After 20 years, it’s the publication countdown to my first suspense novel

When I retired from journalism and started my own book and memoir editing service last October, one of the primary reasons was to binge-watch Yellowstone try new vodkas become a TikTok sensation get back to my roots of fiction writing. At the top of the list was dusting off an original manuscript for a suspense novel I had written a draft of back in 1996 called No Safe Harbor.

I was living in Atlanta working as a chef, but spent the better part of a year interviewing detectives, crime scene technicians, and members of the Smyrna Police Department’s Internal Affairs office in my free time. Among those I interviewed was a private investigator named JR Noland who would only speak with me from pay phones. To this day, I still have no idea what he looks like. And since the book was set in Seattle — my absolute favorite big city — but I was in Atlanta, I had to research it the old-fashioned way: by catching a stagecoach to…

Ok, I’m not THAT old. But I did contact the Seattle Chamber of Commerce and lied pretended I was moving there and needed all the information I could get.

Hey, Google Maps and internet searches weren’t things back then.

When we moved back to Oregon in 1998, the manuscript was shelved when I began a new career as a journalist — which I continued for the next 23 years. Meanwhile, life happened.

Kids happened.

Divorce and single-fatherhood happened.

My syndicated humor column happened.

Amazing love happened.

Remarriage and a blended family happened.

And 20-plus years later, I began thinking about that manuscript and asking myself, “What happened?”

I never stopped believing in No Safe Harbor and its potential as a gripping, suspenseful read with compelling characters and underlying themes of childhood abandonment, the power of a promise, and how the ties that bind us — as children and adults — are easily visible but often purposely overlooked. So, I held my breath and delved back into the manuscript. The experience has been like having the chance to take the wisdom I’ve gained over the past 20 years as a writer and give it to my younger self.

Especially in some of the intimate scenes where, as a 30-year-old with very limited, um… experience, the scenes read like, well… a 30-year-old who didn’t know what to do with his hands. Or mouth.

Or anything, really.

Not that there’s explicit sex in this book! Haha!

Hello? Hey, where’d everybody go?

But thanks to spending the last 17 years in true, deep and complete love with my wife, the relationship and physical connection between private investigator Shane McPhearson and chowder house owner Samantha Wells was easy to express. And now, as a father of four, the commitment and need that Shane has for protecting 8-year-old Jacob are things I understand at a much deeper level than I did back then. Plus, I’ve spent time in Seattle now, have been a firefighter and worked with law enforcement instead of just interviewed them, and as a journalist and newspaper editor have learned of the resources available for gathering information.

While it’s true I haven’t had the opportunity to participate in organized crime (at least nothing I’m willing to admit to), I’m confident that my obsession with true crime (Hey, Patrick and Gillian!), coupled with watching everything from The Godfather and Sopranos to Sons of Anarchy and Mayans MC, I have a good handle on the motivations of — and organization headed by — main antagonist, Richard Vincent Sparlo.

All of this is to say I’m more than a little excited to announce that the official release date of No Safe Harbor will be August 16. It’ll be available in ebook, paperback and hardcover, with an option to purchase signed copies as well (More than likely signed by me, although I am willing to sign other people’s names upon request.)

As many of you know, I’ve been posting two chapters a week on this blog since March, but the remaining 8 chapters will be saved for the book. My intention has been to give people a good chance to decide if they’re invested enough to want to find out how it all ends before actually buying the book. Sounds a little weird, I know, but it’s also allowed people to share their thoughts and feedback as I’ve worked through the final draft. The end result has been a collaboration of sorts, which I think is pretty cool.

So if you are reading this now and missed the first 28 chapters because you:

a) Just found this blog while looking for fishing boat safety tips, or

b) Are a follower who thought I died after going silent for two three four five years

then click on the book cover icon (above) and start reading! Or wait until it becomes available in its entirety Aug. 16. I’ll be looking for some reviews to include on the back of the book jacket, so please let me know if you’d be interested in receiving a galley copy for reviewing (Just message me in the comments section below).

In the meantime, thanks to everyone for all of your support and for joining me on this latest chapter in my writing career — which, again, I promise has no excessive sex scenes…