Blog Archives
Surprising Directions
Sweet Ridge Hearts follows a New York marketing executive whose boyfriend steals her idea and promotion, leading her to move in with her cousin in a small town, where she rediscovers herself and finds a new chance at love. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
I wanted to show how the big, city life isn’t always what it’s hyped up to be. I also wanted to thread a story for Katy and Christine, so Christine could have her happily-ever-after too. Christine had already fallen in love in Book One, but I needed to resolve the long-distance relationship. So, that’s when I created Katy, her cousin, who embarks on her own journey in the small town of Maple Ridge and became my protagonist.
I enjoyed the romantic relationship between Katy and Derek; it is not a whirlwind passion-filled fling, but rather a slow-building and relatable connection. How did their relationship develop while you were writing it? Did you have an idea of where you wanted to take it, or was it organic?
I knew they both had to grow and evolve in order to be open to a new relationship. I knew what their flaws were and had some ideas of how they would work together, but often things appear organically. That’s what I love about writing—the way characters can take the writer in surprising directions.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
My dad was a Vet, and I wanted to show how we need to support our troops better when they return home with PTSD. I wanted to show his healing process. And for Katy, I wanted to encourage readers to follow their dreams, even when it’s scary to face our fears in doing so. I’m a big believer that dreams do come true.
What is the next book that you are working on, and when will it be available?
My next book is another small-town, sweet romance being published by The Wild Rose Press, called Forever Kind of Love. We are in the editing trenches now and don’t have a release date yet. I imagine it will be the end of 2025 or the beginning of 2026.
Author Links: GoodReads | X (Twitter) | Facebook | Website | Amazon
Yet even in country-quiet Maple Ridge, Katy’s skills can be useful, and she’s prepared to jump in to help Christine win a competition for her Sweet Ridge Bakery. What she’s not prepared for is handsome bakery manager Derek Higgins.
A veteran dealing with the aftermath of PTSD, Derek is a lone wolf, and he likes it that way. Being forced to work with a spirited businesswoman and her healthy ego is a challenge every step of the way. But the stakes are too high for him to give up helping his boss.
As the competition heats up, so does the chemistry with Katy—until she’s offered a new job in another city. Now she has to decide whether to take a risk and start her own company, or become the creative director of a new, successful firm, which is everything she ever wanted. At the same time, Derek must face his own issues when personal tragedy wraps him in survivor’s guilt, leaving him unable to forgive himself for past actions.
While Derek seeks to heal the wounds of a haunting past, and Katy searches for the courage to face her fears and forge a new path, what will become of their relationship?
Satire of the Human Condition
Pairs: This Dating Site Will Be the Death of You follows a detective in Tampa Fl who is investigating the bizarre death of a woman who invited seven peculiar men from a friendship-dating app called Pairs to the local aquarium, only to end up murdered. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
Interestingly, my inspiration came from the nights my friend, who had put herself – and me – on Match so we could both find partners, texted me countless weird profile pictures of people on the site. She was infuriated, but I found it really funny. I was at a riverside Tiki bar one day trying to write an outline for my second novel when I decided to write something funny about all the pictures she sent me. That turned into Pairs (none based on actual people, but not so far off the mark either).
Each character in this story is unique and leaves readers with more questions than answers. What was your inspiration for the characters’ interactions and backstories?
Pairs is set up so that I can inspire reader involvement. The characters are purposefully vague in order to stimulate reader imagination. At the end of the book, people are encouraged to write their own ending (I have done 3), and send it to me. I may put theirs on my website (pending approval signature etc from the contributor). Pairs is also set up formulaically. Its theme is online dating. All future books have a different theme. Detective Ned is the recurring character, and he develops a backstory throughout the series, and has his own diary on CracktheCaseBooks.com.
How do you balance story development with shocking plot twists? Or can they be the same thing?
I hate to say this, but I just write and edit. The ideas are almost too easy since it’s farce, folly, satire of the human condition… But I would also say they are about the same thing.
What is the next book that you are working on, and when will it be available?
- Mishaps is out already on Amazon. It is book #2.
