DOWNEY - Former Downey resident and one-time journalist Shannon Capps has released his latest novel, "Train in the Distance," the story of a young TV reporter caught in a web of corruption."This book pulls no punches," said Capps, who graduated from Warren High School in 1982. "It's an accurate, painfully honest portrayal of the TV news business, one based on my own experience as a reporter." "Train in the Distance," published by Inkwater Press, is the story of a man in trouble. Under increasing threat of danger, young journalist Stacy Zwardowski confronts the sinister forces behind the TV station he works for. But while fighting to expose the truth, he uncovers something far more powerful - the truth about himself. "It's one part coming-of-age tale, one part whodunit," Capps, who writes under the name S.W. Capps, said. "And though it's a work of fiction, it allows readers a rare look behind the perfect hair and glitzy sets of TV news, exposing a world of luridness, infighting and relentless stress." Capps should know. Prior to writing "Train in the Distance," he worked as a field reporter for KXII-TV Channel 12, the CBS affiliate in Ardmore, OK, where in 1989, he was nominated for an Oklahoma Broadcasters Award. Since leaving the world of television news, he has penned two novels. His first, "Salmon Run," was released in 2007. His second, "Train in the Distance," was released earlier this month. "The novel's strength is in its protagonist," Publisher's Weekly says, "a lonely young man struggling to find his way in the world." Author Bill Johnson ("A Story Is a Promise") adds, "Capps has mastered the art of taking innocent characters and putting them into situations where they have to figure out life anew." With "Train in the Distance," a 400-age novel set in the Northwest and Midwest, Capps has garnered more than praise from reviewers and fellow authors. The book was recently named a quarterfinalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards. "Being recognized in a national contest is a wonderful thing," Capps, 45, said. "But my main goal is to entertain readers. I think 'Train in the Distance' will not only do that, but make them think - and look at the six o'clock news in a whole new way." Capps lived on Guatemala Avenue in Downey from 1964 to 1987, attending Roger Casier and Maude Price Elementary Schools, Griffiths Middle School and Warren, where he was an All-League selection on the baseball team. He went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism at the University of Southern California, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1987. After careers in the media and video production industries, he moved to the Pacific Northwest in 1999 to pursue a full-time writing career. He now lives with his wife and two children in Brush Prairie, Wash., where he makes himself available to book clubs that read his novels. "Even though I've relocated to the Northwest, I'll always call Downey home," Capps said. "I still have a lot of friends there. And I love to come back as often as possible to visit." One of those visits may include a book signing in the area as Capps has plans to hit the Southland on his upcoming book tour. "Trains in the Distance" is available in hardcover and paperback at select bookstores and online at BarnesAndNoble.com and Amazon.com. For an excerpt of the book, a calendar of events or more ordering information, readers are encouraged to visit Capp's website at www.swcapps.com.

********** Published: January 29, 2010 - Volume 8 - Issue 41