Episode 5: Kat and a mysterious missive

Kat and Pua discover a new clue at the post office

Dear readers:

We’ve come to that moment, that crossroads in time…when I have to ask you to upgrade your subscription to “paid” in order to keep reading Tiki Beach.

I wish I didn’t have to. I really do.

But times are tight and bills are high (as I’m sure you’re aware!) and I am trying to survive as a writer in a very saturated market.

And in case you wondered…it takes a LOT of books sold (at 5.99 minus 30% to retailers) in order to make a living of any kind.

In my time, I’ve given away millions (literally MILLIONS!) of books, in hopes that people will love them so much they will eventually buy one or three or five or, ideally, ALL of THEM. (And some of you have. Thank you! I’m still in business today, after going full time author in 2013, because of you!)

For a time giving away free books worked. I still have two books, Wired Rogue and Blood Orchids, that are free first in their series. You can grab one (or both!) gratis, and hopefully get hooked on the rest. (See what I did there? 😁)

But the truth is, that strategy just isn’t doing it anymore in a marketplace glutted with free and low cost books being churned out, sometimes ONE A DAY, by AI and clickfarms in China and Newark and Pismo Beach. That’s what I’m up against in making a living as an author nowadays.

If you’re on this page on Substack, you’re already a loyal reader who loves my books and followed me here, (MAHALO!) or a more recent one who discovered me through this newsletter. Either way, it’s time for me to get real and let you know I can’t afford to post any more free chapters of Tiki Beach.

If this isn’t your cuppa tea (pun intended) I understand! You want your Tiki Beach all at once, uninterrupted? I gotchu! Preorder it HERE.

I have to try to make the book pay as I go, because even with 50+ books already written and out on retailers, I’m not making my budget anymore. I have gone back to part-time work in my field as a therapist, and as you can imagine, that cuts into writing time. My productivity with the Paradise Crime World has suffered.

The old models for making a living as a writer don’t work.

There are no advances anymore, no big paydays (except for Stephen King and 5 other big names), and no book tours. The writers who are still alive in this glutted digital marketplace are either finding creative ways for their loyal fans to directly support them (like Substack!), they’re selling out to AI and churning out schlock to overwhelm the rest of us, or they’re quietly hanging up their keyboards and going on to other things.

I’m not ready to give up. I want to keep going. And I hope you’ll choose to keep going with me.

Thanks for hanging in there with this appeal. I hope that you’ll step up and keep reading Tiki Beach—for a low monthly fee, or one annual one with a discount.

The good news is, if you do, you can also go back and read WILD GIRL in it’s completed chapters (see tab at the top of this page) and ALSO! the almost entirety of PASSAGES: my third memoir, about camping around the United States in a travel trailer, looking for a new home.

One subscription fee unlocks EVERYTHING.

Please stay with me, ante up, and read on.

If you do, hit the comment button at the bottom of this chapter and let me know. You matter. You make all the difference. Thank you.

Much aloha,

Toby

You can pre-order TIKI BEACH HERE! If you choose “Buy From Me” option use 15tobyneal at checkout for 15% off… you can use the coupon code on any book in my virtual store, BTW!

Episode 5:

"Good morning, Kat." Pua Chang glided in, elegant in a silk pantsuit that somehow defied humidity, stains, and her mundane job as a postal clerk. Her neat chin-length bob set off crystal hoop earrings that caught the morning light. "Such a tragedy about Pearl."

I nodded, throat tight, turning my eyes back on my task. “She’s got the best care in Hawaii. Hopefully she pulls through.”

"My sources say it was a stroke.” Pua always had her finger on the pulse of the ‘coconut wireless’ gossip hotline around here. She set her Chanel bag behind the counter with precision. "Helen at Sweet Dreams Bakery in Kahului mentioned something interesting from their bridge game last week. Pearl was talking about 'making things right' and 'before it's too late.'"

“Could’ve been about what she gathered us to discuss yesterday.” I hefted another big square plastic bin of mail, welcoming the physical effort to ground myself. Campaign flyers spilled out over the broad mail table as I dumped it. "Mayor Santos: Building Our Future" competed with "Council Member Lee: Voice of the People" and "Vote Chang for Real Change."

"Not your cousin's campaign, I assume?" I pointed to the Chang flyer and managed a teasing smile. Pua was related to a large and infamous family that dominated organized crime in Hawaii.

“No relation. You know Chang is a common name here in Hawaii.” Pua's perfectly arched eyebrows conveyed volumes of disdain as she gazed at the blocky print of the postcard. "My cousin Raymond, who’s in politics, would have far better graphic designers.” She flipped up the old fashioned pass-through counter and headed over to pull back the reinforced shutters and unlock the lobby doors. On her way back, she straightened a display of priority mail envelopes that had been perfectly straight to begin with. "But about Pearl—you were there at her party, weren't you? Was there anything... unusual about what happened?”

“Of course. Pearl collapsed,” I snapped. Pua was fishing, and I wasn’t ready to talk.