After 20 years as CEO of BlackSportsOnline — building a platform that millions have trusted for unfiltered sports takes, culture, and truth — I’m stepping into a brand-new chapter that feels like destiny calling.

Today, I’m proud to announce that under my pen name RL Little, I have signed a major publishing deal with Heliotrope Books, the prestigious New York publisher known for elevating bold, ambitious voices, for my debut novel MAX POWER: A Maxwell Power Mystery.

This is the launch of something massive: the first book in a planned 10-part series that will build out the entire Maxwell Powers Universe.

Maxwell Powers is unlike any character you’ve ever met. A former NBA champion with a rare gift called Cognitive Hyperintuition Syndrome, Max sees patterns and cracks cases in ways no one else can. From the bright lights of the league to the darkest streets of L.A. and New York, he’s pulled into high-stakes mysteries involving serial killers, shadowy conspiracies, sports scandals, and the kind of personal demons that hit harder than any defender on the court. It’s raw, intelligent, cinematic, and told through an unapologetically Black lens that blends pulse-pounding thriller energy with authentic sports insight and cultural depth. This isn’t just another mystery series — it’s something the genre has never seen before.

I’ve poured my heart, my experiences, and two decades of storytelling fire into this project. As I’ve always said, life is like a book with many chapters, and mine has had more twists and turns than your favorite James Patterson novel. But as I enter this 3rd act of my life, I want to do once again what I do best: use my unique voice and perspective to create a new genre in the literary world and shake things up. I hope this chapter of my life is a bestseller, literally and figuratively.

Partnering with Heliotrope Books is the perfect fit. Their passion for powerful stories and their track record of turning ambitious visions into movements made them the ideal home to bring this universe to life in the biggest way possible.

But here’s the most important part: the success of MAX POWER and the entire Maxwell Powers Universe is going to be a true collaboration between me and you — my loyal BSO family that’s ridden with me for 20 years.

This is our project. I’m letting every single one of you inside the process — the real, raw journey of getting a book published. The ups and the downs. The ins and the outs. The pain, the suffering, the good days, and the bad ones. I’m pulling back the curtain completely so you can see exactly what it takes. My hope? That it inspires other aspiring authors to never give up… and that it lights a fire in someone who’s never picked up a pen before and makes them start writing their own story today.

Your excitement, your support, your voices spreading the word — that’s what’s going to turn this into a movement and a bestseller. I’m all in, and I know you will be too.

MAX POWER is coming soon.

The universe is expanding.

Follow the journey at @RLLittleMPU on X, Instagram, and everywhere else. Early looks, updates, and more are dropping soon.

The Facebook page for all the new updates and the newsletter to stay up to day.

From the North Side of St. Louis to these pages — this is only the beginning.

Let’s make history together.

— RL Little (Robert Littal) CEO, BlackSportsOnline | Debut Novelist, Heliotrope Books

P.S. If my sports takes have kept you locked in all these years… just wait until you meet Maxwell Powers.