Get the 20th anniversary edition of Canawlers!
It’s hard to believe that it’s been 20 years since Canawlers was released. Not only was it my first foray into historical fiction, it was my first indie published novel. Up to that point, I had had two books published by two different publishers. One was a young adult novel, and the other was a horror novel. (I have the rights back to both, and I will republish them at some point.) A biking trip down the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal inspired me, and it also turned out to challenge me to take my career in a new direction. For the next 15 years, I wrote exclusively in the history and historical fiction. It’s only been in the last few years, I’ve branched out to do horror, fantasy, and YA again. For the 20th anniversary edition, I had new e-book Read more…
Four Score & Seven Stories Ago
The writers group I belong to is called The Gettysburg Writers Brigade. It’s a great group of experienced and new authors who get together weekly to talk about the craft and have fun. We have published our first anthology just in time for Christmas. Four Score & Seven Stories Ago is a collection of fiction and nonfiction about Gettysburg. Eleven talented members of the Gettysburg Writers Brigade have created stories related to the most-famous small town in America. My original story, “Finishing the Charge,” is included in this collection. It is the story of an elderly veteran who won’t live to see the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, so he leaves what he considers his failed life in Virginia behind and starts walking to Gettysburg. He feels driven to complete Pickett’s Charge. He survived the devastating Confederate charge Read more…
Get this Amazon.com bestseller
Thanks for your support with the launch of Strike the Fuse, Book 2 of the Black Fire Trilogy. The reviews look good, and it reached no. 81 on the Amazon.com free books list. This means the book outsold tens of thousands of other books that were also being offered for free at the time. It has also reached no. 1 in six different categories. The first book in the trilogy, Smoldering Betrayal, was released in 2018. The story follows Matt Ansaro, a WWI veteran who is a now a Pinkerton detective. He returns to his hometown of Eckhart in 1922 after being away for five years. His family doesn’t know his current profession or that he has been sent to Eckhart to spy out union activity for the Consolidation Coal Company. Matt also has his own mission, which is to Read more…
COMING SOON: Strike the Fuse (The Black Fire Triology, Book 2)
My new historical novel, Strike the Fuse, will release later this month. It is the second book in the Black Fire Trilogy set in Western Maryland during the 1922 coal strike. The cover is still being finalized, but I will post about that when it is complete. You can also expect some special promotions with the first book, Smoldering Betrayal, as the release date for the new book approaches. Until then, here’s a synopsis of the new book. As coal strike violence escalates, Matt Ansaro’s undercover identity is thrown into jeopardy. Having survived a mine cave-in, undercover Pinkerton detective Matt Ansaro is recovering from a broken leg. However, the union has called a coal strike and Matt needs to be at his best. The 1922 national coal strike is even more violent in the Western Maryland coal fields as the Read more…
Win a free copy of The Rain Man!
To celebrate the release of the Kindle edition of The Rain Man, I am giving away 10 autographed copies of the paperback edition. It’s free to enter. Just visit this link and click to enter. Here’s the story: Raymond Twigg hates the rain because it gives the Rain Man power. It is a power to bring Raymond to his knees or drive him to deadly action. As the March 1936 rains bring the St. Patrick’s Day Flood, the worst flood ever seen in Cumberland, Maryland, it also unleashes the power of the Rain Man on the citizens of the city. While most of the police force is diverted trying to deal with the flooding in the city and the problems it is causing, Sergeant Jake Fairgrieve is called out to investigate a murder. Murders are unusual in Cumberland, but this Read more…
First draft of "Lock Ready!" complete
I finished the first draft of my latest historical novel and sent it off to my beta readers. It was a relief to have the project finished, at least this first step. I’m surprised it has taken me so long to finish it. “Lock Ready!” is the third book in the Canawlers series. The second book came out in 2003 so it has been 10 years. Wow! Typing that made me realize just how long it has been. It’s not that I’ve haven’t written other things in the interim, but I’ve known the title of the third book in the series since probably 2004. I’ve even had bits and pieces of the story written. Pulling it all together had escaped me, though. Now, I think I’ve finally got it. “Lock Ready!” continues to follow the Fitzgerald family as they boat Read more…
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