Beyond the fat cat is my iMac where I write every day. I've a lamp and external speakers so I can listen to rock and roll while I write. There's also an external hard drive. The notes on the book I'm writing is on my desk and at the moment there is a large volume of CHRONICLE OF THE 20th CENTURY which has news articles from each day of the century, from January 1, 1900 through December 31, 1999. On the wall overlooking my desk are original oil paintings we used on the cover of 7 of my books and a photo of Elmore Leonard I took and he autographed.

In high school I tried writing science fiction. Wrote SF short stories through my college years. Wrote some of the worst SF stories ever written. But Ray Bradbury tells us to write and write. We all have 100,000 bad words in us. Get them out of the way. I did and when I became a homicide detective, I knew what I was supposed to write about.

New Orleans, a city you cannot leave. Although I live across Lake Pontchartrain from the city, I'm a New Orleans writer. Almost everything I've written is set there. The city is more than streets and lacework balconies, more than its neighborhoods and traditions, it's a feeling. It's an attitude. It's America's eternal city. It cannot be destroyed by war, epidemics, racial strife, even hurricanes.

It's a private eye novel that's been nominated for this year's (2016) SHAMUS AWARD by the Private Eye Writers of America for BEST PRIVATE EYE ORIGINAL PAPERBACK NOVEL. It's called THE LONG COLD.

Thirty years ago, fourteen year old Lenore San Luna was murdered. Unsolved, her case was long forgotten until her cousin Gina Badalamente, daughter of the boss of the New Orleans Mafia, approaches the one man La Cosa Nostra may tolerate to look into this case – former NOPD homicide detective Dino LaStanza. The most dangerous private eye in the city turns down the case. His beautiful, wealthy wife Lizette is relieved. He’s tangled with the Mafia in the past and it didn’t end well. However, when LaStanza learns of the connection between Lenore and his family, he will take on the dangerous, haunting investigation of this long cold murder case.

Bad editors and even worse publishers who did nothing for me but print the books, open their door and toss them into the street. They kept almost all of the money sold (my royalties were 4% to 8%) and put the books out of print. I control my art now. I write the books, lay them out, design the covers and get a much higher royalty.

Smashwords allows me to reach more people, allows me the freedom of controlling my art from start to finish.

Writing. Putting together a scenario, creating characters and letting them go. I jog along next to them and record what they say and do. The creative process is the greatest joy. I'm a writer.

I'm writing this in July, 2016. I've written two novels since January and just finished a short story. I'll begin a new novel in a few days. I never stop writing. I'm writing another private eye novel, this one set in 1951 New Orleans.

Paul Bishop, Max Allan Collins, Bernard Cornwell, George Alec Effinger, Harlan Ellison, Ken Follett, Allan Guthrie, Thomas Harris, Greg Iles, Alexander Kent, Elmore Leonard, H.P. Lovecraft, C. L. Moore, James L. Nelson, Jeff Shaara, James Sallis and Kate Wilhelm. I've also developed a particular affinity for mystery writers Frederic Brown, Howard Browne, David Dodge, Loren Estleman, Channing Hayden, Robert S. Levinson, Wade Miller, Marcia Muller, Max Phillips, Bill Pronzini, Dayne Sherman, Kent Westmoreland, Harry Whittington, Charles Willeford, Charles Williams and Dave Zeltserman.

From inspiration I write an outline then think about it and play out some of the scenes, writing them down. When the conscious meditation is almost complete, I write the book nonstop. Then I let it sit a week or so and do a second draft. Then it goes to my first reader and she makes corrections and suggestions. I do another draft. Then another and then my editor reads it and make suggestions. I do at least two more drafts until it's finished.

"The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Black Cat" by Edgar Allan Poe. He was my first favorite writer and I've read almost everything he's written. He inspired me to be a writer.

My friend and mentor Harlan Ellison told me a good cover should have a single strong image, along with an eye catching title and the writer's name. One other thing can be said about the book on the cover, such as it's a 'crime novel' or award winner. That's it. Use bold fonts in all caps most of the time and make sure the writer's name is as big as the title, if possible. I use original art we commission or photographs I've taken (I was a photographer in the US Army).