I grew up in the ’70s and the soundtrack of our childhood was crime. TV, music, even our family history was crime.
One of my favorite stories, the one they always told around the Thanksgiving table, was about my grandparents running “shine” together in the back of a dynamite truck headed for the coal mines. That was in the 1930s. I still smile when I hear Steve Earle’s Copperhead Road. But my dad took a different path. He was an attorney with a calling to defend the underdog, the men (and women) least able to defend themselves. I liked that idea. After a few summers working in his office, I became a trained court reporter.
Growing up in a small midwestern town that would prove every Hallmark Movies cliché—including murder—made for an interesting childhood. It all shaped what I write today. You could say crime is in my DNA. I don’t run moonshine, and I’m not an attorney, but I write the stories—the choices people make when they’re out of options.
What I Write
I have three solid rules about what I write…
…and they all revolve around you.
First, I want you in deep by the end of page one, and then I want you to end that book or short story just a little breathless. The only way to take you there is by writing characters you either love, or love to hate. So, that’s what I write.
My second rule is to write with emotion, passion, and honesty. No telling you how you should feel. I leave that up to you. But you’re along for an intense experience.
And last, love it or hate it, my writing is going to tell you a story that makes you want to look away, but you won’t. You can’t. Not if I do my job.
Are you in? Yeah, me too. I hope you enjoy.
On My Desk...
- House Warming—a flash fiction family crime drama. Read it at Shotgun Honey
- Thanks for the Tip—a short story.
- Mercy—a short story.
- Good for the Game—a novel.