Holland Bay! (And a Bag of Dick’s, Too!)

Today is the day!

The long-awaited, often-talked-about, never seen Holland Bay is here!

What is Holland Bay? It’s 87th Precinct meets The Wire. It’s the story of a dying industrial city in the Midwest coping with the 21st century. It’s your city. It’s mine.

More specifically, it’s about two people looking for redemption. One is Armand Cole, a gang banger with a chance to make his mark. He is taken under the wing of the operation’s money man, Rufus King, and given a job: Bring an errant corner boy named Baggy in line or leave him on the city’s infamous Pier 9, unofficially the city of Monticello’s gang graveyard.

But it’s just such a body on Pier 9 that revives the fortunes of Detective Jessica Branson. Languishing in the city’s Special Investigations unit, really the MPD’s dumping ground for unwanted officers who won’t leave, she heads into work with a homicide on her plate and a new commander: The Internal Affairs officer who investigated the shooting that stalled her career. Now he promises to revive it.

Armand and Branson both find themselves on a collision course with the city’s drug lord, Ralph Smithers. Armand must decide if he is loyal to Ralph, or if it’s time for new blood to run Monticello. Branson learns of her original partner’s death and decides that Ralph Smithers is her Great White Whale. She will not rest until he is either in a jail cell or lying dead on Pier 9.

But…

What’s this “Bag of Dick’s,” you ask?

Well, as a writer, today, my cup runneth over. Not only does Holland Bay debut today, but Colin Conway releases the latest in his 509 Series, literally titled A Bag of Dick’s. Bag is an anthology based in Colin’s version of Spokane, Washington, but it’s no ordinary anthology. We start with Detective Jim Morgan, who stops off for a burger at Dick’s, a Spokane culinary institution (like White Castle in the Midwest or Crystal’s down south). A shady character grabs a lone bag of Dick’s and runs off. Morgan wants to know what’s in the bag and tells his favorite informant there’s a get-out-of-jail-free card in it for whoever finds out. Jonathan Brown, Sarah M. Chen, Bill Fitzhugh, Scott Kikkawa, Nick Kolakowski, Debbi Mack, Kat Richardson, Brian Thornton, Sam Wiebe, Frank Zafiro, and yours truly, Jim Winter, offer 11 stories of the chaos Morgan’s gambit kicks off.

My story in all this is “Prime Delivery,” where two Major Crimes detectives are saddled with trying to trap a porch pirate in the most unlikely neighborhood of Spokane when another informant mishears Morgan’s offer and interrupts the stakeout.

I’m proud of Holland Bay, and I had fun writing for A Bag of Dick’s. Hope you enjoy them, too!