Okay, I know it’s been a while. My apologies.
Went out to do some grounding under The Old Man this morning and realized we are entering the three-day period of the first full moon of 2026 – the Wolf Supermoon (last supermoon until November) so I took that as a sign that I should return to blogging. Full moons are times of new beginnings and manifestations of desires.
My goal for 2026 is to get as much writing done as possible, now that I am no longer practicing law.
As I explained when I signed off at the end of October 2025, I was going to attempt to write my sixth novel – Free Radical.
Began it on Halloween. Fifty-four days later, I completed it. December 23, 2025. Just in time for Christmas.
My amazing inner circle of readers and editors have kept me on track reading and editing chapter by chapter on a daily basis until it was finished. For that I am forever grateful.
Once I hit the halfway mark, I knew I would finish FR, so I contacted my publisher, Reagan Rothe of Black Rose Writing, to let him know about the new work. He agreed to publish it in the first opening of BRW’s publishing schedule, which unfortunately won’t be until January 2027. I’m hoping, during the interim, for a slot in their packed publishing slate to open up sometime in late 2026, but until then, it is what it is.
Finishing FR just before Christmas, and the unseasonably warm weather we have been having here in NoCo, gave me a chance to relax and really enjoy the Christmas and New Year holidays with my wife, children, grans, Claire and the other creatures here at Casa Claire.
I expect to have FR finalized, with cover, by the end of this month. Richard Lamb, the genius behind The Claire Saga covers, is already at work.
My writer friends who have read FR over Christmas describe it as Grisham meets Chrichton. I’ll take that comparison any day.
I want FR off my plate because I intend to write my seventh novel – Spark of Faith – beginning either February or March. SOF is another standalone story– a medical/mystical drama. It has a cool backstory — back in the early 1990s the famous Lilydale (NY) psychic – No One Dies in Lily Dale – Wikipedia – the Reverend John White – Bing Videos – told me (1) I would move out West onto a large ranch-like property (a prediction Bobbi Allison – the witch from TCS – repeated to me and Helen Lalousis in an open gallery on LI in 2014), and (2) I would write a spiritual piece relating to a “spark of god” that would set my writing apart. At the time I was a “I’m going to die in the Bronx” BIC lawyer who had no intentions of leaving my New York entertainment related law practice and took great pride in my Lapsed Catholicism, so I rejected both predictions outright. But I kept JW’s audio tapes and came across them again when I was packing up six decades of my NY existence and moving out west in 2017.
I hope to have SOF wrapped by summer. RR is sending me a publishing contract this month.
My wonderful inner circle has already signed on. Fingers crossed.
And now that I have publicly committed to writing SOF, I know I will complete it or die trying.
There may be one more standalone bouncing around in the field —
— a Rom-Com called Chiseling David, but if it hasn’t coalesced in time, I will start working on the sequel to The Claire Saga series I teed up at the end of WTLLM.
I want to immerse myself in that project come 2027. No distractions.
While all this is going on, I intend to manifest a transition of my accruing body of work into film and/or a major cable series. What’s the world going to do once Stranger Things has run its course.
Stranger Things 5: Who lives, who dies in series finale
Claire has the answer. Hollywood, you know where to find her.
Well, that’s it for this first return to blogging in 2026.
I may be down to just one reader at this point, but I do hope to return to the maximum 5 readers in short order.
Claire’s Theorem – The Wise Novelist
Until then, for those of you who are reading this–
Let’s make today a great one.
9 Responses
Happy 2026! As always, I’m looking forward to reading your next, and the next books😊
Hoping to be back in the shop sooner than later, as I love our conversations and the hints you drop about your upcoming reads. I’m stir crazy already, but too far off from being able to stand more than 5 minutes at a time.
Blessings to you and your family 🌹
Happy New Year Tom! So glad that I stumbled across the starting up of your blog again on Facebook. Count me as reader number two!
Looking forward to anything you write! Book or blog.
3rd
4th!
And I’m definitely part of the anxious circle of readers looking forward to SPARK OF FAITH!
Happy New Year everyone. Welcome 2026!
I wish you all a safe, healthy Happy New Year!
Eileen- Spark of Faith is intriguing, I can hardly wait!
Welcome back. If you have a minute and care to, would you give us a brief explanation as to what is involved in the publishing business to delay your release of the latest novel until January, 2027. I can imagine some issues taking a while, but a whole year?
We have friends that live within a few miles of you and reported the recent very high winds, which sometimes were beyond 100 mph. Could this be related to finishing your book? You know, a sudden change in Oxygen and CO2 exchange resulting in fluctuation in atmospheric pressure?
Welcome back!!! It’s not BRW’s fault. What happened is that BRW has grown exponentially in the last five years and the company also has grown their stable of writers while lowering the number of actual publications on any given day, to give each publication some breathing room and spotlight. Given that I never mentioned to RR that I was even considering writing another novel, he had no reason to keep a publication slot open in 2026, as his newer writers were far more accessible and compliant in keeping the boss in the know. However, I have not made that same mistake for SOF, so I told him about the book before I started writing it. And yes, with respect to your astute observation skills, given my natural proclivities, I am extremely prone to oxygen levels, wind fluctuations and barometric pressure changes which certainly impacted my level of insanity and corresponding productivity – for the better, I hope.
Welcome back, Tommy!
Thanks Mikey!