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By Tony Ross Three years ago today, my mother passed away. My siblings and I always called her Ma; that's just who she was, down-to-earth and real. Throughout the day, I've been reflecting, pulling out old memories of Ma, considering their impact and meaning… and it occured to me that we don't always recognize the meaning in a moment until much later. In the moment, when Ma was rocking a fussy little baby late at night, reading book after book to him, trying to calm him down…

Written by Tony Ross If you’re familiar with my books, you’ve run into David Johansen. He came into Victor as a side character and quickly morphed into the main guy in the Shadows of Sunlight City series and Ghosts of Killdeer. He’s even got a cameo appearance in Orion: The Hidden Man, which would chronologically be his first appearance, since that book’s a prequel to the others named above. But that’s not technically David’s beginning. He’s been around for a long, long time,

Written by Tony Ross I was asked recently what my writing process looks like. That’s something that varies from author to author, but this is what works for me. My schedule is pretty flexible. I do most of my work on Saturdays, writing from after breakfast until lunchtime; sometimes I’ll write a little after lunch, too. During the week, I’ll maybe get an hour between coming home from work and suppertime. I do everything I can to protect time with my family. I brainstorm enoug

Written by Tony Ross What do I do when my imaginary friends won't come out and play? 1) I appeal to my senses. What do my characters see, hear or smell? Are they touching or tasting anything? Emotions are helpful, too; what's the character feeling about this person, or that situation, or the current setting? Answering questions like that will often help me get a stalled scene rolling. 2) What happened with the character earlier in the story? I'll often review previous chapter