Books
in Progress
As one might expect, Lee has a number of
writing projects underway, some almost finished, some partially
written, and others plotted but as yet unstarted. Current
works include:
 The
Stiff’s Upper Lip — A light mystery set
in southern Spain. An unlikable Englishman is murdered during
a long, drunken house party in a small tourist village. Local
Guardia Civil troops swoop in to corral and investigate our
hero and several other survivors of the festivities. Soon
another body pops up and the Guardia noose tightens. Expatriates,
bullfights, romance, Guardia Civil. Finished and ready for
consideration.
 Olympia
’36 — Nazi Olympics held in Berlin in
1936—the Olympics of Jesse Owens, Glenn Cunningham,
and Eleanor Holm, with a spy story connection involving a
young American athlete. Hitler, Nazis and Bill Donovan, the
eventual leader of the wartime OSS. Spy story and Olympics
intertwine until both climax at the end of the Games. Finished
and ready for consideration.
 Escape
From Elmira — A Civil War book currently underway.
A trio of Confederate soldiers are captured in the Battle
of the Wilderness and sent to a Yankee prison pen in Elmira,
where they are subjected to mistreatment in retribution for
Andersonville. They escape, aided by a sympathetic Yankee
woman, and make their way through enemy lines, but they’re
too late. Appomattox has ended hostilities. Plotted and half
completed.
 Old
Spies Never Die — Possible first for a series,
starring a young anthro professor and his retired superspy
Texas uncle, Justin Fairchild. Several of Uncle Justin’s
former CIA mates (three men and a woman) come out of retirement
to help track down biological weapons stolen from a bunker
in Arkansas. Culminates with an exploding oil refinery in
Houston. Finished and ready for consideration.
 Pryor’s
Ark — A man on the run with his young daughter
hides in a peculiarly backward village in New Mexico, where
he helps a dotty old man build an ark in the middle of the
desert. Filled with charming village life and odd characters,
but with an undertone of menace. Assassins track him down
and the Ark plays a strange roll in the denoument. Finished and ready for consideration.
 Steal
the Swallow — Another World War II book,. An
American aviation engineer and a hot British pilot are parachuted
behind German lines to locate, study, and if possible, steal
one of Nazi Germany’s new jet planes, the Me262. After
hardships and close calls, they find the jet, but the pilot
is wounded and the unskilled engineer must fly them to safety
with the German air force in pursuit. Plotted, as yet unwritten |
 Land of Eagles — Two Colorado couples,
fed up with life in the fast lane, head for a summer in
the mountains to see if they can be one with nature and
escape their pressure-filled existence. But they run into
problems, first petty things like jealousy, insensitivity,
and laziness, then the problems increase—a longtime
hermit devils them deliberately, followed by dangerous escapees
from a nearby reformatory who chance to find their camp. Finished and ready for
consideration.
 The Last Resort — An elderly woman, Maggie, facing
a painful death from cancer, anonymously hires a hit man
to track her down at an island resort and kill her. A hero
on verge of a nervous breakdown comes to the same resort.
In this homage to old-fashioned “closed-door”
mysteries, where people die but no one can contact the police,
the hit man—through a comedy of believable errors—kills
just about everyone in one delicious scene after another
except for Maggie. Finished and ready for
consideration.
 War
Dogs — Animal story. After a plague wipes
out all humans (except a few albinos), we follow an assortment
of family pets as they discover they are alone, slowly learn
to survive and feed themselves. They end up creating a new
society, and fending off predators, both animal and surviving
human. Unwritten, but researched and plotted.
 The
Cotton Navy — Another Civil War book. A riverboat
captain and his freedman black first-mate steam up the Red
River with a humongous load of cotton for Texas, with the
Union navy, unscrupulous carpet-baggers, and scalawag Rebs
in pursuit. On the way, the riverboat rescues young girls
from a southern school for ladies and they end up crewing
for the captain. Researched and plotted, but not written.
And two romance novels using pseudonym of
Joy Beverlin:
 Bells
of San Blas — A romantic mystery set on the
west coast of Mexico. A young woman on vacation is startled
when a man stumbles out of a cane break in front of her car
and dies in her arms on the road. She is even more confused
when an angry man, obviously American, appears and orders
her to leave. Colorful tourist country, a wealthy Mexican
family, a ranch that possesses strange caves and frightens
villagers with odd lights late at night. Plotted and partially
written (about five chapters).
 Whisper
the Wind — A young woman takes a job as architect
on a rich Idaho farm to turn an antique barn into a showplace
residence. She is met at the airport by an arrogant young
man in his own antique biplane. There is chemistry here,
but as usual, misspoken words and mistaken impressions keep
them apart through most of the book. A good look at life
in the Pacific Northwest. Written, ready for consideration.
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