I've been writing fiction since my teens, having won a national short story writing contest sponsored by a Sunday school magazine. During the 1960s I wrote poetry for the European edition of Stars and Stripes, and have done articles, reviews, cartoons, and photography for a number of publications in Asia, Africa, and the U.S. I write in several genres, mystery, fantasy, urban fantasy, and humor, in addition to non-fiction; but, my favorite is mystery.I wrote a book on leadership, Things I Learned from my Grandmother about Leadership and Life, in 2008, which continues to enjoy modest sales but a growing reputation on three continents. In 2009, I went back to my first love, fiction, with Color Me Dead, the first in my Al Pennyback mystery series.I was editorial cartoonist for the Spring Lake (NC) News from 1977 to 1981, and had a regular cartoon page and did cover art for the now defunct Buffalo magazine, a publication geared to showcasing the contribution of soldiers of color in US history.I began the Al Pennyback mystery series from a desire to see stories about Washington, DC, my adopted home, that focused on the ordinary people rather than spies, lobbyists, and politicians.I write for a number of Internet sites; I was a featured travel contributor on Yahoo Voices from 2010 to 2012 until the featured contributor program was terminated, and am the diplomatic correspondent for asnycnowradio, an Internet radio station based in New York. My own blogs can be viewed at http://charlesaray.blogspot.com and I blog occasionally at http://www.redroom.com/author/charles-a-ray.I still write poetry from time to time, and have appeared in a number of anthologies.I've recently begun experimenting with making short videos. They can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/user/Charlieray45?feature=guide.