Nov. 25 Six Sentence Sunday

The Setup:

     This week's snippet comes from a WIP, my second novel, The Presidents Club.

Carl Chaisson is the bartender of the Louisville Tavern. This scene occurs several years before he begins work at the tavern. We join him as an incident unfolds that leads to the end of his pre-bartender career.  

     After an emotional outburst witnessed by several co-workers and customers, Carl's boss, Henry, has just asked Carl if he would like to take a break.

The Six Sentences:

Carl turned his head towards Henry with a slow deliberate pace. It seemed like minutes went by before their gazes met. Carl's eyebrows were low over his eyes, his top lip was tight and the bottom one trembled. The corners of his mouth were turned down and his cheeks as red as a branding iron. Carl’s palms were sweaty and his hands were shaking. 

He took a deep breath and spoke as slow as possible, 

in as soft a voice as he could muster, he said, 

“Yes, thank you.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Your visit is appreciated. Please leave a comment with your reaction. 

You can sample the work of over 130 great writers HERE.

Reciprocity

“Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.” -- Matthew 7:7-12 KJV [from The Sermon on the Mount]

Culturally literate humans, regardless of their race, religion, sex, or political persuasion, will be familiar with that classic axiom often referred to as “the golden rule.”

Another well known phrase is “You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.”

Many interpret the former as a proactive approach to human relations while the latter is clearly a response to the actions of others.

A blogger friend of mine complained recently about a conspicuous absence of comments on their posts.  I said, “You saw the movie, Chicago, didn’t you?  Remember that great song by Queen Latifah? You want more comments, make more yourself -- and comment on the work of fellow bloggers first.”

So what’s the one conclusion I can bring this blog piece to?
When you’re good to others,
They’ll be good to you!

ASSASSINATION

Image credit: WikiCommons

Word association game.
Life - death.
War - peace.
Love - hate.
Assassination - _____________.

Fill in the blank.  

My unscientific random analysis coupled with a poll of one reader influenced by a predisposition for all things conspiratorial, lead me to be convinced that the overwhelming majority of baby boomers would fill in the above blank with either “JFK” or “Kennedy.”

Forty-nine years ago today marked the first time I can ever remember having heard that word used.  It has, for me, become inextricably connected with the events of that fateful day in Dallas, Texas.

For reasons unexplained, I’ve always been interested in the origin of words and their romantic stories.  According to Wikipedia, “The word assassin is often believed to derive from the word Hashshashin (Persian: حشّاشين, ħashshāshīyīn, also Hashishin, Hashashiyyin, or Assassins), and shares its etymological roots with hashish.”  The legend goes on to include stories of professional killers who were under the influence of hashish when sent upon their murderous missions of mayhem during the crusades.

Further research brought me to the discovery that the first literary use of the word was by William Shakespeare in 1603 when he penned Macbeth.  Here is the line from whence it came.

“If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well
It were done quickly: if the assassination
Could trammel up the consequence, and catch
With his surcease success; that but this blow
Might be the be-all and the end-all here,”

Perhaps that outtake is also the origin of the “be-all/end-all” expression. [How’s that for a non sequitur?]

On November 22, 1963, I was in the sixth grade.  Our class wasn’t exposed to the study of Shakespeare until high school.  By that time, we had become familiar with enough assassins to last a lifetime: Sirhan Sirhan, James Earl Ray, and [maybe] Lee Harvey Oswald for starters. Later a generational icon would fall at the hands of Mark David Chapman and perpetuate the idea of many conspiracy buffs that assassins known by three names were actually members of the CIA.

Forty-nine years after the Kennedy assassination, my first novel has been published and features a woman who is an elite professional assassin.
She may never become a household name in our culture.
She could possibly experience her fifteen minutes of fame with baby boomers.  
She doesn’t use hash. She likes vodka and cranberry.
She’s not in the CIA.
She goes by only two names.
Claudia Barry.

Nov. 18 Six Sentence Sunday

The Setup:

Sixty-two year old professional assassin, Claudia Barry, has a confidant. The mysterious "Mr. Debert." Here, they are nearing the end of a rather lengthy conversation in which she has been defending her career choice.

Six Sentences:

Debert changed the mood with a smile and refilled their glasses, “You’ve invoked a 13th century convict, corporate greed, and a 20th century vigilante to justify your career. You expect me to believe all that bullshit?”

Claudia had to smile.

Debert continued, “You kill for two reasons: you believe you’re meting out justice and you are paid a king's ransom. You’re also rationalizing.”

Claudia hesitated, then broke the silence with a subdued smile as she replied, “And I’m damned good at it."

===========

My future contributions to SSS will come from a work in progress, "The Presidents Club."

Now, if you please, check out the work of over one hundred other great writers HERE.

