Answers to Frequently Asked Questions

Where is your next booksigning?

Please keep checking the announcements on my home page for updated news of public booksignings.

Do you visit reading groups?

Absolutely! Authors enjoy talking about their work and receiving feedback from readers. If you are local to the Harrisburg, PA area and would like me to visit your reading group or to make a presentation for your organization, please contact me.

Are your novels suitable for young people?

Treasures and Catamount are mainstream mysteries containing language and violence similar to what a young person would be exposed to on network television. In my opinion, the content is appropriate for teen readers. On the other hand, both Stranger and Angelina are NOT suitable for youngsters. These supernatural thrillers are adult oriented with explicit scenes.

Where did you learn how to write?

In my various day jobs, I spent many years writing environmental assessments, technical reports, grant applications, user manuals, and technology plans. That experience helped me to learn about the mechanics of writing. Once I decided to become serious about creative writing, I started attending writer's workshops and joined a critique group. I continue to participate in these writing activities. The learning process never ends.

Do you write full time?

No. Earning a living by just being a novelist is very difficult.

Where do you get your story ideas?

Creativity is a gift that is difficult to explain. When it comes to writing, impressions from things that I've experienced, seen, heard, or read about, find their way onto the page.

How did you get published?

Entire books have been written on this subject. Aspiring authors soon discover that the rejection rate is very high. My best answer for this question is to continue perfecting your writing by attending writer's conferences, join critique groups, network with other authors, agents, and editors, keep reading, keep writing, and keep up a thick skin.

What books do you like to read?

In non-fiction, I continue to read "how to" books by other successful authors, agents, and editors. For example, Stephen King's On Writing and Ayn Rand's The Art of Fiction are excellent references.

In fiction, I tend to read the same type of books that I like to write - action packed thrillers and mysteries. For a change of pace, I sometimes enjoy reading classics.

Here is the listing of novels that I read during 2007.

Wildfire - Nelson DeMille
The Boss's Boy - Roy F. Chandler
Stalemate - Iris Johansen
Cross - James Patterson
Hide - Lisa Gardner
Carved In Bone - Jefferson Bass
Step On A Crack - James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
Storm Front - Jim Butcher
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
Fool Moon - Jim Butcher
Poison Study - Maria V. Snyder
Blink - Ted Dekker
Grave Peril - Jim Butcher
The Missing Person - Alix Ohlin
The 6th Target - James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
The Conjurer - Cordelia Frances Biddle
The Lake House - James Patterson
The Shape Shifter - Tony Hillerman
When The Wind Blows - James Patterson
Murder In Chinatown - Victoria Thompson
Blaze - Richard Bachman
The Blue Nowhere - Jeffery Deaver
The Quickie - James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
The Good Guy - Dean Koontz
The Ruins - Scott Smith
It Sleeps In Me - Kathleen O'Neal Gear
It Wakes In Me - Kathleen O'Neal Gear
It Dreams In Me - Kathleen O'Neal Gear
The Bone Garden - Tess Gerritsen
Magic Study - Maria V. Snyder
Places In The Dark - Thomas H. Cook
The Android's Dream - John Scalzi
The Lure - Bill Napier
Next - Michael Crichton
The Collectors - David Baldacci
Stone Cold - David Baldacci
Wizard's First Rule - Terry Goodkind
Double Cross - James Patterson

What will you be writing next?

Currently, I'm working on more books for the Perry County, Pennsylvania mystery series. Many of my readers also want me to write a sequel to Angelina, but that's not likely to happen anytime soon. I'll keep you posted through this website, so stay tuned!