The changes brought by the Sixties extend far beyond the political. In fact, the political may be a reflection of the upheaval in the cultural and social fabric of the nation. It was as though pressure had built until the seams of conventional life burst: the unspoken became spoken—shouted through the streets. […]
Archive | My Books

The Struggle to Belong in THE INHERITORS
To deal with conflicting cultures is to be American. If you’ve grown up and passed through adulthood without dealing with religious, national, racial, or social class conflict, you are probably unusual. I grew up– in an Ivory Tower community attended elementary school with children primarily from Appalachia in a city know as a great cultural […]

Polarization in NOWHERE ELSE TO GO
In END OF THE RACE, the polarization caused by the Vietnam War is almost fifty years old; the racial split is, of course much older, but Ezra Klein, in WHY WE’RE POLARIZED, sees a radical shift in political attitudes caused by the Civil Rights movement in the Sixties. Living through those times in a college […]

Origin of End of the Race
The culture conflict discussed in the last blog is a thread that runs throughout END OF THE RACE, a sub-plot but not the novel’s central focus. That came while idly reading a news article about a missing man and wondering “Why?” “What’s the story?” Those questions drive the story, but the content and depth arise […]

The inner Life of END OF THE RACE
But once triggered, every story takes it shape from the mysterious convergence of many strands, conscious and unconscious, so it is always a source of amazement, to me, that the result is a coherent whole.

Opening END OF THE RACE
In my opening blog last week, I promised more about End of the Race, my new contemporary mystery, coming May 5th and now available for pre-order on Amazon and Barnes and Noble . Talking about a book is always a poor substitute for opening it, so here is a taste. Chapter 1 2007 Annika […]
Introducing END OF THE RACE!
Greetings, everyone, I’m delighted to introduce my new contemporary mystery, END OF THE RACE, a family drama surrounding an Olympic hopeful swimmer whose husband and coach mysteriously disappears in the midst of training for the China Olympics. Progress on this novel has been slowed by the turmoils of the national scene, which consumed my head […]

Thank You Chanticleer Reviews!
My many thanks to Chanticleer Reviews for honoring my novels among their Somerset Prize winners, especially because, though many times a finalist, I’ve never won the grand prize. Let me also give thanks for the help and encouragement they’ve given me and so many aspiring others. If you are a writer and haven’t discovered their […]

Updating The Camera’s Eye
The Camera’s Eye has to be one of the best thriller/suspense novels I have ever had the pleasure of reading …

Books for the New Year: The Camera’s Eye
First, let me invite those of you who live in the Skagit/Whatcom County area of Washington State to join me and two other authors from the Skagit Valley Writers League at Village Books in Bellingham on Saturday, January 20, 2018, at 7 PM. Mary Ann (Mitzi) Schradi, Joe Vitovec and I will read from our […]

The Camera’s Eye: Opening Chapter
Here’s a taste of my just released novel, THE CAMERA’S EYE, a story of two women in search of their harasser. Chapter 1 The crash sat Veronica Lorimer up in her bed. A second one, followed by a revving engine and spurt of gravel from spinning tires, sent her toward the stairs, pulling […]

New Release! THE CAMERA’S EYE
I’m proud to announce my fifth novel, THE CAMERA’S EYE, has now been released. The manuscript for this novel was a finalist for the William Faulkner Wisdom Award in 2015, so I’m especially pleased to see it finally in print. I have tried to write stories that break through the rigid ideological thinking of our […]