- Books 3 (Wrecks) and 4 (Critters) should be out by the end of 2025, and 2 more are in the works for 2026.
- A longer, more serious mystery novel should also be out by the end of 2025. All info will be announced on social media and CracktheCaseBooks.com.
Author Links: GoodReads | X (Twitter) | Facebook | Website | Amazon
A woman searching for love. A string of online suitors. A deadly end. When a young woman’s body is discovered, Detective Ned is drawn into the murky world of online dating. The suspects? Every man in her dating history on the app Pairs. Each profile photo hides a secret: the suave charmer with a shady past, the awkward loner with an unhealthy obsession, or the too-perfect match with everything to lose..
In this sharp and satirical mystery, you hold the power to uncover the truth. Will the killer be caught in the web of lies? Choose from three gripping endings and then perhaps create your own. Submit your take to tremorinthehills@gmail.com for a chance to be featured on crackthecasebooks.com. Love might be a game, but in Pairs, the stakes are deadly.
Deep Kindness and Sincerity
Daughter of Starlight follows a young woman aging out of foster care who finds that a hidden cave holds the secret to her true identity. Where did the idea for this novel come from?
I have always loved the concept of “ordinary people doing extraordinary things.” Magical worlds aside, I believe we all have special gifts that we can share with one another, but first, we have to recognize and embrace those gifts within ourselves. Luma’s starlight power is innate, but it’s not easy—she has to work at it. This forces her to confront parts of herself that she never had the courage to face before, and in doing so, she steps into her true identity. I think the fantasy genre has a unique way of helping people see secret magic and possibilities in the everyday, so when I decided to write a fantasy story, I knew that was where I wanted to start.
What was your favorite scene in this story?
One of my favorite scenes in the story is when Luma decides to leave the safety of the mage’s island and help defend the elven forces at Northhelm from the attacking wizards. I really like this scene because it is the first time we see Luma truly trust herself and her abilities. Up until that point, her powerful starlight magic manifested sporadically in moments of adrenaline and fear; she had not felt confident in her magic, and it even scared her a little bit. But in that scene, she has the option to stay hidden and safe, to say “sorry, I’m not ready,” and no one would blame her for it – but she doesn’t. Whether she truly feels ready or not, she still chooses to go to the aid of her friends, trusting that she can offer them the best chance of survival, even if it means putting herself in danger. This scene marks a significant turning point in her character development, a moment where she first steps into her power and becomes ready to shoulder the mantle of leadership.
Was Luma’s backstory something you always had, or did it develop as you were writing?
When I draft, I create a rough outline for my characters to help map their goals and progress throughout the story. However, as I write, many characters grow and develop in ways I didn’t expect! Luma was definitely one of them. I originally outlined her to stay very guarded and cynical for most of the story. While she does start out that way at the beginning, it soon became clear, as I was writing, that Luma possesses a deep kindness and sincerity, even optimism, that was just waiting for the right circumstances to bring it out. Seeing this character evolution manifest itself on the page is one of my favorite aspects of writing.
I find a problem in well-written stories, in that I always want there to be another book to keep the story going. Is there a second book planned?
Yes! I am currently writing a sequel to Daughter of Starlight, and I hope to complete it by early next year. Stay tuned!
Author Links: GoodReads | Amazon
The Greater Criminal
The Right Side of Wrong follows two FBI Special Agents working on a crime with ties to a multi-billion-dollar case of corporate espionage, who find themselves on a high-stakes adventure in the Bahamas. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
My last two novels, Pedaling West and Survive the Day, featured characters Special Agents Marina Butnari and Doug Hill in the Crime Thriller genre. My third novel, The Other Side of Good, also a crime-thriller, didn’t include Butnari and Hill, but I hoped I might creatively connect that book to the crime-thriller series with The Right Side of Wrong. The similar titles for the two books suggest a relationship between them, and I incorporated characters from The Other Side of Good to join Butnari and Hill in the new book.
How did you develop the idea for the antagonist in this story, and how did it change as you wrote?
