Good Riddance 2020

This year has been a difficult one for most, terrible for some, and catastrophic for others. Who could argue that? So good riddance 2020, adios muchacha, bye Felicia, and don’t let the door hitcha where the good Lord splitcha.

It Could’ve Been Worse

And although it was bad, it could have been worse. Or maybe I’m just trying to be optimistic since I know that great challenges still lie ahead. These are the things I’m grateful for in spite of the otherwise horrible year 2020.

COVID-19 struck my family, but my parents have so far eluded it. Since they are at much greater risk, I thank God that they’ve remained healthy, though it has been extremely difficult to not see them during the holidays.

My younger daughter graduated from college with a nursing degree, but she and thousands of others were deprived of the fanfare that usually accompanies such an achievement. But I’m thankful for her persistence, her accomplishment, and that she held her head high and powered through the obstacles that 2020 produced for her and all other students. And I’m very proud of her.

I’m thankful that my elder daughter, a schoolteacher, was able to spend more time with her family while working from home during the time her school was shut down. I’m grateful that both of my daughters and their husbands are weathering this storm, and that they still strive for the best in these trying times.

My PI business took a sharp dive during 2020, dropping by more than 50% in cases and income. But the extra time allowed me more time to write and to play golf, and it also gave me a sense of what it will be like when I finally retire—hopefully in the near future. For those things, I am thankful.

There is Hope in the Future

In spite of how difficult it has been to remain motivated during these times – much less to be creative – I managed to write and publish two books in 2020: UNWRITTEN RULES, the sixth in the Dickie Floyd series, and THE OUTLAW, the first of the Rich Farris series. I know that many of you are thankful that I did, and I am grateful for the readers who follow me.

I have several projects in the works, and although I normally don’t discuss these things too far in advance, I want to share them with you today, if for no other reason than to document my hope for the future:

I’ve begun writing the second book in the Rich Farris series, and I like the direction it is going. Though I don’t plot a book in the traditional sense, I have a rough outline in my head of the overall story.

I’ve also begun a spinoff of the Dickie Floyd series that features Josie Sanchez, a character who became a favorite of mine and of many others. Again, I have a general direction for the plot, and I think all fans of the first series will thoroughly enjoy it.

Many of you might wonder how many books an author can work on at one time. I don’t know about others – and truthfully, sometimes I wonder if I’ll go completely mad by doing this – but I have those two projects in the works along with a few others.

One of them is a patrol-oriented book (as opposed to a detective novel) that I’ve begun, based on the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Firestone station in South Los Angeles. It is set in the late eighties/early nineties during the height of gang violence and the epidemic of crack cocaine that swept through the nation.

Another project I have going is a true crime. It is a laborious project that simmers on the backburners of my iMac and in the dark recesses of my tormented mind, the story of a Native American tortured and murdered by skinheads. True crime books are much more difficult to write than fiction for a number of reasons, the least of which is the significant research and documentation that is required to get the story right. As such, I don’t expect it to be finished in the near future. I do, however, have several publishers and agents interested in the project, and I am in the process of submitting proposals to them.

I have finished a memoir, and it too is currently with a publisher under consideration. If you don’t know, having a book published through traditional means is an arduous task, one which can take many months, and sometimes years, to come to fruition. It may be that I’ll eventually choose to self-publish the memoir, but first I will try to get a publishing deal with a respectable, traditional publishing house.

Good Riddance 2020

So out with the old, in with the new – or so they say.

Me, I’ve always been resistant to change, but I am hoping (and praying) that significant change will come our way in 2021.

God bless you all and Happy New Year!

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Thank you for reading my blog. I hope you will share it with your family and friends.