Excerpt from the first page:

The murder had been imprisoned in the basement of his mind. Put away like Fortunato in the farthest depths of the wine cellar, memory occasionally hinted to him that there was something there behind the brick wall that he didn't want to ever deal with again. Any stray thought would be immediately escorted there and jailed with the others to be forever kept from the normal realm of the day.

About My Novel

Dolor for Misdeeds takes place in Louisville, Kentucky, a place I grew to love while living there from 1999 to 2004. To this point, writing for me has been relegated to the area of "hobby" even as I wrote most of this book during 2002-2003 while attending graduate school. Having dabbled in writing on and off for the past 15 years or so, Dolor for Misdeeds represents my most dedicated "project" among many other ideas and a few efforts along the way.

One of the things which spurred my desire to write a story which included a murder and a trial was my own time of serving on a jury for a murder trial. Sequestered with 15 other jurors for about a week, I was amazed by the way the American system of justice works (and doesn't work.) So I found myself wanting to dig deeper into the inner workings of a jury with an accused man sitting before them - and I was able to include this element, though a fairly minor part of the plot.

I don't take myself too seriously as a "writer." I've read a few books, and, over time, the more I read the more I felt like I could produce something of substance. I have always found myself disappointed when an author did not give the reader the depth of truly knowing the main character or characters. Another aspect of fiction writing that I think is extremely difficult is creating a flow of dialogue which does not come across as contrived. I'm not saying that I've achieved both of these "goals" in my own writing yet, but even when I've reread this book, I've come away fairly pleased with what I've produced in these two areas.

If you read much, I am certain that you can identify with the way that characters from a novel become real to such a degree that you find yourself wondering during the day what is happening as if you were missing some of the story while you've put the book down.

If you have the chance to read my book, I hope you enjoy it and that you truly come away feeling like you've gotten to know Jake Connors in a way that comes off the page.