Well, after spending a year on "Hours Until We Sleep," I decided I wanted to do a quick second novel with limited ambitions. In some ways, this turned out better. For example, no huge plot diagram or character synopsis is needed: the whole thing can be summed-up in one sentence…

"Hottest day of the year in the South… within 24 hours the global temperature drops 215 degrees… one guy doesn't get cold…"

There you go-an easy tagline.

"Deep Freeze" was meant to be the kind of book you could buy at an airport, read on the plane, enjoy and discard. Briefly, I hoped I could raise this pulp to a higher level, but I failed. It's crap. It's good crap, but it's crap. Unlike the huge narrative scope of "Hours," this one is set in just one day, with only five characters. I'm told it would make a great movie, and maybe one day I'll retool it for Hollywood.

As you can tell, I'm not as excited about the book as I used to be. I do love the story, but the language bugs me. I tried to write for the pop thing, and I just don't think I did it very well. Maybe next time it'll work, but "Deep Freeze" is a mixed bag.

Still a great tagline, though…