Mystery Writing-The John Keegan Mystery Series

Writing The First Cut Is the Deepest felt like time travel—not just to a younger, brasher Detective John Keegan, but to the start of a journey that shaped a man, a marriage, and a career in solving impossible crimes. Revisiting the roots of Keegan's character while knowing what lay ahead in the timeline gave me a unique opportunity: to plant seeds in the current books that could bloom retroactively in the past. This concept—creating echoes that resonate backward—has become a hallmark of the Keegan series. The Power of Looking Back Detective Keegan in 1999, just starting in homicide, was eager, inexperienced, and idealistic. By the time we meet him in later novels, he's a seasoned, jaded detective grappling with personal demons and a relentless pursuit of justice. This duality allowed me to explore how and why he became who he is. For instance, when I wrote The Lies That Bind Us , Keegan's chance encounter with Elena—his ex-girlfriend—hinted at a shared history. In First ...

Going Back to the Beginning Soft Case will always hold a special place in my mind and heart. It's my first (published) novel and I love it for all it represents, including how far I have come since. I usually do some small updates every two years to my books but Soft Case has long needed more than that. And I guess I avoided it because it was a huge endeavor. Now, it's done. It was quite an experience. When I first wrote   Soft Case , I was a first-time author with big dreams, a decent amount of self-doubt, and, let’s face it, very little leverage. My goal back then was simple: get published. It’s a goal many writers share, and one that can overshadow other creative aspirations. The publisher and editor had their ideas about what the book should be—ideas I didn’t always agree with but wasn’t equipped to challenge at the time. Let’s just say I didn’t yet have the gravitas (or courage) to tell the editor “no.” In hindsight, some of those compromises gnawed at me over the years. T...

  Is Writer's Block Real? There's long been a debate about writer's block. Maybe there's no scientific evidence for it but more than enough writers suffer from periods of staring at a blank screen. No one seems to know exactly what causes it because it's different for everyone. Well, maybe not no one  but there isn't much agreement either. It can go on for a few days or a few weeks, even months. Much like an athlete can hit a slump or lose their ability one day, a writer can just blank. This can come from overtaxing your mind or by not following a regular schedule. So, be mindful of those. Take breaks (writer's block rarely comes after rest) and make a sdchedule and stick to it. There are as many solutions to this as there are for hiccups. Below are some strategies that work for me. And to provide context, I've gone from struggling to finish a novel for months to writing eight books in the last twelve months. Even during that time, I battled with cogniti...

  Reflecting on Death Knell : Finding My Voice Through Keegan When I sat down to write Death Knell , the third installment in the John Keegan series, I didn’t realize how pivotal it would be for both the character and myself. By this point, Keegan and I had grown together in unexpected ways. Writing had transitioned from something I loved into something I lived for—a career in every sense of the word. This book marked the turning point where storytelling became more than just the words on the page. It became a responsibility, a craft, and, more importantly, a mirror. Keegan confronts loss in Death Knell . It’s not the first time he’s dealt with it, but it’s different now—sharper, deeper, more personal. Strangely, this mirrored my own life in ways I hadn’t anticipated. Only months after the book's publication, I faced my own version of profound loss. Writing about Keegan's grief in advance of my own made his pain more visceral for me. There’s a strange, almost eerie way that lif...

Grab a copy of Third and Long Now! Writing 'Third and Long' Writing 'Third and Long' has been an experience that feels both nostalgic and profoundly reflective. As part of the Keegan Retro Series, this book takes us back to an early case in John Keegan's career—a pivotal investigation involving Martin Reeves and his partnership with Matty Long. The core idea of this retro series is that these books actually double as episodes in Keegan's current-day TV show, where older Keegan looks back on significant cases from his career, offering a mix of personal growth and detective work. Young Keegan and Matty Long In 'Third and Long,' we see Keegan paired with Matty Long, a detective Keegan initially considered "old" back in 2000. Keegan, in his youthful certainty, found himself doubting the abilities of a man he saw as past his prime. And yet, Long turned out to be the partner he needed, offering perspectives that young Keegan never expected. Now, Keeg...

  Revisiting Time Stand Still : Editing, Nostalgia, and Growth I love writing the Keegan series. It's my main work and it's fulfilling and my most productive area of writing. But, there's one book I wrote almost twenty years ago that has been a sort of favorite. While Keegan is more of my polar opposite, Darren Camponi from Time Stand Still  is a little more like me. And the story, going back in time and reliving younger days, has always intrigued me. But the book is flawed and needs some attention. Hence, the revisit. Time Stand Still is  a story outside my John Keegan series, yet one that oddly links back, as the main character, Darren Camponi, makes an appearance in To The Bone and joins Keegan’s ever-expanding world. And this year, I decided to do what Darren does in Time Stand Still, go back to my past and relive it. Only I can make changes that don't impact the present too much. I hope ;) It’s strange to open up something I two decades ago, seeing my own words fr...

It's Really Been Two Decades? It's been a long trip, this writing thing. What started out as a whim turned into twelve novels and a few more in progress. I wanted to take a moment to share a bit about myself and how I came to write mystery novels. Ever since I was young, mysteries have always captivated me. Growing up with a father who served as an NYPD officer, I was immersed in a world of intrigue and complex human stories from an early age. His experiences sparked my fascination with unraveling puzzles and understanding the depths of human nature. I experimented with writing in various genres, but I found that mystery resonated with me the most. There's something uniquely thrilling about posing "what if" questions and exploring where they lead. For example, in my book "Soft Case," I pondered: What would happen if someone like Bill Gates ran for office? How would those around him react to potential secrets being unearthed? These kinds of questions dr...