I have officially hit the halfway mark on the manuscript for Don't Kiss Me Goodbye, and the ghosts aren't staying dead. We are 26 chapters deep into this 52-chapter sprint, racing toward a December 31st release deadline, and the coffee pot is working just as hard as I am. Writing a hardboiled detective novel is a lot like working a cold case: you think you know where the bodies are buried, and then the shovel hits something unexpected.