Given the history of one of the main characters of the book, Teddy Jay, the “central crime” for the story needed to be something different from the one I employed in other novels (Human Trafficking). My goal was to invite readers to consider a completely different type of crime from the traditional underworld ones … with characters just as evil. Between the lines, I hoped to challenge readers to determine which of the antagonists represented the greater criminal: the hired assassin, the senior executive who hired him, or the CEO of the major company who allowed the main crime to occur. As the story unfolded, the characters started “writing themselves.”
This sets up the novel to deliver some very entertaining scenes. What scene was the most fun to write?
As a former pilot, I enjoyed writing the chapter about the flight from Cincinnati to the Bahamas. I also liked writing the short section about the “redemption” of one of the early villains (Jack Walker/Harold Stinson/Mas).
Where does the next book in the series take the characters?
Good question…and I’m not sure. While I’ve enjoyed some critical success with the “crime-thriller” genre, the byline for my website is Stories with Heart. I manage to insert heart into the crime stories, but I’d like to use some of the interesting characters of past books in a story not centered around crime or enforcement. The travel log aspects of Pedaling West were popular with many readers of that novel, and I’m considering a follow-up…like Pedaling East.
Author Links: GoodReads | Website | Amazon
An intruder caught trespassing on a Caribbean banana plantation leads to an emergency call to a high-ranking FBI official. Within hours, Reno-based special agents, Marina Butnari and Doug Hill, are assigned a top-secret mission originating in the Bahamas.
Yet this is no simple attempted burglary. The crime ties to a multi-billion-dollar case of corporate espionage, and the intended victim is a mysterious agency resource with an identity known to few.
From shark-infested waters to criminal-infested boardrooms, the agents take a roller-coaster ride through the depravities created by greed. They discover that in this imperfect life, sometimes the best you can do is stay on ‘The Right Side of Wrong.’
EVOLVED PUBLISHING PRESENTS a crime fiction adventure featuring beloved characters from some of the other multiple award-winning books by E. A. Coe.
Criminal Elements
Secrets of the Shield is a collection of raw, pulse-pounding crime thriller stories rooted deep in real-world law enforcement, and told through the lens of a seasoned cop. Where did the idea for this novel come from and how did it develop over time?
The genesis of Secrets of the Shield stems from my twenty years of frontline experience investigating cases that few civilians ever witness. Throughout my career in specialized investigation units, I documented harrowing encounters with ruthless cartel operations involving human trafficking, drug distribution networks that spanned continents, execution-style homicides, and systematic extortion. My notebooks captured the chaos of the LA riots from inside the police perimeter, the tense negotiations of high-profile kidnappings where lives hung in the balance, and government corruption cases that revealed shocking betrayals of public trust. These weren’t distant news stories—they were realities I lived through daily, meticulously recording details that accumulated in field notebooks over two decades.
Among these cases was a seemingly routine undercover assignment in North Hollywood where I arrested suspects targeting grocery stores throughout LA for high-end merchandise. One of these suspects was Ricardo Ramirez, aka The Night Stalker, 5 years before his murder spree began. I took a Polaroid photo on the date of his arrest that I still have today and included in the book. The fingerprints and booking photo from his arrest at North Hollywood LAPD eventually identified him as Richard Ramirez. I found this photo well after his arrest and decided to tell the untold story that no one had documented in the news media, movies, or docuseries, including the Polaroid that had never been released to the public. This unexpected historical connection became one compelling element in my larger mission to document the hidden criminal landscape I navigated throughout my career.
What brings a smile to my face is that my wife Debbie deserves full credit for inspiring this book. She took one look at my growing collection of storage bins overflowing with case notes and said, “Either those notebooks become a book, or they’re moving into their own house—our garage needs breathing room!” That gentle nudge was all it took to transform decades of field notes into my first published work.
What was the most challenging part of writing Secrets of the Shield, and what was the most rewarding?
The most challenging aspect of compiling this book was exercising extreme caution regarding what information I could disclose. I needed to protect the integrity of the cases while, most importantly, safeguarding the victims and their families who were violently impacted by these predators who forever altered their lives.
