Merry Christmas & Happy New Year 2020

I just wanted to take a moment to extend my very best wishes to all of you for a Merry Christmas and a safe, happy & prosperous New Year 2020 !!!

Thank you for your support and I hope that you will continue the literary journey with me as we go into the New Year.

Winter 2019 – Update

Where have I been? It’s a question I often ask myself these days.

If you’re like me, this time of year can be quite hectic on the best of days, but being an author means that you have even more going on.

So far this Fall / Winter season I have done a complete re-edit of my debut novel, Perfect Pawn. I’d taken a hard look at it and decided that, since I have grown as a writer, I needed to focus on making it the best it could be. I believe the current edition meets those requirements without taking away from the overall story-line.

Since then, I have kept busy. I’ve completed the re-edits on the follow-up book, Queen’s Gambit, and hope to have that re-released later this month or the early part of January 2020. I’m also currently re-editing the first Alex Taylor novel, Small Town Secrets, and hope to have a re-launch of that book with a new cover.

I also decided to write a new book. This one marks my journey into a new genre: Supernatural, but I haven’t completely abandoned my origins. I took an idea and weaved it into a police procedural/mystery story. It was fun crafting the story-line, and I believe readers of both genres will find something to enjoy. At this time I am shooting for a release date in early 2020.

Speaking of 2020, with the release of the 5th Maguire novel, Glass Castle, I will be starting work on the 4th Alex Taylor novel. I’ve been busy doing the outline and I have about 6 chapters already fleshed out.

So there you have it, the goings on in the chaotic world of this writer. I hope that all of you have had a wonderful Thanksgiving and I extend my best wishes for a blessed Christmas.

See you in the New Year!

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RE-RELEASE: NEW EDITION OF PERFECT PAWN - FREE: 10/18-10/20

As an author, one of the inevitable questions you face from readers is, ‘When is your next book coming out?’

While it is a welcome question, because it indicates interest in your work, it places a burden on you to continue to look forward and generate new material.  That being said, sometimes you have to take a pause and look backward.

In 2012, when I wrote my debut novel, Perfect Pawn, I was a neophyte author. As I have told many of you, the book was written for my wife and I had never given any thought to publishing it, but that all changed in 2013. Over the course of the last several years, I have written and published eleven books and two novellas.

Like anyone who continues in their tradecraft, I would like to believe that my writing style has improved with each new release. This past summer, I had some critical reviews that caused me to take a break and revisit my past work. I’d like to say that the criticism was unwarranted, but it wasn’t.

There is a school of thought among many writers that you don’t re-write novels. Authors live to tell stories, but they also want the reader to enjoy the experience. As I re-read my book, I had to face the harsh reality that I had failed in certain areas.

American writer and Nobel Prize laureate William Faulkner famously said, ‘in writing you must kill all your darlings.’

With that acceptance, I sat down and took a long hard look at Perfect Pawn and decided to do my best to smooth the edges.

I started out with the idea of being a surgeon, using a scalpel to dissect specific areas, but I ended up chopping away at the book like Jason Voorhees’ machete at summer camp. It was brutal, but it was necessary.

I did my utmost to protect the integrity of the story, while culling out unnecessary parts and streamlining the rest. In the end, I believe the book is tighter than it originally was. It might not please every literary critic, most books don’t, but I believe that the majority will enjoy it much more than the original.  

To mark the 6th anniversary of the original release date, and s my way of saying thanks for your continued support, I am making the revised edition of Perfect Pawn available for FREE on Amazon Kindle from Friday, October 18, 2019, 12:00 AM (PDT) through Sunday, October 20, 2019, 11:59 PM (PDT).

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Amazon Rankings – Where Do I Stand?

With the release of my latest novel: GLASS CASTLE, I headed over to my Amazon page and discovered something that I thought was very interesting. So I thought I would share it with you.

On every book page, there is a ranking system for books in a particular genre. I was looking over the listings for Perfect Pawn.

While every author wants to be in the top 100, my genre of mystery is a very tough nut to crack. I’ve been there a few times, with several of my books, but it is very hard to maintain. But last night I saw something that I really hadn’t considered before and it got me to thinking.

Perfect Pawn is listed as being #41,544 in the Kindle Store. The number fluctuates, up and down, but it is usually within that ball park.

