(Author’s note: I’ve posted this before. I was reminded of it as I watched the Yankees lose, and badly at that, to the Tigers last night. During a 9-run 7th inning, the Tigers’ designated hitter, Kerry Carpenter, hit a triple, my favorite moment in a major league baseball game. So, here’s the article that I...Read More

The Life of One FBI Informant I don’t usually venture into politics on this blog, but every now and then an item pops up that has a ridiculously close relationship to what I’ve been working on, so here goes. I ran across the following item while sipping my morning coffee today. Yesterday, the Speaker of...Read More

“4.5 out of 5 Stars” I just ran across a review of my new gangster bio that was posted on August 5th. It’s entitled “Greg Scarpa, Legendary Evil: The Many Faces of a Mafia Killer – A Comprehensive Review.” It is indeed comprehensive. The review covers, “Summary of the Plot, Main Characters, and Setting,” “Writing...Read More

I Have Never Used, Nor Will I Ever Use, AI to Write Anything It’s a hot topic and I hesitate to jump in, but jump in I will. First things first. I have never used AI to write anything. I mean it. Not an email, not a social media post, not a paragraph of any...Read More

Setting the Pace with Five-Star Reviews of Scarpa Biography In addition to the statements made by a number of podcasters as noted in the book’s “Editorial Reviews” section on Amazon, readers’ reviews are starting to trickle in for my biography of notorious Mafia killer and FBI informant Greg Scarpa published by WildBlue Press. I initially...Read More

The Relationship between Bigamist Greg Scarpa and his Gumar, Linda Schiro One of the many fascinating aspects of Greg Scarpa’s life was his 32-year relationship with Linda Schiro. Greg Scarpa, Legendary Evil takes a critical look at that relationship, one that produced two children, endured a sham marriage for Schiro and a second marriage for Scarpa,...Read More

Greg Scarpa, Legendary Evil Garners a 5-Star Rating on Goodreads The recently-released biography Greg Scarpa, Legendary Evil from WildBlue Press has just scored its first rating on Goodreads. Five stars! Damian Miller, who did a great job of reading for the audiobook version, wrote, “it was well researched and an interesting story that no one...Read More

From Money to Murder – Scarpa Manipulated the FBI as he Betrayed the Mafia  The following excerpt from chapter 2 of Greg Scarpa, Legendary Evil provides some insight into Scarpa’s earliest attempts to determine what criminal behavior by a Top Echelon Criminal Informant might be tolerated by the FBI. I’ve removed the annotations for ease...Read More

Holding the Result of Close to Three Years of Effort I received my author’s copies of Greg Scarpa, Legendary Evil published by WildBlue Press today. Before today, my exchanges with the publisher and editor have all been electronic. Those exchanges have certainly been gratifying. However, being able to put my hands on the thing they...Read More

Murder as the Go-To Solution for Putting the Mob in Jeopardy The following is an excerpt from Chapter 9, “A Storm Grows in Brooklyn,” of Greg Scarpa, Legendary Evil published by WildBlue Press. The excerpt’s annotations have been removed for ease of reading. Enjoy! “Although Ocera had managed to survive for more than a month...Read More

A #3 Ranking on Amazon for New Releases, Organized Crime True Stories This morning’s good news is that, as of this writing, Greg Scarpa, Legendary Evil is ranked #3 on Amazon in the category of New Releases, Organized Crime True Stories. The book has been out less than two weeks. During that time WildBlue Press...Read More

A Surprising Use of a Legal Education The summer that I was honorably discharged from the Army, I started law school. My inspiration for attending law school was the character of Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird. That may sound corny and naïve, but there it is. I wanted to be in a courtroom...Read More

“Three Rules for Writing” When I started writing 30+ years ago the internet was in its infancy. Blogs, so far as I knew, did not exist; social media was just over the horizon; print books, magazines, and newspapers still dominated the reading landscape; and the number of accessible experts, self-proclaimed and accredited, on any subject...Read More

A Week of Promotion of Greg Scarpa, Legendary Evil Generates Sales in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. My gangster biography, Greg Scarpa, Legendary Evil , was launched a week ago by WildBlue Press. Sales have been picking up in the U.S., and the book has broken through in Canada and the U.K. My publisher...Read More

