Having two books out now, I'm entering the land of "which book is best" with readers; I'm hearing from folks who have read both, and are offering their comments. I'm seeing an interesting pattern emerge.

The majority of people I hear from say, "I liked the other one better" in not so many words. Most are quite a bit more diplomatic about it--"I loved both, but the other one was my favorite"--but that's the general gist. What makes it interesting is this remark seems to cut both ways: people who read the second book first seem to like it more, while people who read the first book first seem to like it more.

I'll admit, my first two books are different. But not all that different. I like to call my stuff "Noir Bizarre," and I think both of them fit under that umbrella by offering supernaturally-tinged suspense stories. WAKING LAZARUS is more of a mystery/whodunnit, while THE DEAD WHISPER ON is more of a horror-tinged work. But both belong on the same book shelf, I think.

And yet, most readers seem to perceive a more marked difference between the two. Interesting. I think there's a natural human phenomenon at work here: if you read something, and you like it enough to search out the author's other works, you're naturally going to compare it against that first work. And that first work was good enough to convince you to find something else by said author, so the bar is pretty high. Even if the second work is comparable in many ways, well, it's probably going to suffer. After all, your second taste of chocolate is never going to compare to your first taste of chocolate; you don't think back, years later, and say, "I distinctly remember the second time I had chocolate." It's the firsts that stick in our minds, and so people will probably gravitate toward the first book they've read by an author. A quick rehash of some favorite authors of my own confirm this is largely true for me; my favorite books by favorite authors, in most instances, are the first books I read by them. Not always, by any stretch, but usually.

Something to think about as I pound toward the finish line on book #3. Perhaps I should be hoping for a huge infusion of new readers, or I might be subjected to: "I liked the other two better."

Last week, I found out The Dead Whisper On has officially gone to a second printing...which is wonderful news. Once again, it looks as if my dear mother has managed to purchase several thousand copies.

I've also neglected to mention the trade paperback edition of Waking Lazarus, which has also gone into a second printing, and an audiobook version of Waking Lazarus over at audible.com, read in full-throated brilliance by Tom Stechschulte. This now gives me one degree of separation from James Ellroy and Cormac McCarthy, both of whom have had books read by Mr. Stechschulte in audiobook format.

I must confess to being something of an audiobook junkie; on long trips, I love to listen to audiobooks downloaded onto my iPod, and at least a dozen books I "read" every year are in audio format. Something of an art form in itself, good books are always made better by talented readers, and I always enjoyed Frank Muller's work on Stephen King stories; heck, I'd probably enjoy Frank Muller's work on anything. An old version of Cold Sassy Tree, a book I would not typically read, I must admit, was captivating as read by Richard Thomas. My nephew, who is perhaps a bigger audiobook aficianado than I, is most enchanted with the work of Jim Dale...but that may be because he's the voice of all the Harry Potter audiobooks.

But I'd have to say, perhaps my favorite single audiobook of all time is James Lee Burke's In the Moon of Red Ponies, as read by Will Patton. I can still hear Patton's rendition of Wyatt Dixon, psychotic rodeo clown, as he talks about drinking his "chemical cocktails." If you haven't read Burke's Bitterroot or In the Moon of Red Ponies, get thee out and read them now. Better yet, get thee out and find a copy of an audiobook read by Will Patton.