I tried writing fiction as a teenager and then again in college, but gave it up during the majority of my work life, only occasionally drafting a short story or a chapter of a novel. Then, when I retired, I decided to see if I could finish one of the drafts and if anyone would read it. Turns out I could and they did. My fifth novel was released 2/2/2015.

Political issues can divide families. Those divisions can lead to people not talking to each other, but in House Divided, when Courtney Robbins joins the chapter of Students for Palestinian Justice at NYU, her parents are divided about how to respond. Both know SPJ is not what it seems, but Alison believes it important to let her daughter make her own decisions, while Leonard, who is retired CIA and the head of a counterterrorism task force, is concerned that Courtney is being used. Neither foresees the life or death danger Courtney has gotten herself into.

When I started out I had no basis to decide whether my writing was good enough for a traditional publisher. I now know it was not, but in each book I believe the quality of my writing has improved. I believe House Divided meets that standard, but in this case because of the subject matter I could not wait the two years or more it would probably have taken to find an agent, win over a publisher and get my book into the production schedule. Maybe for #6 I'll go that route.