The Launch of Greg Scarpa, Legendary Evil Hits the Podcast Circuit WildBlue Press launched my gangster bio Greg Scarpa, Legendary Evil  on Tuesday, 7/22. In support of the launch I’ve been appearing on podcasts as part of the publisher’s marketing strategy. Those podcasts include True Crime Screening Room with Jim the Podcast Sherpa,  Darkness Radio’s...Read More

WildBlue Press Promotes Greg Scarpa, Legendary Evil with an Official YouTube Trailer! This morning, WildBlue Press posted an official trailer to coincide with their launch of my gangster bio, Greg Scarpa, Legendary Evil. View it here on YouTube! As always, I’ll keep you posted.Read More

WildBlue Press Promotes Greg Scarpa, Legendary Evil and Launches the Audiobook, Hardcover, and Paperback Versions The team at WildBlue Press has been working hard to get the word out about the upcoming launch of my gangster bio, Greg Scarpa, Legendary Evil. The results? In less than 24 hours they have received several requests for Advance Review...Read More

One More Week Until the Launch of Greg Scarpa, Legendary Evil The interior proof is in great shape; the formatting looks great; and the book is 524 pages cover to cover! The page count includes bibliography (18 pages), endnotes (146 pages), and index (20 pages). The launch date is still set for Tuesday, July 22nd....Read More

Top Ranking for Scarpa Bio in Newly Released Organized Crime Biographies! Even though the book is currently only available for prerelease orders as an eBook, this week, Greg Scarpa, Legendary Evil reached #1 on Amazon’s “Hot New Releases” of  organized crime biographies. Not a bad start. The release date is still set for 10 days...Read More

A Chance to Promote My Upcoming Book on “True Crime Talk” Last week I had the pleasure of being a guest on True Crime Talk, a podcast that is the brainchild of my publisher, WildBlue Press. We spent about an hour talking about my new book, Greg Scarpa, Legendary Evil. If all continues to go...Read More

Greg Scarpa, Legendary Evil to be Released on July 22nd! If all continues to go well, Greg Scarpa, Legendary Evil will be released on July 22nd. It is currently available for prerelease order on Amazon in its eBook form and will soon be available for prerelease order in hardcover and paperback too. I started this project...Read More

The Last Phase in Manuscript Prep for Publication After a week of serious time in the chair, plugging away at each of my editor’s changes and comments, I was able to send the latest version of my Greg Scarpa biography manuscript back to my publisher, WildBlue Press. Lots of meticulous work and not much else...Read More

The Next Phase in Getting My Book Ready for Publication Phase II of the editing process of my Greg Scarpa biography manuscript is underway at WildBlue Press. This phase is characterized by a focus on line edits. Honestly, I had to look up what line edits are. Turns out, they’re about what they sound like....Read More

The True Crime Publication Process to Date Phase I of the editing process of my Greg Scarpa biography manuscript is complete. I turned the manuscript around today by responding to my editor’s solid substantive suggestions and keen, professional eye for minutia. We’ll soon see what phase II at WildBlue Press looks like. So far, so...Read More

Re-entering the Publication Process It has been more than a year since I completed the first draft of my Greg Scarpa biography. I received an offer of publication a couple of months later. I declined the offer for reasons of my own, reasons that had nothing to do with the prospective publisher. Two weeks ago,...Read More

Reupping “A Nick Temple Christmas” The Christmas season is upon us, so it’s time to once again post an original bit of Nick Temple I composed while stationed in Berlin during the early 1980s. I wrote this bit while working in subsystem Echo at the Field Station’s intercept site on Teufelsberg. It’s one of about...Read More

Uncles My brother sent me the picture below this morning. It’s a picture of my father, the man on the far right, and his four brothers. It was taken in the late 1960s. As far as I know, it’s the last photograph of them all together as my Uncle Pete, the man seated in the...Read More

A Cold War Podcast with Mark Valley and Jonathan Dyer Mark Valley, West Point Grad, Berlin veteran, actor, producer, writer, and all around good guy, has a podcast called The Live Drop. A while back he interviewed me. We talked about a wide range of matters including my time as a Russian Linguist in Berlin...Read More

A Tale of Two Triples (Author’s note: This is an article I wrote for a fantasy baseball blog back in 2012. I’m posting it as the Major League Baseball season opens in truncated fashion due to covid-19.) During a night game on April 20th, the Oakland A’s Jemile Weeks hit a triple against the Cleveland...Read More