Dec. 30 Six Sentence Sunday

The Setup

     All of my remaining snippets for SSS will be from my second novel, The Presidents Club, which premieres as a weekly serial on Sunday, January 6, 2013 on my publishers web site. Since we won't have SSS soon, you can get an entire chapter, each week, -- FREE. Eventually, the entire book will be available in both e-book and trade paperback. 

     Today, one of the group of old men who hang out together in a bar, whose first names are those of former U.S. Presidents, is speaking. Dr. George Risk has just received an update on the condition of another patron of the Louisville Tavern...

The Six Sentences

“There’s more to it men. I just heard from a doctor friend of mine. Franklin got attacked at the bus stop the other night after leaving here. Died a few hours later in the emergency room at Kene—.”

An explosion in the street ended the conversation.

All was dark inside the Louisville Tavern.

Image credit: Seth Gaines

Lagniappe

"Lagniappe" is one of my favorite words. It's a Cajun term for "something else for free that you didn't expect." We hope you enjoyed our cliffhanger above and will visit the home site of Six Sentence Sunday to sample the work of other great writers HERE.

Christmas Morning Breakfast

It was her own personal tradition.

My mother had a special breakfast that she enjoyed once a year.

Most years, she enjoyed it alone.

Sometimes my father or sister or I would stop by and she would offer us a bite or two.

She was happy to share her tradition.

Now, it’s a great memory.

Mom’s in her nineties and doesn’t cook much anymore, but her culinary skills of days gone by were legendary in our family and community.

On Christmas Day in the morning, while some slept late, some read the paper and others enjoyed the fruits of Santa’s labor, my mother was in the kitchen. 

She was at the stove and the aroma filled the house.

Homemade cornbread produced a unique stimulation to the olfactory nerves.

While the cornbread was still hot, she was melting cheese on a griddle.

Mom’s Christmas breakfast was melted cheese on freshly baked corn bread.

It always got Christmas off to a good start.

Image credit: Wikicommons

Maybe I’ll have some this morning.    

Six Sentence Sunday - 12-23-12

Please TAKE NOTE!

         For the last few weeks, my contributions to SSS have been from my new novel, The Presidents Club.

Today, we show off the cover. Did you see it above?  

Comments appreciated. 

We're pleased that Jeff Bennington did such a great job. 

The Presidents Club will begin as a weekly serial on the publisher's web site, HERE. 

The action begins on Sunday, January 6, 2013. We hope you'll join us there then. [Eventually, The Presidents Club will be available as an e-book and a trade paperback.]  

This week's SET UP:

         John Hixon, the former FBI agent that readers first met in 

The Tourist Killer, lives in a small cabin in the mountains of Western North Carolina. 

         The cabin is in an area known locally as "Little Canada."  It's one place you DON'T want to hear banjos playing.

         In this snippet, we are introduced to one of his three dogs.

The Six Sentences

They were big, fast, and mean, but they loved John Hixon.  
No one would ever sneak up on him as long as these three guys were around.
He enjoyed talking about his “gang” to the rare visitor that he might bring to his mountain redoubt. “‘Uzi’ was my first one, he’s a German pitweiller.
I got him from a shelter in South Carolina about two days before they would have euthanized him.”
Hixon would smile and then add, “He’s always been grateful.”

Now, there's more!

We hope you enjoyed this week's sample. To sample the work of over one hundred more great writers, just click HERE. Want to join the fun with a selection from your own works? Details at the home page for Six Sentence Sunday. It's easy, fun, and gets more exposure for your writing.

Childhood memories of Christmas music

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without the traditional music.

Christmas music wouldn't be Christmas music without Johnny Mathis.

My parents made sure that when my older sister got married and moved out, we would still have music in the house.  They purchased a Zenith stereo record player. 

They subscribed to the Columbia Record Club.  

They let me select the monthly purchase -- sometimes.

Johnny Mathis' Christmas album, pictured above, was an annual favorite.  

We had it on vinyl.

When I married and moved out, I made sure my family had a copy of it in our music library.  For years, it was on the shelf between Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland and my favorite Steppenwolf album -- the one with "Magic Carpet Ride."

Now, I have a CD version of Merry Christmas and for the past two weeks, it's been in my truck. I often listen to music on my commute to work. (Yes, I sing along. Sometimes, very loudly!)

One of my favorite winter songs is included, "Sleigh Ride."  

Music of any kind often brings back memories.

This music brings back memories of a special place.  Home.

And you can't go back.

The Mangham, LA of today is much different in many ways than it was in the sixties.

Most places are.

We still have great memories.

And the wonderful memories will live on forever.

________________

Here's another favorite memory:

Six Sentence Sunday - Dec. 16

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Next Sunday, Dec. 23, just before Christmas, we will introduce the cover for The Presidents Club.  It was designed by Jeff Bennington and features one of the main characters, John Hixon along with...well, wait on the surprise.  Right here. Next Sunday. 

