These are sites of friends, acquaintances, and fellow writers. Give them a try—and, please, buy their books or CDs or tea or go see them perform, whatever is applicable. They’re trying to make a living over here.

Robert Alexander, a.k.a. R. D. Zimmerman, has written a bunch of books, including two mystery series, the Trance books, starring Alex Phillips, and the Todd Mills series. He’s also written a handful of stand-alone espionage/thriller books. This site is devoted to his latest projects, the Russian-themed novels The Kitchen Boy and Rasputin’s Daughter.

The Belfast Cowboys play the music of Van “The Man” Morrison, the Belfast Cowboy. My friend Rodney Toogood, the Rock & Roll Veterinarian, plays bass. If you have a sick animal, or if you’re sick and can’t afford a human doctor, visit him at the Anderson Lakes Animal Hospital.

Beyond the Clouds is the biography of Walter “Matt” Jefferies, designer of the original starship Enterprise, and this website by the author, Matt’s brother Richard, is a great overview of Matt’s life and work, with lots of illustrations. Check out the site and buy the book!

Carole Nelson Douglas writes a whole bunch of stuff, usually mysteries in some form. My favorites are her Irene Adler novels, which tell the continuing adventures of Adler, who first appeared (just once!) in the original Sherlock Holmes stories.

Ellen Hart has two mystery series, one about Jane Lawless, who runs a restaurant I want to hang out in, and another about Sophie Greenway, who runs a hotel I want to hang out in. Don’t make me choose between them. And you should know that Ellen makes incredible cheesecake.

Pete Hautman writes great funny capers, but they still have an edge to them, so that when a character is threatened, you know they could be hurt. He also writes young adult fiction like the National Book Award–winning Godless. He once told me he foresaw me as an old man living in a shack and shaking my fist at the world while shouting, “Sons of bitches!” So, he’s an insightful guy.

Randy Leffingwell is a photographer and author of books on a variety of subjects, from wine to cars to barns. No matter what he takes a picture of, it becomes art. Anyone who thinks you need a twenty-plus-ounce glass for drinking zinfandel is good people in my book.

Lehto & Wright are a two-man Irish/English/American acoustic folk band. Sometimes they pull a Dylan-at-Newport thing and go electric with their friend Matt Jacobs on percussion. Steve Lehto is one of my oldest friends, but don’t hold that against him.

Mary Logue is a poet. You can tell this when you read her fabulous mystery novels, because the language of the poet weaves through every page. Trust me, you want to read her books. She lives with Pete Hautman, and they are now collaborating on a children’s mystery series.

The Minnesota Crime Wave is a chain gang of mystery writers: Carl Brookins, the aforementioned Ellen Hart, and William Kent Krueger, who has been known to show up in prison stripes and a ball and chain. They’re probably coming to a bookstore near you soon. Keep an eye on your wallet.

The Rose Ensemble is an amazing vocal group performing primarily a cappella medieval, Renaissance, baroque, and folk music, founded in 1996 by my friend Jordan Sramek. Also look for the music of Dare to Breathe, Jordan’s other a cappella group (sadly, now-disbanded), which performed more contemporary music.

Resort to Murder is the mystery anthology my story “Out of the Jacuzzi, Into the Sauna” is in, and this is its very own webpage. Check here for upcoming events, reviews, and anything else we think of putting on the page.

Bob Slaughter is the author of Omaha Beach and Beyond, a memoir I edited at Zenith Press. Bob is a World War II veteran who landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day, and it was an honor to work with him.

TeaSource sells fine tea and accessories online and in two tea shops where you can get your choice of over two-hundred teas and tisanes freshly brewed. Proprietor and Tea Guy Bill Waddington can teach you more about tea in five minutes than you ever knew before. I edited most of Will to Murder while drinking tea at TeaSource.

X-communication is a publishing and graphic design company in Duluth at the very tip of Lake Superior. My old friend Tony Dierckins—we cemented our friendship during a road trip to a Dylan and the Dead concert in 1986—runs the whole show and I do most of the editing. It’s almost as though we know what we’re doing.

Do you know anyone who doesn’t have a website?
Tell me about it.

All textual content and photographs copyright Scott Pearson (unless otherwise noted); all cover images copyright their respective publishers.