My current book is "Four Dead in 5 Seconds". It's a historical novel about 1881 and 1882 El Paso and the famous 4 dead in 5 seconds gunfight and all the ramifications leading to and from it. Many characters are real and conversations actually were spoken as I have written them. If I speak of a place it is either there to this day or was there at the time. Another interesting concept in the book is the use of dates and times. These are well documented in history for all the events and making a timeline that really existed and fitting a story within it was a very big challenge. It is a VERY accurate historical novel. I have a section here on the website called "Excerpts". Currently there is one for "Four Dead in 5 Seconds". It is Chapter One of the 99,998 word, 42 Chapter novel. The book is a real good read of 427 pages and will be available through Amazon, Waldenbooks and Borders distribution channels the last week of May 2008, but is currently available in E-Book form either purchased here or through the two links on the main page. I have been working on five sequels to it, as well, utilizing my two main characters, J.C. Rogers and Loretta Quintana Rogers. The first 2 of 5 are underway and called "The Bridal Chamber" and "Beyond Betrayal", respectively. The 4th book in the series has not been named, as yet, but will feature some of my relatives interacting with J.C. and Loretta. These are the stories of great, rich characters, some real and some not, a strong rancher and his even stronger wife, Loretta, their life and times, their trials and tribulations and the legacy they started. I know people who have talked personally with some of the real people in the "Four Dead" book and the book was heavily researched for authenticity, but history is for historians and this is not pure history. Like I tell everyone-"It's just a damned good story." All mine are, because they reflect the character of the times along with truly absorbing plots and sub-plots. I love a good story, just like you.

I owe a good many people thanks here, as well. First, to Leon C. Metz ,of El Paso, noted historian and excellent writer for his stunning historical work on Marshal Dallas Stoudenmire and the late Dr. C.L.Sonnichson, the preeminant authority on West Texas history, also. Their excellent recordings of documented history in "Dallas Stoudenmire, El Paso Marshal" and "Pass of the North, Volume 1", respectively, formed the backdrop for this story. To Frank Mangan, for allowing me to use photographs from his historical pictorial book, "El Paso in Pictures", here on the website. It's so the reader can really see what 1881 El Paso Street looked like, and others, and see some of the businesses I wrote about which actually existed, and to some extent still do to this day. El Pasoans and people who know the area will feel right at home. Next, huge, huge kudos to my wife, Tamara. She edits my copy and is an excellent professional writer in her own right. She is my editor of first resort, and also the first reader of my words and has a lot to do with the polishing of my work. She brings my stories to life. All my books are edited five times and read aloud twice for continuity and general quality. Finally to my sister, Susan Miller, for making me feel at home, not only at her house, but at the UTEP library, where she is a librarian assistant. She pointed me in all the right directions for microfiche archived newspaper files from 1881 and 1882 and got me access to the Research area where I could search at will through the vast Sonnichson Collection and she is my second reader who pushes me continually for more chapters, even if in rough draft. The book belongs as much to Tamara and Susan as it does to you and to me. It is dedicated to my Grandma, Ina Scoggins Frost, who grew up in the New Mexico Territory and filled my head with stories of Cowboys and Indians and Murders and Betrayals and to my Mom, Louison Roberson, who was employed by UTEP many years and was a friend to both Leon and Dr. Sonnichson. She loved a good western mystery-the real kind, and there's a lot of them where we all lived in West Texas and Southern New Mexico. Both she and my grandma are now both, sadly, passed to eternity, but the stories I grew up with live on. The cover art was done by my very talented son, Jordan. I love El Paso, Las Cruces and that whole area having grown up there and ridden, in pickups and jeeps or on horses or mules, the area extensively in my youth and know it like my own backyard, because it was. If I tell you it's there or was, it was or is still really there. Very soon, I will have pictures and maps here on the website to orient the reader to accompany each book. Use the button in the menu to your left for excerpts available from any of the books.: