Im not talking out of school, and...am. The current National Security Advisor was a fraternity brother of mine. I put him through hell week. I think it bent his mind, which happens only when a mind is bendable, as he has shown. This demonstrates that there is no correlation of intelligence with integrity, and reisistance to temptation is essential unless you want to be sucked down by the company you keep.

I don't really travel to sell my books. I like meeting new people and to talk about writing. I much prefer to listen, rather than talk. And I get much more out of helping others to achieve their goals. I'm blessed with the fact that my promo will come from my publisher. That leaves me with all the fun stuff. Take care and have a great holiday week. :)

Hey Charlotte--I've been out of town doing various speaking gigs and promo stuff, neck deep in copy edits for my first 3 books and trying to finish book #4 by deadline--so I've been offline--but I appreciate your notes on my page. As for tips on writing, I always have a section on my webpage FOR WRITERS that has all my latest discoveries to share. You should ck that out at www.jordandane.com. And the biggest pressure for me never really comes from external sources. It's always inside me. But who can complain about the good fortune I've had. Writing is my passion and I love it. Sending you my best wishes, girl.

If you lived here and saw the 'attitude' your sense of power might change to an awareness of sleaze. Sometimes it gets so deep you need scuba gear to survive. The town is like any town. It has its problems. Take the police. In LA the cruisers say, "To Protect and Serve" in New York they say "CPR, for Courtesy Professionalism and Respect." In DC they say "Police" Subtext; do what I say or I bust your head.

Actually, I've got a cush job right now. I'm the senior investigator in line for the Deputy Chief position. I only investigate fraud and high-profile cases that involve Medicaid money in nursing homes and developmentally disabled homes. If it wasn't for the mistakes by the newer agents, I could so another seventeen years standing on my head.

DC has more taxis driven by Iraqis than Baghdad. I guess we have freed at least some Iraqis, to be taxi drivers in the land of their choice.

Charlotte, so nice to meet another sister in blue (or khaki, as the case may be) here on CrimeSpace! Thanks for the invite!

It's always good to hear from a comrade in arms. I see that you are retired from the job...I guess I'm a glutton for punishment since I plan to work another seventeen years. That will give me forty years on the job! Unless, of course, if I can figure out a way to make a living writing books. Ha!

LOL...not sure any of us can say 'we made it' but I sure got off to a good start thanks to a whole bunch of people. The writing community can be very generous. I've got a great first sale story on my website under the FOR WRITERS page. Thanks so much for extending your friendship. And I wish you a boatload of luck and fun with your writing.

Hi - obviously I haven't visited my own profile for a while, so hadn't seen your question. Library Thing is a social network for books. People catalog the books they own (or read) and see who else has them. You can post reviews as well. I don't know how well it aids publicity - there are several million books on it - but it's addictive and fun.

I think you've got the right approach. Announce the contest on your blog. Refer them to your website. If you're a member of email groups such as DorothyL you can announce the contest on them also.

Hi Charlotte--I've done drawings in various ways, but usually I have a certain number of books to give away and invite people to contact me. If I have more requests than books, I draw names out of a hat. It's a good way to get new readers and new friends.

Hi Charlotte- so impressed with your publishing output!
Greetings: Just to let you know that my New Orleans noir mystery, The
Beatitudes, has received 5 starred reviews! I am donating all royalties to the New Orleans Public Library Foundation to help rebuild the public libraries. I have posted Chapter I on my blog www.beatitudesinneworleans.blogspot.com. Please read and if you like it, help rebuild a library for NOLA. Thank you Lyn LeJeune

As they say, different strokes for different folks, etc. It's nice that there's something out there to suit so many varied personalities and tastes. Wouldn't life be boring if it were otherwise?

Carnival of the Criminal Minds, No. 2

Charlotte, see: Started by Barbara Fister 2 hours ago here on crimespace!

Come one, come all, the second carnival is being hosted over at The Rap Sheet. with fun and adventure for all ages. See the historical noir covers! Watch Mankell the Magnificent find ways to empty

Hi Charlotte. I'll do my best to explain, being fairly new also. Blog carnivals are, in general, blogs that collect articles (or other types of contributions) from a wide variety of sources, typically devoted to a common theme. Some of the carnivals are "traveling", meaning that they are hosted by different people each time (or at least some of the time), and these people pick the entries to be included each month (or whatever the interval is).

There is actually a site called blogcarnival.com that lists many carnivals (and how to contribute to them), but it is a general term and carnivals can be found all over the place (stlboggers.com, a St. Louis group, has one a month). I still can find these things a little confusing, but I've had a few articles posted successfully. It is another way of identifying people of similar interests (as CrimeSpace does very nicely).

Here is the text from the latest St. Louis carnival solicitation (St. Louis bloggers only, but it may give you a feel for the process; the permalink is the link to the specific post you are contributing from your own blog rather than to your blog's main page):

STLBloggers Blog Carnival #4. Thanks to TransylvanianDutch for hosting Carnival #3. The Carnival Rules:

Interested STL Bloggers should write a new post on the stated theme by the specified deadline. They should then email the host at the provided email address with the following information:

1) Name of Blogger
2) Permalink URL of blog post
3) Title of Blog Post
4) URL of Blog
5) Title of Blog
6) Would you be interested in volunteering to be the next host? Yes/No
6a) If Yes – what would your theme be?

The host will then take all the submissions that meet the simple requirements of addressing the specified theme, and having been posted between the announcement and the deadline – and link to them from one post, with some annotative comments for each. This post shall be posted at StlBloggers.com, and if the host wishes, at their own blog. Participants should expect a delay of a few days between the deadline and this post.

The host will also choose the next host from the volunteers in any fashion they desire.

STLBloggers Blog Carnival #4

Host: Tara at Two Lines On a Stick

Contact: sigkap30180 at mail dot com

Deadline: Oct 31st- midnight. Email should be dated in the month of October.
Theme: Halloween- no specific question, but my "rule" for this carnival is that you must include a picture!

[posted for Tara at her request due to technical difficulties]

Posted by John at 10/9/2007 2:14:59 PM, 0 comments

Charlotte...Nice to meet you. I have to say, per your initial comments, I never thought of George Pelecanos, Walter Mosley, Ruth Rendell, Dennis Lehane, James Lee Burke, etc. as "sorta cozy," but to each his or her own interpretation, I guess.

Hi there, Charlotte,
I'm not an agent; I just interview them -- and editors -- for The Third Degree. I've had three agents (the third is a charm, I think) and there's much debate about whether they're necessary. For me, right now, I'm glad to have one.

I have no agent; my publisher and I discuss everything, mano a mano, albeit long distance--via telephone or email; he's great, and yes he does all this without being asked.