"Shadow", like so many of the Nick Posh books, in fact, most of the Nick Posh books, was created in my head a long time ago. I've been hanging out with Posh almost as long as I've been hanging out with Craig Allen MacKenzie, and let me tell you -- sometimes I can't get a word in edgewise inside my brain when those two start talking. Nick Posh has been a character in my heart and mind since around the turn of the 21st Century. I can't tell you exactly when I started thinking about him, but it was before 2005; that much I know.
I know he's been around before 2005 because I had to put my first Nick Posh novel off so I could focus on my dissertation, which I was supposed to have finished in 2005 for defending, but I ended up writing it at the beginning of 2006. Then, because of work, kids, life, and the dog I had to take around the world a few times, there just wasn't time to write detective books. I had Faith (the dog), and people expected me to write books about her. OK, so I wrote books about her, and that pushed Nick Posh back pretty far in terms of being allowed outside my head to play.
I'm thinking now it's only been 5 years since he's been exercised, maybe not even that long. I wrote the first Posh novel in 2023, I think -- but I wrote most of it a year before. Well, he's out now! He's out, and he's really hard to stuff back into my head once he started talking to me, telling me stories about his life, his family, his work, and so much more. It's hard for me to keep up with the man -- except I should be honest, and say I head-wrote just about every book years ago. It's just that now I'm actually putting my fingers to the keys and getting the words out of my skull and onto the computer -- then of course, into print.
There were two books, "Cumberland" and "Stratford", which were not previously written or thought out. Those two books are freshly created and just sort of thrown out into the ether to get them out so that the older books, the original books, can have more free space to breathe. If you're not inside my head, you may not understand all that - but it makes sense to my brain. Nick Posh, I guess you could say, is the author of his stories, and I just report them as I'm being led. He's the one who has to live his life, but I will say even he didn't realize he was going to end up fathering twins at 44 -- that was all me. I did that. He's still shaking his head.
I can tell you this: There will be no more little Posh kids being born anytime soon. His quiver will have to be full with the three sons that he has. He'll learn a great deal about being a father as the books continue, and he'll raise his boys to love God, our country, and to keep both the Commandments and the laws of man. Patriotism oozes out of this man, and for that I am thankful. He's an easy one to write. He's honest, upfront, intelligent, and clever. He thinks, and he's one of the most resourceful men I've ever conjured.
I can't tell you too much about "Shadow" yet, but I can tell you it takes place in Oklahoma (mostly) and spans from September 1934 to about April 1935. My mother makes an appearance in the book; she was born in April 1935, and her family, though living in Thrift, Texas, will be mentioned in "Shadow". Nick faces a grim reality in the book, having to deal with his personal morals, ethics, laws, and more - he'll make decisions that may not be popular, and they may not be wise as they relate to his job and livlihood, but he's one of those die-hard ethical men who we only read about. He'll stand alone if he has to; but he won't compromise to please others. He answers to a higher power than himself.
I'll start writing a week from this Saturday, so around March 7th, and it should be written in about 5 weeks, and then tweaked and corrected. It may be ready by April 22, but if not, it can be a little later. I won't fuss. It'll be a fun book to write, as I'll do a great deal of research on the law and how it was handled in the good old days -- Alfalfa Bill Murray returns to "Shadow"; it was his last year in office. I love that man, warts and all.
Photo Credit: Me.
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