Recent Book Activity

I live in Canberra, Australia, and am married with 2 grown-up kids and two chihuahuas.

I am a syndicated puzzle author, and sometime artist. I have written two Dummies puzzle books : Word Searches for Dummies and Cracking Codes and Cryptograms for Dummies (with Mark Koltko-Rivera) - both Wiley 2009. I am the co-author of A Guide for Adults with Hip Dysplasia. I'm also an indexer, and graphic and web designer. I am currently writing Solving Cryptic Crosswords For Dummies, due for release in August 2012.

You can follow me on my professional Facebook Page - I always love to see new faces there!

My favourite book genres are murder mysteries and comedy, followed distantly by science fiction. I also read lots of non-fiction. I love reference books (which I use extensively for writing puzzles), books about sceptical thinking, debunking myths & supernatural things, and atheism. I'm also keen on cooking, art, and craft books. But not romances or horror (but I register and release them if I get them for free, as sometimes happens).

A few of my favourite authors are Reginald Hill, Lindsey Davis, Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams, PG Wodehouse, Kaz Cooke, George Simenon, Ian Rankin, Ruth Rendell, Colin Dexter, Dave Barry, Kerry Greenwood, PD James, Dorothy Sayers, Rex Stout, Josephine Tey, Ellis Peters, and Oxford Reference Books.

If you'd like to download my free Butterfly Books label (designed to be printed in black & white, 4 to an A4 page) just go to the BookCrossing page on my web site. My Butterfly Books BC Book Label was printed in 2008.

Wish List

I want to read all of PD James' murder mystery books. Books in brackets are the ones I've read so far on my quest.

• (Cover Her Face 1962)
  
• (A Mind to Murder 1963)
  
• (Unnatural Causes 1967)
  
• (Shroud for a Nightingale 1971)
  
• (An Unsuitable Job for a Woman 1972)
  
• (The Black Tower 1975)
  
• Death of an Expert Witness 1977 - have it
  
• Innocent Blood 1980 - have it
  
• (The Skull beneath the Skin 1982)
  
• A Taste for Death 1986
  
• (Devices and Desires 1989)
  
• Original Sin 1994
  
• A Certain Justice 1997
  
• (Death in Holy Orders 2001)
  
• (The Murder Room 2003)
  
• (The Lighthouse 2005)
  
• (The Private Patient 2008)