Blog Archives
The One Going Undercover
Midnight Cranes sets the Polish Dragon on a new murder investigation in a manufacturing plant that leads to the Dragon Trail. What inspired the setup to this mystery story?
Years ago as a martial arts student and as an employee in the material handling industry I had thought about how interesting it would be to have someone like Chuck Norris be the hero and discover, as an undercover cop, a drug ring going on inside of the plant. I had outlined the story and sent it to one of his students, who also was making movies, to see what he thought of the idea. He liked the idea but said he was too busy and didn’t really have the time. Fast forward many years and now that I am an author I thought why not make it into a book instead. The only change was having the Polish Dragon P. I. be the one going undercover.
I enjoyed how well the story is developed in so few pages. Is it your intention to make your stories short, or is that just your writing style?
It is a little bit of both. My intention is to write the story in a novella so that it makes for a quick and easy read. Some of my fans have said how much they enjoy the shorter read as sometimes a full novel can be too long and filled with unnecessary information. So if you’re riding a train say from New Jersey into New York City you could finish half the book on your ride in and the other half on your ride home. I have noticed though, that each new book I write seems to get a little bit longer each time.
What were some new challenges you wanted Tom to face in this book that were different from the previous books?
I wanted Tom to face the challenge of going undercover and having to maintain the cover as long as he could. Another one was to have him finding help from one of his colleagues and not just for digging up information but actually working on the case with him. That is where Suzie Mandrake comes in, a detective on the Cleveland police force who aspires to be a private investigator like Tom. Her big dream is to be a partner with Tom in his Polish Dragon Investigations business.
What is the next adventure you have lined up for the Polish Dragon P.I.?
Tom will now have to partner up with Suzie again as a friend of hers has a 600 year old family bible disappear after his father was killed in a car accident. The bible may hold clues to a dark secret from the families past.
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We Shared a Destiny
Section Roads follows three friends who go back to their home town after forty years and are forced to confront a bloody secret. What was the inspiration for the setup to this thrilling novel?
Section Roads has many biographical elements that guided its evolution. A few weeks after graduating from high school, I left home to attend summer session at New Mexico State University, leaving my high school girlfriend behind. Despite our separation, I felt we shared a destiny so we would eventually be together. We didn’t, we weren’t and are both probably better off for it. We remain friends, and I had her blessing to tell this story. Anyway, during that lonely summer, I read a coming-of-age book by New Mexico author Richard Bradford called Red Sky at Morning. I decided then that if I could ever write a book, I’d write one like that.
I enjoyed the development of each character and their evolution into adulthood. What were some driving ideals behind their character development?
My protagonists aren’t tough guys. They are more likely to be the guys getting beaten up by tough guys. People who must cope with the world by overcoming fear and using their wits are far more interesting than people who get by on physical superiority. That’s where Cullen comes from. Buddy, of course, is a tough guy. But he’s also has a curios intellectuality that leads him to reject the tough guy culture. I grew up among strong women and share my life with a strong woman, so my female protagonists, like Shelby and Lori, are strong women.
The mystery at the heart of this story was riveting. Did you plan it before writing or did it develop organically while writing?
I don’t know how my books are going to end when I start writing. Of course, I had a vague idea of how the mystery would play out. But the specifics emerged as I got to know the characters.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
The second book in my Physics, Lust and Greed series about time travel—Wasting Time–came out October 1. The third book—Killing Time—is waiting in the wings. My first non-fiction book, We Never Knew Just What it Was… the Story of the Chad Mitchell Trio is also awaiting publication. It focuses on the 60’s era of folk music.
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In a small town on the high plains of Eastern New Mexico, life and culture are shaped by the farm roads defining the 640-acre sections of land homesteaders claimed at the turn of the Twentieth Century. Cullen and Shelby Blaine explore first love along these section roads during the 1960’s, forging a life-long emotional bond.
As junior high school band nerds, Cullen and Shelby fall under the protection of football player and loner, Buddy Boyd. During their sophomore year of high school, Buddy is charged with killing a classmate and is confined to a youth correctional facility. When he returns to town facing the prospect of imprisonment as an adult, Cullen becomes Buddy’s protector.
The unsolved case haunts the three friends into adulthood, and it isn’t until their fortieth reunion, that they’re forced to revisit that horrible night. When a new killing takes place, Cullen, Shelby and Buddy find themselves reliving the nightmare.
Murder is an easy thing to hide along old country section roads.
LITERARY TITAN 