I often get asked this question by readers of my ‘Black Breath Series’. The answer is, I enjoy using many names of people that have impacted my life, for character names in my books. Now, keep in mind, that’s impacting me in both a positive and negative way! The names get sorted out in the plot accordingly. A lot of the negative ones, shall we say, frequently don’t make it to the next book. This practice of mine displayed throughout the writing of my first 3 books and is carried on in fine fashion in my latest book, ‘Legacy.’ The names of business associates, friends, and many of my family members have found their place between the covers of my books. Currently, I’d estimate that I’ve used the names of over 50 people I know one way or another in my stories. One case in point is the name of Lori Baker’s baby doctor, in ‘Premonitions,’ Dr. Rittenhouse. Dr. Rittenhouse was the name of the doctor that delivered my daughter, Jennifer, shall we say several years ago! (to be kind to Jenny) Now he did a fine job indeed, except for telling my wife and me that we were expecting a boy throughout her pregnancy! Surprise! (We didn’t have access to ultrasound imaging back then. Sorry Jen!) Over the years now, I’ve had numerous people ask to have their names included in my next book and I’m usually happy to accommodate them if I can. Drop me a line and, who knows? Yours may be the next one included!

The Black Breath Series has recently been involved in numerous additions and updates.

First was the successful launch of the Trilogy completing book, ‘Vendetta – When Vengeance Wasn’t Enough’ which was released for publication on June 11th, 2019. This book boasted a fresh new font design in answer to fan requests for a larger, easier-to-read print format.

Secondly, the response to ‘Vendetta’s’ new look was so overwhelming that Infinity Books Publishing immediately set out to reformat both previous books along with minor manuscript revisions. Premonitions is now in its 5th edition and Vengeance is in its 3rd edition. Fans of the Black Breath Trilogy can get all three books in the new format.

Third, on the list, the Trilogy is now being published by Ingram Books throwing the doors open to sales through major book resellers such as Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million and others nationwide, in addition, to being available on the author’s website and Amazon.

Fourthly, the Trilogy has been the subject of a series of speaking lectures presented to several colleges, all of which were well received and sparked the intended interest in spawning new aspiring authors. The intent is to further expand the lectures to reach into the high school and possibly the elementary school levels. Frank is looking forward to sharing insights on the Trilogy with several area book clubs who have extended invitations to him after selecting Premonitions for their club’s subject book.

Finally, look for the Black Breath Trilogy to be expanded into a series of books with the release of the latest episode which will be entitled, ‘Legacy’. ‘Legacy’, as its name suggests, will ably continue the saga of mystery and unexpected plot twists that fans have enjoyed throughout all three books of the Trilogy thus far.

This is a copy of a great article written by Rachel Christian for the Winter Haven Sun. It was published in 3 local papers today. Very well done by her and much appreciated!

As part of the research for the trilogy chapter of my Black Breath series, I once again visited my favorite (formerly) crime-free upscale suburb of Winnetka. I will be posting lots of pictures in the near future of locations from all three books. (SPOILER ALERT! FUTURE SCENE FROM VENDETTA!) One focus of this trip was to find potential murder scenes. (Yeah, I know. There’s another glimpse into that scary dark corner of Frank’s brain that everyone seems to be so concerned about!) Anyway, the pictures below are from one of them. It’s a neat little spooky setting which struck me as a perfectly secluded spot for Ed Cassidy to find a body or maybe two! It’s an underground pedestrian walk way which goes under a bike path and train tracks. There was a service tech working there that day installing security cameras in the tunnel and you should have seen the look on his face when I approached him and said, “This is a great place for a murder. Don’t you think?” I then quickly explained my author’s research motives. You may notice that he’s not in the last picture with the ladder. After my initial comments to him, he suddenly became very camera shy! Go figure! (Gotta love the fun you can have on those research trips!!)