A lot of people tell me Monticello in Holland Bay and The Dogs of Beaumont Heights feels real. Little details like the odd way the Shoreway hovers over Lake Avenue, the names and condition of various neighborhoods, and even the history in places of the city conspire to make it seem like I took a…
When I shopped Holland Bay around, many people pointed out how real the city of Monticello seemed. My brother-in-law swears I based it on Cleveland, where I’m originally from. (Spoiler alert: He’s never been to Cleveland.) In reality, some of its based on Cincinnati with bits and pieces taken from other cities. For instance, take…
A lot of people ask me who the main character of the Holland Bay series is. It is, of course, Jessica Branson. In Holland Bay, she’s not the first person we meet, though she does show up in Chapter 1. When we do meet her, she’s lost a drunken bet with a friend, resulting in…
The Dogs of Beaumont Heights is now available. Jessica Branson returns riding high off the end of Ralph Smithers, Monticello’s notorious drug lord. However, the tenants paying for the house she can’t afford drag her toward the center of the city’s drug war. To an ambitious police commander, it’s a chance to get rid of…
It’s here! The Dogs of Beaumont Heights, Book 2 of the Holland Bay series! Special Investigations has gone from the department dumping ground to the mayor’s pet project. And Detective Jessica Branson is its star. She’s in the MPD’s good graces and living with her nerdy boyfriend. But the house she can’t afford except as…
The dogs are coming. January 16th. The Dogs of Beaumont Heights arrives, Book 2 of the Holland Bay series. Jessica Branson has made her comeback as a Monticello Police officer, but like all best-laid plans, there’s always a monkey wrench. In this case, the tenants from hell in a house she owns overdose and trash…
Holland Bay has only been out a couple of months, and yet the question always turns to “When’s the next one?” You could sell three copies a month or a thousand and still get that question. The answer is it’s with the alpha reader. I expect it back at the end of February, after which…