My Two Old Friends

            As a writer, characters come and go.  Sometimes writers create a single novel.  They populate it with intriguing characters and an interesting plot.  Yet once it's finished they pop it off to their publisher and wash their hands of it.  The novel is down.  The characters forgotten.  Time to move on to the next project.

            Not me.  Since the moment I wrote my first story there were two things I wanted to achieve; create unforgettable…

This week, The Big Thrill - the newsletter of the International Thriller Writers - posted my review of Diane
Kelly’s new novel, Death, Taxes and a French Manicure. - http://www.thebigthrill.org/2011/10/death-taxes-and-a-french-manicure-by-diane-kelly/

The following excerpt is the first chapter of an upcoming Al Pennyback mystery, Deadly Intentions, which will be published soon.  Reader comments are welcome.  Check my other titles at http://charlesaray.blogspot.com/

 …

The first royalty statement for wild Bill has appeared: $26.65. I’m not yet to the income level that will permit me to take over a bar for an evening at Bouchercon, but everyone who introduces themselves to me at next year’s conference will receive a stick of gum (flavor of my choice to be announced) from me personally.

Buy a few more copies, and I’m willing to raise the ante to those bite-sized Tootsie Rolls. Not that I’m begging for…

The new issue of Kings River Life has a lot of mystery fun again with an interview with mystery author Vicki Delaney, review of her book "Negative Image" & a chance to win a copy of the book http://kingsriverlife.com/11/05/interview-with-mystery-author-vicki-delanyreviewgiveaway/ A look at 3 female cops in 3 new mystery TV shows-"Prime Suspect", "Unforgetable" and "The Protector"…

Paul Grzegorzek will be releasing the novel “The Follow” with Trestle Press. Here is the synopsis of the novel and Paul’s biography:

“The Follow is a crime novel set in Brighton on the south coast of England.  It's a beautiful, vibrant City, but also the drug death capital of the country and full of heroin and crack and the associated crime that goes with it.

The main Character, Gareth Bell, is a thirty-something police officer working on the intelligence unit, which doubles as…

This morning, I set the controls in my transporter for Portland to visit this week's featured author. Now, I have an interesting situation because he really wanted to have the interview about half an hour before the beginning of the Daytona 500. He wanted to be sipping $8.00 beers and eating cheese-steak sandwiches in an air-conditioned box with an expansive view of the…

I'm seeking poems to run on The 5-2 the weeks of December 26, 2011 and January 2, 2012. The poems can involve Christmas, any holidays around the same time, New Year's Eve, or New Year's Day. The submission deadline is December 1, 2011, and the usual guidelines apply.

Are there any absolutes right now in this wide open frontier known as digital publishing? I think not. What I do know is that there is plenty of what I do not know, and that is: what is the best price point for a piece of work? How much should it be sold for? Why do readers buy one story but not another?

When I have totally understood that and write the book on it, I will tell you. As it stands now we at Trestle Press put our stories up with very easy to understand price tags: $.99…

The war of the sexes has just gone nuclear.  Meet Marissa Hamm and Mike Bean.  Two cops, each having a personality that would make Attalia the Hun look like a snotty-nosed brat needing his dirty diaper changed.  Think of the evil doppelganger to a Nick and Nora Charles.  Or a neurotic male/female version of a Laurel and Hardy.   Whatever they are, together (when they're not…

If you follow Joe Konrath's blog, you may have noticed increased discussion about proper pricing of e-books and e-stories.  Lately, opinion has swung away from $ 0.99, because buyer reaction seems to be that the price denotes crappy writing.  That makes pricing short stories difficult.  I decided that I'd see what would happen if I asked $ 2.99 for this one.  At 0.99, the…

I continue to put past fiction up on Kindle and Nook from time to time.  This partially because Joe Konrath advises putting material up to spark new sales interest.  This story appeared years ago in ALFRED HITCHCOCK'S MYSTERY MAGAZINE.  I added something else:  a thrilling swordfight in a snowy temple yard, entitled "Incident at Enshoji".  It comes from the…

Nov. 1 is National Authors Day, a holiday established in 1929 by the General Federation of Women's Clubs. It's used to recognize authors for their contributions to culture and society.

If I had to pick my all-time two favorite authors, it'd be a tie between this guy:

And this guy:

Hunter S. Thompson and Elmore Leonard, respectively. They embody the two halves of what I enjoy most…

I.J. was gracious enough to allow me to pummel her with six questions about writing, and about her writing her Sugawara Akitada series.  Interesting reading. Go check it out here: 

http://noirtaketurner-frank.blogspot.com/2011/11/historical-detective-master-ij-parker.html