From idea to publication takes years in traditional publishing. That’s why I’m inviting readers to celebrate the launch of Show Me the Deadly Deer at Columbia Books, 1907 Gordon Street, Columbia, MO, at 2 p.m. January 25.

The book launch won’t be fancy: a short reading and Q&A, light refreshments, a lot of chatting and browsing through the store’s inviting inventory of new, used, and antiquarian books.

I began work on Deadly Deer about the time I moved back to Missouri, summer 2007. With The Feedsack Dress coming out and the move, I didn’t get much done for a while. Researching Deadly Deer helped me reacquaint myself with farming in my home state.

By late 2009 I had a solid draft. But I had to sell the first book in the series, Show Me the Murder, before I could sell the second book. That didn’t happen until late 2011, and Murder didn’t reach bookstores until February 2013.

In summer 2012 I submitted the final draft of Deadly Deer. Five Star/Gale, Cengage, which publishes four mysteries a month, put it on the schedule at the earliest available date, December 18, 2013, too late for Christmas sales. The Kindle edition became available December 18. Most stores and libraries didn’t receive the hardcover until early January.

Winter ranks low on my preferred time for a book release. Cold, snow, and ice combine to keep people off the streets locally and to discourage travel by road and air to other places.

The snow date for the book launch is February 1.

—Carolyn Mulford