Now, that might seem like a high number, until you consider that there are over 3.4 million books in the Kindle Store.

So what does it mean? Well, when you break down the math, it means that my book ranks in the top 2% of kindle books sold on Amazon. Considering the competition I face, I would say that is something to brag about.

If you are looking to sink your teeth into a great police procedural / mystery series, and would like to find out the order in which to read them, you can find the chronological listing HERE.

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Remembering the September 11th, 2001 Terror Attacks – 18 Years Later

It’s 8:45 EST, a minute before my life changed 18 years ago.

I want to stop the clock, but I can’t. Just like my life, it will change and I will have to face the memories again.

18 years ago it was just another September 11th, now it is a day that is etched into my brain until I draw my last breath.

My wife reminded me last night that on September 10th we had been watching Monday Night Football. My (formerly beloved) Giant’s lost to the Denver Broncos. We’d stayed up late to watch, even though I had election duty the next day. What should have been a day spent bitching about my team, would soon turn into a nightmare that I am forever trapped in.

I often wonder if people look at us and think, ‘why can’t they just move on?’

The simple answer is that we live with the aftermath of September 11th every day.

That morning, we lost 23 members of the NYPD, but since then we have lost over 240 and the reality for us is that this number will only grow. Most cannot fathom what we were exposed to, as the videos do not do it justice. For those of us who were there, we know what was in the air and what we were exposed to. I have never understood why the government lied, when they said, ‘the air is safe.’ Walking into Ground Zero we all knew that it wasn’t and it didn’t stop us from doing our job.

The other reason is that we do not have any closure.

On the morning of December 7th, 1941, America was attacked at Pearl Harbor. There were over two thousand deaths and over one thousand wounded. It was the worst attack America had ever faced from an enemy. On August 15th, 1945, less than 5 years after the attack, Japan surrendered. While it didn’t bring back those we lost, there was some measure of closure. We’d been attacked and we brought our enemy to their knees.

18 years later and we are still fighting this war and there is no end in sight.

Last night, minutes into the anniversary of the September 11th attacks, our embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan was attacked; a stark reminder that our enemy has not surrendered and is alive and well.

On the morning of September 11th, we lost almost three thousand people, in the 18 years that have passed, we have lost nearly the same amount to the toxins they ingested either fleeing from or responding to the attack. Yet, when I have had occasion to speak on this topic, most have no idea.

They have no idea because there is little coverage of those numbers. It is America’s dirty little secret. They don’t know the staggering amount of people that continue to die, almost every day, nor the fact that, for many families of the original victims, there is no closure because, 18 years later, their loved ones have still not been identified.

Many, like me, feel as if we have been relegated to history and the recent fight to renew the VCF is a poignant reminder.

• Rather than do what they promised to do, which was Never Forget, the 9/11 victims had to plead, threaten, and embarrass many in Congress to renew the funding; the very same politicians who get in front of any camera they can, on the anniversary of the attack, to pontificate to the rest of us about, ‘not forgetting.’

• Rather than point a finger at our enemy, and call them out for the cowards they are, we look away, afraid to offend anyone. Even today, the NY Times posted an article about how, ‘planes took aim and brought down the World Trade Center.’ Unless we have sentient airliners, I’m pretty sure there were Islamic terrorists who aimed them at their targets.

• Rather than stand tall and call it what it was, a terror attack, many in politics and the media have chosen to white wash it. Or, as one Congressperson insensitively put it, “Some people did something.”

18 years ago today, I stood next to my old partner, NYPD Lieutenant Paul Murphy, as we helped rescue and evacuate people from Ground Zero. On January 4th, 2018, Paul died from the 9/11 illnesses he had battled. Paul was a great cop, a loving husband & father, and a dear friend. I remember when I called him to tell him I had been diagnosed with 9/11 cancer. Even though he was fighting his own battle, he immediately counseled me on what I needed to do to get taken care of. I lost him only days later.

Paul, and all of my brothers and sisters who have fought and lost their battles, are my heroes. They exemplify the NYPD Motto: Fidelis Ad Mortem.

Today I remember them and all they sacrificed that fateful day. I just wish we could set our clocks back to September 12th and live our lives with that same level of commitment, respect, and appreciation.

Never Forget - “All Gave Some, Some Gave All.”

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