So, it is finally here, my first copy of the book. Notice the band "not for resale" across the front of the book, that is because it is the author's proof copy. It is kind of neat to hold my book for the first time.
I will be doing regular updates here on my web blog at https://www.indleggen.com/blog. I assume if you are reading this, you have either purchased the book, or are just curious about the book. I hope the little tidbits in my blog will prove interesting to you.
I plan to use this forum to tell some behind-the-scenes stories on the book and to correct any factual errors. Yes, you heard that correct - as hard as I tried to get everything correct, I missed some things - I was just contacted by a witness who was in Gallup back then and who had some new information for me. Once we talk, I will be posting that information on a future blog update.
Let me start with just a brief description of the book cover. My designer was Steven Novak ( http://novakillustration.com ) who did a fantastic job. He took a watercolor portrait I had commissioned from Namitha Raveendranathan, and a beautiful photograph called "Sunrays over Hollywood" by Josh Fuhrman (Instagram: @abovelosangeles) and he merged them together. The photograph of the Griffith Park observatory represents the first crime scene in this story about a cross country rampage. The first victim was murdered just over a mile from the observatory and witnesses in Griffith Park went to the observatory to call the police.
The portrait is of a generic AZDPS patrolman wearing a 1971 vintage uniform. I know, you may say, "But DPS wore smokey bear campaign hats". That is true they do now, but the change over to a uniform with a shoulder patch in the shape of the state of Arizona and the trooper-style hat, didn't happened until after the officers in this story were laid to rest. News photos from both funerals show the DPS officers attending the services wearing the old-style uniform.
Using a generic photo of a police officer obtained from Getty Images, Namitha coordinated with me to get the uniform right, including the hat badge, which is behind the "A" in the author name, and the shoulder patch, which is behind the "P" in rampage. This is not a portrait of either of the officers in this story, I didn't want to choose between the two, and doubt I would have done them justice.
Please stay tuned for the next blog update coming soon. For those of you who purchased the book, thank you. And please remember to leave a review at Amazon, those reviews really help us new authors get recognition.
