Picking Your...Preferred Medium

 “There are two motives for reading a book; one, that you enjoy it; the other, that you can boast about it.” -Bertrand Russell

No promises.

Okay, maybe I can't promise that you can announce at your next - whatever - that you've read my latest book and people will be impressed. There is a real chance that someone will say, "Who?"

That don't confront me. I wrote something that says things about small minds, tough people, and that sleepless nights and angry dawns can give way to hope of the most basic kind.

And then...

I've mentioned Zack Mayo a couple of times (A Sequel to Embrace). You know, Richard Gere screaming at Lou Gossett, Jr - "I got no place else to go!" That Zack's larger story was never told is a shame.

I didn't do the same thing to Amy.

Pick your poison - Kindle, Audible or print. Amy is an admirable character. Boast? I do - about a person who lives out many of the challenges readers will recognize from their own struggles. And I got to enjoy where I left her, this time. 

Closing the Circle

 When people show loyalty to you, you take care of those who are with you. It's how it goes with everything. John Cena

I've explained how "Amy3" - A Matter of Principle - came to be in other posts and blogs. In announcing here that the Kindle version is available for purchase, let's chat. If you buy it, then read it (one does not necessarily follow the other) I'd be interested in knowing what you think I meant by this story.

Ultimately, this sort of book is what happens when an author adores his character, and wants to know that they will be fine in his absence. Go ahead, read that again. I'll be right here.

Back? Given what you've read here recently, you might conclude I'm wrapping up my writing career in anticipation of...no longer writing. Let's get that out of the way. No.

Writing is therapeutic. It's energizing. Writing cops keeps me in touch with a past I cherish, a present in which I am intensely interested and with friends I admire. I'm going to keep writing.

But, eventually a character deserves a long and happy life in peace. How Amy gets there was interesting to write, and expresses one way out of the maelstrom. Along the way, you get to see Amy the hero. Amy the fighter. Amy the wife, the mom, the friend.

Amy Painter was the first character I created more than twenty years ago, when I began to explore fiction writing as a job. Much of what I hoped to say about women in policing I've said through her. In making her real I've had a ton of help. I've noted those folks over the years, and will never forget the role they played in making me a writer.

I hope you like A Matter of Principle. I do.