|
Summer
2006
Hi, all--
First of all, you may have noticed that my Web site has been
freshened up a bit. Just some tweaking and overall cleaning up to
make things easier for you to navigate. More changes and updates on
my books and case updates will be coming soon.
It’s been a busy eleven months, to say the least. Lots of things
have changed. I’m now writing books in my spare time (evenings and
weekends) while writing stories full-time for Best Friends Animal
Society, the largest no-kill sanctuary in the nation.
It’s been a good change for me. Last September I was asked to
travel to New Orleans for Best Friends to cover the largest animal
rescue effort in history. I jumped at the chance. I planned to be
there for a little over two weeks but ended up staying a total of
three-and-a-half months (two of them consecutive). I left my
teaching position at UNLV to remain in New Orleans. It was an
incredible experience.
As a result, I’m in the process of writing a book that has a
working title of Saving the Pets of Katrina: From Rescues to
Reunions. I’ll let you know when it gets closer to being published
(right now the proposal is in the hands of my agent). I continue
writing follow-up stories about the rescued pets on Best Friends'
Website.. Because of Best
Friends, I get to do the two things I love most in the world:
Writing and working with animals.
Working at home full-time, and no longer having to hustle
pitching freelance stories or driving to and from campus (not to
mention grading papers) has afforded me more time in the evenings
and on weekends to work on my book projects. I do miss teaching, but
I don’t miss circling the parking lot looking for a space or grading
endless numbers of papers. My students from as far back as five
years ago have stayed in touch with me and I continue to track their
progress and give them writing and publishing advice whenever I’m
asked.
A second book I’m working on is a story about the Hole in the
Wall Gang (a band of mob burglars in the 1970s and ‘80s). Besides
including the gangster crew headed up by Tony Spilotro, the
manuscript focuses on Herbert “Fat Herbie” Blitzstein, the last of
the Chicago mobsters in Las Vegas. Herbie was murdered in a contract
hit in 1997. I was at the crime scene after his body was found. I
covered the case from the get-go. Herbie’s death marked the end of
an era and is a fascinating story. More to come about that later.
The book Tupac: A Thug Life, written by a conglomeration of
writers, is now available. To order, click onto the Amazon.com link,
then search for the book on that site. My article about Tupac and
Biggie Smalls that was first published in George magazine has been
reprinted in A Thug Life as a chapter in the book.
The tenth anniversary of Tupac’s murder is fast approaching. I’ll
be writing a lengthy feature and analytical piece, looking back on
Tupac’s life and death, for an alternative newspaper in Las Vegas.
I’ll include the link on my site and in my newsletter as soon as
it’s published.
Also, I’ve signed a movie option for one of my books. But I’m not
yet free to disclose who it’s with, because the producer has asked
me to keep it under wraps for now. In the meantime, the producer is
in the midst of writing the script. Having a producer who is also a
screenwriter is half the battle to turning a book into a film.
Details to follow at a later date.
Hope everyone’s having a good summer. Please keep your e-mails
coming in. I love answering your questions.
|
