To celebrate the inking of my publishing deal, The Kings of Nothing: A Because We Are Short Mystery #2 is totally FREE from Amazon.com till 10/14/13. 

Click here to download the ebook!

I have a publisher. And it's not just any publisher.

Last week, I signed a book deal with Amazon Publishing's mystery and thriller imprint, Thomas & Mercer. What's this mean for my novel Because We Are? Some pretty fantastic things.

The book will undergo a fresh edit and be republished next year, newly backed by Amazon's marketing power. Needless to say, a lot more people are going to be reading Because We Are starting next May!

The way this happened is miraculous: one of T&M's editors came upon the book in the Amazon store, scanned the reviews, read the book, loved it, and contacted me out of nowhere about purchasing it. Quite the surprise!

Even more exciting, this deal will multiply the book's impact dramatically. All my author's royalties are and will continue to be donated to organizations working in Haiti.

What's the bottom line? To everyone who pledged their support, bought the book, or wrote a review, I can't thank you enough! I may have written the story, but you all made this happen. 

I've been hard at work on some other projects as of late, among them this new short story! I'm pleased to release the second short mystery in the Because We Are series, entitled "The Kings of Nothing." I hope you enjoy it!

"A new short mystery giving life to the highly-praised characters and world of Because We Are: A Novel of Haiti, The Kings of Nothing picks up as Edge St. Marc, a renowned Haitian-born musician, comes to the slums of Port-au-Prince to play a one-time concert. The only problem? When called to the stage, the singer has vanished. Only pint-sized detectives Libète and Jak can put the pieces together before the spurned community erupts in conflict. 

Set in the months prior to the full-length mystery novel Because We Are, Oswald offers another winning exploration of the slums of Haiti in a unique story reverberating with the power of music and the folly of celebrity."


Click here to purchase the ebook now for just $.99.

Now through Sunday, June 16th, the new short mystery The Bloodied Birds is free to all! 

Visit Amazon.com to add this exciting story to your library, and let others know too. It's a great introduction to the world and characters of Because We Are. 

Click the image and download the story before this opportunity passes you by!  

I'm excited to announce The Bloodied Birds, the first of several short mysteries that will further flesh out the world and characters featured in Because We Are. Here's the synopsis:

"This short story, set prior to the events of Because We Are: A Novel of Haiti, features the return of two children from the slums of Port-au-Prince, the brash Libète and brilliant Jak. As a generation-old family feud is about to explode over some stolen chickens, only these pint-sized detectives are able to uncover who is behind the missing birds and prevent new blood from flowing in the streets of Cité Soleil.

For those who have read Oswald’s full-length mystery novel Because We Are, The Bloodied Birds offers a return ticket to Haiti, weaving a story of intrigue, heart, and social conscience that will please readers of all stripes."

Click here to purchase your copy for just $.99, available exclusively through Amazon.com for Kindle devices and reading apps 

I was thrilled to discover that Because We Are's cover was honored with a special 'Gold Star' in the January 2013 edition of the e-Book Cover Design Awards over at Joel Friedlander's site, thebookdesigner.com. 

Joel's assessment? "Fantastic combination of art and type, beautifully put together"

Hear, hear! Once again, a special thanks to designer Greg Ash for his stellar work. You can see more of his portfolio at designedbyable.com. 

To mark the Justice Conference 2013 (about to commence in the next few days in my home city, Philadelphia) Because We Are will once again be available for FREE straight from the book's page on Amazon.com. Please spread the word among anyone you think might appreciate this story of heart-rending injustice and staggering hope set amid the slums of Haiti.  

You can download the ebook here starting tomorrow morning through February 23rd.

I'm excited to share a review written by fellow author/blogger Kate Gray on her blog Gray Skies, reflecting on Because We Are. It's an in-depth look at the book, its central mystery, weighty ideas, and heavy themes, and a useful primer for anyone considering accompanying Libète and Jak on their perilous journey:

"Certainly we all think of Haiti in particular terms, here in the U.S. We don’t have the “history” with the island nation that France does, for instance. I’m sure many of us think immediately of dictatorships (Baby Doc Duvalier), unrest, UN interventions, and finally, The Earthquake. And because we live in a first world nation, where we readily ignore the starving and impoverished already living side by side with us, it’s all too easy to forget the woes of third world nations. Because we want to."That said, we can look to Haiti as a land with a particular ethos, even if that sensibility gets clouded from time to time. “Libète, Egalité, Fraternité” Moreover, it is the phrase, “because we are,” that is at the heart of this novel. Oswald does his level best to remind us, far more gently than might be warranted, that it is we who have muddied the waters. Rather than read this deep and engaging work with a sense of nagging guilt, however, one ought to read with a feeling of awe. I know that this is a complete work of fiction – but it might as well be documentary. There are probably far too many stories bearing resemblance to those of the characters Libète, Jak, Davidson, Aunt Estelle, Lolo, and Elize. There is grinding poverty. There are people who die of AIDS all the time. There are good people, those who struggle with good or bad choices, and then those who do bad things for thousands of reasons. There are girls (and probably boys) who have disappeared by the hundreds, and only their families know their names. Reading this novel may not give those lost souls their lives back – but it may help the living.

Oswald has managed to put some magic into the telling of an otherwise (extremely) grim tale. Perhaps it’s the result of how he deftly breaks the bad news up into bite-sized pieces, delivering us our poison incrementally. It’s also due to how well he tells his story of a young girl who refuses to accept her fate at face value."

Click here to read the rest of the review on Gray Skies.

I’m extremely excited to announce the release of my book, Because We Are: A Novel of Haiti, seeing it roughly coincide with the third anniversary of the 2010 Port-au-Prince earthquake.

The January 12 quake was one of the most tragic events in human memory, andBecause We Are is set against this staggering backdrop. A mystery at heart, the book follows a brash girl and a brilliant boy as they try to find the truth behind the murder of a mother and her infant child on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince. They soon find themselves wrapped up in events that spiral beyond their control, both natural and man-made. 

As many of you know, the story is born from my personal experience in Haiti mere months after the quake, and it’s especially appropriate to share on this anniversary when the world's attention once again fixes on Haiti and the quake's human toll. You might recall that the book is a "nonprofit novel," and all net proceeds will be donated to a number of outstanding organizations promoting sustainable development and human rights in Haiti. 

I’d love to share this story with you and your community. To celebrate the book's launch this week, and commemorate the quake, there are a few special announcements to share:

-Download the Kindle Ebook tomorrow and Friday for FREE--and tell your friends! 
In order to help the book reach the widest possible audience, I’m making the ebook downloadable for free from Amazon for two days. Just visit here today and tomorrow to download your free copy and have it in your Kindle library in seconds. 

-Purchase a stunning paperback copy for 15% off now through January 13th. 
This is the best way to enjoy the book, and provides the most money to organizations in Haiti. Just visit here and enter this discount code at checkout: AGYWGHGX. 

-Attend the Book Launch Event in Philadelphia. 
Coming January 29th from 7 - 8:15pm, join me at a special event at Drexel Law School (3320 Market Street) to hear more about the book and enjoy a reception to follow. You can RSVP and find more information here on Facebook. Copies of the book will be available for sale and inscription.

-Not ready to purchase a copy? 
Enter to win one of three paperback copies on the community reading site Goodreads. Just sign up here between now and January 13th. (You’ll need a Goodreads account.)

For more information about the book, and other ways to connect, please visit BecauseWeAre.com

Find the book on Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon