Family and friends would often ask, “What’s it like to be a cop?” or “Why do cops do such and such?” for a given situation depicted in the news. I wouldn’t be able to describe the job in just a few sentences, the training, the boredom, the fear and the politics, unless I tell the whole story. This book is an attempt to tell the whole story of being a patrol officer in a town of fifty thousand citizens served by a department of one hundred twenty officers.

The book takes place in the fictional town of North Hayward, Connecticut. It is based on my experiences working for the Town of East Hartford, Connecticut. Geographically, East Hartford is located across the Connecticut River from the capital city of Hartford, is approximately three miles by five miles and has about 51,000 residents.

The old adage of “write what you know” comes into play here. I know the town I worked so that became the setting for the novel.

Off and on, about five years. There were times I wouldn’t touch it for weeks and other times I would spends hours a day several days in a row working on it.

I’m currently working on a second book that will go into narcotics and murder investigations from the investigator and undercover officer points of view. Like Front Row Seat, it will be based on my actual experiences serving as a police officer in East Hartford.

That would be nice but there’s nothing in the works right now.

Steven King. Somehow, he makes the un-believable believable. I highly recommend his memoir “On Writing”. In it he talks about the tools you need to be a writer. It’s a must read for any author.