Voice like a breeze that teases
Sunlight smile that glows past darkness
A sudden touch finger to finger
The things that when alone recall her.
Eyes both dark and open;
Passion sparked
But questioned.
Then head back laughing,
Laughing in a speckled white dress
Owning the moment.
A laugh that hides worry
A laugh that calls out a challenge
Breaks open the day,
Crumbles the walls between
Some unsettled love.
Her laugh, a breathless touch
Says I am.
Touch
Time
Touch
Earth
Touch
Rain that flows
Like memory.
Touch sadness
Then joy
Forgiveness
You offered.
Touch silence
Hollow voiced
Lost in disappointment.
Touch the beginning
Simple desire and confusion.
Touch absence.
Time
A cry alone
Thinking no one saw or heard.
Touch
The grace
That only you posses
White dress both shield and invitation
Reach
Yes
Touch
It’s been quite a month of book festivals.
A note of thanks to all who stopped by to chat, tell stories, or buy my books. Those are the moments that make the time at the events worthwhile. Thanks to Belvidere, Randolph, New Providence and Passaic County.
Now it’s on to Collingswood, Easton and Woodbridge.
I’ll have for signing and sales the Jersey-based Frank Nagler Mysteries.
The series, set in New Jersey, featuring Detective Frank Nagler, “One of modern fiction’s expertly drawn detectives,” according to Kirkus Review.
Oct 4: Collingswood Book Festival, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. I’m at Booth 105 on Haddon Avenue.
Oct. 13 to 19: Easton Book Festival
Nov. 15: Woodbridge book festival, 11 to 3 p.m.
“One of modern fiction’s expertly drawn detectives:” Kirkus Reviews
“A Game Called Dead” was named a Runner-Up in the Shelf Unbound 2016 Best Indie Book contest.
“The Weight of Living” was awarded First Place for mysteries in the 2017 Royal Dragonfly Book Award contest;
Named A Notable 100 Book, Shelf Unbound 2018 Indie Book Awards;
Named a Distinguished Favorite, 2018 Independent Press Awards.
Named a Distinguished Favorite in the 2018 Big NYC Book Contest.
Named a Finalist in the 2019 Book Excellence Awards.
Named A Gold Star Award winner in the 2020 Elite Choice Book Awards
Named a Book Award Winner in 2021 by Maincraft Media Fiction Book Awards
“The Red Hand” was named a Distinguished Favorite in the 2019 Big NYC Book Contest
Named Second Place winner for mysteries in the 2019 Royal Dragonfly Book Awards
Named a Notable 100 Book in the 2019 Shelf Unbound Indie Book Awards
Named a Distinguished Favorite in the 2020 Independent Press Awards
A Nominee in the 2020 TopShelf Book Awards
Named A Gold Star Award winner in the 2020 Elite Choice Book Awards
Dragony Rising was awarded First Place for Mysteries in the 2022 Royal Dragonyfly Book Awards;
named a Notable 100 Indie Book in the 2022 Shelf Unbound Indie Book Awards;
A Distingished Favorite in the 2023 Independent Press Awards.
A Distinguished Favorite in the 2023 Big NYC Book Awards
When the ocean rose
they danced mad in the flood.
When the wind took the trees
They crawled up the broken branches and howled.
When the mountains fell
they kicked at the rubble.
They put their ear to the sea and heard the silence
Because the blue whales sing no more.
She stands with you
The white dress stained with blood of the troubled world
When the marching boots grow loud.
Stands with you
Says time is change
Some topsy-turvy leap
Through reason and pain
To the moment.
Fingers
Lips
Rise.
Breath
Touch
Peace.
In a world of preaching
In a world of scorn
She whispers.
In a world of war
In a world of darkness
She offers.
In a world of crying
A world of screams
She sings.
In a world of sorrow
She knows.
Sits in sunlight
White dress wrapped in her arms at her knees
Eyes dark, because that’s where her pain settles;
That thing you left behind
And not have come back to claim.
We live in a world where that are as many conspiracies as breakfast cereals.
The five-book, award-winning Frank Nagler Mysteries are no exception.
