SUNSET PRIVATE EYES

 

Sunset Private Eyes is now live on Wattpad. There's a link over there somewhere >>>>>

Kat and Vivian are fresh off the Tinseltown busts, dealing with sudden celebrity and eager to cash that publicity in for their first paycheck as private eyes. There's no shortage of cases. The phone is ringing off the hook.

The lady detectives are building a business and a reputation, bringing on new help and investigatory capabilities. In Sunset '77, Vivian played the pivotal role in taking down the predators and bringing Crystal home. In Private Eyes, it's Kat's turn to work undercover.

I'm casting. I often have thoughts of actors when I imagine new characters. Who would play this role in my fantasy film adaptation? When I first wrote Watching The Detectives, she was too young, but I saw Scarlett Johannsen as the best fit to play Kat Price. I also liked Christina Hendricks for the role, when she goes blonde, but she's way too voluptuous, while ScarJo isn't enough. Now in her forties, maybe Johannsen has aged into it.

In chapter 4, you'll meet a sketchy character I became so fond of that I gave him a bigger role. Actor DJ Qualls is precisely who I had in mind to play Rich, a fixer-upper project Kat takes a chance on. 

I have a crusty old, ball-breaking bartender modeled after Don Rickles, and a new cop I created for one reason: a tribute to one of my favorite character actors.

Detective Michael Madsen. There's no doubt who plays that role. Madsen passed away in July 2025. He was always perfect in the role of outsiders, ne'er-do-wells, and men with anti-social tendencies. Detective Mads is all that, a character designed around the actor's persona. I'm also a fan of his sister, actress Virginia Madsen. She could play the role of  Kat. (shrugs)

I have not cast Vivian, and it's bugging me.

This story has many cases, from bang-bang get-it-done-and-get-paid jobs to a single-chapter case to a long sting operation covering most of the book. In research, I learned more about the international diamond trade than any layman needs to know. I get into the weeds.

I mentioned in my long and rambling Sunset Teaser blog from two weeks ago (since deleted) that a sequel was born within this novel. The truth is, I already had a synopsis and outline for a sequel. Now, I have two ideas for Sunset sequels, roughed out and ready to write. Those are far down the road.

You get three chapters this weekend, and then my STTS schedule. 

--- AFTER THAT ---

I'm in the middle of my White Wedding rewrite. I haven't actually finished it, but the ending is written. I rarely know the ending of a book when I start. Even when I think I do, it's changed by the time I get there. The conclusion often reveals itself to me after the halfway point. I may write a version of that ending. It's good to know the end when writing the chapters leading up to it. You have a destination to write to.  

I mentioned my 18th-century writing. I have ten chapters now, and it's shaping up to be a bloody affair. While working on that, another writing idea invaded my mind. I told you it's a mental illness, this imagination of mine. The epiphany struck because I attended two memorial services in one month.

I'm sitting in my first Catholic mass in decades, and my brain just checked out. I imagined what would happen if governments passed laws making medical assisted suicide legal. Who would qualify? Who would support this legislation? Why? Who would vehemently oppose it? Why? How would it impact societies? What are the economic implications? What are the moral questions?

I came up with some answers and wrote about 3000 words, a detailed road map with various angles, characters, and controversies. That led to another question. How would this new law affect families? That's where the drama comes from. Has that book already been written?

I have about twenty of these 2-3k story synopses and outlines waiting for me to go back and finish the job. Most will never happen. I have too many ideas and not enough time.

I'd better get back to White Wedding before I fall into another research-and-writing rabbit hole.