Article about The Straw Buyer in The Herald Tribune

While in Sarasota recently, I was interviewed by Michael Braga, for The Herald Tribune. He was the recipient of the National Journalism Award and finalist for a Pulitzer Prize for a 2010 series on real estate flipping. Read it here

Finally, my new novel, The Straw Buyer, is available as an eBook in all the eBookstores for only $3.99. For more about it, here is a short video describing it.

After the rejections

I have ignored this blog for much too long as I put it aside to finish writing The Straw Buyer. I suppose that I subconsciously hoped that my next posting would announce that I had found an incredible agent to represent my novel. It never happened. That was not for a lack of trying. I wrote to over a hundred agents who specialize in this genre, being careful to follow their submission guidelines demanded on their websites. One notable stipulation that they all shared was a summary of authors’ previous successes. What had I published in the past and how many copies were sold? What marketing tools would I add to help sell the book? A blog? Good, how many followers do you have? Five, you say?

Most agents replied with form rejections that appeared to have been written by the same person. Some were very kind. Many didn’t reply at all. A few actually asked for partial or complete submissions of the manuscript then waited months before saying that it wasn’t for them. Were they hanging on to it just in case they might possibly use it if nothing better would come along? Finally, one agent offered to represent me provided that I take an ax to the beginning and murder my first character within the first few pages. I sharpened my knife and went at it with a vengeance. My knife dulled quickly as I felt that I was cutting the heart out of my story. I pared the beginning, indiscriminately slashed thousands of words, looked at it again, and hated the results. I finally settled on a place in-between.

Before resubmitting to the agent, I purchased a novel he had written and couldn’t finish it. I asked myself if he was the right person to represent my writing and concluded that I might be better off on my own. He had already made it clear to me that any success my book might potentially receive would be dependant on my ability to sell it. He explained that it was the new reality in today’s publishing climate. So that is exactly what I intend to do; publish it myself as an eBook. Watch for it soon at an eRetailer near you.

Secrets of the Phantom Fleet

Look for my article in the February issue of SAILING MAGAZINE. Join the adventures of the Phantom Fleet on Lake Champlain. You can also read it on SAILING MAGAZINE's website here.

The Straw Buyer

In this excerpt from "The Straw Buyer", we meet the main characters, faced with what appears to be a routine investigation...

Mayor's Cup Race

When not sailing our comfy cruising boat (featured above) on Lake Champlain, I am sometimes asked to help friends' race their faster boats. Here's a short clip from a very windy Mayor's Cup Race where we placed second in our class.

Page 1 of "The Straw Buyer"

Here is the beginning of a murder mystery that takes place in Sarasota, Florida, in the spring of 2006, when the housing boom began to bust. It took an explosive mixture of greed and corruption to bring our economy to its knees.

Here is the beginning; there is much more to come...