Introduce Yourself : Author/Teacher by James H. Lilley

My name is James Lilley. I am a former U.S. Marine and 25 year veteran of the Howard County, Maryland Police Department. I was named the 2008 Police-Writers.com Author of the Year and in 2013 my book, "Fatal Destiny, The Carjacking Murder of Dr. Pam Basu" was named the Police-Writers.com Book of the Year. I have written true crime, fictional police/detective/mystery novels, a biography/autobiography and just completed "Cop Tales," which is collection of stories from officers regarding the legends, pranks and strange calls from days gone by. I am also a 9th Degree Black Belt (Kabayashi-ryu) and my Sensei (teacher) is Mr. Takeshi Miyagi. I was the first American promoted to the rank of Black Belt by Mr. Miyagi (he has promoted only 3 Americans to the Black Belt rank) and my book "Mr. Miyagi and Me," details our journey together from beginning to present. I am trying to get this book to the screen, as it is the true life story of a very real Mr. Miyagi and tells of his life as a prisoner of war of the Japanese, putting his life back together, becoming a school teacher and now a 10th Degree Black Belt and President of the Okinawa Shorin-ryu Karate Do Association. Then there are my first awkward days in his dojo and not being welcomed with open arms by the Okinawan students. I am also working on a couple of other writing projects at this time--police related.