Walter Snow is doomed. He stares at the blank pages in his typewriter, hoping for the spark that will finally ignite his ambition to write the Great Armenian Novel. And then he meets Clyde Potts. She is beautiful, intelligent, charming, perhaps psychic, and, for better or worse, very possibly unbalanced. With Potts's joie de vivre and her certified-insane partner in crime, Fox Harris, Snow is caught up in a series of pranks against corporate sprawl...

Ellery Queen investigates a mobster whose bizarre death is marked by the number 9 Nino Importuna has a soft face, but when he smiles, it's terrifying. His Central Park penthouse is lavish, but it was bought with the blood of his enemies. His criminal empire controls mining, electronics, and food-legitimate corporations that he runs with a murderer's touch. When he catches one of his capos stealing from him, Importuna could either kill the man or...

"Christian Thydell's dream has come true. His debut novel, The Mermaid, has been published to rave reviews. So why is he as distant and unhappy as ever? When crime writer Erica Falk, who helped Christian discover and develop his talents, learns he has been receiving anonymous threats, she investigates not just [the] messages but also the young [author's] mysterious past. Then, one of Christian's closet friends, Magnus, goes missing. Erica's husband,...

Gregory Keays is a writer whose brilliant future is behind him. Corroded with envy, Gregory watches as his contemporaries produce better work and live happier lives while he teaches community college composition classes and compiles books about other books. One day, Gregory is convinced, the world will recognize his talents. In the meantime, his marriage to a new-age feng shui artist has become cold and distant, and his relationship with his reclusive...

Coerced by Alexandre Drake--one of her fictional characters who has become all too real--to attend the WAR (We Are Romance) conference, mystery writer Maggie Kelly is faced with murderous fanatics, backstabbing colleagues, overzealous writers, and NYPD Lieutenant Steve Wendell.

"Two apparently accidental deaths at the Marconi telegraph station. The drowning of a local girl. Two cases that involve Charles, Lord Sheridan, and his wife, Kate, in foreign espionage, malicious intrigue, and inexplicable messages sent out of the blue."--

Fairy-tale romances end with a wedding, and the fairy tales don't get complicated. In this book, the celebrated writer Mr. Fox can't stop himself from killing off the heroines of his novels, and neither can his wife, Daphne. It's not until Mary, his muse, comes to life and transforms him from author into subject that his story begins to unfold differently.

"A fantasia of a double tale skimming through the art capitals of Europe with double muses, double love pursuits, double Raphaels, even double authors, a tale dripping with idealized romantic settings, mystery, art, and a touch of magic, The Sidewalk Artist will keep readers wondering what is real and what is artifice--as fine paintings always do." --Susan Vreeland, author of Girl in Hyacinth Blue While in Europe researching her next novel, twenty-something...

A young writer-to-be embarks on a comic coming-of-age journey through the crushing mediocrity of work, the vagaries of fate, and the mysteries of sex A confused and conflicted but not altogether angry young man shares his observations, disappointments, rants, and sexual desires in a revealing series of letters to an unnamed friend. Our hero wants to be a writer, but is stuck doing mind-numbing work for an unscrupulous encyclopedia publisher. He muddles...

The Cowboy Kidnaps A Bride. Dylan Janos had no intention of getting married for real. When he whisked Abbie Turner away, the footloose rancher was simply reviving a romantic Gypsy tradition. All he wanted were sizzling memories to take along when he left. And he would leave. He always did... The Bride Isn't Objecting! Abbie knew Dylan was kidding about marriage. He wasn't interested in settling down-just as Abbie had no intention of falling...