Whatzup? #1

Book Signing in Cumberland, MD

Book signing at The Book Center

Here’s a pic of me at a book signing at the The Book Center in  Cumberland, promoting my Penelope Mystery books.  This indie mortar and brick bookstore is still going strong, and Lee the owner does what he can to help local authors.  If you’re in the area, stop by and take a peek what he’s got on the shelves. Also check out the Penelope books while you’re there.

Penelope and The Movie Star

Just finished my KDP Select stint on Penelope and The Movie Star.  Did not work as well as I’d hoped.  Amazon did everything they said, but I didn’t see much sales come out of it.  It may just be the nature of the series. Middle grade books are difficult to market.  A 10 to 13 year old reader is most likely not surfing Amazon on their Prime account, looking for books to borrow.

The good news is the book is now available at Smashwords and should be popping up on Kobo and Apple in the next few weeks or so.  The book is also available at Barnes and Noble.  Check it out!

Latest Work-In Progress

Doing fine tuning on my latest work-in-progress about a down and out reporter who gets a second chance managing a small town newspaper and soon finds himself working on a cold case murder with a psychic and a witch.  Originally I ‘d planned to self-publish this one to boost my writing career, but after recently landing a writing contract to publish my book Claws of the Griffin, I may pass this one by literary agent. Check out my author bio at Cool Well Press. Way cool!

John Irving Interview on NPR

Irving is one my favorite authors, probably most remembered for The World According to Garp and The Cider House Rules.  I heard a recent interview on NPR and did not realize the guy was at one time a professional wrestler. When asked about both careers and he said, “…they seem very similar to me. In both cases you have to be devoted to tireless repetition and small details.” Great advice! Many times as writers we want to throw the story over the fence and let our readers see it, when we should rewriting.