Oh the stuff that comes out of my head …
On Twisted Endings (08/24/2025)
I write generally write books with unexpected endings.
Surreptitiously getting to the ending can be a challenge as the author knows the ending but can’t let the readers know he/she knows. The author can never tip their hand. Additionally, the author can’t let the characters know either. So, as the author I just have to be careful not to inadvertently disclose certain things to the readers — or the characters. I am serious about not letting the characters know. Remember, we create them, we give them life, we give them knowledge and characteristics. Their behavior is based on how we’ve created them. So, we actually do have to keep certain information from certain (and sometimes, all) characters.
Faith and Religion (08/14/2025)
My books can never be mistaken for religious books. However, I weave into every book some aspect of faith. Sometimes it is the narrator innocuously mentioning faith, and sometimes it is characters discussing faith, but there will always be a character struggling with faith. Regardless, hopefully this spur some thought, even fleetingly. But, who knows, if one of my books is read by a book club the faith should at least provide for a few minutes of conversation.
Location, Location, Location (07/18/2025)
The books I write are more or less set in actual (real) locations. There is enough information provided that a reader could theoretically find the general locations. Now, for the more or less clause. I obviously am not going to provide the actual street address for a private residence. And, in some instances, if something particularly unsavory occurs at a location, the name of the establishment may be changed.
For example, in TWISTED, most of the locations in the book can be found. The cemetery where Elise’s mom is buried? Yep. As for the actual marker, that might be challenging as no name are provided for the marker. The Roswellian Apartments do not exist, but there is an actual apartment complex at the location. Ned and Elise’s house in DeLand, Florida does exist. I actually drove around DeLand for several house looking for a house and location that would work, then I went on-line to a real estate website and found pics of the interior. I still have those pics, by the way. While writing the scenes in the house, it helped to have pics in front of me.
In RANDOMIZATION, most of the places can be easily located. However, there are a couple of locations where a reader could get close, but not to the actual location. Two of those locations, including my own house, are residences where victims of Mathew met their demise. We don’t need curiosity seeks lurking about. Another location, the room over the garage where Mathew resides is a complete figment of my imagination. Finally, the lake house early in the story can’t be visited. True, I researched that part of the upstate until I found a property for sale. And yes,
I downloaded photos of that too, and yes the property itself does exist. But the layout of the dock is lifted from my memory, from memories of a lake property friends in FL had when I was growing up.
On Inspiration (04/04/2025)
“Where do you get your ideas?”
That is a question most if not all authors are often asked. It seems like a favorite—and perfectly reasonable—inquiry.
Like a moth drawn into a flame, family, friends, interviewers, complete strangers are compelled to ask that simple question.
The simple answer is: I don’t really know.
It is not as if I sit around wondering what I can base a book, a story, or even a piece of poetry on. Rather, ideas present themselves in everyday life. We needn’t look for the ideas, as the ideas find us. Well, that’s the ways it seems to work for me. It is simply a matter of asking, “What if?”
What if someone killed somebody, just to see what it would be like? What if they killed more after that? What if they got away with it? Ah, but could we really let them get away with it? Surely there has to be consequences. Meet Karma. Karma take care of what the law does not. That was the basis for RANDOMIZATION.