Instead of doing a full-fledged blog tour, I coordinated something a little bit different for my books -  a Book Review Block Party. I contacted numerous book bloggers about publishing their reviews during a certain time-frame, and the end result was 21 book reviews being published across the Internet in one week for my mystery novels Twenty-Five Years Ago Today and Sink or Swim. You can read snippets of the reviews and more about the "book review tour" here.…

Hi all,

In the eternal quest for publishing creds, I've sent out a few short stories over the past month or so. My story, the Seven of Swords, got picked up by Jersey Devil Press and is now live.

(…

First, let me say thank you to Giovanni. It’s great to be here and hopefully meet some new readers!

My name’s Mark and as you can see from my own blog (http://empyricaltales.blogspot.com/), I’m only starting out as a blogger. I still have a lot to learn, despite the upcoming release of my second novel. Like my own blog, I wanted to do something different for the Scoop. I have a Theory of Firsts: the first sentence, first paragraph,…

It's not a mystery or a crime, but during the 1950s some parents thought rock and roll was criminal. Used to the lovey dovey tunes of the 40s and early 50s, all of a sudden there were these wild-sounding, hip-swiveling acts and parents were really worried that rock and roll would corrupt their youth.

Donald Riggio traces the history of rock and roll from it's R&B…

People say that things happen for a reason.  That may be true.  But in my life things seem to happen with very little rhyme or reason. And certainly no plan.

I used to be married, kind of a lot.  If I total the years I spent married it's 21 years and not all of it was marital blech.  But I'm now happily single, so it goes without saying that for all of my marriages there have been an equal number of divorces.

During one of my divorces I discovered…

Today I welcome Lois Winston, author of the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries. I've certainly HURT myself with a glue gun, but "deadly"? That's her title, and here's her story.



THE FINE ARE OF EAVESDROPPING

By Lois…

Sincerely, this is my first read of this dynamic duo. Go ahead and chuckle at my expense, I understand. Interesting plotline in Gideon’s Sword:  A family wronged and father framed by a government employee to cover his tracks as many people die heinous deaths for no reason other than the government employee’s stupidity and arrogance. Original and thought provoking, I mean the way they went about it, the narrative, not the over used and tired plotline, hahaha, gotcha. Really though, let’s…

On the Road Again

On Saturday 18 June between 10am and 4pm I will be running an interactive workshop on How to write compelling crime and thriller novels at Quay Arts Centreon the Isle of Wight.



I was asked if I would run this workshop during National Crime Writing Weekan initiative organised by The…

1) Read this year's Ellery Queen's Readers Choice Award winner, Archie's Been Framed

2) Read last year's Shamus and Derringer winner, Julius Katz

3) Only $0.99 for…

“Brother” Giovanni gets on the board with this one. Confused, I am sure you are. You would have to read the disclaimer, (which I wrote-wink, wink), in the beginning of Open Mic to understand how I came Brother Giovanni; I am not giving that away. This is the first time I am in a published work; I am pumped and honored. FYI: BDA, as he is known to his many fans, will be on our blogtalk show twice this month. March 8^th for the roundtable discussion @ 3pm and then again by his…

Doesn't everyone dream about traveling back in time and changing history?



In my new YA mystery, DANGER IN TIME, in Kindle, Nook, Google eBooks, and print, time travel can be deadly.



Rachel Crane was just six when her older sister, Brooke, died in a car accident ten years ago at the age of sixteen. Rachel often wishes Brooke were…

New issue of Kings River Life just went up. There is an interview with Australian mystery author Diana Hockley, a review of her book & a contest to win a copy http://kingsriverlife.com/03/05/interview-diana-hockley/

There's also a review of the book "Winter's Bone" with has a suspense/mystery side to it…

Linda Leon interviewed Darden North March 3, 2011, on Book That Author. To follow, is the link to the interview now on podcast. This was a great opportunity for me to confirm that producer F.X. Vitolo is filming the screen adaptation of my third novel Fresh Frozen, slated for summer 2011.

Hope you enjoy the interview ...  …

Break out the Shameless Self-Promotion Hat and Blatant Tooting Horns, International Read an eBook Week is blessedly upon us.

I'm celebrating in style. Smashwords is once again hosting a site-wide promotion. Authors opt in their works for special discounts. My eBook of flash fiction happens to be free during this time (get it here).

What are you doing? Any special deals?

Read my new sci-fi space detective story in the March issue of Sci-fi Freedom.

This is a free e-zine.

http://issuu.com/scififreedom/docs/sff_e-zine_issue_3

Thank you

Potential students of the London School of Economics ought perhaps to rethink their choice of university, particularly if they plan to study international relations. After all, Muammar Qaddafi had to kill thousands of his own people before the LSE’s distinguished academics realized he might be something of a dictator.

However, if your plan is to study how to be a…