May update and giveaway

Since getting the bright idea a few months ago to convert my Kindle collection to print, I have made steady progress toward doing just that. Today, I am happy to report that all but the newest of my fourteen novels is now available in paperback form on Amazon.com. I hope to add Caitlin's Song, released this month, to that list by the end of July.

Thanks to the speedy work of narrator Allyson Voller, all but one of the books are also available in audio format. The most recent, Indian Paintbrush, my third project with the talented voice artist, went live on Audible.com and Amazon last week.

Voller also narrated The Mirror and Hannah's Moon. To promote the audiobooks and show my appreciation to longtime readers and listeners, I am giving away ten audiobooks. All of my Audible titles, with the exception of The Mine, which was produced by Podium Publishing in 2014, are available.

Interested listeners can request an Audible book through May 25 by emailing me at jaheldt@excite.com.

Returning to a golden age

At least once a year, I am asked, usually by someone who suspects I'm a time traveler, which era I would most like to visit if I could. Each time, I give the same answer: the late 1950s to early 1960s, when cars were classic, rock and roll was young, and rockets were all the rage.

For that reason, I enjoyed writing The Mirror, set in Seattle in 1964, and Class of '59, set in Los Angeles in 1959. I loved exploring an era that has been immortalized many times in movies, TV, and literature.

In Caitlin's Song, I take one more bite of the apple. In the fourth and pivotal book of the Carson Chronicles series, I send most of my time travelers to 1962, the year of John F. Kennedy, John Glenn, the Seattle World's Fair, and the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Like The Mirror, Class of '59, and even The Journey, set in 1979 and 1980, Caitlin's Song is coming-of-age story about young adults in a simpler, more innocent time. Unlike the earlier books, it is also a murder mystery — one with a critical time component and circumstances that put one Carson in mortal danger and test the resolve of two others.

As the title suggests, Caitlin's Song is Caitlin's book. From the first chapter to the last, the youngest member of the original Carson clan is the center of attention and the focus of the plot. Now nineteen and a college freshman in Boulder, Colorado, Caitlin seeks peace and fulfillment just months after losing her first love in a plane crash.

Others also shine. Cody Carson, Caitlin's twin and alter ego, finds romance, freedom, and fun as a student, while his parents, Tim and Caroline, assume their most important roles to date. The professors, separated from their children for more than two years, try desperately to prevent a horrific crime that will alter their family forever.

Set in 1941, 1972, and 1983, as well as 1962, Caitlin's Song follows the Carsons from coast to coast as they search for answers, opportunity, and each other in some of America's most memorable eras. The novel, available in Kindle format, goes on sale today at Amazon.com.

Springtime in the Rockies

The first thing you need to know about Boulder, Colorado, is that it is prettier in person. From the University of Colorado to the quaint residential districts to the mountains that loom in the west, it is as pretty as a postcard and as inviting as a Rocky Mountain stream.



I visited the town this weekend because it is the primary setting for Caitlin's Song, the fourth novel in the Carson Chronicles series. As with Wallace, Idaho, in 2013; Galveston, Texas, in 2014; Princeton, New Jersey, in 2015; Evansville, Indiana, and Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 2016; Johnstown, Pennsylvania, in 2017; and Sedona, Arizona, in 2018, I wanted to get a firsthand look at a place I was writing about.



I'm glad I did. Nestled at the base of the Front Range on the edge of the Denver metro area, Boulder is a community that comes as advertised.

I visited CU first, of course. I suspected that the university would be alive on the Friday before spring commencement -- and it was. From the Norlin Quadrangle and the Hill to the University Memorial Center and a buffalo-shaped outdoor swimming pool, the sprawling 786-acre campus was a happening place.

Then there was the city itself. Like a lot of college towns, Boulder is cultural gem, complete with dozens of museums, libraries, parks, restaurants, and entertainment venues -- including more than a few aimed at the college crowd. It is even more appealing in the spring, when flowers and trees begin to bloom, hillsides turn green, and residents and tourists, particularly those in the historic Pearl Street walking mall, are at their festive best. If I learned anything about Boulder on my three-day visit, it was that this is a town that knows how to have fun. Even the municipal bus system, with routes called Hop, Skip, and Jump, projects community spirit.



For me, though, the highlight was visiting venues mentioned in Caitlin's Song, including the stone bridge at Varsity Lake, the student union ballroom, the quadrangles, Baseline Road, and Chautauqua Park, a green space in the shadow of the Flatirons and Flagstaff Mountain. Though these sites have changed since 1962, when the book is set, I could easily imagine what they were like almost sixty years ago.



Readers will have a similar opportunity this week. Caitlin's Song, my fourteenth novel, will be officially released on Tuesday.

(Photos from top to bottom: Economics building and museum, University of Colorado; Stone arch bridge at Varsity Lake; Norlin Quadrangle; Chautauqua Park and the Flatirons; Broadway and the Flatirons.)