The Premise. The Process. The Poser.

The Poser is my latest thriller, and actually more of a murder mystery. It’s about a Hollywood starlet who is found murdered the morning after winning an Oscar. Those on the scene instantly call it a suicide because there was a suicide note. However, as Detective Pat Norelli and her partner, Detective Stuart Brown arrive on the scene her gut instincts are blaring on full alert.

Back at the station and speaking with her Captain, she pleads with him to let her and Brown have the case. In fact, she feels so sure she can solve the crime that she is willing to bet not only her pending promotion, but her entire career on the case. The Captain lets her have it, but with one strict directive: Solve it sooner than later. Not completely sure as to his reasons, she complies and sets out to begin what will be the defining case of her career. Or will it?

Here is the trailer:


This story actually began as the thriller Seduction At Daybreak. And interestingly enough, it had a Detective Pete Norelli at the helm. Both aspects were changed, but for entirely different reasons.

First, a bit of backstory.

I wrote the opening scene of Seduction literally in one setting in early 1997. That original murder scene came to me in a flash of inspiration. Keep in mind I was a “closet writer” beginning sometime around the summer of ’93. Why do I call it that? Because I was still in my “ultimate profession.” I was hosting a popular Radio Show, and had been hosting such from the mid-8o’s.

Anyhow, sometime around Christmas ’97, I showed the scene to my sister, Barbara Ann. She is the English major in the family (who went on to get her PhD). After reading it, she looked at me and said, “Bro, you should be doing more of this. Seriously.”

Thanks to that encouragement, I set out to do just that, well, more or less; writing scenes, short stories, and novellas in between jobs and/or whenever I had spare time.

Next came the real inside scoop. It wasn’t until I met my wife Tammy who, after reading some of my work, asked, “If you could take the next year off and do anything in the world, what would it be?”

Without missing a beat, I said, “Write.” I’ve been doing so ever since.

Before I forget, the title was changed because the murder ended up taking place in the middle of the night rather than daybreak. And I changed from Pete to his sister Pat at the suggestion of literary agent, Paula Munier, whom I originally pitched the story to during a Writer’s Digest Conference in Los Angeles. She encouraged me to take the bold step of creating a female detective, as there weren’t any at the time (that I knew of).

The story has turned out just fine, and I look forward to her solving cases for years to come. Along with the help of her brother, Pete.


Back to writing as a career. At that time, we were living in Manhattan, and I began writing a sequel of sorts revolving around a character I had created several years prior. His name was Carter Matheson and he was a retired Special Ops sniper who was hired for “under the radar” jobs where his country needed his help in order to solve situations…in any manner necessary.

Since then, there have been several authors who have risen to tremendous fame who continue to write similar characters, but the several who super-charged my enthusiasm was the late Vince Flynn. I couldn’t read his books fast enough. Followed by the discovery of Brad Thor. Wow, that guy has the goods. So much in fact I shifted to making Carter more “average guy” and less “super hero” because these other authors were crushing it…along with my confidence of being a writer of their caliber. Next came Jack Carr, whom I have had the unique front row seat watching him flourish to enormous (and near overnight) success.

Yet I digress.

I finished the novel Knuckle Down, and for the first time in all of my writing was pleased.

Yes, I was actually pleased with myself, as I had written a book that was solidly entertaining.

And given the fact I was writing in and around Manhattan for five & six days a week, using many locations in the book as backdrops of my story, I was elated to see it come to life.

But I wanted more.

More characters.

More suspense.

More thrills.

 

That’s when I took out Seduction, dusted it off and began a more than two year journey of crafting what you can read now. Just one thing: that opening scene? It was deemed “too graphic (etc)” for many audiences, so it remains on the shelf. But the rest of the book ended up better than I had originally expected. If you’d like to read it, here are Multiple Links.

The Best News?

Since I debuted The Poser in May of this year, I have gone on to sell more than all my other self-pub’d titles combined. Yeah, I’m pretty stoked.

For those who enjoy listening more than reading, it’s also available in audiobook form here at Authors-Direct. I think you’ll really enjoy what I am calling an “Enhanced Listening Experience.” Check out a sample below.


If you are like many of us who enjoy a book series surrounding a particular character, you may be asking…

Where will Detective Norelli go next?

I have a pretty good idea. And you can too…come early 2021.

Stay tuned!

LAST THING: If you’d like to stay in touch with me, see when new books are being released, and even becoming one of my “Beta Readers” (read books before they’re released), just drop me a note below. Thanks!

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