Byzantine Blog
Probably the only vaguely interesting thing about me is that with my wife, Mary Reed, I co-author the John the Eunuch mystery series set in sixth century Constantinople. But that doesn't stop me from dwelling here on the boring minutiae of the rest of my life, present and past, along with the occasional word about writing.
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--Michel de Montaigne
Starred Review
"The authors get everything right in their latest historical. The story is fast paced, the tensions between characters well portrayed; the ending leaves the reader clamoring for more." -- Library Journal, 2/2/2008
The newest Robert B. Parker book is reviewed right above ours. He didn't get a star. Further up the list is a mystery by the late Joe L. Hensley who didn't get a star either.
It always feels weird to see my name listed amongst people like that. Putting aside the fact that I'm only a co-author, I simply don't feel like a "writer." Certainly not in the same sense that Robert B. Parker is. There's no chance of earning a living off our books let alone becoming rich off them. (Let alone famous and thank goodness for that...) To me, "real" writers write books for a living. They inhabit a different world than I do.
Writing for a small press is nothing like being a celebrity author or even an author who is being pushed by a big publisher. A small press can't flood the media or bookstores with you and your work. The playing field isn't level. I'm not getting ready to fly to New York to appear on a morning show. I've got a legal article to finish before the deadline so I can afford to fill up the propane tank again soon. How did I ever show up on a list with real authors like that?
Still, when you come down to it, Mary and I arrange words to make a story, just like Robert B. Parker does. And this morning, on this little playing field where it was the words that were at issue, we got a starred review and he didn't.
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