WELCOME TO MY WEBSITE

People often ask what first inspired me to become an author. The truth is I no longer remember. It’s something I’ve wanted to do since I was a child. Nowadays I can no longer imagine not writing.

Another common question is, “Where do you get your ideas?” Ideas are actually very easy to come by. The hard part is getting them onto paper. I once calculated that to in order to write all the books I’ve planned I’ll need to live to be about two hundred years old. Retiring from a forty-year career in consulting and financial management has helped immensely.

My first book, Unfinished Business, though it sprung from childhood memories growing up in the rural south of the 1950s and 1960s, is in no way autobiographical. Subsequent novels, Fly Away and Pronounced Ponce follow the continuing saga of my principal character Tom Williams into the twenty-first century. My latest work will feature the developing career and love life of his grandson, William Wakefield.

When asked what kinds of books I write, I usually reply by giving a short description of each.

Though I classify them as “murder mysteries,” these stories also take place in contexts with historical and psychological elements. If I follow the Williams clan far enough into the future, I’m sure I’ll end up writing science fiction as well.

For me, it’s all about the characters, their gifts, their virtues, and their flaws. My favorites are those who break down stereotypes and do the unexpected. Like all of us, they are unique. They play their parts in this life and depart the stage, leaving the world just a bit different for their having been here.

Nothing reveals character better than the ways we respond to adversity. For this reason, each of my books involves a central conflict faced by my protagonist, made more complicated by the struggles of others. Kurt Vonnegut once said that on every page somebody should want something, even if it’s just a glass of water. I think Kurt was onto something.

Over the years I’ve had the pleasure of knowing writers from every walk of life. From them I continue to learn more and more about my craft, something for which I will be eternally grateful.


Hello, and welcome to my website. As a member of the community of readers you are automatically among my favorite people. Together we experience the magic of exploring other worlds and getting to know other people, fictional or real, better than we know anyone, perhaps including ourselves.

If there is a common denominator among novelists, it’s the love of good books that we share with you. Sadly, we live in an era in which independent bookstores are rapidly dwindling. Nothing will ever replace the experience of browsing their shelves, caressing their bindings, and breathing in the scent of fresh paper. Public libraries have also been the victims of multiple rounds of local budget cuts.

I would urge you today to find and support a bookstore and a library near you. Find a book to read for yourself and one to read to a friend. If the books you see listed on this website are not in stock, your bookstore can order them from Ingram Spark Lightning Source. You can also order them here by clicking any of the online sources.

Authors live and die by reviews not only from critics but from readers such as yourselves. Your honest feedback is also helpful in our continuing efforts to better communicate our stories.

For this reason, I offer a free PDF of a short story to anyone who emails me a link to a review they’ve posted on Goodreads, Barnes and Noble, or Amazon.