The most rewarding outcome has been sharing these stories with readers to reveal the truth about criminal elements lurking in plain sight—predators waiting for their next helpless victims, completely devoid of empathy for the devastation they cause not only to their immediate victims but also to families and associates. These cases exist only in the memories of my fellow investigators and special agents who lived through them, and I felt compelled to help the public understand what transpires around them daily—incidents that often never receive media attention.
How did you decide what to include and leave out in your book?
My decisions about content were primarily guided by the protection of victims and their families, alongside maintaining both the criminal and civil integrity of these cases. Throughout the project, I sought professional legal counsel to ensure these objectives were met.
Will there be a follow-up novel to this story? If so, what aspects of the story will the next book cover?
Yes, I have two sequels launching toward the end of this year: Encrypted Patriot and The Coin Collector. These works elevate Secrets of the Shield into heightened crime thrillers with incredible action and government espionage drama that extends to other parts of the world. Many characters from the first book continue their journeys into covert government agencies, operating at the highest—sometimes officially nonexistent—security levels.
Author Links: GoodReads | X (Twitter) | Facebook | Website | Amazon
The truth has been buried—until now.
Los Angeles County: a sprawling metropolis where power, corruption, and violence collide in the shadows. For decades, the public has only seen the surface. Now, a retired veteran police investigative sergeant rips the veil off the city’s darkest secrets.
From the arrest of Richard Ramirez, the Night Stalker—five years before his reign of terror began—to the chaos of the Los Angeles riots, from covert operations dismantling cartel murder networks to exposing corrupt government officials, these are the cases that were sealed away. Until now.
What you’re about to read has never been disclosed to the public, including a single Polaroid photograph within these pages that tells a story of its own. This book reveals how a routine arrest led to the early identification of one of history’s most infamous serial killers. It uncovers the untold truth of the Los Angeles riots—what really happened in the streets and behind closed doors. It takes you deep inside covert missions that infiltrated the cartels’ blood-soaked empires and into the silent war against public official corruption.
These aren’t just stories. They are confessions from the front lines. Each chapter is a pulse-pounding descent into a world where monsters don’t hide in the shadows—they walk among us. Where justice isn’t always served, and the truth is more terrifying than fiction.
Once you step into this world, you won’t emerge unchanged. Buckle up. You’ve been warned.
Fans of Mindhunter, American Predator, and Don Winslow’s The Cartel will be drawn to this gripping, unfiltered account of crime and corruption. Based on real cases. Written by the man who lived them.
“Get your copy of Secrets of the Shield today and uncover the truth for yourself.”
The Narrative Arc of a Life
Universally Adored and Other One Dollar Stories is a sharp and emotionally rich collection of flash fiction that uses the humble dollar bill as a lens to explore love, loss, class, and quiet resilience in everyday lives. What was the inspiration for the setup of your stories?
I’ve been graced in life to be surrounded by hard-working people for whom money is a real thing. Something that determines fortune or misfortune, and all the complications that accompany them. And being an American, the “universally adored” American dollar perfectly captures the power money has over the narrative arc of a life.
I did not, however, set out to write a collection of “one dollar” stories. I wrote one—“Ricky Steiner Was Supposed To Die in Prison”—during a writing workshop series that I co-led for years, and it was well received. So, I riffed on the opening line again, then again, and soon it became like the “Pass the Object” theatre game in which each person in a circle must differently animate the same everyday object, like a bowl, without using words. The bowl becomes a hat, a knee brace, steering wheel, etc. The opening line, “One dollar,” became my “Pass the Object” game.
If you could expand just one of these flash pieces into a full-length novel, which would it be and why?
Well, interestingly enough, I’ve done just that! As you noted, a lot of my characters are pretty lonely, and I was worried about them, so I’ve taken 10 major characters (and a few minor characters) and plopped them down together in a fictitious diner in the Gulf Coast petrochemical town of Texas City in 1980 (which is next to my hometown). You’ll be glad to know that Paulina—the woman in the low-rent motel with the mechanical bed shaker who’s on the run from her abusive ex—is one of them!
