The story behind the story

 


I always liked the "hardboiled" mysteries: Hammet, Chandler, MacDonald, Estleman, etc.  I don't often read them, though, because of the language and immorality rampant in them.  Many years ago I worked with a good friend who shared that interest, but he wouldn't keep the books he bought.  When he learned I liked them, he passed them on to me when he finished.  

After a while I noticed a disturbing pattern: If anyone showed up early in the story carrying a Bible in one hand, he/she would probably show up later carrying a smoking gun or a bloody knife in the other.  Even if not, they were always portrayed as nasty bigots.  

So I decided to try my own hand at it.  I set myself some goals: it would be a first-person narrative, the detective/protagonist would not be a Christian and wouldn't become one, it would be a real mystery with a (hopefully) surprise ending, and Christians, though minor characters, would be portrayed and sane, rational, friendly...and would somehow help in the mystery's solution.  

The original manuscript wasn't book length, but I wasn't really intending it for publication; it was a gift for my friend.  I gave it to him and waited.  And waited. 

A long time later it came up accidentally.  He looked embarrassed and said, "I didn't know how to tell you: I didn't like it.  I saw what you were trying to do."

I bit back my thought: "Why didn't you ever see what those other writers were 'trying to do'?"  But our friendship survived.

So my copy stayed on the shelf for a while.  Eventually I pulled it out and added parts (including a few Gospel presentations), and it eventually wound up writers-exchange.com.  I had a sequel planned entitled TWO SECOND CHANCES, but that's on hold while we see how this one is received.  

It's available on writers-echange.com, amazon.com, B&N.com thriftbooks.com and other sites. 

Enjoy!     

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