No, not as a stalker but as a fellow author, and I am still jazzed about it. As part of Mystery Writers of America, I was one of eight authors doing a reading for Noir at the Bar for the Bay Area Book Festival on June 3rd. The other authors were (reading from right to left): moderator Tony Broadbent (standing), Bill Moody, Mysti Berry, Nick Mamatas, Walter Mosley, yours truly, Hans Olav Lahlum, Randall S. Brandt and Laurie R. King. Hope some of the surrounding talent rubbed off on me.

I’d like to mention Walter Mosley, author of the fabulous Easy Rawlins Series. He read an excerpt from the first of the series, Devil in a Blue Dress. The man wears a mean fedora, is an incredible writer, and a fine reader. If you haven’t read this novel, please do so. You could even rent the movie starring Denzel Washington. Or do both;  you can’t go wrong.

I am also a huge fan of Laurie R. King’s work. Among other works, she is author of the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series. Let me mention, Ms. King is president of Mystery Writers of America, NoCal Chapter. Long may she reign. The lady lets no grass grow under her feet. Her latest novel, The Murder of Mary Russell, is mystery fiction at its finest.  But you could start with the first of her series, The Beekeeper’s Apprentice. Whatever book of hers you pick up to read, once again, you can’t go wrong.

I read from The CEO Came DOA, Book 5 of the Alvarez Family Murder Mysteries and to pound it into the ground, I followed Walter Mosley! I mean, how cool is that? I want that in my epitaph and on my tombstone!