My books cover a number of genres, but they all – regardless of genre – have two underlying themes in common. The first is humour. I think a few jokes and running gags here and there can make the read that much more enjoyable, regardless of the subject matter. The second element is empathy.Our brain is, in effect, a three-pound blob of fatty tissue, and it’s tasked with running a complex biological organism in a difficult environment, yet we tend to get self-critical when it doesn't work perfectly. Everyone has problems, from simply having a bad day to struggling to get through every hour of life. I want people who read my books to give themselves and others a break. We're all doing the best we can with what we have to work with.All of my main characters have things from PTSD and anxiety, to depression and self-esteem issues, because that’s realistic. The more it’s normalized, the more people might find that empathy for themselves and others. We’re not as compassionate as we should be, collectively, and I’m trying to address that in my own way. I use humour as both a coping mechanism and a teaching vehicle in my own life. I have found people more willing to learn when they’re being entertained.“The Future Past” series is a trilogy of four time-travel (‘alternative history’) books. Yes, I do understand that “trilogy” means three, but I wrote a fourth book in order to conclude the adventure. (If Douglas Adams was able to write five books in his ‘trilogy’ then you can at least forgive me having four.)My second series was a set of three books which were murder mysteries, with a supernatural bend to them. There is an element of suspense in each, for sure, but there’s a real “whodunnit” aspect to them.I wanted to write a murder mystery which turned the genre upside down. All too often, I’ve seen the detective get help from so many people, and then at the end, he or she gets all the credit, while the unsung heroes got no recognition at all. The detective wouldn’t have accomplished anything without the support. So, I thought it might be fun to write a book where the murder victim is the hot-shot detective, and it is left to the assistants to solve the case. That’s the plot of the first book, “The Baneridge Murders”. The next book is called “A Cruise to Die For”. Lawyers on a cruise ship are being killed and it's no punchline. It’s a story of murder, theft, puns, and a rather conspicuous thermos. Finally, the third book is called “The Witness Who Wasn’t There”. A young witness described a murder and specific details of a suspect, but she did so while in a hospital room 20 miles away... and she’s blind. Although these are three individual novels, there is a subplot which runs through all three books, and it isn’t fully resolved until the third book ends. The next trilogy is still a work in progress. I've released “The Target”, which is a young-adult adventure following a seventeen-year-old high school student who is targeted for abduction. She has to find any help she can get, even if it’s a perpetually drunk woman named Abby, who has the attention span of a concussed moth.The next book in the series will be called “The Estate” which will follow the same two women, but this time in a house which may or may not be haunted. It should be out in 2022, all going well.I’ve also written two standalone books: a biography and a dark comedy. The biography is about my grandmother’s life story, covering the years from 1907 to 1947. She was abandoned as a child, grew up in orphanages and foster care, suffered setback after setback, yet never stopped until she found her family and reunited with them. It’s an amazing life story of an amazing person.The dark comedy is called “Love by the Hour” and it’s entirely about those people society looks down upon, and how they really shouldn’t. It’s traditionally been taboo to talk about mental health issues, and this book delves right into anxieties, depression, and other brain-related challenges. It also deals with marginalized groups – in this case, sex workers, as they (along with the homeless) are looked down upon by society. We may or may not approve of what this industry provides, but the people who work there are human beings who should have the same rights as everyone else. All too often, however, these workers are assaulted and abused by their customers, and such violence is often shrugged off as an occupational hazard, which is outrageous. I know none of this sounds at all like good comedy material, but this is by far my funniest book while at the same time being the most serious. I loved the challenge of balancing both. Here’s how I pitch the book: Elisabeth is retiring and looking to find her life’s meaning, but the dead body, nosy detective, and tiresome drama are getting in the way.I’ve had some readers tell me it’s the best book I’ve written so far. I agree with them.Read more about this authorRead less about this author