Guess what? The book that started my writing passion, In the Shadows, is free for the next five days on Amazon sites all over the world.

I thought you might be interested in a bit of author trivia about the book–something you won’t see on Amazon, but that might give you some insights into the book. In the Shadows is a modern-day cozy mystery primarily set it a small French village filled with troglodyte cave-dwellings, but it also has a couple other settings, including London and a remote French village high up in the mountains. It’s a story of trust, belonging, and murder. The characters are French, British, and American. I’ve always loved travel, especially to the U.K. and Europe, so I like to set my novels in those places.

This was the first book I wrote and it took the longest time to write (8 or 9 years, during which time I also wrote Where Secrets Reside and Inherit the Past). So far, In the Shadows has the most sequels. Hint: There are four books in the series and at least one or two more in the plans.

In the early stages of working on this book, both my son and daughter started writing books, too. They were both kids at the time, and those books didn’t get finished, but it was fun to see the kids exploring writing. My son, Scott Finlay, started writing again a few years ago and has since published three science fiction novels and a short story. Maybe one day my daughter, Samantha, will complete a novel, too. Oh, and my daughter painted the picture that you see on the front cover of In the Shadows.

A last bit of trivia: one time when I made the book free for five days, there were more than four thousand free copies downloaded, and I was thrilled. I hope you’ll download the free book and tell your friends about it so they can get it, too.