Check it out by clicking HERE.
Got THIRD PLACE in the Writerwerx University NOVEL OPENING CONTEST. Writerwerx University is an on-line writer’s school. I purchased on if their books a while back and, when I received a reminder about their annual contests, entered The opening to my latest novel: The Magnificent Madness of Tessa Wiggins.
Here’s a YouTube Video that captures their announcement: https://writerwerxuniversity.com/video-2022-writerwerx-university-novel-opening-contest-winners/
The CrimeThrillerHound website has made The Magnificent Madness of Tessa Wiggins their "Book of the Month" and alongside it published an article I wrote about how authors like myself weave sub-themes and B-line stories within their novels to enrich them for today's readers.
You really need to check out TheCrimeThriller -- not just for this story, but for all the 5-Star books they review.
I recently received a message from someone who asked where I lived and why I was able to capture Tessa's love of nature in my recent novel: The Magnificent Madness of Tessa Wiggins. As instinct would have it, I started to write then realized that a single photo might be the most appropriate reply. Sararose, Bella our dog, and I take a morning walk everyday and today I took my phone to snap a pix. The cool fall weather has painted the land in shades of sepia and burgundy.
If you look closely you can see the entire campus -- our two little cabins, dome greenhouse, garage and shed. You can also see the river and the two bridges we built over it to get to the vast majority of the 40 acres which lies high above the river. There are no roads to the back of the property -- just the way Sararose and I like it.
The Crime Thriller Hound website out of the UK recently posted an article I wrote along with a bio and nice plug for my recent novel.
Check them out! A great website for mystery book lovers.
A rare Sherlock Holmes collection has just been published by the MX Publishing in London. The Improbable Protégé is a Limited Edition Run of only 100 hardcover volumes. Each book is numbered and can be personalized when you order at: MX Publishing.
This Sherlock Holmes trilogy features his most beloved member of the Baker Street irregulars Tessa Wiggins. There singular relationship has largely been an untold story . . . until now.
Irregular Lives begins in post-WWI London, as Holmes retires. A mysterious photography exhibit catapults him back in time to early experiences with Tessa and other members if his urban army. But his reminiscences are merely a prelude to a thrilling adventure that begins when a jolly reunion with the irregulars erupts in tragedy.
Though set in 1919, The Celtic Phoenix is steeped in the enigmatic culture of the ancient Celts. The Celtic Phoenix is the journey of three women who rise from the ashes of their past and shake the rational foundations upon Sherlock Holmes built his life and career.
The Magnificent Madness of Tessa Wiggins finds Tessa struggling with the spirit of a Druid priestess. Tessa defies treatment and her lover asks her childhood friend, Sherlock Holmes, to intervene.
If you have ever wondered who followed in the footsteps of Sherlock Holmes, this limited-edition book is for you. Copies are counting down.
What makes a “good read”? The answer appears simple: An enthralling story. However, we’re then left to wonder: What kinds of stories captivate readers
I believe that a primary characteristic that gives a story richness and depth is relevant subthemes. So, in addition to an intriguing plot, memorable characters, and solid story structure, I give equal attention to the subthemes. Mine are gender equality, particularly women’s rights, and environmental sustainability.
These two subthemes are related because it is clear that women like Anne Hidalgo, Petra Kelly, and Greta Thunberg are leading efforts to address climate change around the world. We have profound economic, political, and environmental issues that must be addressed now. But most efforts stand little chance of yielding solutions unless there is an accompanying change in mental attitudes. The first, most impactful, and crucial step is to ensure the women of the world are finally embraced as entirely equal to men.
My commitment to incorporate the subthemes of women’s rights and environmental sustainability within my stories led me to Celtic history. Between 600 B.C. and 50 A.D. women in this confederation of Indo-European tribes blossomed in ways inconsistent with the patriarchal tenets that dominated surrounding societies.
The Celts enjoyed a harmony between the roles and rights or men and women that was not based upon the superiority of one sex over another. Celtic women, in general, enjoyed rights and freedoms unheard of in those times. Take Celtic marriage, which was viewed as a partnership between men and women. Women chose their husbands and never married against their will. A wife was allowed to leave her husband if he committed adultery or abused her and take any property she had brought into the marriage and acquired during it.
In the world of the Celts, women were warriors, poets, and even Druids, the latter being more powerful than any monarch. A king or chieftain would not make any important decision without the counsel of a Druid. And, interestingly enough, Druid rituals and wisdom were inspired by Nature. Druids and Celts saw themselves as part of the larger Natural world and treated it with reverence and respect. Yes, the Celts were the perfect vehicle through which I could incorporate both my chosen subthemes.
While I might have written stories set in the time of the Celts, it was more fun and fascinating to bring the Celtic ethics and beliefs into the modern era to draw a sharper contrast. But, to do this required that I break from the genre that launched my writing career, Sherlock Holmes pastiches, to introduce a young Irish lass named Tessa Wiggins.
The three novels following Sherlock Holmes – The Golden Years are set just before and after the First World War in Britain. Irregular Lives, The Celtic Phoenix, and The Magnificent Madness of Tessa Wiggins role out chronologically as Tessa grows from a six-year-old London street urchin into a powerful Celtic woman and Druid priestess. Within these three stories, readers are introduced to the Celtic ethos, and using a little magical realism, readers meet a diverse cadre of other formidable Celtic women.
I plan to continue writing in the mystery-suspense genre, with Tessa as my lady detective with a psychic vibe, in the hope that contrasting a much-neglected historical period with ours will help make way for a broader, more inclusive human society where men and women no longer need to indulge in an unwholesome gender rivalry that has undermined human beings for centuries.