The deep back story of this novel-in-progress (which is entitled I Will Read Ashes for You from the Carl Sandburg poem “Fire Pages”) is the 1947 Texas City Disaster, which is still the deadliest industrial accident in US history and, until 9/11, the deadliest loss of firefighter lives as well.
The most central character is Ballard, the older brother in “The Tuesday Theory” story who is the guardian of his younger, autistic brother Willis. The novel is set in the same diner as that story, and the brothers’ absentee “deadbeat” dad, Keller—who is a traumatized Pearl Harbor and industrial accident veteran haunted by the dead—is the unreliable narrator. At the age of 22, Ballard has shelved the pleasures and aspirations of his young man’s life and assumed the responsibility of caring for his neurodivergent younger brother. An everyday hero for sure.
Were there any stories in this collection that you struggled to finish or almost left out?
Great question! I struggled with “Boiling the Buggers”—the story about a recovering germaphobe bartender who is laid off and otherwise undone by the Covid pandemic—in trying to get the interiority of her unraveling right. Certainly, the most bizarre and profane of the stories is “Amygda-la-la-la,” set in a dystopian future time in which two ground-down women friends find meaning in their collection of worthless paper dollars. I debated whether to include that or not—as it is way out there—and I knew it would probably confuse or offend some readers. But I loved the premise that the dollar bill is so foundational to modern human existence that our amygdala—the “lizard brain”—has been hardwired to spot it even among the rubble. The “Mouse Socks” story, told in the POV of a young girl who’s lost her father, wasn’t in the original collection, but after it was published in the South Korean Samjoko Magazine, I gave it another look and decided it was worth including. I had worried its narrative voice was too gentle for contemporary readers.
What is the next book that you are working on, and when will it be available?
My novel-in-progress that I mentioned, I Will Read Ashes for You, is approaching a finished first draft, though I’m still working through a lot of structural edits. It’s a “polyphonic” (multiple POVs), “discontinuous narrative” (meaning there are multiple, interwoven plot lines) novel that has a lot of characters and key backstory about the lingering effects of the 1947 Texas City Disaster and the cancer that riddles that part of the world. However, it is not—emphatically not—historical fiction. While I’ve done a lot of research and indeed, several characters revisit the horror of the Texas City Disaster (plus, there’s a Prologue of the real post-disaster Procession for the Unrecognizable Dead), the narrative arcs of the novel are in 1980, not 1947. There are, though, thematic throughlines about the human cost of war and prosperity, and the work-a-day valor of moving forward.
For any of your readers who have read my recent collection, Universally Adored & Other -One Dollar Stories (published by Vine Leaves Press), the other recurring characters include the diner waitress Eileen, Manny the cook, and Officer Palacios from “The Tuesday Theory;” Theo, the extreme bibliophile from “All Knowledge;” and the alcoholic grandfather Fred, grandson Ben, and Ben’s mom Colleen from “Flounder” (Chester the Bait Man also makes a cameo appearance). Paulina, the domestic violence survivor in “Magic Fingers,” reappears as the waitress Eileen’s daughter, and Paulina’s abusive ex shows up as well. Willa Rae, the Depression-era migrant farmworker girl in “Evening in Paris,” is there as the owner of the used bookstore next to the diner.
Happily, an excerpt from I Will Read Ashes for You will be published in June 2025 in the bilingual (English/Hindi) literary/scholarly online journal Setu Bilingual. The finished book, however, is probably a year or two away from publication.
Currently, project-wise, I’m also collaborating with a longtime visual artist friend, Kevin Oehler, on a chapbook of short fictions that resonate with his artworks. And, with my husband and creative partner, Robert Michael Oliver, I co-produce a weekly podcast, Creativists in Dialogue: A Podcast Embracing the Creative Life, which is supported in part by the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities. As a former character actor, I’m also keen to produce an author-read audiobook of Universally, much like I did for my debut novel, And Silent Left the Place.
