Born in Houston, I spent most of my life in southern California, growing up in Palos Verdes and going to school at UCLA. I wrote several nonfiction books when I was younger, and gave it up when my children were born and I couldn't support them as a writer. The last of those was SANDCASTLES: The Splendors of Enchantment, which was a Doubleday Dolphin book in 1981. Married for 43 years, 2 grown children, 2 granddaughters. I did a reverse migration in 1998 and moved from California to New York.

Looking forward to two new novels being released this year (2018). First will be WHERE ALL PAST YEARS ARE-- a saga of a large extended family that takes place largely in upstate New York on the western shore of Lake Champlain between 1954 and 2015. You'll learn to love the Chadwick family when you read it. Second will be THE HANGING MAN, a sequel of sorts to my latest mystery, THE MONTEVERDI MANUSCRIPT, featuring Hugo Miller, wise-cracking Ruth the Sleuth, handsome Gabriele Cortese and the stalwart NYPD detective, Mike diSaronno. THE HANGING MAN is a little grisly, with a Mafia-style "show murder" to kick it off.

THE MONTEVERDI MANUSCRIPT was released in 2016. It is a first-person narrative and a rather shocking murder mystery with a surprising finish. Set in New York City, it starts at Carnegie Hall for a very special batch of hashish. Half an hour later the host hits the pavement on Seventh Avenue from eight stories up.

My own favorite is ROCKY POINT ROAD, a book that people seem to love from the giddyup, featuring Denis Rosa, a cop named Sue Mason, her gay son and his husband-to-be, and the best pair of German Shepherds you ever met: Frick and Frack.

I like writing. I also write short stories, lately trying my hand at flash stories (less than 800 words). Like my characters I love to cook, love the theater, love opera and classical music.

I don't eat red meat and am a bit of a gym rat. I'm afraid of black ice on roads and sometimes I have a hard time looking down from heights (even in photos -- is that weird or what?). I "collect" cathedrals, and have been to more than 2/3 of the 43 cathedrals in England. Of course you can't count the cathedrals in France or Italy, but I've been to maybe 100 there too. Something about religious architecture soars. Christmas carols make me cry, not sad, but tears nonetheless.

I like paintings and family heirlooms. Visit my Facebook page for current specials, contests and behind the scenes information at: https://www.facebook.com/JosephAllen.Author/