After a lengthy absence from novel writing (though I have made some progress in doing another careful copy edit of “World Hunger” for a coming re-release), I am back hard at work on research and drafting for “Days End,” my story about a dirty bomb attack on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The book is about three families–Jewish, Muslim, and Christian–and their coming together (some for better, some for worse) in a plot to sabotage the mount against all future use. Just finished drafting Chapter Nine, in which an Irish detective interviews the Director of St. John’s Cancer Treatment Center concerning the theft of nearly a kilogram of Cesium 137 from their radiation therapy storage facility (used for brachytherapy system). Can’t imagine why someone might want THAT…
“Outrun the Devil” is currently on the back burner, though I remain excited about the story and its potential. I got about 90 pages into that project before hitting a temporary wall, narratively speaking. No worries though. The combination of Columbus’s explorations and the Spanish Inquisition is just too fraught with opportunity to pass up!