I write fictional stories, about various subjects. They’re one time adventures, except my private detective, Samuel (Sammy) D. Shovel series. Sam Spade was my detective hero as I grew up. My concept was to offer another twist to the Who Done It novels. The readers know for the most part what person threw down the first gauntlet. My detective, while despised, and yet haltingly admired by various San Francisco policemen, gets drawn into their world of heinous crimes by circumstances beyond his control. When trapped in the uncomfortable role of assisting the police, he eventually finds out what turned an innocent child into enemy number one. An excerpt from his introductory novelette, An 
Adventurous Night:
“I guess you know she almost murdered you tonight?” Bracque (a homicide inspector) reminds Sammy.
“Yes, I know all that, but it’s the why that has me choked up.”
Mystery readers like trying to solve the crime as they turn page after page. Ah, ha, is this a red herring? Oh no! There was that clue on page 122, of course. Drat, I missed it. They love it, and beg for more. My stories contain most of these important elements, plus more. I delve into the why instead of revealing the who. It’s exciting writing mystery stories about a child, who was turned into a clever criminal.
I played with all kinds of children and began to classify a few as different, during my formidable years. My first clue was that some of the boy and a few girls didn’t want to play with their peers. It had nothing to do with their home life. All of their siblings were happy playmates, and home life varied from being abnormal to loving. Regardless of the parents’ idiosyncrasies, life styles, or being rich verses poor, ninety five percent turned out good kids, and upstanding citizens. The other five percent make my day as book villains.
An actual example:
Two high school bullies, with the same social backgrounds ended up with one going to San Quentin and other becoming a police officer. Both were bona fide dragoons, but one used his vicious demeanor for easy scores, and the other to bully the populous legally.
My stories include the trigger that defines the moment that a child’s open mind changes and/or recognizes an opportunity for a new glamorous life style. Hundreds of children are turned evil in real life every day. If the circumstances are ripe, and before a child can distinguish right from wrong, a charming predator can and will cease the day, and befriend a waif. A chance meeting, a childhood dare, unforgiving greed, hearing something they shouldn’t, to name a few, can lead to all kinds of intrigue. In one of my stories the predator and child are one in the same.
Take a child of six in a war torn country who needs food; he or she grabs a piece of bread from a known reprobate’s plate when he’s eating lunch at an outdoor café. Detected, the child expects a whopping; the malefactor spots opportunity. A childhood dare, followed by heinous authorities will destroy innocence. Children can sense that something is wrong at home, but when their easy lifestyle never changes, they ease into comfort for many years, until abruptly, the cash is cut off—then all hell erupts. In my stories the trigger, that released the touch of evil in each and still lurks a tad in everyone that’s human, is never revealed until the very end.
I have two more Sammy Shovel novels completed and they will be released in the next few years. If you like my introductory character, Sammy Shovel, and my style of writing, keep watching for all my books.
I have an interesting novel, about two young men who wrote a musical, set in 1974, called The Two Jacks.
I’m on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Ronald-James/115455551834617
LaeLand 