Photo by Doug Koontz James Lilley, a retired police officer and author, was named the Police-Writers.com Author of the Year.

“Being selected as the Author of the Year was indeed a great honor for me,” says Lilley. “It was especially rewarding because it was also the very first such award presented by Police-Writers.com.”

Founded by retired Los Angeles Police Department Lieutenant Raymond Foster, Police-Writers.com bases the award in part on writing ability and in part on career and community service.

Shortly after his discharge from the Marines in 1961, Lilley joined the Howard County Police Department and graduated first in his class. During his career, he received the Medal of Valor, four Bronze Stars, four Unit Citations and the Governor’s Citation. As a writer, he has published six novels and articles in the Police Chief Magazine. He is also an eighth degree black belt in shorin ryu karate, the first American to achieve this from Sensei Takeshi Miyagi, he says.

The example of work submitted by Lilley for the award judging was “The Eyes of the Hunter” (Publish-America), which had a different theme than the normal law-enforcement related story. This book was a journey back in time to the Old West and the great-grandfather of modern-day Detective Jefferson Daniel Lewis, featured in two of Lilley’s other novels. Instead of car chases and long, drawn-out trials, the story had frontier justice with a touch of humor and romance.

“Marshal Jefferson Lewis meets two of the West’s most inept outlaws and there the reader finds some comic relief in their antics,” says the author. “Of course, his road to romance with Hannah Taylor is a rather bumpy and sometimes funny ride as well.”

Judges of the award were Foster and two other retired police officers, also authors with published books. According to the website, they found Lilley to be a “mature writer with strong plot, character and story development” whose work was “easy to read” and featured “very good escapism.”

Before creating Lewis, Lilley asked long-time friend Bob West for guidance and advice. West, an Old West historian, provided help through his vast knowledge of those days and the firearms of the era. In addition, the author researched wolves and Indians.

“I asked Bob to read the first draft and he paid me a great compliment,” recalls Lilley. “He said he felt he’d sat down and read an old Zane Grey novel.”

Lilley said an outstanding junior and high school education contributed to his writing success. He was required to write weekly papers and learned the finer points of writing.

“Certainly when you’re writing because it’s required, it isn’t quite as much fun as when you’re writing for pleasure,” he admits. “But I’m grateful for the opportunity I had to learn from such good teachers and it indeed has benefited me in my pursuit of a dream.”

His wife, Jody, has been his “biggest supporter,” especially during the struggles to have that first book, “A Question of Honor,” published. A good friend, Dr. Sheldon Greenberg, convinced the author he had the ability to write a novel.

Lilley began his first novel in 1981. The Marine Corps, karate and law enforcement were the things he knew well. He kept very accurate notes on investigations, crimes, accident scenes, witnesses and suspects, and made sure every detail was documented.

“I can describe a crime scene in very intimate detail because I have been there,” says the author. “The sights, the sounds, the smells and even the feel are things forever etched in my memory.”

Lilley sees his genre as the murder/mystery/romance novel. However, his target audience for “The Eyes of the Hunter” is a mature reader who is looking for something a little different than the everyday police/mystery novel. He hopes the reader can escape back to another time and find some “valuable knowledge regarding the time period, the Indians and their beliefs, and about the often misunderstood wolf.”

Currently, Lilley has a yet unpublished work, “A Day in September,” a true crime book which details the car jacking murder of Dr. Pam Basu on Sept. 8, 1992. He is also scheduled to be a guest on “The Watering Hole” on May 28 in Los Angeles and he has been invited to speak to a police leadership class at Johns Hopkins University.

“I have another goal now. I would like to see one of my books make it to the screen — television or big screen — it doesn’t matter. I don’t want to ever believe that there’s nothing left to achieve.”

For information on ordering “The Eyes of the Hunter” or any of the books by James H. Lilley, visit www.Police-Writers.com.