michaeldaigle

[michaeldaigle]

Nagler's secret: The 1995 letter

At the center of NAGLER’S SECRET, Book 6 of the Frank Nagler Mysteries, is an incident and investigation from 1995. At the center of that incident is a woman known as Naomi Baptiste. Does she hold Nagler’s secret? Or is he Nagler’s secret? What does this letter, read by Nagler’s companion Lauren Fox in 2021, say about that? Who did he write the letter to, and why does he still have it? The…

[michaeldaigle]

Nagler's Secret; To light

Driving in circles. Past the houses he knew. The train station, dark and hollow, the train yard grumbling, empty cars, lighted chariots. The darkness of the ghetto. Broken frames, leaning walls, cries sucked into the air, neither joy nor pain.  Bulldoze it, crush it, grind it to dust.  Burn it. Nagler shook his head. Wouldn’t matter. It’s all about memory. Broken streets, shattered lives.…

[michaeldaigle]

DRAGONY RISING: How to steal town, a country

In DRAGONY RISING, Book 5 of the Frank Nagler Mystery series Det. Frank Nagler and Lt. Maria Ramrez were warned that all the activity thay had been chasing had one goal: Take over by law of the City of Ironton, N.J. One step at a time, one law at a time. Then act. A brief review: “Dragony Rising: A Frank Nagler Novel – Book 5” by Michael Stephen Daigle is more than just a gripping mystery; it…

[michaeldaigle]

What broken feels like

The red sky is not a glorious sunset, but war. The screams are not cheers, but cries of children and mothers. The dying we left behind. Cesear and his warriors wallow in celebration,  Sated with cackling glory, fat with self,  sucking in the swill of our surrender From a pot we prepared for them. They pound their chests with weapons we forged and  gladly gave. I want to hear your…

[michaeldaigle]

I am the enemy within. So are you

I’m  the enemy within. So are you. I was standing with you as the voting lines curled around the corner  of the building and down the block. I listened when you chatted about your kid’s football team, the artwork she entered to a school contest, the flowers  still blooming in the yard and how you try  to fend off the rabbits and deer from eating the last of the spring’s new planting. We…

[michaeldaigle]

Reviews: 'Dragony Rising:' Absolute page-turner

Dragony Rising, Book 5 in the Frank Nagler Mystery series, recently garnered three top reviews. Thanks to the reviewers for taking the time to read and review the book. Note: The 6th Annual Easton Book Festival is upcoming from Oct. 13 to 20.I will be at several events,  including the Easton Farmers Market, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sat. Oct. 19,  and the Small Press meet and greet at the Sigal…

[michaeldaigle]

Nagler's secret: 'The answer is always yes'

One constant in the Frank Nagler Mysteries are the women who keep Detectiver Frank Nagler in line, especially Lauren Fox, now the acting mayor of Ironton N.J., the city that is the setting for the stories. They have been lovers since the first book, The Swamps of Jersey, and she has played a larger role in each book in running the city and providing information to solves crimes. In book six,…

[michaeldaigle]

New edition of DRAGONY RISING released

New covers, new editions: Frank Nagler is back. DRAGONY RISING, Book 5 in the Frank Nagler Mystery series, has been re-released with a fresh new look, inside and out. I started with DRAGONY RISING  to hitch a ride on two podcasts I did in recent months. Coming  soon will be a reissue of THE SWAMPS OF JERSEY, followed by the other three books in the series,  clearing the way next year for Book…

[michaeldaigle]

September fairs and book events

I’ll be attending three New Jersey events in September, discussing and selling copies of the New Jersey based Frank Nagler Mysteries. Sept 7: Belvidere Victorian Days, 9 a. to 5 p.m. at Garret Wall Park. Look for us in the Author’s Grove along 3rd Street. . Sept. 14: The Randolph Township Country Fair, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m, at Veterans Park, 100 Calais Road. I’ll be sharing a table with…

[michaeldaigle]

Mystery solved: New edition DRAGONY RISING soon

Frank Nagler  is rising. Well DRAGONY RISING is. After a few weeks of reconstruction, the Second Edition of the award-winning Book 5 in the Frank Nagler Mystery series —  DRAGONY RISING —  is nearing release. First, thanks to all the Frank Nagler readers. Thanks to Elana Daigle – misselaneousart@gmail.com – for the new covers and to author Reyna Favis – http://www.reynafavis.com – for their…

[michaeldaigle]

Maybe where we are today; right and wrong

I wrote this in part as a joke response to a conversation about an anthology call for a story that “writes a wrong.” So I pitched an idea to write something wrong:  Ideas, language, structure —everything breaking down. And then  over the last few days I had the feeling that this was about more than just word play. Maybe it described where we actually are. Maybe we are, as the last line says,…

[michaeldaigle]

In the end, we stole an aircraft carrier

I was attempting to write an apocalyptic time travel story for an entry to an anthology with the theme of time travel. I missed the time travel aspect, but ended up with this story about a stolen aircraft carrier. It’s called “A THOUSAND WORDS OF DAN.” Here goes: We were ping pong balls bouncing across the International Date Line. A day older. A day younger. The Earth was dying. Everything…

[michaeldaigle]

Talking about DRAGONY RISING with Steven Miletto

Please take a few minutes to listen to this fun interview with podcaster/educator Steven Miletto of Geogia. We discussed how the Frank Nagler Mysteries evolved, about techniques used to create lively, interesting characters, and how I paced the story so he would stay up at night reading, unable to put it down. DRAGONY RISING asks the question: What happens when Det. Frank Nagler discovers that…

[michaeldaigle]

Eating pie

Hands are good. Fingers are better Sticky stuff licked by tongues better yet. Syrupy thick, melted cream Dripping down palms nothing to waste. The joy of messy pie love. Hands are good. Fingers better. Forks are too formal.

[michaeldaigle]

The thing is gone. I'm alive

The moment wants noise, screaming Running leaping, rolling after falling laying in wetness back to the ground face to the sky shouting Yes! Yes! Yes! The thing is gone. Grey and white in the photos; fitting. That thing they found and cut out leaving a hole It was dead. I no longer feel dead. It is a time for color. And rain, And one long screaming, obnoxious running fucking celebration…

[michaeldaigle]

For hire: Free agent mystery writer

Baseball fans will understand the term: Designated for assignment. That makes  me, Mystery Writer, free agent. But I don’t have to pass through waivers. The want ad says: Open to right offer. This came about because the publisher of my five Frank Nagler Mysteries, Imzadi Publishing of Tulsa, Ok., is shutting down after than more than decade in  business. Thank you, Janice and Anita and Kay,…

[michaeldaigle]

Nagler 6: Does she know Nagler's secret?

In Book 6 of the Frank Nagler Mysteries, NAGLER’S SECRET, a work in progress, there was an event in September 1994 that is at the heart of the secret that left Detective Frank Nagler shaken. There is  also a young woman who reappeared in Ironton, N.J. many years later. Does she know the secret? Detective Frank Nagler’s friends try to recall her: “She had brown hair, cut short,” said Barry,…