DALLAS-FORT WORTH The former managing editor of the West Milford Messenger, Larry Moniz of Warren County, has signed with Swimming Kangaroo Books of Arlington, Texas, for his first novel, “Inside Story: Murder in the Pinelands.” “We are thrilled to be able to publish Larry’s book,” said Dindy Robinson, publisher of Swimming Kangaroo Books, www.swimmingkangaroo.com. “The acquisitions editor who read his book enjoyed it very much and we’re fast-tracking it for an Early November release. It will be available through Barnes and Noble and Amazon.com.” Swimming Kangaroo Books is a relative newcomer to the traditional book publishing industry. Currently, it has eight books in print. “Inside Story: Murder in the Pinelands” is about an ensemble investigative team of fictional magazine reporters who work to reveal a cover-up and apprehend an Iraqi spy who killed a Pinelands native. “Larry is no stranger to the book industry; in the first half of the 1980s he was an account supervisor for the major New York City public relations agency that helped Harlequin Books become the dominant figure in the romance genre. Other clients have included Shorewood Fine Arts Books and individual authors,” said Robinson. “He holds a dozen Journalism writing awards and was senior account supervisor on the Coleco Cabbage Patch Kids account, one of the major product publicity successes of the mid-1980s,” she said. In addition to being a member of the Mystery Writers of America, he’s a former member of the Society of Professional Journalists, Working Press Association, Garden State Journalists, Society of Environmental Journalists, and the association of Military Reporters and Editors.