Jack London's "People of the Abyss"
John Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath"
Margaret Mitchell's "Gone With the Wind"
Kenneth Robert's "Lydia Bailey"
Charles Dickenson's "Oliver Twist"

I love good literature. I ask myself what makes a classic and I come to the conclusion that it is the timelessness of the characters with their faults, their hopes and their drives. These novels all have well-defined classical character types.

I am working on the sequels to Virginia Beach Nightmare. These next two novels, due out soon, will continue the stories of my protagonist Ella and co-protagonists Blondie and Cutie Doll. Without giving anything away, I'll just say that these women learned a lot in the first novel and they all feel "called" to help the people who are falling into the streets during the economic recession we are all going through right now - especially the new and uninitiated to the harsh law of the streets.

Ella becomes involved working with the homeless on the North Shore of Massachusetts near where she was born. She's safely ensconced back in her upper class family, but could shadows of her past as a homeless in Virginia Beach catch up with her and damage her precious family? How do the young of her family fare in the changing economy? Why is homelessness becoming such a big issue in iconic historical seaport locations in Massachusetts? Find out in Book 2, "Home Street Home: They That Go Down to the Sea"

In Book 3, Blondie returns to Colorado from her homeless days in the Virginia Beach Nightmare to help her sister and their family with problems during the pandemic and great reset economic collapse. In the meantime, she sees the homeless from out her windows in downtown Denver and knows she has to get involved. But how can she if doesn't have the protection of the street leader Gabriel in the chaotic environment of the streets? Has her infatuation with Gabriel in Virginia Beach become a thing of the past, or does the flame still burn as brightly as ever? What shameful treachery was her mother involved in during the war? What is Blondie's real heritage? How can she ever live it down? Find out in Book 3, Home Street Home: Mile High Secrets

I wanted to present the homeless community in a way that would sidestep the tendency to see the unhoused as "the other". By having a protagonist who falls from a comfortable middle class life into homelessness, through no fault of her own, I wanted to show how the crucible of having to survive in the streets, in competition for space and basic resources with so many other unfortunate souls, can change even the mildest, gentlest person into a monster they don't recognize themselves.

At the same time, I didn't want to write blanket sob story designed to solicit donations, ignoring the realities of who inhabits homeless camps and communities. While it is not all drug addicts, mentally ill, and just plain professional bums as some might assume, there certainly are these types of people, along with those who predate on them to sell illegal wares, obtain hard labor dirt cheap, or take advantage sexually of those who have few alternatives to stay out of the elements. There are also those like my protagonist Ella who fall into this vicious environment with few street skills to help them cope.