Alan Orloff's Blog, page 31

Follow the Link

Today, I'm guest blogging at Patricia Stoltey's fine blog. Visit us there and read about the bumps and detours on my road to publication.

Bad Cop…No Donut

Last night I attended our monthly MWA chapter dinner meeting, where a panel of mystery authors discussed their anthology Bad Cop…No Donut.

It was very entertaining (with a title like that, how could it not be?).

Editor (and contributing author) John French was joined by James Grady, Quintin Peterson, Austin Camacho, and cover designer Ver Curtis (is Ver short for coVER?), as they talked about their stories, their experiences "on the streets," and their other writing projects.

A good time was...

Hot Reading

Summer is just about here, and I'm looking forward to some relaxing reading by the pool (since I don't swim, I have even more time to read). My TBR pile is already a mile high, but that's never stopped me from adding to it.

So I pose these questions to you, my wonderful blog readers:

What is in your summer TBR pile?

And what book(s) have you read lately that you would recommend?

Now off to find some sunscreen.

Bestselling Authors of 2040

I've had a launch party and a book signing at Barnes & Noble. I was on a panel at Malice Domestic, and I appeared at the Kensington Book Festival, the Festival of Mystery, and the Gaithersburg Book Festival. I signed books at BEA and spoke at the Library of Congress.

The most nerve-wracking appearance of all? That would be yesterday, when I spoke to two sixth grade classes at my son's school.

I had my PowerPoint presentation ready. I had a few gags prepped and raring to go. I had a stack ...

All Good Things

Today marks the last stop of the DIAMONDS FOR THE DEAD WORLD BLOG TOUR 2010. It's been a good ride, but it's time to head home and get unpacked. I'm sure the grass is waist high by now.

Click on over to Stephen Parrish's blog for my Lessons Learned guest post.

(After Steve's Blog Tour concludes, he'll return the favor and guest post here, with his Lessons Learned. I know, fun, right?)

(BTW, I just finished Steve's book, THE TAVERNIER STONES, and recommend it highly. Talk about a fun read!!!!)

I Need Some Sleep

BookExpo America is over. I'm sure I had a great time. I'm sure I met a lot of fantastic readers, writers, and industry folk. I'm sure I learned a lot about the business. I'm sure I signed a lot of books.

I'm sure I'm tired.

(Of course, I wrote this post before I left for the conference, scheduling it to run today, knowing I'd be on the road. But I'm still pretty sure I had a great time!)

Yay, BEA!

Tomorrow and Thursday, I'll be at BookExpo America (BEA).

On Wednesday, I'll be signing in the autograph area, table 12, from 11:30 – 12:30.

On Thursday, I'll be signing at the MWA Booth (#2953) from 12:45 – 1:15.

If you're going to be there, come by and say hi. And get your very own copy of DIAMONDS FOR THE DEAD!

When Did You Know?

When I was a teenager and people asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I often shrugged (I was a big shrugger back then). Maybe an inventor. Or an engineer. Or maybe I'd like to own my own business. (This is in contrast to my brother who wanted to be a bear when he grew up. In his defense, he was only about four years old when he said it.) Beyond those generalities, though, I didn't have much of a clue. And I have to admit, those were merely vague ideas. A lot of things interested me...

ASO on ITW

I'm interviewed by Don Helin on the International Thriller Writers website. Click on over to see what I have to say about, uh, different stuff (hopefully, my answers are a lot more eloquent than that!).

Thanks, Don!

Way Cool!

I've lived in the DC suburbs most of my life. DC is a great place, full of history and politics, museums and monuments. Whenever I get a chance to go into the city, I'm always impressed by/amazed at/proud of my "hometown."

When I was a kid, we'd take field trips to the museums.

When out-of-town friends come to visit, I take them sightseeing (I still haven't taken a tour of the White House, but now that a friend of mine works there (no, not the Big Guy), I think I'll be getting a private...