First, thank you to my fellow readers and authors for embracing and promoting the value of literacy. Recent statistics about readership in the U.S. alarm me, and I appreciate your example.

I am Richard F. McGonegal, author of four books in the Sheriff Francis Hood mystery series. My latest, The Substance of Fear, is published by Level Best Books. The previous three, published by Cave Hollow Press, are Sense of Grace, Ghoul Duty, and The Forget-Me-Knot.

Like all fiction, my themes, plots, settings, and characters—including Sheriff Hood—are a combination of my experience and my imagination. During my forty-year career as a journalist in Jefferson City, Mo., I covered crime and the courts and became fascinated with the people and the process.

My protagonist is a recovering alcoholic, which is hardly unique in mystery fiction. The attraction for me, as an author, is Hood’s recovery program suggests he adhere to specific principles, including honesty, willingness, open-mindedness, acceptance, humility, and tolerance. And, he is asked to practice these tenets in all aspects of his life.

My challenge is exploring how Hood follows the principles of recovery when they conflict with his basic human, ego-driven selfishness, as well as his sworn oath to uphold the strictures of law. Hood self-examination is reflected in his growing understanding of the attitudes, behaviors, motivations, and fears of the people he encounters.

In the series, Hood interacts with a number of characters who experience challenging neurological conditions. In my first book, Sense of Grace, Hood meets Angela Grace, the lone survivor of a family massacre that occurred when she was eight years old. As an adult, she is an artist who experiences synesthesia, where one sensory stimuli automatically triggers a second sensory experience. In Angela’s case, sounds and rhythms prompt her to see shapes and colors.

In The Forget-Me-Knot, Hood reunites with a former high school classmate who experiences hyperthymesia, an acute, and rare, ability to remember past events in remarkable detail.

And, in my newest book, The Substance of Fear, Hood forms an unlikely alliance with a crime lab analyst who suffers a severe form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and with a young man who battles debilitating social anxiety

Creating and writing about these characters provides an awesome opportunity for me to examine my own motivations, attitudes, and behaviors.

Authors tend to be categorized as plotters (who begin with an outline) or pantsers (who fly by the seat of their pants). My efforts to plot inevitably become pantsing. It’s safe to say I align myself with those authors who believe characters must inform the narrative. I try to let my characters drive the action; when I fail, the result is contrivance—artificially steering characters in an unnatural and inconsistent direction.

The mystery genre is attractive to me because criminal actions and puzzling behavior allow me to explore a range of human emotions, reactions, and foibles.

My wife recently asked me what I would do if circumstances somehow prevented me from writing. My answer: “I don’t know, but I know it would be very difficult for me.” I suspect many, if not all, of my fellow authors feel the same way.

Although writing can be a solitary pursuit, the people I have met—at conferences, during zoom meetings, at book clubs and signings, and more—have been gracious, encouraging, and helpful.

I consider myself fortunate to be part of the community of writers, and to have a seat at the table of published authors.

A small-town shopkeeper is found bleeding and unconscious. A former police officer goes missing. Francis Hood, a sheriff in Central Missouri, steps into a quagmire of small-town secrets when he begins to look into these seemingly unrelated cases. He seeks assistance from Sandra Brondel, a crime lab analyst who suffers a severe form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and is aided by the missing man’s brother, Brian Rakestraw, who battles his own debilitating social anxiety. As the investigation unfolds, the trio forms an unlikely alliance, confronting their individual fears while pursuing leads—sometimes together and sometimes at cross-purposes. But, when Brian is run off the road, Sandra is found in possession of incriminating evidence, and events take a deadly turn, Hood must separate allies from adversaries in his quest to learn the truth.

Richard F. McGonegal is the author of four books in the Sheriff Francis Hood mystery series. The newest is The Substance of Fear published by Level Best Books. His previous books are Sense of Grace in 2020, Ghoul Duty in 2022, and The Forget-Me-Knot in 2023. All were published by Cave Hollow Press. The unpublished manuscript of The Forget-Me-Knot was honored as second runner-up at the 2021 Killer Nashville Claymore Awards.In addition, 24 of his short stories have been published, including nine in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. Four of those nine have been reprinted in anthologies. He is an active member of Mystery Writers of America. McGonegal retired in 2017 as an editor for the News Tribune Co. in Jefferson City, Mo., where he worked for more than 40 years. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1969 from Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J., and a Master of Arts degree in 1973 from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville. Both degrees are in English literature and language. He and his wife, Kristie, live in Jefferson City, and are the parents of two adult daughters, Heather and Jane.

Richard F. McGonegal’s social media sites:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rfmcgonegal

Amazon Buy Link for Kindle format (print available soon)  https://tinyurl.com/ynrx2xyw