I've been busy adding to the Al Pennyback series, and in those I follow the rules of mystery writing; a crime, a criminal and victim, lots of clues, and a protoganist who faces long odds but prevails in the end.  A good mystery story, though, doesn't always have to be about a crime.  In my latest short story, Sour Note, a continuation of a series of stories about Louis Dumkowski, a born loser who…

I share a blog with seven other authors of "international mysteries."

We don't post about our books, or the craft of writing, but rather about events of cultural, historical or human interest that occur, or have occurred, in the countries in which we set our stories.

And there's a new post every day of the week.

We hope you'll drop in:

http://murderiseverywhere.blogspot.com/

Hi, me again, Trestle Press and some of their authors have put together what I think is one intense giveaway. Each author covers a different genre, has a different style, but they all share one common goal: They love to satisfy readers, and they would to hear from you in one way or another. What do I mean by that? Well you can follow their blogs, email them, and become their friend on any of the social websites you can find them (Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Google +, Reverb, Edgy Christian…

Are you a blogger or avid reader? I bet you are, and if you are then I would really like to have a discussion with you. Why? Well let me say that we have plenty for you to read and we have many benefits for participating. The fun stuff we do and have done. In my opinion is pretty different from just throwing a free read at you. We are looking for inclusion, your input, and sincere involvement in all that we do. The authors themselves are pretty pumped with the feedback they get and are more…

And the accolades continue to roll in for one of our Trestle Press authors. Alexandrea Weis has won the Gold Medal in the Reader's Favorite Book Awards for her romantic suspense novel Recovery. Set against the backdrop of post-Katrina New Orleans, Recovery has been receiving rave reviews. Alexandrea is becoming known as a New Orleans author and her NOLA Gumbo series with Trestle Press is also creating a lot…

SECRETS of Promoting & Marketing your Book for *FREE*

SQUEEE! I don’t believe it! My kick-ass marketing case study is Out NOW. Its included in a Bonus Chapter:…

In spite of the university always changing protocols and software and  passwords I managed to log onto my university account, edit the web page to include my latest books, and save it. Check it out! Learn about the four books i uploaded this summer. Thanks to the Kindle list we are actually starting to have some sales. It is amazing. Today someone in the UK downloaded my combined book of four Mystery Club novels. That would never have happened without Amazon and the Kindle list. It's an $8…

Gave up on Nichigan. Sold everything or gave it away. Bye bye to 3000 books. Sad sad. Sold the sailboat. Blub blub. 

I'm delighted to announce the release of my latest novel, the Victorian Murder/Mystery, Behind Closed Doors. Also, due to the generosity of my publisher, Sonar 4 Publications every paperback copy sold will carry a…

New crime novel from Black Mask Books, Hard Cold Whisper, in paperback and Kindle

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Audio version from…

To read or not to read, that is the question here. I mean Mexico; it is used many times in many ways in novels and not all of them good. I had trepidation and was a bit uneasy. Stuart Gustafson put that all aside very quickly for me. How? Why? I mean, really? Yes to all three. As you will see in the synopsis Stuart is a world traveler, has seen most of the globe, has flown many,many, many miles. My point is he was able to put that in print. He was able to convey to me what he saw while he…

New issue of Kings River Life is up and we have a fun mystery short story by Barry Ergang, "The Mall Tea's Fall Kin" http://kingsriverlife.com/09/03/the-mall-teas-fall-kin-an-original-mystery-short-story/ And a double header book reviews of a pair of mysteries with Western American/Native American settings-"Devil's Kitchen" by Clark Lohr & "Death Along The Spirit Road" by C. M. Wendelboe…

On the same day they finally indentified Ned Kelly’s decapitated skeleton I wound up in Melbourne with his head. Well not Kelly's still missing skull exactly but a miniature version of the outlaws famous iron helmet. It’s what they give you when you win a Ned Kelly award. When I first saw the long list for the 2011 Neds the last thing on my mind was going to Melbourne. The list always has some heavy hitters, including previous winners, but this year there were more than a few. Getting…

When I finished reading this I heard “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns and Roses blaring on my XM/Sirius boombox, very fitting. This was my first read on a David Levien novel and it will not be my last. The character he has created in Frank Behr is nothing short of amazing and satisfying. He is fractured yet looking to seal the cracks kind of hero that had me enthralled the entire read. The code of ethics that Levien has instilled in him is simple, strong and unbreakable. It seems nothing…

Barely a week after its release, Wild Bill is an international sensation, with satisfied readers from such disparate locations as Los Angeles, California and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, with others strewn about the intervening 10,062 miles. (Note: The use of the word “sensation” does not imply an ego run amuck. Sensations are not universally good, as anyone who has recently has an “itching, burning, sensation” can attest. Just saying, is all.) The current sales rank is…