THEY'RE HERE...

Three superb anthologies of exciting contemporary fiction, featuring such award-winning writers as SJ Rozan, Laura Lippman, Reed Farrell Coleman, and Tim Wynne-Jones...along with one writer who is new to the fiction game: Me. Two of these riveting collections, meant for grown-ups, show the dark, deep, mysterious sides of Brooklyn and "Charm City." The third, for a change of pace, is a lighthearted assemblage of stories about fathers and sons, aimed at 9-to-12-year olds...and their dads (punk or otherwise).

I'm very proud of all three of my stories: "Liminal," a tale of an aspiring model, her seamy photographer, and a motel room in a soulless Baltimore neighborhood; "Dead Man," about a bullied boy and his tormentor in seemingly peaceful Midwood, Brooklyn; and "The Wordwatcher," a universal tale about the ways our fathers can drive us crazy without hardly even trying.

First Reviews

In a generally strong review for HARDBOILED BROOKLYN, Booklist said that the collection's highlights "include Joseph Wallace's O. Henry twist on standing up to a childhood bully," along with stories by award-winning writers like Gabriel Cohen, Maggie Estep, Peter Blauner, and Jim Fusilli.

Publishers Weekly has given BALTIMORE NOIR an excellent review, just the first of many that this strong collection is likely to receive. "Mystery fans should relish this taste of Baltimore's seamier side, the eighth volume in Akashic's series showcasing dark tales of crime and place (Brooklyn Noir, etc.)," the reviewer says--and I agree!

And Booklist was also very impressed with MY DAD'S A PUNK, calling it "a strong collection" and going on to say "From bird watching [my story 'The Wordwatcher'] to bird slaughter, divorced dads to gay dads, and close conversations to clandestine meetings on street corners, the situations and characters in each of these stories convey the depth and breadth of what it means to be a male in a family."

And Lee Child, author of the bestselling Jack Reacher series, weighs in on HARDBOILED BROOKLYN, saying "My favorite writers on the greatest city in the world...what's not to love?"

More to come!



NEW!

"Wonderful... It's like looking at old postcards, addictive and unpredictable."
—Arizona Republic

A Gathering of Wonders
Behind the Scenes at the American Museum of Natural History

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A fascinating portrait of one of the world's great museums—and one of New York's crown jewels.
—Kirkus Reviews

Birds so beautiful that the first men to see them thought they were messengers from heaven. The largest, most

spectacular star sapphire ever found. Eighteen million insects and spiders. Meteorites that came into being at the very birth of our solar system. An awe-inspiring array of the greatest, fiercest, and strangest dinosaurs ever to stalk across the face of the earth. And so much more.

The American Museum of Natural History in New York City is home to a plethora of the most beautiful, most important, and most bizarre scientific treasures on display anywhere. Its dinosaurs, insects, birds, mammals, and human creations tell the fascinating story of life on earth, while its incomparable gems, minerals, and meteorites reveal remarkable insights into our four-billion-year-old planet itself. Even the casual visitor could spend days exploring the glories to be found within the Museum's walls...[more]

Big and Noisy Simon

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"A wonderful story of maturation that is perfect for exasperated parents and noisy children."
—Children's Literature Review

I'm proud to announce that my first picturebook, Big and Noisy Simon, is now on bookstore shelves. It's a book that's very close to my heart--I had a great time writing it, and I'm thrilled with the illustrations by Kevin O'Malley. Here's the complete review from Publishers Weekly, who really seemed to get the point: Simon, the hero of Wallace's (The Camera) gracefully told story, tries to overcome his rambunctious nature: "He was as noisy as he was big, and that made him very noisy." On a summer trip to Africa with his parents, who are wildlife photographers, Simon tries to keep quiet, especially on the photo shoots, but he just cannot manage. Excluded from a shoot, Simon is miserable:

"Now he knew that he wasn't just bigger and noisier than anyone else in his class, but in all of Africa, too." Fortunately, a herd of elephants big, noisy elephants fill him with confidence and, surprisingly, inspire him to be quieter as well, when he sees them moving silently at night. He carries the lesson home, where sometimes, just as he's "about to be big and noisy," he remembers the elephants. "He'd pretend he was walking across the dark savanna, and the only sound was the grass whispering against his smooth gray sides." O'Malley's (Leo Cockroach... Toy Tester) puckish illustrations capture Simon in all his overeager glory: his mouth stretches hugely across his face, his body seems either in motion or rigid with the effort to be still. Two particularly fine vistas one of the elephants at night and one of Simon seated on a vast, twilit savanna evoke the composure Simon aspires to, showing both the protagonist's and the illustrator's more thoughtful sides. Ages 4-7.
—Publishers Weekly

Three More Great Baseball Books

Baseball

100 Classic Moments from the History of the Game

A highly addictive read.
—Maxim

The Autobiography of Baseball

The Inside Story from the Stars Who Played the Game

A delight... For fans, a box seat behind the dugout.
—People Magazine

The Baseball Anthology

125 Years of Stories, Poems, Articles, Photographs, Drawings, Interviews, Cartoons, and Other Memorabilia

One of the best gift books of the season.
—Sports Illustrated