Author name: Ken Cruickshank

One of my favorite authors, Ken Follett, believes prospective novelists must have a keen imagination, be stubborn, and possess technical writing skills. I was born with the first two traits and work tirelessly to master the third. MS and an accident put me in a wheelchair during my tech career, but I discovered my passion for writing, and here I am. My goals are to write unique and consuming fiction, thrillers, historical fiction, and nonfiction. Eagle Bay, my debut psychological thriller, was released on June 1, 2023. The Emerald Cross, a thriller pitting an ex-Green Beret hero against a Mexican drug lord, is scheduled for release on November 1, 2023. I published my memoir: Stand Up, a memoir of disease, family, faith & hope in 2018.

Mine is a Writer’s Life: a.k.a. Ambitious but Poor

An insanely busy December preceded an insanely busy January. The family Christmas gathering in Sedona was extraordinary and everything we hoped for, but it ranks as the second-best highlight of our time together, eclipsed by news that our oldest daughter and her husband are expecting their first child. I’ve been known to say the most […]

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Mine is a writer’s life: Season’s Greetings!

Season’s Greetings and Merry Christmas! My wife and I are preparing for glorious visits with our three children, their spouses, and our wonderful granddaughter, Princess Charlotte! It will be beyond challenging to get much writing done over the next week, which means I’ll have to hit it hard upon our return from Sedona, Arizona, where

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Mine is a writer’s life: Holiday Magic

My wife and I spent Thanksgiving dinner in our backyard on a beautiful Arizona day, just the two of us. She insisted on making a full turkey, dressing, potatoes and gravy fest. It tasted incredible, and we ate like kings and queens for the next three days. Our children are scattered all across the country

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Mine is a writer’s life: Back at it!

Another stellar road trip for my wife and me to visit our precious granddaughter, Charlotte, and her amazing parents in Orange County. The main event was a beautiful baptism ceremony attended by family and friends from both sides of Charlotte’s family tree. On the day of the celebration, we met with a few of my

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Mine is a writer’s life: Hit the road, Jack (except we’ll be coming back).

My wife and I no longer travel by air due to myriad challenges I won’t bore you with. But we love road-tripping in the Western US, particularly from our home in Arizona to Orange County or Austin, Texas. The big draw in the OC is the indomitable Charlotte, our granddaughter, for whom I do not

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Mine is a writer’s life: Ladies Luncheon Readings!

Blackstone Country Club invited me to be the guest speaker for their Ladies Luncheon, and I was privileged to interact with thirty-five classy and interesting women at the event. I read two very different chapters from my memoir, Stand Up – one that triggered stronger emotions than I anticipated and one that had the audience

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Mine is a writer’s life: Mom and Countdown

I am one of ten children raised by an amazing woman. Mom would have been 95 years old this week; she left us five years ago. One of my siblings told me Mom hoped to move to Paris for a while around age 20, but Dad spotted her on the stage before a Christmas production in

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Mine is a writer’s life: Doheny Drive taking shape!

I write my books while constantly editing previous chapters—it’s what works for me. Doheny Drive will be my fourth book and very different from the others. Of course, the final version will differ in ways unknown, but I’m hoping you get a strong sense of place and time and are intrigued by how I set

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Mine is a writer’s life: Kindle Countdown for The Emerald Cross begins today!

I rolled into the bathroom this morning, looked into the mirror, and said to myself, Who the what the hell is that? Hours later, my wife took a short video clip of me plugging my latest book release, The Emerald Cross – – that’s the video on my Instagram feed. Again, I asked myself, Who

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