I wrote a book! It took three years, but I did it. I did it In spite of never having done anything like it before and in spite of one of the noisiest neighbors on the entire planet living not a dozen feet from my tiny house in California.

It was, if I might say so, a labor of love. The whole idea of creating something that almost had a life of its own was close to intoxicating. The characters became living beings who did not know me, yet I knew them. I not only knew them, but came to love every one of them for their strengths, vulnerabilities, and quirkiness.

I suppose you could say the overriding theme of the work is the age-old “good over evil.” Yet it is more than that. It is different from anything I’ve read in a very long time – if ever – and I found it difficult to pinpoint an actual genre into which it would fit. I ended up calling it a “Speculative Future Thriller” for want of anything more descriptive.

It is set nearly one hundred years in the future and yet, as we look back, things don’t change an awful lot in a hundred years. Sure, there are new medicines and technological discoveries, but life pretty much moves on. Remember, we drove gasoline powered cars one hundred years ago and we are still driving gasoline powered cars today.

But other things did change. In order to write my story I had to build a slightly different country from the one we currently experience. Many things changed for the better yet the same old war-happy world still existed.

I have had so much fun trying out a “trailer” for the book (which is, as you know if you are following my progress, still to be published). This is something about which I have absolutely no how-to knowledge and so I have ended up with something just fun and a flight of fancy. I think it’s a hoot. I’m sure much better trailers for books have been created, but they are not MY trailer and they are not about MY book.

I still laugh every time I play this first effort. Just because it’s so much fun.

This book is scheduled to be published in the latter part of this year. But things being as they are I’m not sure the timeline will be that dependable. Still, like any other author who has created something, I’m excited to see it when it finally does see print. I hope you will be, too.

I am so happy to announce the publication of this short story by the Hamline University English Department. It can be viewed on their website here: Hamline Lit Link

This is, I believe, some of my very best work and is certainly a favorite. I’m so pleased at the additional exposure Hamline University affords this work.

Update: I’m happy to announce this volume has been published and is now available in both Kindle and Paperback at Amazon!

I’m excited to announce that I have been included in the Who’s Who of Emerging Writers: 2020 to be released by Sweetycat Press the first of May this year.

A short video describing this volume can be viewed on YouTube.

This compendium of emerging writers will be available on Amazon in both print and Kindle editions.

That my work was judged worthy of inclusion is an honor, and I would like to sincerely thank the selection committee and the editor, Steve Carr.

I’m very pleased to announce the publication of my short story entitled “Love Unexpected” in this latest volume from Clarendon House.

This was quite a departure from my usual writing, but I’m happy to say that I quite enjoyed it and I hope you will, too.

This anthology is also available in the Kindle edition through Amazon.

I’m excited to announce the publication of “White Justice,” my latest short story in the new anthology from Clarendon House.

This volume is also available in Kindle format from Amazon.

This is one of those stories that begged to be written. And I was excited to be the one to do it. I hope those who purchase and read this volume of short stories will enjoy it every bit as much as I did writing it.

I’m so happy to announce the publication – in print – of my short story, “Islands,” in the new anthology from Clarendon House entitled Maelstrom. This anthology is available here: Clarendon House and at Amazon in the Kindle edition.

This story is, I feel, one of my very best. It hit a chord within me and I hope you will also find it worthy of your time and attention.

Three of my quite small poems have been published in the December issue of the Inner Circle Writer’s Magazine. This is an online publication.

My poems entitled: This Going the Distance, Sunshine and Sorrow and This Tiny Voice will be found on page 64 of this publication.

My very short story, “Pick-A-Lock Pete,” has been given a slight makeover and is now in print! You will find it in the Gleam anthology published by Clarendon House and edited by Grant Hudson. It’s available now!

The Kindle version is also available now at Amazon.

I have received a contract for my speculative-future thriller, LEGACY 627!

This is very early stages. However, this work has been several years in the creating. I started work on it in Santa Rosa, California – a place that serves as the background setting for part of the story. I finished it up after moving to Oregon and after many, many careful edits.

This was a difficult concept for me to bring to fruition in a first novel as the story takes place both in the present and in the past. The difficulty was that the “present” and the “past” are both set in our own future. I think I handled it well. At least I hope I did.

As I said, this is very early stages. The contract has only just been signed, but I feel comfortable with, and excited to make, this announcement.

I want to thank the editor at Black Opal Books for seeing something of value in this manuscript. I received his letter of acceptance on August 9, 2019 –Book Lovers Day! How appropriate is that?

Black Opal Books is a small publisher but is just right for me for several reasons – not the least of which is that it is recognized by both the Mystery Writers of America and the International Thriller Writers Organization. They are also quite fond of the Oxford comma, which gets them a big thumbs-up from me.

Stay tuned for future announcements and updates on this forthcoming novel, LEGACY 627!