Got back from Killer Nashville last Sunday and introduced my new JS-200 Gibson guitar to its new home.  Beautiful instrument.
Jeff Deaver was the guest of honor and it was good to catch up with him.  He’s busy writing the new James Bond book.  It seems he met the Flemming family (Ian Flemming wrote the original [...]

Someone asked me to review a book by Mozelle Richardson. Of course her New York Times best seller status…wait, she isn’t a NYT best seller. In fact, no one I know has ever heard of her.
But, I said I’d review the book, even though I have not written [...]

I have mixed emotions about conferences. This month there is one in Sarasota (A Conference To Die For) and one in Nashville (Killer Nashville). There are probably dozens more, but these are the two I’m attending.
First of all, it’s an opportunity to meet old friends, writers who I’ve become friends with over the [...]

I understand that I’m a bit behind the times, but I’m now aware that the internet and email have brought back some long lost politeness and civility to at least one part of a social life.
I have always sent party invitations by snail mail. Or I’ve phoned the guests, or seen them in person. [...]

Spent last week in New York and the energy level of that city is impossible to explain. You just have to go there!
We started out our trip with a wonderful reception for author Elmore Leonard who was being honored for a lifetime achievment award from Strand Magazine. He said it was his 7th [...]

South Beach Shakedown, my third published hardback will be out in trade paper in two weeks. I mentioned that Jamaica Blue, my first novel, is finally out on Kindle, and I recently received the advance reader copy for November’s book, Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff. I encourage everyone to spend their hard earned [...]

I was in Baltimore two weeks ago, doing research for a new book. I usually find a bartender or cab driver who knows the town well, and hire them for an afternoon or evening to show me the seeier side of their city. In Baltimore, I found Bob.
Baltimore is the murder capital of [...]

Summer to me has always meant concerts. Outdoor concerts where you can sit on the grass and drink a cold beer, listening to James Taylor and Carol King, or Chicago…with original members still playing their hearts out every night. (Did you see them on Idol last night? Superb!)
You can even see Brett Michaels [...]

Heading to Key West today for the Nashville songwriters show. 150 of the finest songwriters in the country will be playing at every venue possible on the tiny island. This is a great festival and believe me, there will be stories to tell.
I fell in love with a song by singer/writer Molly Reed [...]

I’ve always contended that the purest short story is a song.
I remember a third grade teacher telling us that songs, were stories and I questioned that, saying that Hound Dog certainly didn’t seem to me to be a story. She of course explained what a story was and how Hound Dog most certainly told [...]