Category: Writing

Confessions of a Dot Com Boomer

There’s an old axiom for folks working on their first novel – write what you know. It was something I took to heart when working on Black’s Beach Shuffle, the first Rolly Waters mystery. A lot of elements …

Getting My Footnote

Copies of the newly published I Can Read It All By Myself: The Beginner Books Story by Paul V. Allen arrived at my house last week. It’s a highly readable and extensively-researched history of Random House’s Beginner Books, …

The Guns at Bird Rock

Officer Jake Stirling parked his patrol car on the sharp bend of Camino de la Costa, glanced at the house across the street and wondered if the man inside had managed to kill himself yet. He opened the …

San Diego’s A-Bomb Test

If you happened to be in San Diego on May 14, 1955, you might have felt the earth move. It wasn’t an earthquake however. It was the residual shockwave from the U.S. Navy’s underwater atomic bomb test, officially …

Crime (and other) Reads

I’m always checking out and reading articles related to crime and/or music, anything that might serve as inspiration material for my books. Here are some of my favorite finds from this month. America’s Most Flamboyant Private Eye – …