The Life of a Gumshoe

Image Source: dora-jodie.blogspot.com

Remember when you were a kid and everyone asked,

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

Whatever your answer had been, are you what you always wanted to be?

I know for many, the answer is, “no”. And, for others, maybe you have evolved in such a way that you strive to be different things at different times in your life. I know that is certainly the case for me.

When I Grow Up…

Image Source: thewrittenreference.com

As a child I knew I wanted to be a writer. In fact, I published my first piece – a poem, at the age of seven, but I also grew up wanting to be Quincy (for you young’ins Quincy was my generation’s version of shows like today’s CSI).

I grew up reading True Crime magazines in all of their morbid, wonderful glory. My uncles were avid readers of these magazines so I would sneak them every chance I got and hide them from my mom. Obviously this sort of stuff is not exactly appropriate reading material for a kid, but I was fascinated by the complexity involved in every case. This was my idea of a jigsaw puzzle, one whose pieces I was able to put together.

Then I Grew Up…

Instead of becoming a Medical Examiner, Detective, or involved in some other forensic related position, I got married and had three kids. My ex-husband was adamantly against me going to school to become a detective. He barely tolerated my involvement in martial arts. So, I continued to write while I began working in the media (at one time I was even a DJ on a California rock station). I was very good at what I did and although I filled my time and my bank account, something was missing.

Still Growing…

After I got divorced and my kids had grown into wonderful adults I still couldn’t pursue my visions of Quincy, nor could I put much more effort into writing because I had to care for my terminally ill mother. This literally took up most hours of every day – and night (I love you mom, I wouldn’t change it for the world), and the small media company I had built I had to let go in order to accommodate the circumstances.

Image Source: nowwhat.tumblr.com

It’s now been two-years since my mom passed away — and without having to worry about feeding three  children, I finally decided it was time to write full-time and find a way to make a living doing it without losing my integrity.

So far, so good.

I may not drive a BMW — or whatever the fancy fad of the day is, but I am happy. I LOVE being a writer and oddly enough I am right now at this very moment in my life able to write and to participate in some of that forensic and crime shit I love so much. Thank you Peter Lance!

Are These Now The Golden Years?

Image Source: PeterLance.com

As I posted the other day, Peter Lance is a five-time Emmy award-winning investigative journalist who I was fortunate enough to meet a year-and-a-half ago. Conversations with him always provide me with that rush I used to get reading those old crime magazines because the guy is a walking encyclopedia of knowledge — and I don’t mean just the surface stuff, I mean the good stuff.

Yeh, yeh I know…some of you think I am out of my mind, but it is my mind and we all need to step-out once in a while, right?

So, anyhow, the other day I promised I would be doing my own interview with Peter, and I will be however, I have decided to give you all a treat and Peter has been so kind as to agree.

At least I hope it’s a treat. If nothing else, it will be unique!

I now have in my hands a signed first edition of Peter’s new book, Deal With the Devil — published by William Morrow/Harper Collins.

*You can get it here if you would like to read along with me.

Anyhow, here’s what I am going to do…

Image Source: Peter Lance

I am going to post about the chapters as I move through it. At the end of each I will have Q & A with Peter specifically pertaining to that chapter. Kind of like those old dime store novels being shared on tinny sounding radio stations back in the day (unlike Quincy,THAT was before my time).

I think it is a fun idea and it will allow me to show all of you why I love this stuff so much. In addition, it will allow you to participate by way of questions you might have about Deal With the Devil; the definitive Gregory Scarpa, Sr and Lin DeVecchio story and it’s importance — not just in history’s past, but also very much in history’s presence.

You can read the full “Intro” of the book for free and see what you think.

Would YOU like to play along?

SEE Recent Press on Deal With the Devil

DEAL WITH THE DEVIL BOOK TOUR & MEDIA SCHEDULE – CONSTANTLY BEING UPDATED

KIRKUS REVIEWS lists Top 10 Most Shocking Facts Uncovered in DEAL WITH THE DEVIL

CRIMESPREE MAGAZINE

Salon.com publishes Introduction to new FBI/Mafia exposé DEAL WITH THE DEVIL

U.K. MailOnline finds threads of “The Godfather” in DEAL WITH THE DEVIL

Santa Barbara News-Press on DEAL WITH THE DEVIL

PETERLANCE.COM

Related articles

• [VIDEO] @PETERLANCE_ FBI: Forever Bothering Italians (radio.foxnews.com)
• These gumshoes have velcro straps (journalstar.com)
• Deal with the Devil: The FBI’s Secret Thirty-Year Relationship with a Mafia Killer (ajmacdonaldjr.wordpress.com)
• gumshoed. (fromthechoirgirlhotel.wordpress.com)
• It’s not just Whitey Bulger: Meet another Mafia killer aided for decades by the FBI (salon.com)
• Deal with the Devil: The FBI’s Secret Thirty-Year Relationship with a Mafia Killer (werd.com)
• Deal With The Devil: The FBI Relationship With Greg Scarpa Sr. (bitterqueen.typepad.com)
• Gumshoes (sanityoptionalwritingrequired.wordpress.com)

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