When's the next book coming out?
When I decide it's ready.
In the meantime, I offer this meandering, cannabis gummi-induced teaser.
Enter at your own risk.
Sometimes I create a character who fits so perfectly into my tale that I want them in more scenes. That happened in Chapter 4 of Sunset Private Eyes. I had a specific name with a general idea of what I wanted this man to be. Then I started writing and veered in a completely different direction, totally unexpected. What I got was the polar opposite of what I had in mind, and I'm so happy for that.
I went from a clichéd, sleezy LA detective I had intended to make creepy and campy - imagine actor James Woods in the 1995 film Casino as Lester Diamond and make him a 70's detective - and I somehow wrote a deep character I wanted more of. The best actor for this new role would be DJ Qualls (The Man in the High Castle), whom I am a big fan of.
Chapter 4 is entirely about this new character. I had never done that before. I will certainly do it again.
The best example I have of a minor character who grows into a major player in another story is Danny, and there are parallels between Danny Costa's life in Venice and that of this DJ Qualls detective. When I wrote Danny and reached the scene in Westwood-UCLA, where Joe wakes Michele and her roommates to collect Danny's meager possessions, I knew Danny would become a prominent character. I had no clue he would hook up with Jeanie until the day I wrote them meeting at the first LAX hangar show. That was a eureka moment for me. Danny, the stray cat in the Venice Scene, became Joe's baby sister's lover... in whatever book that was.
Nobody saw that coming. Including me. That's what I love about being a writer. I never know the end of the story when I start. It comes to me. I don't know how it happens or where the story comes from; it just appears in my head as my fingers tap the keystrokes. There's a direct connection between my old man imagination and my fumbling fingertips.
Back to detectives.
In Sunset '77, Kat takes a back seat to Vivian's bravery in Tinseltown. As a new character in book 2, I wanted Vivian to be a badass. In the 3rd book, Kat steps up and does the undercover work. Vivian, the new project detective from chapter 4, and Viv's young UCLA criminal justice protege provide surveillance and support.
The support characters from Sunset '77 - Deputy Ramirez and gossip queen Jimmy Scarlet - play lesser roles in the 3rd book, so my new characters can shine. In some future Sunset novel, they will all come together.
My detective writing is usually more concise and focused, with fewer side stories. It's all about the case. Just the facts, ma'am. In this book, I get into the weeds of building a detective agency. Kat and Vivian are fresh off the Tinseltown raids, chasing paydays after earning nothing for breaking the Crystal Hoffman case. They need small cases they can wrap up and get paid for, then on to another client, before the next big case comes along.
Chapter 3 is one case and nothing else. I did that as a challenge. You know the characters. I merely had to write a crime for the lady detectives to solve in 6000 words. A short story. In the early chapters, small cases are woven together, checks are coming in, and Kat and Viv have more work than they can handle.
They need more cars, inconspicuous rides for surveillance, more people, health insurance, and a business office. The house in the hills gets crowded. While tackling those issues, the next big case comes along, requiring all hands on deck.
After three Kat novels, I have most of the players I need: her detectives, allies in law enforcement and the media, and all the LA locations I use. In the future, writing cases as short stories with concise crime writing should be easy. I'll only need to introduce the crime and the perpetrators. A sequel is set up in this novel, a story that will mix genres and time periods.
When this happens, your story breeds a sequel; you must decide where to end one and start the next. This is always a conundrum in my punk writing. A new book might begin the day after the last book ended. Postcards' first scene is the last scene in the NYC book, slightly rewritten.
The same thing happened in White Wedding. A side story that continues after the wedding sets up the next book. And so it goes. Joe will have two books this year. At the moment, I'm working on both projects, but mostly Sunset Private Eyes. Then, while in the middle of a late-70s LA crime chapter, I have a late-90s Venice idea pop into my head... and off I go.
I have decided that Scarlett Johanssen is the actress who best represents Kat, except that I have described Kat as taller, maybe more full-bodied. Still, ScarJo gets the job in my fantasy Hollywood film depiction of Kat Price. In Sunset Private Eyes, I pay tribute to one of my favorite actors, Michael Madsen, who passed away in 2025.
I am casting my detective series.
The next Sunset will drop on the first day of spring at 5 AM, at sunrise. Chapters 1-12 have been uploaded and pre-scheduled.
I turn 65 this month.
Fuck.
I hope I live long enough to upload the last 12 chapters.
If you read this whole mess, I'm sorry.