 Partly because of trouble with his publishers, in 1984 he stopped writing and opened a store specializing in second-hand and rare books called the Old Algonquin Bookstore.At the urging of fellow authors, he returned to the world of novels in 1992 with his first Cliff Janeway novel, "Booked to Die".In 1994 he closed the store and continued it as an internet and mail order business called Old Algonquin Books.