Now on to SSS...

The Setup

      Many of the conversations, plans, and character development occur in the Louisville Tavern. For the book, I've chosen to locate this "old man's bar" in Marietta, GA.  This venue is modeled after a real bar back in Louisiana.  Watch for a blog about it soon.  This scene sets the tone for much of the action to follow and of course, happens early in the book. 

Image credit:  Donna B. Cooper

The Six Sentences

Louie the bartender had a sawed off shotgun under the bar. His finger was on the trigger as he spoke to the man seated near the door. "We've heard enough of your foul mouth and we're sick of your dirty jokes. It's time for you to pay and go."

The patron with the ugly laugh stood and looked around the bar for a victim. Then, his eyes shot daggers at Louie, he threw a ten-dollar bill on the bar, and said, "Don't go home alone."

Comments appreciated!  Now to sample work from over a hundred other great writers, just click HERE.  And don't forget to return next Sunday to see the cover of The Presidents Club.

More on MLM in the 21st Century

Image credit: Hand-raiser.com

It was the summer of 1976.

Yes, that's it. A pharmacist friend invited us over to his house 

to find out about a business opportunity. He couldn't tell me much about it over the phone, but we went.

It was my first exposure to Amway. We joined.

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. It later became known as "network marketing." Now, it's on the Internet.  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.

In this second article of a series on multi-level marketing, we are joined by guest blogger, Joseph "Marty" Miles.

Here, in his own words, is a bit about him:

Born and raised in the small river town of Parkersburg West Virginia.
After a tragic event at the age of 5, I was left without my mother. This deeply affected my awareness and trust with the world. I served a three year term with the United States Army from February 1998 to February of 2001 and was stationed in Fort Hood Tx with 1-8 Cavalry Mustangs!

Now I focus on being as vulnerable as I can -- to undo my past conditioning. I now reside in the town of Sahuarita Az  spending most of my time with my family and working on building my financial independence, education and leadership development business. I am a personal development advocate and entrepreneur at heart.

I asked Marty, "Does the opportunity still have the same potential today?"

Miles: Multi-level marketing has even more potential than it ever did back in the 70's. As you know, the world is a lot more connected. The new economy will be a global one. Social Capital will be the currency. Network Marketing when utilized with the right business model can be pretty amazing. However choosing the right company in the sea of MLM can be a very frustrating task if you don't know what to look for.

Professional Network Marketers know exactly what criteria it takes to produce the kind of residual income that makes you smile. Beyond MLM, the personal development journey you have when starting your own business is the real gem. In a sense you have to become a better person to succeed in your business. This is the industry that has and will continue to change the world in a positive way. Personal Development is doing what many organizations struggle to accomplish. That is... making better people.

December 9 - Six Sentence Sunday

The Setup

Another scene from The Presidents Club, a spin off work-in-progress from my first novel, The Tourist Killer.  

Enigmatic billionaire, Jay Thibaut [tee'-boe] is chatting with his long time secretary and personal assistant. The subject: her years long unrequited crush.

The Six Sentences

Thibaut stood six feet tall and his 185 pounds were distributed in proportion to DaVinci’s Vitruvian man. The architecture of his face personified character with its defined cheek bones and firm jaw. His eyebrows were darker than his medium brown hair. They framed his hazel eyes, that often twinkled with mischief, and almost met over the smooth lines of a nose never altered by his participation in sports.

He had a protective shield of dignity and reserve that discouraged personal questions. 

Thibaut looked right into Miss Woods’ sparkling dark brown eyes and said, “2012 is a leap year -- don’t miss your chance.”

There's more!

Hope you enjoyed those and will leave a comment. To sample the work of over 100 other great writers, just click HERE.

December 2 - Six Sentence Sunday

The Setup

     A question for readers regarding this snippet from my second novel, The Presidents Club [a WIP]. There are several scenes, including this one, in which a group of friends are playing dominoes in a neighborhood bar. 

The Question 

     Is dialogue enough to sustain interest in a scene with little action other than a bunch of old men playing dominoes? Feedback, please.

This week's Six Sentences:

“Gimme a minute, asshole -- ‘Useful’ it’s your turn.”
“Why you gotta be such a foul mouth?” interrupted Reverend Pritchett.
“Your ears sensitive today, preacher?” asked Risk.
Ulysses Fishinghawk played his choice of dominoes and remained silent. Now it was the pastor’s turn. 

As he laid his domino on the table, the retired preacher smiled at York and said with a chuckle, “When you get home tonight, I hope your mother runs out from under the porch and bites you on the leg.”

Thanks for your comments! To read the work of over 100 other writers, please click HERE.