Special Agent Elliott Murphy Adventures - a 3-book series that was my initiation into all of it - writing unique and intriguing crime fiction novels that capture my readers' interest and stories that I can be proud of and that I actually enjoy reading in final review; as opposed to cringe and am tempted to skip ahead, and ignore or sections that I rushed or should have revised. But The First Cross will provide insights into the nexus of the series - focused on my protagonist, Elliott Murphy, and provides readers with the backdrop to the books, insights into his life as a young adult, both his personal and professional worlds, as he struggles to find his footing in both. For my readers who have tackled the 3 titles that comprise the series, this novella gives them several surprising perspectives and might even cast certain aspects and subplots, especially in the first, CROSSING OVER, to allow readers to better understand or be seen and felt differently.

I decided to invest the time to write this with reader development and loyalty in mind. I've now published 6 titles, all 110-125,000-word novels, and written them over the past 4 years. The exception is the first, which I wrote and published in 2008, but when I decided to write full-time, I revised and rewrote the book from start to end. My point is that, when I began, realizing I would need to self-publish initially, my plan was to only write books, publish, and move on to the next one. Sales and marketing be damned. But after a few, I found myself wondering why the hell I wasn't selling anything on Amazon? Then, I ran a few ads, hired someone to market and handle SM, and on it went from there. $120,000 later, over 260 awesome reviews, only 1 or 2 bad, I'm still not selling any books to speak of, but I've learned plenty, and if I'm being honest, I'm doing this for the art, to feel good about the final draft, but I know that every little bit helps, and that includes taking steps to build reader loyalty.

So, Aloha from Kula, Maui...Hope you enjoy, and more chapters to follow!