A few words from the author . . .
The response from you has been gratifying. I thank you for reading my books and recommending them to your friends and relatives. The primary promotional tool for these novels is word of mouth at this time. The long term goal is that one of the screenplays or a future book will appeal to the right person. In the meantime, I remind you that books make great gifts. Even I can wrap a book.
I've been asked about the Moon Base Project. It is unfortunate that NOMAD/Y was classified as "science fiction/fantasy" by the industry. This turned off the target audience, while disappointing the Star Trek/Wars crowd. There is a small, but significant, science fiction component to the story. But the novel is basically about discovering clues that lead to a massive cover-up, and then having the courage and ability to do something about it — while someone is trying to stop you. Is it accurate? There was an active project to establish a Moon Base, but it was not scheduled to occur in the early stages of the Apollo Program. (On the other hand, the Moon landing itself was moved up by several missions by combining experiments on earlier missions.) NASA did develop a thermo-generator in the 1960s at a NOAA facility in the Bahamas, then no more was heard about it. There is no doubt in my mind that NASA thought that the Apollo Moon landings were just steps toward a Moon Base. (Congress evidently thought otherwise.) The basic plot is rooted in facts. The research was exciting. (I avoid tedious.) There are technical errors, some intentional.
In contrast, The Doorstep of Depravity is based upon my experiences as an attorney. All I had to do was add a psychopathic client with remarkable abilities. I moved the location to Syracuse, New York because I've been advised that there are too many books set in Florida for the market to handle. Since I was only in Syracuse once, many years ago, it was necessary to research it, as well as Geneva, Switzerland. The other research involved viruses, medications and New York estate tax law. I had competent help.
I've found that when you place a few interesting characters in a situation where they have to interact, they will do so in unpredictable ways. Thomas Harris, author of The Silence of the Lambs, put it this way in his forward to Red Dragon
I was invisible then, out there in the dark, the way I am invisible to my characters when I'm in a room with them, and they are deciding their fates with little or no help from me.
Neither of my novels to date ends as I had originally expected. To achieve this spontaneity from my characters, I tend to write in dialogue rather than narrate the story. I refrain from detailed physical descriptions of the characters for the same reason. I have been accused by at least one reviewer of engaging in these practices solely to simplify conversion of the novel into a screenplay. If that were the reason, NOMAD/Y would have been a lot shorter.
Do I know these people? Surprisingly, none of the characters is based upon a single real person. My own point of view as a solo attorney is expressed by Grace O'Higgins, but we are not similar.
So why are the leading characters women? It was originally intended that Ken be the leading character in NOMAD/Y, but when it became clear that he would have to work with someone else from his office, Rae became the obvious choice. Also, a woman was needed to fall in love with Ivan, whose gender was predetermined by the character upon whom he was loosely based. In The Doorstep of Depravity, a woman was the obvious choice for the character of Kay. I tried referring her to a male attorney, but this restricted the possibilities for interaction with her attorney.
What about the raccoon? Yes, there was a Snooks, who took up residence in our backyard as a baby and lived her life there, eating unsalted peanuts and sunflower seeds from the bird feeder. Her progeny still inhabit the neighborhood.
Why do I write? For the joy of it, which is probably fortunate.
