Happy Halloween!
Spooky things happen this time of year, our at least our imaginations lean in that direction. I have read a few spooky books and watched a few movies, but I am not a fan usually. I appreciate the suspense and anticipation, but I guess those years of being a cop conditioned my brain to not like surprises, at least ones that scare me! My new book, Timeless Magic City, is about as “spooky” as I think I will ever get as a writer. It is at the printer and scheduled to launch on December 5, 2022. We will have a pre-launch event on December 4th and if you’re in the Birmingham area I would love to see you there!
Timeless Magic City is certainly mundane in its spookiness compared to real horror or suspense books; the very nature of the story was a stretch for me. As I have said before, the premise of the story started with a dream and that was undoubtedly fed by my research I had accumulated about the turn of the last century for my first novel, Magic City Murder Déjà Vu. The dream was a brief glimpse. One scene basically, but it spurred my imagination fueled by all the stories from that 1st decade of the 20th century when Birmingham was booming and struggling to emerge from a rowdy boom town into the industrial city many of the leaders had planned. It was experiencing phenomenal growth, but it came with growing pains.
Then, a recently retired Deputy U.S. Marshal is thrust from 2022 into the scene in 1901. Is it a dream or reality? Whatever it was, life was harsh, especially if you were used to the comforts of the 21st century. We follow him though his adjustment to a life he was not expecting. He develops relationships and tries to fit in.
Amidst the prosperity and development, Birmingham was emerging as industrial mecca of the world. Immigrants flooded into to the area to take advantage of all the opportunities as the city gained notice as being on the verge of becoming a major city. During this time, with reconstruction failed, the new south was employing every tactic possible to ensure that Jim Crow laws kept races separate. Hostilities grew, not only against blacks, but also Catholics and other immigrants. Despite the tensions, political infighting, and tremendous growth, the city prospered and flourished.
This is a story of those troubling times and the friendship and bond between two men -- one black and one white. It’s their story and it endures much longer than you would think.
PRE-ORDERS AVAILABLE NOW.
AVAIBALE WHEREVER BOOKS ARE SOLD 12/5/2022.