A magical moment

Second only to their newborns, authors will tell you there is nothing quite so magical as holding that new book or journal article for the first time. I can tell you there is another feeling that comes close–completion of the first draft of a fledgling publication. Last night, I completed the second draft (the first was a hodgepodge of paragraphs and ideas) of my newest book, Whacked. Depending on how one counts such things, Whacked will be my seventh (or eighth) published book. It is the fifth installment of the Kary Turnell mystery series. Whacked is my fourth book set at a New Hampshire grand hotel, in this case the beautiful Wentworth By the Sea. The book represents a milestone of sorts, in what I like to call my second career. After this book, Kary, Nya, and others will be taking a hiatus, as I begin other writing ventures. My next effort will be the long overdue Another Paradise Lost. Lost was initially intended to be the sixth Turnell mystery. Instead, I’m going to use this as an opportunity to write a piece of main stream fiction. The backdrop of the book will be love and adventure within the beautiful community of Rincon, Puerto Rico. The characters will be fictional, not to mention decades younger than Kary and Nya. The issues that the lead characters, as well as Rincon itself, must face are based upon reality. After Lost, I’ll begin work on Young Upstart, the story of a gunfighter caught among three worlds–the changing West, an Ivy League education, and the shrinking Navaho domain. Third on my list will be a collection of stories contributed by people who used Ocean Beach Park (in New London, CT) as an adolescent proving ground, with the realities of adulthood just around the corner.

For the next two weeks, I will be on leave from this blog, as my wife and I will be visiting with our older daughter, our son-in-law, and with my oldest friend and his significant other. California here we come! Be safe.