Prologues 
Read a prologue or the start of story.
The Tragedy of Whitehall
(1)Here is the prologue of The Tragedy of Whitehall, the fantasy novel I’ve decided to work on as part of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) 2012. I’ve long had the concept for this prelude novel to a fantasy trilogy, which is in turn part of a larger fantasy series that I’ve yet to come up with… Read More ›
The Ogham Society
It finally has a name. Creating the world in which your characters reside is an ongoing challenge. What places and organizations are a part of their world? Are they real or imagined? Ever since reading Anne Rice’s The Witching Hour (see post here), I’ve wanted to create a psychical research society for my own series. … Read More ›
The First Mystery I Ever Read
He wears a deerstalker hat and trenchcoat. Equipped with a magnifying glass and his trusty detective manual, he searches for clues and solves cases. No, not Sherlock Holmes. It’s Detective Mole! I’ve long remembered that very first mystery story I ever read. Well, bits and pieces. I remembered it was a Detective Mole story. He was investigating… Read More ›
A Weekend for Murder
Here is a look at the beginning of the prologue to my second original murder mystery novel, Death at Danforth House. Edith Baxter–who appears in Death on Stoneridge (click here)–is among the select group of guests invited to a famous suspense author’s estate, and it is she who will solve the murder mystery to unfold…. Read More ›
Murder at the Gardens – Prologue
I’m skipping ahead here just a bit. I’m still fine tuning the prologue for my second novel, A Weekend for Murder. In the meantime, since I mentioned my third novel precedes The Poisoned Martini eStory, I thought I’d present a look at the prologue for Murder at the Gardens. *** A lone person paced back and… Read More ›
The Poisoned Martini – Part I
It’s here! Part I of the serialized original eStory written by yours truly exclusively for this website. Rick Gray (introduced here) and others will encounter the poisoned martini in this murder mystery set in Syracuse, New York, in 1987. The police have recently solved the murders at the Syracuse Botanical Gardens. Rick was a suspect in that… Read More ›
Ancient Syracuse – Prologue
Here’s a first look at the prologue for a fantasy novel I’ve tentatively titled, Ancient Syracuse : *** I’m three and a half years old. We’re standing in the street. My parents are looking at a garden, but I can’t see past the trees. So I look up at the sky. It’s funny looking. It… Read More ›
1987
What’s so special about 1987? I first began writing stories and skits in the fourth grade. I mostly wrote based on the people and places I knew. By the seventh grade, my stories began to take on aspects of continuing characters and mystery elements. I believe Death on Stoneridge, in its first form, was drafted… Read More ›
Death on Stoneridge – Prologue
Here’s a first look at the prologue for my very first novel in The Mysteries of Syracuse series, Death on Stoneridge : *** Her life ebbed, but the ending of her life was the beginning. Who was she? This young wife with dreams of motherhood, of growing old with her husband, lay against the cold porcelain of… Read More ›
Friday Cocktail: the Classic Martini
Enjoy a Friday Cocktail! The Friday Cocktail will be a regular feature of this site, though not necessarily weekly. And it fits in nicely with the theme of this blog. Up first, The Classic Martini. The origins of the martini date back as early as the 1860s, but the drink as we know it today… Read More ›
The Poisoned Martini 