I saw a cardinal outside my window this morning, in between rain showers. It's spring in Chicago, which mostly means wild temperature fluctuations---frustrating cold mingled with days of hope. Spring is a good time to start new projects, but in my case, I'm in the midst of finishing up one.

My new novel, Daughters of Crime, is in the final editing phase, and I'm thrilled to be closer to bringing the book to my readers. The manuscript is due August 1 and the publication date is April 2027. Publ...

Other than a disastrous election in November, 2024 wasn't a bad year. I published a book, Clean Kill, got elected to the board of directors of the Mystery Writers of America, wrote reviews for the Gay & Lesbian Review, and started tinkering with an idea for a new novel. It's been a few months since I finished writing Sparrow's Nest and I'm starting to get itchy. I can't go too long without writing before I become bored.

I don't have a publication date for Sparrow's Nest yet. I'm anxious for y...

Autumn has just begun, and like so many others, it makes me feel like starting something new. And that's just what I'm going to do, as soon as I make up my mind whether to write the next in the Nicky Sullivan series (Clean Kill is book one) or a follow-up to the novel I've just put the finishing touches on, called Sparrow's Nest. As I mull that over, other things are going on.

 It looks like I'll be serving on the board of the Mystery Writers of America--I'm running in an uncontested election....

Happy Spring! In Chicago we always fall prey to false springs where we enjoy beautiful weather for a day or so and then get hit by temperatures in the 30s again. Rinse and repeat. Speaking of spring, my new mystery novel, Clean Kill, is being released on May 14. Here’s a blurb:
Home to ten newly recovering alcoholics, Olive Street House is a safe haven in their bewilderingly new sober lives. But when one of the residents is murdered, Resident Manager Nicky Sullivan, a former Chicago homicide d...

We're at the end of the year again. They keep whipping by, faster and faster with every year. 2023 was an interesting one for me. I traveled some, did volunteer work, and, most notably, reinvented myself as a writer. Let me explain.

In September Linda and I traveled to Switzerland to stay with dear friends who live there part of the year. We were on Lake Geneva, near Lausanne. It was a wonderful trip, the highlight of which was the day hiking in the Alps. It was truly stunning. We also managed...