Recently my private life has been occupied, in part, with helping a very good friend who is a new mother make the challenging life-style changes that come along with a beautiful and perfect new daughter. Nothing you are told in advance can really prepare you for the hardest job you'll ever love. But we always feel like they should have seen it…

I can confim for you now that business is strong at the Borders Express in Dulles Town Center. Saturday I signed quite a stack of my mysteries and thrillers for lots of new friends. Four of my titles are now sold out there but they do have…

I found an extensive list of search engines that every writer should see & wrote about it on my main blog - http://ascamacho.blogspot.com - Check it…

Months ago Borders closed several stores. The Borders Express in Dulles Town…

This year I'm one of the judges for the Shamus Awards so I am reading thru a stack of private eye novels. That's good news for you because I can tell you about some great new books, like John Gilstrap's "No Mercy."…

Borders has four different bookstores in Washington Dulles International Airport. Friday I signed books at the brand new store in Terminal B, which is bright and very open. It's also right in the traffic flow and a perfect place for an author to stand beside a giant sign provided by manager Dennis Bryant. That day I signed books that went to every corner of the country, and a couple to Germany as well.

What Mark Twain said about his father was true for me too: "When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years." By then I had also learned that a father carries pictures where his money used to…

A new survey says most of us want an e-reader or iPad. So naturally I blogged about it - http://ascamacho.blogspot.com

A couple of months ago I did a small book signing tour in Ohio. I met Chrissie Valdini when she bought a copy of Russian Roulette at one of those bookstores, in Dayton. Recently she emailed me with some very positive comments about my mystery…

If I do too much multi-tasking while writing, researching and reading online sometimes my computer decides to take me to places I don't want to go or to simply freeze everything in place. Luckily no matter what happens or doesn't on the computer I can always shut it down and restart it and get back to where I needed to be. Sadly this only works in the virtual…

It was an exciting week for this author. Just yesterday I attended the annual Washington Writers Conference, and I think it was the best one yet. I sat on a panel of experts discussing book marketing, which was a big hit. I also attended some very informative sessions, made some great connections including a possible new agent, and spent time with some good friends who are…

Saturday I will be part of another panel of authors, but this time the audience will be entirely made up of other writers. We'll be at the Washington Writers Conference, put on annually by the American Independent Writers. This year's program offers agent meetings, a fine luncheon and a number of interesting and valuable panel…

At my most recent book signing people asked me who I'd want to play Hannibal Jones on the screen (Duh! Shemar Moore.) But talking about whether my books should go to the big screen or become a drama series raised one of those odd grammar questions that keep me puzzled about our language.…

This month's meeting of the Mid-Atlantic chapter of Mystery Writers of America will feature the launch of "Bad Cop, No Donut," a collection of tales of cops behaving badly. I am one of the 15 crime writers represented in the anthology, and one of the four who will be at the meeting. After the reception at…

My book signing at the Borders Books in Warrenton, VA was a pleasant surprise. Traffic was worse than expected so I arrived late. But the staff members were especially supportive. The store had few visitors that evening but I still sold out of books in three hours. I was not quite as successful at Borders in White Marsh Mall, but I did…

Friday evening I'll make my first visit to the Borders Books in Warrenton, the heart of Virginia horse country. Aside from having the best selection of equestrian books in the state, their "All Things Local" section has lots of books that are rich with history. It's the place to stop on your way to the Gold Cup Races or the Luray Caverns, or to pick up an autographed copy of one…

Fantasy and science fiction author Hank Quense saw my blog post responding to 5 basic questions on writing and accepted my invitation to add HIS answers. Read them at http://ascamacho.blogspot.com/…