my dearest manatee

Bill's debut is here!

Bill's website

I'm a big fan of Bill Cameron's writing, so I'm thrilled to be able to finally announce the April 1 release of LOST DOG.

(Okay, I'm a day early, but I've heard the book it out there and people have received their copies from Amazon.)






My take:

On a gray Portland morning, unemployed Peter McKrall searches the park for his niece’s lost stuffed animal, but instead comes upon a dead body. The trauma of the event is an uncomfortable reminder of his own dark history, and soon Peter, a man trying to break a kleptomania habit, finds himself trapped in the middle of an investigation he wants nothing to do with.

Cops make him uncomfortable. Dead people make him uncomfortable. Having his name and face on the evening news makes him uncomfortable.

He’s alone with no one to trust or confide in until he meets Ruby Jane. When a second murder takes place, Peter’s painful past comes back to haunt him and Ruby Jane’s life is put in danger.

LOST DOG by Bill Cameron is a beautifully written and masterful work of character-driven crime fiction. One of the most fascinating and compelling main characters I’ve read in a long time. A bad guy real enough to smell. A plot that fits together like a puzzle.

I was starving for a personal story. Give me real people. Give me a story with truth. As soon as I started LOST DOG my heart began to beat faster. This was the book I’d been craving.

Bill Cameron manages to deftly strip away the distance. Not only does he give us a knockout plot, he gives us real people in real settings. He gives us characters we care about, characters we know and want to know. And like real life, the darkest moments often contain humor. I laughed out loud several times.


SLICE OF PIE, one of Bill's short stories, will be included in the upcoming killer year anthology.

My take:

Real is the word that immediately comes to mind when stepping into a world created by the exceptionally talented Bill Cameron. The landscape he illuminates is one we’ve seen before, but never with such focus or appreciation. Bill shines a light on real life, and suddenly we recognize an object, a person, an emotion. Yes, that’s exactly the way it is… He brings clarity to private spaces, and helps us see the familiar with new eyes.

Bill’s short story, SLICE OF PIE, is a wonderful slice of life, a small and intimate world as immediate as a whiff of moth balls, urinal cake, or Tabu.




I wish Bill a wonderful debut full of great reviews and great sales -- and I hope he gets his butt to Minnesota soon.

spinetingler

The spring issue of spinetingler magazine is now online. Looks like another good one!

new low video

breaker

for your entertainment

guess the title

the acronym for my new book is GOD.

care to guess the title?

no prizes! no drinks! no nuthin!




progress report 2: i'm having an open house sunday. gulp.

crimespace

Crimespace

Daniel Hatadi has started a cool hangout for crime fiction writers. It's kind of like Myspace, but much more user-friendly with a lot of nice features.

Crimespace is "A place for crime fiction writers, readers and lovers to schmooze, booze and draw up plans for the heist to end all heists. Find new authors to delve into and discuss the latest in crime fiction. Join up and enter the forums, add photos, videos and make some friends.

Pull up a chair at the bar and share your poison."

yeah, things are as bad as you think

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link to story


WTF in today's email:


Amstel Pilsener Beer,
Herengracht 282,
1016 BX Amsterdam.
Postbus 3462,
1001 AG Amsterdam.

Good Day,

This is to officially notify you that you are amongst the ten winners of One Million Five Hundred Thousand Euro (€1,500,000.00) from Amstel Pilsener Beer Company Annual Promotions, with REF: 7649082 and PIN: 5628454 number please contact the promotional officer with the details below for further advice.

Name: Mr. James West.
Amstel Pilsener Promotional Officer (UK)
Email:amstelrewardpromo@yahoo.co.uk

Accordingly.

Mr. Hendrik Klaas.
Amstel Pilsener Online coordinator (Amsterdam).

easy websites

if i can do it, anybody can do it.
my website hadn't been updated in since 2005. i don't do websites, but i really wanted to find something similar to a blog that i could easily update myself. i'd heard of citymax, but knew it required Internet Explorer. Well, apparently it does work with Firefox. A bit glitchy, but it can be done. It's not the greatest looking website, but it's going to be so nice to be able to update whenever i need to. i'm not quite finished, and some weird things are going on that i haven't quite figured out, but i don't think it looks too bad. oh, and i want to say thanks to sandra and kevin of Spinetingler Magazine for the very nice jpeg i was able to use on the home page!!


my new website

citymax has a 10-day free trial, which is pretty handy. i would never have attempted a website without it.

and speaking of covers....

here is the original Pale Immortal cover.

the final version is in the sidebar.




i felt the artwork was much better on the original version even though i wasn't crazy about it. what's weird is that the new sequel cover looks like it features the same model, but it's done in a way that really work.

Electric Boogaloo

got the cover for PI 2: Electric Boogaloo yesterday.
wow.

it's stunning.

i SO want to share it! but i'm concerned about showing it off too early. i'm afraid people will be sick of the book before the release which is still 9 months out. i'm thinking the cover exposure should come more like 6 months out or even 4? i don't know. anyway, the cover is amazing. i'm also really happy with the title. i sent a list of ideas to my editor and several people at the publishing house chose this one. it's also a very amusing acronym. well, some might not think it so amusing, but i do. i might post the acronym soon and see if people can guess the title. unfortunately i let it slip to a couple of people, so that will spoil the fun for them. sorry!