Featured Books
Uncharted Drift - A Work in Progress
The Caitlyn Jamison mystery series continues with its fifth installment, “Uncharted Drift.” Returning to the familiar landscape of Pont-Aven, New York—a setting first introduced in “Deadly Secrets”—Caitlyn arrives for a creative workshop at the local Arts Center. Her plans for a quiet retreat are shattered when an instructor is found dead under mysterious circumstances. The stakes rise as her partner, FBI agent Ethan Ewing, appears with news of a national security threat. Together, must they unravel a web of secrets and danger to solve two overlapping cases before it is too late?
A new website and a whole new learning experience. One thing I wanted to bring over from the previous site was how Summit arrived in the Caitlyn Jamison Series.
Summit joined the Caitlyn Jamison mystery series team in October 2014, a month after I started writing An Unexpected Death. Readers love him, and he assisted Caitlyn in solving crimes. My daughter refers to my books as “The Summit Series.” Whatever. I’m just thankful I have so many readers that love the books.
Yesterday (April 15, 2026) I had the most delightful session with the West Bay Cove book group. They discussed "The Art of Murder." The comments were so positive and also humbling. Can I do a book this good again? It has given me pause to rethink the characters and plot lines for the next book.
Writing a Story Readers Want to Read: One Scene at a Time
Being an author requires a multifaceted skill set. A writer needs to have a good grasp of language, creativity, interesting characters and setting, and seat in the chair discipline. When the writer types “The End,” it’s not. Ahead are hours of editing and finding qualified beta readers to go through the polished draft. Does the plot line work? Are the characters believable? The setting? Missing end quotes? Grammar and typos are just a few items a writer hopes beta readers will report on. After many more hours of editing, the book is finally ready to publish. But how? Once that decision is made, another skill set is required. The writer has to become a marketing expert. And that’s probably the biggest challenge. Getting yourself and your books out there. Sometimes a writer wonders if it is worth the time and effort. Then I remember why I write and am thankful for the readers who comment after they’ve read my books.