Commerce v Art

Most of my writing has been "inside out," serious artistic writing, as opposed to commercial "outside in" writing. Nonetheless, I have dabbled in commercial fiction, writing two mystery novels, and one was received especially well, being a finalist for Mystery of the Year at a magazine. This is Dead Body In A Small Room, republished as the Kindle ebook Murder at the Black Cat B&B. Here's what some readers had to say about it.

What a different venue for a story! Small town in Nevada where prostitution is legal and a brothel is the main place of action. Plus the guy telling the story is a regular customer. Yes, there's a murder or was it a suicide? Yes, he's not a cop but a former Hollywood screenwriter (Love the new script he's working on) and yes, it's set back in the 80's. A few spots to make you chuckle, a few spots that grab your attention and until close to the end you won't guess the truth of what happened.

 I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The ending was a total surprise as it seemed so many other avenues of solution were involved. Where else but in total recovery from cancer can a writer from Hollywood find excitement and adventure in a small Northern Nevada town. Made me want to go there and see if it really existed. I'll read more of this guys work. If you love a good mystery you'll love this one!

 I really enjoyed this book. It was easy to read in the sense that it flowed really well, with realistic dialogue that swept the action along and plenty of twists and turns to keep your mind working. A genuinely entertaining book.

 This is truly a great story. Many twists and turns, all plausible. Occam' s razor is at work and the simplest solution is the correct one.

 Thoroughly enjoyed the style of the writer and the structure of the story. Have already looked for other books by this author to read.

 Enjoyed this book so much read in 2 days- I wished it was longer- The writer knows how to pull you in.

Not too shabby. Often it is assumed that serious writers are esoteric because they don't have the craft to be otherwise. This isn't always true. Maybe not usually true. How one writes is an individual choice. Most of the time, I write not to bore myself, without concern about an audience. I want to satisfy personal standards, nothing otherwise.

My career went about the way it should have gone, given my talents and tastes.