Those of you who read my books are aware that I am currently working on THE TIES THAT BIND, a new book for St. Martin’s Press. As with my other books, it is set in Utah, in a fictional counterpart to my own hometown, and it features a female police detective as the heroine.

Samm is a bit of a enigma in her local community, with a troubled past and maybe just a little bit of the “axe to grind” that so many people accuse me of carrying around.

Most people come here either to make fun of Mormons, or to defend Mormonism, neither of which I am all that big on. I find much of my culture amusing, which makes a lot of people mad, but still, it is mine, and I embrace it. And reserve the right to still find my humor in it.

But the real reason I started this blog is because I write books set in Utah Mormon country. I find that writing about it helps spur the creative process, especially writing on a regular basis.

And the reason I WRITE on a regular basis on this blog, is so that I can WRITE MY BOOKS. And yet I don’t talk about them that much. Why is that? Who knows.

So I decided I am going to talk about my books more than I have been. I remember one commenter made a nasty little jab about how my blog was nothing more than an attempt to sell books, and I thought, “Um, well, yeah, I guess it IS.”

Nasty little jab turned into flat dull poke. Means nothing.

I am going to start with the songs I am listening to, that inspire my writing. So here is the Playlist for THE TIES THAT BIND.