Now that I've written and self-published nine novels, someone asked me which one was my favorite. I guess "The Morning Mist Mystery" is my favorite, primarily because it is fast-paced, about everyday people doing crazy things, and the only murder mystery in the group.
My second favorite one was "The Wedding Photographer," since I was able to write about topics close to me, namely photography over the years, and the unending challenges met by wedding photographers. It featured a wide cast of characters as diverse as lawyers, farmers and historians, in addition to the aforementioned wedding photographers.
My third favorite novel has to be "Cajun Gold," a slapstick adventure in southwest Louisiana, with a wacky cast of Cajun characters. Throw in a sledge hammer, welding torch, and offbeat bank robbery, and it's a circus.
My fourth favorite story is "Going Knots," which explores how a love of knots gets a New York stockbroker through his mid-life crisis. It's a little more complicated than that with its crusty Maine marina background, but balances out with an overview of how art galleries sometimes get really desperate.
My latest novel, "The Imaginary Bookstore," explores imagination, prejudice, and unexpected far-reaching revelations from small town interactions.
The rest of the list involves mainly science fiction stories:
"The Time When" is a novel that proposes that Nikola Tesla had a time machine, and a present-day print shop manager and his grandfather's home health nurse figure out how to use it. Probably the less said about that storyline, the better.
Another science fiction book is "Mind Pivot." This one is set in a college and involves a student research paper into the "fight or flight" defense mechanism. Let's hope this story never actually becomes reality, because it's both scary and fascinating.
There is also a collection of short stories, poems and essays called "Smatterings." These have been written over the past 50 years. Some are humorous, some are thought-provoking, and some are weird. A blend of science fiction, observations, and goofiness.
"The Gaffery Perspective" unveils surprising new viewpoints about health and well-being, while its sequel, "The Gaffery Momentum," talks about time manipulation. The two books blend together well, tying up a lot of loose ends, but I'm currently updating them so Perspective is not available at this time.
Non-fiction
I have also put together a large number of non-fiction books about the people and places in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana. For more information about those, CLICK HERE.
Maps
If you're into maps, you might want to check out my collection of hand-drawn "bird's eye view" maps produced over the past four decades. They are printed in "The Pictorial Maps of Ron Barthet." Included in that collection is a bonus section featuring Posters from Imaginary Festivals and Conventions.