Multi-level Marketing in the 21st Century

Between 1976 and 1996 I got involved in multi-level marketing -- three times.  It turned out that I could sell. Recruiting was a problem.  At that time, the company I repeatedly joined was enamored with the“mystery approach.”  Over the years, I think they may have moved away from that method of recruiting.  No matter, many people around the world have made fortunes not only with this organization, but with the many hybrids it spawned.

Though I never “made” it big in MLM, the concept still intrigues me and so when I wrote my first novel, The Tourist Killer, I chose MLM as a vehicle for one of the characters. It served Julian F. Thibaut as a teenager in two ways.
 
It established a solid financial base for his future.

It helped him build a world-wide network of personal contacts.

To confirm the relevance of my book in today’s marketplace, I asked several online and MLM veterans, “Does the opportunity still have the same potential today?”

I’ve known Mattias Kroon via the internet for several years. He’s done quite well with online variations of MLM.  Mattias is a native of Smaland, Sweden.  He is a musician [trombone, keyboards, synthesizer] and an entrepreneur.  A background in telemarketing developed skills to become useful later in his own business.  

Mattias Kroon is my guest blogger this week and will be the first of several to address this topic.

Julian F. Thibaut is a man who succeeded in the multilevel marketing industry before the internet was available. He wasn´t born into a wealthy family. He took the knowledge from the principles of MLM to other areas of business in his recruiting.

What conclusions can we draw from this?

Can we use the same principles in the internet business? I would say, not as copycats but if you are an internet marketer you can use some of the principles.Many founders today have revised the first old MLM models and completed them with multiple income streams into one program.The big difference is that you can earn without recruiting at all in many of them but on the other side, where you can get benefits in form of referral commissions on every member that upgrades in the program you invited them to.So, the best of them work, with or without recruiting.

You can also purchase advertising shares in those programs where you get, say a 2% growth on every such share or position in that program.Of course, they must have some kind of a real product or service connected to the program in the design of it.I am earning a regular income from my online business.It has its ups and downs but it works.The measure of shares or positions together with referral commissions, will then decide how much you will earn.

Creating opportunities like this makes a psychological benefit in comparison to the older, typical MLM-schemes where you were forced to recruit  and where you were forced to fill a matrix to begin to earn at all.

Shares, that sounds like a little like funds in the stock market?

Besides my affiliate marketing I am investing in fund shares.The stock market was the second area where this Thibaut succeeded to make a very good profit.If you combine your affiliate marketing with investments in stock funds with a high Morningstar Ranking, you definitely have the ideal combination to make a profit online.Nothing happens “overnight” but with one step at the time moving forward, you can succeed.Diversifying your portfolio is the key in the stock market.Buy low and sell high.Read articles, invest in funds where they invest in typical growth areas.Nowadays you see growth in The Central and Eastern Europe and especially in Poland.

Always keep the long term perspective!

I would like to welcome you to my blog where I am recommending the best programs and tips to you.Sometimes I need to update the list of opportunities.

You are invited to: Creative Marketer.

11/11 Six Sentence Sunday

The Setup:

     When at work, are you so focused, so "in the moment," that you kinda zone out? Are you familiar with the term, somnambulistic trance? Or are you having a zen experience? In this scene from The Tourist Killer, we join professional assassin, Claudia Barry, as she's about to squeeze the trigger.

Six for this week:

The contents of all the sealed compartments would have been obliterated from her consciousness hours before. She, the rifle, the bullet and the target became one — in the moment.
The target moved as it always did and required minimal adjustment by the shooter. Not breathing, she was motionless and nothing moved other than the index finger on her right hand. For the shooter, there was nothing romantic about this job. As she had written in her journal a few days before, “You romanticize death if you haven’t been there and seen it happen.”

I hope you enjoyed this snippet and will go over the the SSS site and check out the work of over a hundred other great writers. Just click HERE.

The Tourist Killer is getting great reviews on Amazon and is now available both in Kindle and trade paperback.

Nov. 4 Six Sentence Sunday

The Setup:

     The Tourist Killer opens as Claudia Barry, elite professional assassin, completes an assignment. At age sixty-two, she has enjoyed a career that has spanned over thirty years.  She had to start somewhere. In this scene, she reacts to her first kill.  

SIX SENTENCES:

She quickly made her way to Bourbon Street.
Anyone who noticed her now would see a twenty-something female in short shorts and a cut off Ohio State t-shirt.
The aroma on Bourbon Street was a combination of rotting garbage, beer, urine and vomit. Claudia was overcome by weakness. She held onto a light post to keep her balance. Then, her knees buckled and she made a contribution to the nauseating fragrance that tourists associate with the French Quarter.

Pictured above is "Pirates Alley" as seen from behind the St. Louis Cathedral. Beyond the cathedral lies Jackson Square. In The Tourist Killer, someone who appears to be a young man, murders a retired New Orleans policeman in this alley. (Image credit, Wikicommons)

Thanks for stopping by.  
I hope you enjoyed my six sentences.  
Now, to sample the work of over 100 other great writers, 
click HERE.