Hello.  Thanks for swinging by and visiting my blog. In case the website address wasn't enough, I'm Paul Duffau.

This is the section where everybody sticks the boring biographical info - though some try to juice it up with humor or some sense of "literary" style, I'm going to stick with boring....

My day job, the one that pays the bills, has me climbing on, over, around and under houses figuring out what is right and wrong with them and letting the buyers get the dream house they expected. Along the way, I've gotten acquainted with every good and dumb idea a homeowner has ever had - and more than a passing knowledge of spiders and bugs and bats, critters who inhabit a crawlspace or attic.

I'm an avid runner, have been for years and noticed that, with few exceptions, there are no fiction books that involve running as a sport or hobby or even fitness. I can find 92 books that will tell me how to run a faster 5K (okay, NOT gonna to happen - I have two speeds - slow and not-quite-so-slow. There is no 'faster'.)

I can find a multitude of books on running marathons. I read them and ran them and enjoyed both. There are books on the odd tribe called ultrarunners. I was once a member...and will be again.

There are even books about running style, Chi, Pose and Evolution Running. But little to no fiction. So having an ego nearly -but not quite - the size of Texas, I thought I would fill the gap.

The first book, Finishing Kick, arrived in December of 2013. In July of 2014, Running Times magazine included Finishing Kick in their summer reading section, one of three books to be so honored.

Trail of Second Chances, an exciting action-adventure novel set in the Montana mountains, follows up on Finishing Kick., with the story of Becca Hawthorne, a young lady who desperately wants to run in the Olympics. Running camp should not be this exciting - or dangerous.

I have started my next novel, The Lonesome Mile, slated for release in April of 2015. Set in Cripple Creek and Colorado Springs, a change of venue from my Pacific Northwest home. Research included a trail marathon in Pagosa Springs, where I set a personal worst for the distance and had a blast doing it.

After that, I have about four options, including a mystery series, that will be on the agenda.

I also like dogs - or, at least, they really like me. Which is a good thing since I'm married to the director of the local Humane Society. The dog related stories that I write will benefit the Lewis-Clark Animal Shelter. See the Sharing page for details.

Enough....I'll see you in posts.

Have a truly wonderful day! Run Gently....