About The Author

In the early 1980’s, among other pursuits, I was a cab driver in San Francisco and spent much time servicing the gay communities of Castro, South of Market and the Polk Gulch area. I had many unforgettable experiences and have wrapped exciting thriller/mysteries around them, which produced my three new novels outlined below. All three books feature the same characters and their misadventures and are the first three volumes of an expected seven in THE ULTRASHEEN MYSTERIES. The books were published by City Light Publishing and are now available on Amazon. I also designed the cover art for all three volumes.

THE LAST DAYS OF THE BARBARY COAST: San Francisco has fallen victim to yet another serial killer – The Red Hair Killer – Meet the cocaine smuggling leather queens responsible, the society matron who is the ultimate victim and the drag queen who is set on revenge.

QUEEN OF THE MISSION: The Red Hair Killer has been dispatched. It is two years later and our character’s wounds have mostly healed. To move forward with their lives, Casey and UltraSheen are mounting an extravagant Las Vegas style revue – The UltraSheen Revue –  against imposing odds and a truly mad doctor who is trying to rid San Francisco from the blight of drag.  

Here is a publisher’s review of THE QUEEN OF THE MISSION

The Queen of the Mission is a richly textured literary novel set in San Francisco in the mid-1980s—a time of cultural flux, political upheaval, and the dawning awareness of the AIDS crisis. This evocative and emotionally nuanced sequel to The Last Days of the Barbary Coast reintroduces readers to Casey Johnson, an artist and cab driver whose internal world is as layered as the city he drives through.

Phillips’ narrative opens with a striking sense of atmosphere—fog rolling over Twin Peaks, neon bathing the streets of the Mission District—and quickly immerses us in the emotional landscape of a man trying to reconcile ambition, love, and trauma. The prose is confident and cinematic, channeling a gritty romanticism that feels both historically grounded and immediately relevant.

What sets this novel apart is its authenticity. The queer experience in 1980s San Francisco is rendered with compassion, subtlety, and humor, and the relationships—between Casey and his partner Mike, as well as their close circle of friends—are written with rare intimacy. Themes of chosen family, artistic identity, and emotional survival resonate powerfully.

As a sequel, the novel stands strongly on its own, giving new readers everything they need while deepening the emotional impact for returning ones. There is commercial potential here, particularly for readers of LGBTQ+ literary fiction, fans of Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City, and those drawn to character-driven narratives set against rich cultural backdrops.

Phillips’ background in theater and visual art informs the storytelling with a vivid sensibility, and Casey’s dual life—part artist, part observer—offers a unique lens through which to view a city on the cusp of irreversible change. At its heart, The Queen of the Mission is a love letter to San Francisco and to those who lived, loved, and endured during one of its most tumultuous eras.

QUEEN OF MYSTERY: Life has calmed down for our heroes – or has it? All seems well until the society matron from the first book re-enters with an attractive offer. What seems to be wonderful is soon up-turned by the murder of the society queen and the spectacular trial of the heroine UltraSheen for her murder.