My Police Department

When I first started writing about the Rocky Bluff P.D., I had no idea it would turn into a series. My intention was to show how what is happening on the job affects the police officer's family and what's happening with his family affects the job.

Years ago, we lived in a neighborhood filled with police officers and their families. I coffeed with the wives, our daughter babysat the kids, and on weekend, we all partied together, giving me quite an insight into what went on.

Years later, one of my daughter's married a police officer. After his night shift he loved to come over and tell me what he'd done the night before. He even took me on a department sanctioned ride-along--though I had to promise not to tell anyone I was his mother-in-law. His stories about what went on behind the scenes with his fellow officers and his criticisms of what TV shows get wrong gave me lots of ideas for more stories about the Rocky Bluff P.D.

I chose to make the RBPD a small department in a beach community with scant funds to upgrade the department with either men or modern equipment. This means that the major part of the investigative work the characters in my books do is the old-fashioned kind. Anything else has to be sent out to larger departments.

Though the investigation of crimes is always important in every story, even more important is what is going on in the officers' private lives.

In the next RBPD crime novel, Angel Lost, Stacey Wilbur is busily preparing for her wedding to Detective Doug Milligan. In fact that's all she can think about when she ought to be paying attention to what is going on around her.

I had a great time writing this story, besides Stacey's plight and the danger she finds herself in, there's a man who is exposing himself to women jogging on the beach, Sergeant Navarro's mother shows signs of Alzheimer's, an officer who transferred from LAPD is battling demons, and a mysterious angel appears on the front window of a furniture store every night.

Angel Lost is scheduled to make it's appearance in March. I'm anxious to see how it will be received. So far I've received nothing but glowing reviews.

One thing I always like to say about anyone who might criticize how RBPD operates is that it's my police department and it can do whatever I want it to do.

You can read the first chapters of the other Rocky Bluff P.D. series on my webpage at