The official Russian Roulette blog tour now has 13 stops, and reads like a compendium of the best web sites for mystery lovers. Content will be different on each of these cool sites but listing them all here would give us both a headache. So I’ve listed them all on my web site.

I have a new review to show off. Let me introduce you to Loretta Craig.
 
I met Loretta at a Writers Workshop in ChesterfieldVA. I chatted with her during lunch that day and later signed a copy of The Troubleshooter for her. She wrote to me a couple of days later to tell me she was reading my novel and enjoying it very much. When she wrote again she was even more complimentary about my novel, particularly praising its positive message.
 
For all those reasons, I’m using part of Loretta’s comments as my web site’s featured review this week.

The trailer for Blood and Bone turned up on a web site for African American Scholarships. Maybe someone will use my novel for a fund raising event. 

I found out that you can order copies of The Troubleshooter in India.  I had to look up what Rs 1143 is in American money.  Here’s where my Indian fans can get my books. Really!

A blog post on The Stiletto Gang highlighted the new journal called “The Writer’s Journey.” This new manual for authors is a collection of writers’ essays on the craft and business of writing fiction. It’s also obviously a journal with pages left for authors to write about their own journey. Thirteen writers contributed to this manual, including yours truly. Aspiring authors can reply to this e-mail to learn how to get an autographed copy of the manual from me.

I was interviewed by mystery author Jean Henry Mead on her web site, Mysterious People. She is an excellent interviewer who prompted me to reveal some new sides of my work.

I’ve recorded a short promotional video for Russian Roulette, in which I personally explain my new novel. You can see it on this site or on YouTube .

There were days when I thought I’d never get another novel written. But it is.
 
There were times I didn’t think I could get a book published. But they are.
 
I once wondered if it was even possible to get my books onto bookstore shelves with all those other writers. When I walk into a store and see them there I’m still a little amazed.
 
I never thought a bookstore would be willing to host a book release event for one of my little mystery novels. And yet, on June 13th the Borders Express in Waldorf MD will be the first store in the nation to offer this little-known author’s latest work.
 
So that leaves us with two questions: 1. what do you want to accomplish? 2. What’s stopping you?
 
We are all faced with great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.

Since my last posting here I had my last book signing at the Borders Express in St Charles Town Center before the big book release party for Russian Roulette. Store Manager Becky has done a great job preparing for that event and I talked to people that night who were looking forward to it.

I also signed a few books at the Borders Express in Dulles Town Center Mall. That was supposed to be my final book signing before the new book comes out June 13th. But the best laid plans…

Today I’m in New York City on business but I’ll be home in time to participate in a very special writer’s event on Wednesday.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s Blacks In Government chapter (OPM-BIG) is hosting its third annual Authors Expo. Authors from the DC metro area will gather in the OPM conference room in Washington, DC from 10am until 2pm. During the expo, 14 authors sign and discuss their work. During lunch time, they hold an Author’s in the Round segment, allowing each author to speak to the crowd briefly about themselves and their works. Come join us at 1900 E Street NW, Washington, DC.

Here’s a question that comes up:
 
“What do you think about ghost writing? I’m in need of a writer to tell my story because I really do not have the time to write it and really don’t know how to get started.”
 
This is really two different questions, depending on whether you are asking about fiction or nonfiction.
 
If you’re talking about a fictional story you’re probably out of luck.  I think you’d be hard pressed to find a writer who would write a story you came up with when they could be writing their own. Such writers do exist, but they generally get assignments from publishers to add to a series of books that are written under a house name. When Lester Dent created Doc Savage in the 1930s he wrote under the “house name” of Kenneth Robeson. Other writers added to the collection using the same name. This practice continues today, but I won’t out any of my friends by naming ghosts.  I just know they don’t work for individuals.

Besides, if someone else writes your story, you’re not a writer. Is that what you want?
 
Ghost writers more often write nonfiction for others – autobiographies, memoirs and the like. I know a few of these folks too. They do work with individuals from time to time to tell the other person’s story.  These writers don’t expect their work to sell well, and their names aren’t on the cover anyway, so they don’t work for royalties.  This kind of writing is called fee-for-service work, meaning that these ghost writers generally get paid a flat fee for their work.  A book length work might cost $25,000 or $30,000.  So a good ghost writer can make a decent living, and if you want to hire someone to do this kind of writing, you can probably find them pretty easily through a local writers’ organization.

But why not tell your own story?  Take the time to write it instead of taking the time to explain it all to another writer.  Then hire an editor to help you shape and refine the story.  That way, you’re still a writer.