I've been noodling with mysteries most of my life. My grandfather, John Dickson Carr, was a master of mysteries and wrote more than 100 books. I'll never catch up, but I am happy to have finally finished my first book, RIPPED. I've posted the first eight chapters here.

Katie Lennox is the star of this book and is also the strong girl in my next book which is still mostly in my head. I'll start loading chapters as soon as I get down to the writing. That's the hard part, isn't it?

My stories take place in England for a reason. Although my grandfather-- Daddy John, was American, he loved England. He met my grandmother there and that's where they lived for many years after they were married. I think he became more British, rather than her becoming American-ized. Most of his stories are set in England.

I feeI there's more than a little British in me too. The books I read as a child were English mysteries. The Victorian era became a favorite time period for me. And I'm sure that's part of what inspired me to set my story in 1888 London.

Daddy John was famous for his mystery books, for how well he spun a tale. But the most important writing lesson he ever game me was about the importance of relationships. It not a good book if it's just all about the crime and a gallery of individual characters. "Readers care about relationships. Don't forget to include a romantic interest, an interesting match or match-to-be. People don't just care about who dunnit, but who likes whom and what's going to happen between them."

So, in as much as my story is about Jack the Ripper, it's really a story about relationships and all the stuff that goes along with them. Family, loss, disappointment. Romance, friendship, loyalty, choices.