They could hear the dominoes being shuffled again,so Abe spun around on his bar stool to face the gamesmen and asked, “How many of y’all vote?”
His answer was four blank stares.
After a pause, York spoke up, “You mean in elections?”
Louie said to Abe, “Guess you got your answer, huh? What about you, do you vote?”
“Sometimes, the last time I voted was when Samuel L.Jackson and I voted for the brother, gimmie another beer.”
Louie volunteered, “The last time I voted was for Miss Rheingold.”
The Back Story
The members of the Presidents Club and their bartender discuss the relative interest of the general population in voting. Some people don't even bother anymore. Do you vote?
Louie the bartender did. He voted for Miss Rheingold in the beer company's annual competition.
Official release date is Tuesday, Nov. 19. If you've enjoyed my snippets, I hope you'll help me with some exposure by sharing this link in the social media.
The eighth anniversary of hurricane Katrina is fast approaching.
My wife and I have many memories and stories about how the weather changed our lives. In several ways, Katrina was as significant for me as the JFK assassination. Kennedy’s death didn’t cause me to move away from my home state.
Katrina did.
One of the nightmarish memories of the storm involves events that occurred in the aftermath.
The levee system in New Orleans failed. In addition to storm refugees and evacuees, now flood victims were arriving in Baton Rouge. Not too far from our home. The basketball arena on campus at LSU became a huge triage facility.
The “whop-whop” sound of helicopters constantly arriving at Tiger Stadium was a daily reminder of the tragedy that changed thousands of lives. Our house was close enough to the flight path that we could easily hear the airborne deliveries.
More than once, I looked toward where the sound seemed to be coming from, only to discover they were behind me.
It reminded me of the opening scene from the movie M*A*S*H.
Fast forward to the 1:06 mark.
My near obsession with helicoptersrecently joined forces with my 19th childhood (who needs only two?) and I started building plastic models again. Hadn’t tried that in over forty years.
Last summer, I got back into flying radio controlled aircraft. I’d flown airplanes while in college and this time it’s, you guessed it, helicopters. I spent as much time repairing them after crashes as I did with them in the air. So I purchased several pieces of equipment to help. The lighted magnifying glass and the “extra hands” with alligator clips proved handy for both hobbies.
Here are a few photos of my first model in 40 years, a Bell H-13H. Once I get the decals on, it will be a “M*A*S*H” replica. I can hear the music now.
Frame with cockpit interior. I was impressed with the detail.
Notice you can see the foot pedals.
Almost done. Just needs decals.
Next up, a B-24 Liberator. It played a significant role in every theatre of World War II and I'll be writing a blog soon on a book about it. The book is The Wild Blue - The Men and Boys Who Flew the B-24s Over Germany by Stephen E. Ambrose. Watch for it soon.
Please accept this invitation to check in with us right here, every Sunday for a new snippett from the writings of author FCEtier, a contributor to the "Weekend Writing Warriors" project.
The Set Up
Continuing with our precident of sampling the current chapter of the serial novel, The Presidents Club, this week's excerpt is from Chapter Five, which goes live Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013.
Ex-FBI agent, John Hixon, spends an evening alone with his three dogs. Tonight, he reads a "Dear John" letter from his lover to his Bavarian mountain hound, Caroline.
Image credit: Fredric Duhayer - Royal Canin
The Eight Sentences
He picked up the single letter that Mr. Jimmy had for him from the rented box in Waynesville and he spoke to the female canine, “Caroline, let’s see what Claudia wrote.”
At the mention of her name, the hound raised her head for a moment then resumed her relaxed position.
He opened the envelope and unfolded what looked like a piece of hotel stationery sans the letterhead. “I guess she didn’t want me to know where she was staying,” he said out loud.
Then he read to the dogs, “Dear John, Don’t worry, this is not a ‘Dear John’ letter! (ha ha) How would you like to spend the winter with me in the Caymans? You can come to my retirement party.”
She didn’t even sign her name.
What now?
Visit the home site of Weekend Writing Warriors to sample the work of dozens of other great writers.
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.
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 inMLM, 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.
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.
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,
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."
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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.
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.
My first novel, The Tourist Killer, is now available on Amazon. The print edition will be out later.
In this scene, retired FBI agent, John Hixon, and his billionaire client, Julian Thibaut, ponder their relationship.
The two men who seemed to have little in common, yet made companions by a finesse of fate, stood and admired the one acre pond in the valley below Hixon’s redoubt. It was a smooth and clear mirror reflecting the beauty of the mountains in the early morning light.Later, a gentle breeze added ripples to the surface but when the sun found clear skies above the balsam pines, a painful glare obstructed the view. Unexpected events had forced the cooperation of opposing personalities. As they stood there admiring their surroundings, each man questioned how they would relate to each other. Would they become friends?
Now, sample the work of over 150 other great writersHERE.
Julian Thibaut, an enigmatic billionaire, is described (in part) by this snippet from my soon to be released novel, The Tourist Killer.
Baltimore, MD was north enough for Julian Thibaut. He had long since separated himself from many of the divisive attitudes and cultural incongruences of the Deep South, but he could not forsake his family heritage and locate his corporate offices north of the Mason-Dixon Line. He disdained most of what he knew about everything inside the beltway. Thibaut did not talk slow. He did, however, take the time to caress each word. It was because of this habit that New Yorkers would say he had a Southern drawl.
Comments and feedback appreciated. Now, please check out the work of over 170 over great writers HERE.
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Louie volunteered, “The last time I voted was for Miss Rheingold.”
The members of the Presidents Club and their bartender discuss the relative interest of the general population in voting. Some people don't even bother anymore. Do you vote?
