Drowning My Suspicions

I have completed three books now and my current work in progress is completely different from my Mike Parsons Series. I often wonder why we, as authors, wander from our series characters and write something completely stand-alone.  I will attempt to explain.

Drowning My Suspicions, is a Literary Titan Gold Medal Winning book that follows the fictional arrest and trial of a suspected murderer.  A fraud is taking place in the Glendale Investment Company.  As three people conspire to empty the pockets of the company, an investigative reporter, Larry Mattingly, and his friend, Tyler Dierks want to investigate what happened to their friend, Braden McDermott.  They are suspicious of his ex-girlfriend, Arial Kramer and how she might be connected.

Mattingly must use his skills and talents to find out the truth about Glendale Investments, Arial Kramer, and her associates.  He discovers what’s going on at Glendale and comes across a break that may end up exposing several crimes.  He follows the leads and enters into a world of greed, suspicion, and even murder.  Each turn of events leads to one more stunner that no one saw coming.

In writing this piece of work, I found myself delving deeper into the minds of my characters.  Each one evolves from the superficial thinking of their youth to the deeper thinking, soul-searching adults.  I wanted to portray some feelings of inadequacy that we all face. The feeling of not really liking ourselves or liking ourselves too much, that may sometimes be the motivating factors that drive us to want to be something that is possibly beyond our reach.  That particular drive makes humans do anything it takes to get to the top.  Certainly, the characters have their own motivations whether it be love, lust, greed, or hunger for power.

I haven’t grown tired of Mike Parsons and his character.  He will definitely return in my next book that I already have begun to outline.  I just needed a break from the series and wanted to try a stand-alone story, one that I am really liking at this point.  I guess that’s no sin, but I have been told by other writers that straying from your series could be dangerous for your readers.  I see it a bit different.

I have read many John Grisham books and many of those have characters have endured many of his books.  The books and the characters are some of my favorites.  Yet, when I read “The Bleachers”, I was very impressed with Grisham’s ability to pull off the high school football reunion story that kept me interested from front to back.  It brought back great memories and thoughts of fellow teammates and our relationships on and off the field when I played football at Union High School in Union, Missouri.

Be that as it may, Grisham’s talents far surpass my own, but I suppose that “Drowning My Suspicions” will be my one book that, like “The Bleachers”, will most likely be my one book that will be much different than my series.  It will be my one breakaway book, that has finality and no opening for the characters to live on in another work.  It is indeed a challenge to write this work.

I am hoping to have this novel finished by October and have it ready to go out by the first of the year.  Until then, keep reading the Mike Parsons Trilogy, Redemption 1, 2, and 3.  As soon as my new work goes to edit, I will go right back to another Mike Parsons/Andy Marx adventure!

Look for my next newsletter coming out September 1.  I will have three covers for you, the readers, to choose from for this new book.  The cover with the most votes, will be the one I use.  Thanks for participating in my newest work in progress!