A sneaky, back-room conspiracy is introduced in the first book in the series, THE SWAMPS OF JERSEY, when the former mayor of Ironton, N.J., powerbroker Howard Newton brags to reporter Jimmy Dawson about its existence.
The conspiracy simmers through the other three books in the series–A GAME CALLED DEAD, THE WEIGHT IF LIVING and THE RED HAND–until breaking into the open in the latest book, DRAGONY RISING, by blowing up part of downtown Ironton.
The Scene from THE SWAMPS OF JERSEY:
“You’re surprised, Jimmy,” Howard Newton said. “You always seem surprised; as long as I’ve known you. Need to stop being surprised; it’ll clear up your vision. Sometimes what seems to be really crooked, is actually pretty straight. Look at it from a different direction.”
Dawson thought, am I?
QR code for THE SWAMPS OF JERSEY
Newton gazed over the lawn.
“I know you think I’m a crook,” he said. “Go back and look what I’ve done. I helped people. Their sons needed jobs, the daughters needed to get into the county college but her grades weren’t so hot. So I helped.” ….
“So they set up an alternative way of doing business, because, hell, they had no money, but mostly they knew they could not trust the mill owners or the bosses or the bankers, the landlords or anyone who had control over their lives. So we all did favors, and some of the favors got big.”
The old man stood up and put his hands in his pants pockets.
“Did that make us corrupt? Don’t think so. Made us traders. Trade something, get a little extra for it when you trade it again. It was all so small time. But you know what? People didn’t lose their homes to the banks. If they got behind somehow it was made right. And when they got hurt on the job and the factory boss threw them out, their kids got fed , the house got fixed. Then they did a little work for you. Look at that flood last week. Those people will be paying off those repairs for years because the insurance companies who sold them home insurance didn’t tell them that it didn’t cover water damage. What the fuck did they think a flood was anyway?”
Newton stood and walked to the edge of the patio. “The crooks are wearing the suits, Jimmy. Twisting the law into knots to justify anything they want. The guys with three cells phones and nine hundred dollar suits. Listen to them. They sell so much bullshit, they forget who they sold it to.”
IN DRAGONY RISING, the conspiracy is discovered:
Ramirez read the title: “‘An ordinance to reform the duties of the city council of Ironton, New Jersey.’ Reform how?”
“By taking away their statutory rights to power and making them an advisory council,” Lauren said, taking the papers from Ramirez. “Um, here, see?”
She read, “‘The council shall with this act rescind all powers of appointment, financial oversight, and legislative authority; with such powers being transferred to the mayor, whose term limits are hereby suspended, per Article 256-2006.’ That means that Bill Weston is about to become mayor for life.”
QR code for DRAGONY RISING
“What about elections?” he asked.
“Suspended,” Lauren said. “Let me see,” and she shuffled the papers. “Here. “‘Public elections may be suspended under the emergency powers granted under Article 256-2006.’”
“What emergency?” Ramirez asked.
“The assassination of the mayor,” Nagler said. “Holy Mother of God.”
“They put this in motion in 2006, Frank. That meeting was not a drug deal but a coup,” Lauren said.
The Frank Nagler Mysteries are available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Ingram Spark, and at these bookstores:
Book & Puppet, Easton, Pa., and the Mechanicsburg Mystery Bookshop, Mechanicsburg, Pa.
The moment she is bold,
The instant the world shifts.
and she turns; you must
join the unspoken thing.
Roses, daisies
Iris, sunflowers,
Crocus, daffodils.
White dress buttons finger stained pollen streaks.
Blueberries, strawberries, cherries ripe
Juice fills her open palm;
Tongue licks the flavored skin;
Shared.
Tulips open, drenched in dew.
Sunlight captured in golden hair;
Time captured in a sigh
The moment she is.
Sun dusts her shoulders
Sand on her feet
She welcomes the Atlantic dawn
Takes in the world
And smiles at the secret.
Arms spread, head back
She absorbs the light,
Inhales the moment
That instant of being
That she gives to you with a touch
The challenge of a kiss;
The thing she shares
And has always known
Renewed.
