Currently I sit on a health insurance trust board and we meet three to four times a year. Prior to every meeting, our group gets together to enjoy fine wine (lots and lots of fine wine), good conversation and great food.

This past weekend my wife and I hosted the traditional drink and be merry night before the meeting event at our house. Greg, one of the consultants to the board and I had bonded five years ago over our shared Sicilian heritage. When my mom was still alive, Greg insisted I call and ask her where granddad was raised. I found out and promptly informed Greg who knew exactly where that small town was in Sicily. I have since forgotten. I think we’ve already established through previous blogs that memory is not my strong suit.

Greg is a real sweetheart and bought my first novel, Love Forever, Live Forever. After a few glasses of wine (okay maybe a tad bit more than a few), he tells me, “I was really thrown for a loop when in the middle of the book you had that vampire twist.” He went on to ask, “Where did you get all the information on vampires? Did you have to do a lot of research on them? You know, learn about the vernacular. I found all the terminology fascinating.”

I laughed and told him, “I just make that shit up.”

“Really?” he questioned.

At this point, I am now doubled over in laughter. “Greg,” I start, “you do know that vampires aren’t real. It’s fiction for God’s sake. I don’t have to stick to all the vampire folklore. I didn’t really like the fact that they couldn’t go out in the sunshine, but I couldn’t just make it so they could without a certain set of challenges.”

“The way you described making new vampires – I forget the terminology you used – that was fascinating,” Greg added.

“Yep, just made that shit up,” I said again. “I took a little bit of folklore then added my own brand of paranormal myth.”

I figured if the author of  the Twilight series can make her vampires sparkle in the sunshine and deviate so dramatically from vampire folklore, well then so could I.

One of the reasons I love paranormal, science fiction, spy and fantasy stories is because I can make up any crazy shit that floats through my demented brain – and I do.

Conventional romance has a lot less flexibility so it isn’t as much fun to write. I suppose that is why the next book that is coming out, which is more conventional, had to contain a theme that is near and dear to my heart. I’ve been told by betas that it is my best work so far and I have to admit it is my favorite. I know I’m not supposed to say that because it’s like revealing your favorite child or furbaby.

Fiction, no matter if it is conventional or unconventional, still always allows the writer to make shit up, it’s just that science fiction, fantasy, spy and paranormal broaden those boundaries.

If there is anything you can count on, it is to expect the unexpected from my novels, with hopefully a small amount of humor woven into the fabric of the story.

Happy reading everyone. I hope you’ll consider reading some of my “made up shit.”

Love Forever, Live Forever and Asset Management are both currently for sale and Locked Inside is due for release in December. Links below should help make it easy to purchase!

Here is a link to the first chapter of my new book, Asset Management: First Chapter of Asset Management,.  My first novel, Love Forever, Live Forever, is available in both e-book and print format. Links below will get you to all the places you can purchase the book.   Keep scrolling down for the links to Asset Management. Thanks for supporting a new writer!!

Amazon              Affinity E-Book Press         Smashwords        Barnes and Noble     Bella Books

Here are the links to Asset Management:

Amazon         Affinity E-Book Press      Smashwords     Barnes & Noble     Not up on the Bella Books site yet – sorry