[Metal Mick]

Hi everyone,

my real name is Michael Pless, and I hail from Australia, where it is winter at the moment, or what passes for it. Any temperature below zero gets a mention on our nightly news, so by many standards our winters are mild.

I have no ebook reader at present, but want one quite badly. There are many coming onto the market, but even those already there provide a near-bewildering array of prices and choices. Of course, I want one that is perfect and tantamount to free! <vbg>

For background, I am a more-or-less retired forensic scientist: I gave the career away a while ago to help my wife raise our two beautiful daughters, and am now seeking to return to the workforce doing something or other.

Over the years, I completed my apprenticeship in precision optics, and studied biochemistry, eventually also completing a writing course. I have several part-completed novels and a raft of short stories that I tweak every now and then.

Favorite authors? I generally spurn literature (it is often dull and pretentious) for thrillers and the like. Greg Bear's science-fiction reaches me as well. Recently, I discovered Mick Herron. I enjoy George R. R. Martin's (fantasy) work, but wish he'd complete his Song of Ice and Fire series. (He seems to have painted himself into a corner, plot-wise.) I enjoy Robert Crais' work, though it is not so good as it once was. I am a gentle, thorough, and considerate editor of others' work, but a harsh critic of my own.

That's enough for now!

Michael P