Author Links: GoodReads | X (Twitter) | Facebook | Website | Amazon
In “Universally Adored,” a color-obsessed artist draws a facsimile of a dollar—a masterpiece universally adored—to win her girlfriend back. While checking for spare change in the laundry, in “Bald Tires” a Tennessee housewife with a malcontent husband finds an unused condom in his Sunday trousers. In “The Forgiveness Man,” a runaway teen with a newborn follows a vagabond healer absolving the bedraggled godless through hugs of forgiveness. And in “Magic Fingers, a ladies’ room attendant tracked down by her abusive ex finds refuge in a cheap motel with a 1970s era bed massager.
Riffing on the intimate object of a dollar, Bruce’s humane short fictions—from a great mashed potato war to the grass Jesus walked on—ring with the exquisite voices of characters in analog worlds.
Lost In My Imagination
Teneō is a powerful novella about a formless entity navigating survival, sensation, and selfhood as it inhabits human hosts and stumbles into the vast, aching wonder of being alive. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
It sounds so grand when you put it that way (I appreciate it)!
I think I often want the world to be more full of magic, wonder, and the unexplained than it actually is. And often I have to remind myself that the world IS an amazing adventure of a place despite the mundanity. I think that’s the basis for the creature. An otherworldly existence that could live beneath our notice, and also something appreciative of the worldly things I take for granted.
Outside of the creature, the inspiration for the story is all very grounded in my own experience. I am the person wandering through life lost in my imagination. I’ve stumbled into a life where the majority of my needs are met: I have free time, some disposable income and no idea what to do with them. I look around at all the various ways in which someone can live their life. The ways people are living their lives. And I wonder if I would be better off living mine like theirs.
It’s much more fun examining that through a formless entity’s perspective.
The tone of Teneō is so rhythmic and dreamlike. How did you develop that voice, and did it evolve as you wrote?
First off, thank you so much! Feedback on the rhythm and voice of the narration has been really gratifying to hear. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out the right flow and wording to communicate how I thought this particular creature would think (and I’m happy it seems to have worked). I wanted it to be very sparse and raw. Full of emotion and experience, but free of overthinking, anxiety, or any need for justification.
I don’t think that central idea changed much through my writing process. But the voice definitely evolved to be a bit more thoughtful and less purely experiential as the story went on. More human in a way? I’m not sure it’s a good thing for the character, but I think it’s appropriate for the story.
The book is emotionally rich despite the abstract narrator. How did you approach building empathy for something essentially alien?
It took some trial and error, honestly. I started with the idea of having both the creature and Jeanne as narrators, but it dramatically changed how a reader would interpret the story. Jeanne instantly became the defacto character you identify with, as the one most like you. I didn’t like that. And I also wasn’t looking forward to grappling with some of the more unseemly things later in the plot (from Jeanne’s perspective) as that’s not really what the story is supposed to be about.
So I tried to eliminate any human characterizations and just lean as hard into the narrator’s characterization and interpretation of the world as I could. A lot of my approach was inspired by Felix Salten’s “Bambi, A life in the woods.” I think that novel does an incredible job of not only ensuring you are entrenched in the mentality of a deer, but also making humans so…alien? I definitely didn’t do as well on the latter front, but it was a really great example to have read.
What is the next book that you are working on, and when will it be available?
There’s something I’ve started about friendships, being seen for what you truly are, and the storm of emotions that circle when someone enters or leaves your life.
I’m unfortunately not far along enough to give you a release date, but I’m very stressed out and ashamed about that now. So that’ll hopefully fuel a few chapters. In the meantime…I don’t know. Stay tuned?
Author Links: GoodReads | Instagram | Website
They’re all around us.
Wherever there’s enough of us to keep them alive. Waiting for their chance to occupy those of us whose consciousness lapses. There when we get lost in a thought. A daydream. A moment.
Through us, they experience the joys of the world in fleeting moments. By feeding on the scraps of attention we let wander, they live a little longer.
For most, those small glimpses of how we experience the world are all they get.
But some want more. They find another way.
They live among us. Within us. And in some cases, instead of us.
LITERARY TITAN 