Face While You’re At It, for example.

Time to nip that in the bud, eh? The new book’s to be called Hit Me.

There’s more news about what’s coming next year, but that’s enough for now. I need to save space to wish all of y’all a Happy Thanksgiving, and whether you’ll be feasting on turkey or tofu, I hope your weekend’s a joyous one. I’m blessed with many things to be grateful for, but I can tell you this: y’all are high on the list.