More indebtedness incurred by author Earl Merkel, rapidly becoming known as "the Greece of the Writing World"-- this from the lovely Lis Wiehl, who writes the "Triple Threat Club" mystery series when she's not doing legal analysis on television:

"If you're at loose ends waiting for Showtime's HOMELAND to return next fall FIRE OF THE PROPHET by Earl Merkel is your salvation. It's…

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I used to quite like writing the annual Business Plan for our family company, Genesis Homes Ltd. It took a creative use of words to put the proper spin on things like market conditions, competition, and the world economic crisis. It was uplifting to review where we’d been and where we were going as a corporation. It was rewarding to look back on the hardships we’d overcome and make definitive plans to meet the challenges of the future.…

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When my first book came out, some years ago, it was like someone dropped a pebble in Lake Michigan. My friends and acquaintances were thrilled, so locally, there were ripples. The larger world barely noticed.

My second book, the first Simon & Elizabeth mystery, got more attention: good reviews from PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, LIBRARY JOURNAL, BOOKLIST, etc.

The third book also got good reviews, and people (very few, but still) started saying, "I've heard of you" when I went to book…

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I won this book on a GoodReads Giveaway, and, since I'd read and loved Steven's debut novel, Still Missing, waited the few weeks anxiously until the package arrived. It was so worth the wait.

Stevens again uses the conceit of a therapy patient's one sided conversation with her psychiatrist. As a psychotherapist myself, I rather enjoyed hearing the "other side". But I do question whether it was wise for Stevens to use this technique a second time. That said, however, I thought that the…

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I'm almost at the end of my February Blog Crawl. It's been fun but a little crazy. I'm not sure I could do this more than once a year!

 

The Post - Being Precise

I know that language changes over time. It has to. I know that clinging to the old ways is futile and might make me seem cantankerous or even silly. But it was my job, for three decades, to guard the language, to see that people under my care used it clearly rather than sloppily,…

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You've heard of a pub crawl. Well, this is the same except it's not.

Same: You "crawl" from one place to another with a lot of other people and read my guest posts.

Different: It's virtual: no taxis, no traffic, no crowded rooms.

Same: You "travel" with like-minded people who are out for a good time.

Different: You'll never see them face-to-face.

Same: You meet new people, visit new places, and enjoy the trip.

Different: No hangover at the end.

Peg's Blog Crawl…

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Jen Forbus offers the second half of her two-part interview with me at her site, Jen's Book Thoughts. The interview concludes a week of offerings at Jen's marking the release of PRINT THE LEGEND this coming Tuesday.



Topics in the most recent interview installment include Hemingway's death, FBI conspiracy, and literary vs. genre debates, the new novel,… Continue

Corey Wilde pens an amazing, in-depth review of my February 2010 novel, PRINT THE LEGEND, at the Drowning Machine.

(Author’s note: Rogue Males: Conversations & Confrontations About the Writing Life, is my second collection of author interviews. This one includes James Ellroy, Pete Dexter, Daniel Woodrell, Elmore Leonard and the late, great James Crumley. Rogue Males also features an account of a trip to the desert to interview crime fiction greats Ken Bruen and James Sallis about the craft of writing. During the next few weeks, I’ll be… Continue

Currently reading THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO by Steig Larsson. I'm sure, as readers, you've experienced that moment when the story catches your imagination. At that moment of "clicking", you cannot read anything else; you must know what is going on in this world and you won't stop until the end of the story. I love that moment. I don't know if it is as powerful as falling in love, but it has the principal. It has that difference between "I could walk away at anytime and not care" and "who… Continue

Good day, friends:



I wanted to let you know I will be interviewed on the Investigation Discovery channel's new series, Wicked Attraction, tonight, Thursday, September 11th at 9 p.m., EST.



The episode, "Twisted Twosome," is about husband and wife serial killers, Gerald and Charlene Gallego, who took the lives of ten people before being apprehended.



For those of you who are interested in true crime and serial murder, especially mystery,… Continue