In 1993, she moved to the Mojave Desert as a crime beat reporter for the "Las Vegas Sun", where she worked until 1998, then freelanced for "The New York Times" and the Reuters news service and wrote true-crime books and biographies. While still at the "Sun", in 1997, her first book, "The Killing of Tupac Shakur", was released. Huntington Press released the book on the first anniversary of Shakur's death, issuing a 25,000-copy first printing, according to "Publishers Weekly", with a second edition released in 2002. "The Killing of Tupac Shakur" was number 2 on the "Los Angeles Times" bestseller list in paperback nonfiction the week of June 11, 2000.