What’s an Accidental Author?

I never intended to write a mystery novel.

I've been a freelance writer for over a decade. Most of my freelance projects are marketing materials, use cases, and white papers for major technology companies.

Not exactly the stuff of dreams, but it pays the bills.

So after all these years, I asked myself, since you've been spending all your time learning to be a great storyteller, why aren't you telling a story that you enjoy?

So I began to write a fictionalized version of my time in the military as a combat interrogator. Not exactly a laugh riot. After about 30,000 words, I took a look at it and said, this is boring. Nobody wants to read this. I don't even want to read it.

 So to cleanse my palate, and try something different, I assigned myself a one-page writing exercise.

I decided that since I like mysteries, and especially humorous mystery novels like those written by Carl Hiassen, Richard Osman, and Robert Thorogood; that I would attempt to write a one-page intro to a mystery that was set in the Washington, D.C. area, but with a wisecracking humor columnist as the main protagonist.

It was a crazy idea, but it was worth trying. And so at the end of that page, I said, this is fun. I'm enjoying writing it. Let me see where I can take this. And before I knew it, I had the first few chapters of a mystery novel.

Fast forward six months, and I had completed the first draft of SEX WHISKEY.

The book is built around an unlikely trio of amateur investigators and is set among the beautiful rolling hills of the Hunt Country of Virginia. My “fish out of water” protagonist, Grady Gallagher finds himself teamed with Lord Sinjin Ravenshire, a mysterious British Viscount, and Elena Verity, a stunningly beautiful equestrienne as they investigate the murder of Sinjin’s niece.

I had so much fun writing SEX WHISKEY, that I’ve already started working on a sequel!

Please take a moment to sign up for my newsletter so I can let you know how to download a free sample of the book when it is published in the Fall of 2025. I’ll also keep you informed of the sequesls in the Grady Gallagher series and other special events, and offers.

I hope you have as much fun reading the book as I had writing it. If you do decide to read SEX WHISKEY, please leave me a review on Amazon.