This book has been a long time in coming. I got the first inkling for it while writing Rising Water in early 2019. At the same time, I was cowriting Vigilant Charity with Kim Bindschatel. Prior to that, I was searching for someone to take over writing the bulk of the Charity novels and mystery author, Stewart Matthews, volunteered. I’d read his books and had no doubt he could do it, but he lacked the one quality I wanted—the feminine touch.
I knew I wanted to do another spinoff even before that, and introduced several new characters in Rising Charity, who I thought would be worthy of a series of their own. One of those characters came back in Rising Water, a one legged former Ranger by the name of DJ Martin. A new couple also appeared in that book—Jerry and Alicia Snyder. The chemistry between DJ and Jerry was all wrong, which made them perfect to become a team.
I asked Stewart if he were still interested in collaborating on a new series, and he agreed. This was in the Fall of 2019. By the first of December, we had developed a working outline, then the hard work began.
Today is March 11, 2021. Stewart and I have been working on this book for eighteen months, and it will be released in less than a month. During the time it took us to write this book, we each wrote and released several more on our own. Wayward Sons was a side project. During the writing of this book, I moved my office to a new location. The view at Lady’s Island Marina was spectacular, but unnecessary. People often commented on how motivational it must have been. Truth be told, when writing, I closed all the blinds in my office above the marina. It was a huge distraction.
As always, I thank my family first. The support, ideas, and guidance they provide, even when unintended, is without measure. We made it through 2020, with all its challenges, and are looking forward to a brighter 2021.
Much appreciation to a very select group of individuals, Jason Hebert, Mike Ramsey, Rick Iossi, Deg Priest, and Alan Fader, for their local knowledge and experience in helping with the details of this book.
I owe a great deal of gratitude to Samantha Williams and Ashley Lobocki, owner and manager of Aurora Publicity. Their tireless efforts have provided me with the time I need to relax and recharge. Anyone who knows me well, can attest to me being a bit of a control freak. But I think taking off several of the many hats an indie author wears and turning that work over to someone better experienced to do it, will become one of the best decisions I’ve made. This allows me more time to write and spend with my family. God grants each of us only a certain number of hours to fulfil our lives and I want to make the most of those I have left.
Marsha Zinberg is my editor. She has decades of experience and worked for a large publishing house in New York for many years. She now works independently and I’m fortunate to have met her at a writers conference several years ago.
Donna Rich has been the last critical eye on my manuscripts almost from the start. By the time she gets it, there’s little left work left, but she always finds something to fine tune the helm. Thanks, Donna.
In recording the audiobook version of Wayward Sons, Nick Sullivan breathed life into my and Stewart’s characters. Nick has been the voice behind Jesse and Charity for six years and twenty-four novels, plus my one volume of non-fiction. We’ve become great friends over the years and Nick co-hosts my monthly, livestreaming, video podcast, Talk Write . In case y’all didn’t know, besides being a veteran actor of stage and screen, with hundreds of audiobooks to his credit, Nick is also an extraordinary novelist. Check out his Deep Series , with Boone and Emily. Thanks, Nick, for all the late hours, texts, and phone calls.
Wayward Sons is the first book in this brand new Caribbean Mystery Series , and I hope there will be many more to come. Thank you, my loyal readers, for taking another chance with me.