Ray Irish is RETURNING
How my latest Irish novel started and pushed out my other WIP.
In my update concerning a new book, I threw in a few shots from film noir movies, just for eye candy.
So, the conversation in the truck while waiting for my food went like this.
“You need to bring me back,” Ray Irish insisted.
I shook my head, looking at the car in front of me, hoping they didn’t look in their rearview mirror. It’s not like I speak out loud to my characters, but they come back from time to time with ideas for new stories.
“No, I’ve finished your story. You’ve left Oyster City and took your train ride off into the sunset and Wyoming,” I replied.
“You put me on a train traveling east to Baltimore, you dope. Plus, you left me with no girl and no future. All you did was add more mental scars. I mean, come on, you had me against a demon with a cult and three witches. That’s gonna leave a mark.” His words growled in my head.
“In my defense, you’re a hard-boiled detective with a knack for getting in the middle of strange murders and supernatural elements, so that comes with the job. Also, you’re the one who didn’t look back at the train station, so don’t blame me for your love life!”
I tried to remain stoic during the mental conversation as I noticed the lady handing me the bag at the drive-through lane eyed me suspiciously.
As I drove away, Ray proceeded to pitch me on his return to Wyoming, “the open range and no sleazy cases,” as he called it. I listened politely for a while, then finally spoke up.
“Hard-boiled detectives only get the strange and weird mysteries, plus plenty of backstabbing and ruthless characters,” I reminded him. “But, let me think about it.”
After returning home, the wailing and gnashing of teeth in the house came from my side as I’ve put several novels in progress on hold. That means my Shadow Over Charax won’t finish this year as I promised.
That’s correct; Irish pitched several exciting ideas, and the urge to return to one of my favorite characters became too much. Over the last few weeks, I put a few new stories and cases into outlines. Ray’s new life won out!
I’m now deep in the middle of a new supernatural mystery story set two years after Irish left Maryland and started a new path in Wyoming. As a quick synopsis, returning close to home hasn’t raised his fortunes. When an old acquaintance comes for help, Ray finds his boring world suddenly changed. The events lead him along a slippery path into the dark world where madmen and monsters co-exist.
To catch up with Irish’s first cases, you can get them here for free.
For all the books on Amazon, here’s the link (including a hardback of the 4 novels).