The books are:
THE SWAMPS OF JERSEY: Frank Nagler is called to the Old Iron Bog where the body of a young woman was found after a weeklong tropical storm flooded the City of Ironton. A gold ring suggests that Nagler’s estranged girlfriend Lauren Fox might be a victim in this sprawling, disturbing case.
This story also introduces the framework of a conspiracy that the hides in all the stories then bursts to life in Book 5, “Dragony Rising.”
A GAME CALLED DEAD: The story introduces #Armageddon, a self-styled Internet terrorist who transforms an old-style video game into a real-life game that threatens the lives of students at the New Jersey State College of Ironton, the friends of Detective Frank Nagler, and Nagler himself. The story is structured like a game, with rules that change and spin-on-a-dime twists.
“A Game Called Dead” was named a Runner-Up in the Shelf Unbound 2016 Best Indie Book contest.
THE WEIGHT OF LIVING: Who is this young girl found standing in a Dumpster in a cold night wearing summer clothes? Finding the answer to that question leads Detective Frank Nagler down a dark path to deeply hidden secret held by a family, the revelation of which hatches modern threats. A reviewer said: “The narrative is a stunning and engrossing meditation of grief and survival.”
“The Weight of Living” was awarded First Place for Mysteries in the 2017 Royal Dragonfly Book Awards; Named a Notable Indie in the 2018 Shelf Unbound Book Awards; Named a Distinguished Favorite, 2018 Independent Press Awards; Named a Distinguished Favorite in the 2018 Big NYC Book Contest. Named a Finalist in the 2019 Book Excellence Awards; Named A Gold Star Award winner in the 2020 Elite Choice Book Awards; Named a Book Award Winner in 2021 by Maincraft Media Fiction Book Awards.
THE RED HAND: This is the prequel to the Frank Nagler series. He’s a rookie detective assigned to the most serious case of murder in the history of the City of Ironton. Nine women are dead, their deaths spread over months, some with few clues. This is also the story of Martha, Nagler’s wife, whose illness hangs over every action taken by the young detective. The book weaves terror and grief in equal measure.
“The Red Hand” was named a Distinguished Favorite in the 2019 Big NYC Book Contest; Named Second Place winner for mysteries in the 2019 Royal Dragonfly Book Awards; Named a Notable 100 Book in the 2019 Shelf Unbound Indie Book Awards; Named a Distinguished Favorite in the 2020 Independent Press Awards;A Nominee in the 2020 TopShelf Book Awards; Named A Gold Star Award winner in the 2020 Elite Choice Book Awards.
DRAGONY RISING: The explosion that levels two blocks of downtown Ironton, N.J. is not the worst thing that Detective Frank Nagler investigates in this thrilling, wide-ranging and challenging story. The story introduced the Dragony, a sinister, shadow bunch of thugs whose beginnings range back to the mining days of Ironton and whose founders had issues with Nagler’s family back then, even as modern members challenge Nagler in their own times.
Dragony Rising was awarded First Place for Mysteries in the 2022 Royal Dragonyfly Book Awards; named a Notable 100 Indie Book in the 2022 Shelf Unbound Indie Book Awards; A Distingished Favorite in the 2023 Independent Press Awards; A Distinguished Favorite in the 2023 Big NYC Book Awards.
We take that right turn down the puddled overgrown road, one car wide with hanging branches we have to duck that even when we do scrape along the roof like a past that never fades to pull into the barbeque shack that looks like it fell down yesterday to have the ribs drip off the bone as you wrap your tongue around the juice slipping down your chin to your finger which you give to me to lick.
We cut to the hayfield edge when the vines emerge and pull fat, dimpled blackberries off the prickled stalks, fingers stained and bloody, tasting all the same, stains at your hips as you remember a day you came home as a kid with the white dress purple blotted with a pocket filled with crushed berries that you stuffed into your mouth because they wouldn’t make it to the muffin dough.
Marched, hands held high with a million others, sang, yelled, cursed, demanded freedom and love; danced to the edge and beyond, stepped through the fog of hate, pushed past darkness to light to declare as one this what we do. Celebrate all the differences.
Sat on a ledge facing fading sunlight to see your face blush with all the youth and years between, to see the lines at your eyes are the knowledge of time that deepens the smile that slides across your face; filled to know that age has made you more beautiful.
