Maybe it’s the shotgun blasts that have taken the place of my alarm clock in the past week. No carnage, unless you’re a duck and the hunters on the marsh have shot you out of the air. But when you’re jarred away by a 12-gauge, it does get your day off to an interesting start.
But the days are growing shorter, and the mornings and evenings darker, and that’s a good thing for a crime novelist. Something about fog and rain and early dusk. I’m in the mood to write and McMorrow No. 10 is moving along. I’m liking it. I hope you will, too.
Of course, I’m also out and about talking about my young friend Brandon Blake and PORT CITY BLACK AND WHITE. This week I did a joint thing with New Hampshire writer Toby Ball at Water Street Bookstore, in Exeter, N.H. Great store, nice people, good crowd. I had a good time and I think everyone else did, as well.
Next up is Oct. 20 at Lithgow Library in Augusta, Maine. Lithgow is one of my regular stops, and one I look forward to. Hope you can stop by. And check out the poster. Some of my friends from Maine Crime Writers are on the slate. Stop by and say hello.
If not, stop by here when you can and I’ll have the latest news. E.G., Booklist really liked PC B&W. Some reviewers like the book and get it. Some even add to my understanding of Brandon. This is one of those.
Question of the week: a reader at the NH event asked if I had plans to bring McMorrow and Blake together in a future novel. I’ve considered it. What do you think?











In PORT CITY SHAKEDOWN, the first Brandon Blake novel, Brandon gets a full dose of bad guys. A brawl in a funeral home introduces him to Joel Fuller, a sociopathic hustler. Fuller is fresh out of jail and determined to take Brandon out—after Fuller and his sidekick Kelvin shake him down.
Rocky isn’t a tough guy. He’s a skinny little kid with crooked glasses, and he shouldn’t be homeless in Portland, Maine. When McMorrow and Roxanne pluck him from under the stomping feet of a gang of street kids, Rocky latches onto McMorrow–and drags him into a world of murder, both old and new. Why is McMorrow protecting Rocky? The cops want to know. Why is Rocky on the run? McMorrow wants to know. Why does death follow in Rocky’s wake? Jack and Roxanne need to find out before they’re added to the list.