About Me
As an author, I feel like a novice, though I am 81 and have written textbooks and articles throughout my career.
I began writing these novels at age 75. It just proves you can do anything you put your mind to, and age does not matter.
I am a Vietnam veteran, father, grandfather, and husband. After retiring my wife and I sold our home in Seattle WA, purchased an RV and hit the road. We were camp hosts at national parks and had a wonderful time meeting new people and seeing the country we love. It also gave me an opportunity to meet some of my future inspirations for my characters, especially in Book II.
We settled in Lincoln City Oregon for a few years and recently came back to WA State were my series takes place.
Writing, for me, is fun. It’s been fun creating my characters, the stories, procedures, creating action scenes, romantic dialogues and back stories. It’s just fun writing with the hope of what I put on paper, you, the reader, will find of interest and enjoyment.
Connect with me through my readers list. Follow me on social media, and if you have read one of my books and enjoyed it please leave me a review on Amazon.
My Series
Each book has a different murder or series of murders. I leave it to the medical examiner to be explicit, if necessary. Not realizing it initially, several of the books carry social messages aligning intertwined in the murders. It gave me an opportunity to express, through Kelly and his colleagues, information and perceptions about homelessness, PTSD, white supremacy, and abuse.
My characters became like friends. Kelly, a macho Army MP turned detective, shows moments of brilliance along with streaks of romanticism. Yes, he’s a cop but madly in love with his former high school sweetheart. He’s close with his partners, Bob Conway, and later Frankie Glover. He’s very close with his Sergeant, Matthew Ivan Troy, and just loves it when he’s called to his office by a growling voice. Sherlock, his first name Randy, unlocks computer systems to give Kelly answers he needs. Dr. Caitlin Ward, a forensic psychologist, likewise gives Kelly and his team explanations behind criminal behaviors. He’s got a Chief who respects his investigative talents.
Each book is self-contained, but readers of the full series will be rewarded with foreshadowing of future books and references to activities from previous books.
Enjoy!
My Writing Journey
These procedural detective murder mysteries eased onto my computer screen when, after quite some time taking classes and reading about creative writing, I decided to begin to write. So many, well intended individuals, would suggest I write this way or that. But I had to write what was comfortable for me.
One of my daughters had given me a book on writer prompts. It was one of those prompts that began it all. I sat in my front room with the computer on my lap and fabricated my story. It unfolded over a series of days until I realized a book was in the making. Kelly emerged as my protagonist, lead character, and from that moment, I continued to dream.
Someone asked me if I outline my story. They were quite surprised when I said no. I begin to write, and let it flow from that moment.
The first book in the series, “Under Their Nose” was the hardest to write with many rewrites and edits. Several talented colleagues reviewed the book and made editorial recommendations. A contest judge even wrote a review that was overwhelmingly affirming. I was on the right track in writing the way I was writing … having fun and hoping you, the reader, would as well.