Roger L. Simon, mystery writer, novelist, and winner of both the John Creasey Award (Crime Writers of Great Britain) and Mystery Writers of America Special Award, has a weblog! He started his blog as a means to promote his latest novel, Director’s Cut, but it has become a place of political observation with occasional morsels of miscellany.
The site was designed by Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs and is nice to look at and easy to navigate. You’ll find reviews of his work, book signing schedules, and some nice links in the right column of the homepage. At the top of the page are links to his `about’ page, books, films, pictures, and `words’.
If you aren’t familiar with the author, I recommend checking out his `about’ page first. It is well-crafted like all of his blog entries, and you get to see what he looked like as a child. In full cowboy attire. The `words’ section is full of reviews and commentary of Roger’s work in downloadable PDF file form. Worth checking out.
Anyone who followed the myriad `War Blogs’ floating around during the `Operation Iraqi Freedom’ days may have grown weary like I did of reading poorly thought-out opinions on it all. Fortunately, Roger reads a lot, and when he shares his views on the war, its aftermath, and anything else of a political nature, he has done his research. His entries are always germane, and he provides links and articles and quotes from diverse sources.
BLOGGING AND ITS USES (found in the April archives) was my favorite entry. I plan to shamelessly use his words: `I’m no Nostradamus. (In fact, Nostradamus was no Nostradamus.)’ in conversation as soon as I can. In Roger’s own words apropos his weblog: `For the first time in a long life of scribbling, I am writing with no one over my shoulder but you, dear reader–no editor, publisher, producer, executive, star, director, agent, underpaid development girl, studio elevator operator, etc.’ I rather like reading over his shoulder even though he’s hiding nothing.
Roger Simon’s weblog is always a good read. It is heavy on the political commentary, but always in an engaging way. And for those of you who don’t follow politics, there are some good entries about book signing events and a wonderful entry about his trip to Siberia. This weblog is decidedly worth bookmarking.Roger L. Simon