A Year Without Killing

The Eight Sentences 

An African-American woman who appeared to be in her late sixties stepped onto the sidewalk and walked towards Claudia. That woman’s about my age, Claudia thought.

Then it happened.

Penn Station - across the street from where this scene
 occurs. Image Source: hereandnow.wbur.org

A tall skinny male Goth stepped into the black woman’s path. He grabbed the strap on her purse and jerked it from her grasp. His next decision was one of the worst of his life. He ran right into the path of a semi-retired assassin with a sense of justice.

As he passed, Claudia Barry stepped into his path and delivered a forearm to make Anthony Munoz proud.

The Back Story 

       A Year Without Killing is a work in progress and will be the third in my series of novels known as the "Barry-Hixon Conspiracy."  This is the sequel to my first book, The Tourist Killer, which ends with professional assassin Claudia Barry beginning a twelve month leave. She had planned to retire, but was convinced by her assigner to take some time off before making the final decision.

       Today's excerpt shows how difficult it will be to take off from work. It's from Chapter One.

What now? 

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Join us here at Weekend Writing Warriors. The same 

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Paying It Forward

Recently another author invited me to participate in a “blog tour” by posting an article in which I answer several questions. Here goes.

My writing time in addition to blog articles is focused on my third novel, A Year Without Killing. This will be volume three in the “Barry-Hixon Conspiracy” series. It is also the sequel to my first book, The Tourist Killer. Writing is not my full time occupation, so it make take a while. If it all works out, maybe AYWK will be available in time for Christmas shopping.

While some books neatly fit into a particular genre, I’m not a big fan of the genre-labeling game. My first book prompted this comment from reviewer, Blaine Coleman, “The Tourist Killer is a complex story that’s difficult to pigeonhole into a single category: is it a novel about crime, international intrigue, a psychological thriller, a look into the mind of a paid assassin, or, is it a romance?” You could say that my books are “crossover” in terms of genre and that’s what makes them different.

Dale Carnegie said to speak about something that you have: 1. earned the right to speak about (personal experience) or 2. done extensive research and can speak about with knowledge. Applying his advice to writing, I write about what I know. My wife says I talk too much and she’s probably correct. My editor prefers me to use dialog to drive the story so I put my experience to work. The combination has earned kudos from reviewers for the conversations in my books. From a review of The Presidents Club, “Also intriguing are the elderly men themselves, their histories, and their opinions. Although they are, at times, catty, insulting, and sly, they seem like people we'd want to know (Hey, Louie, bring me a beer.) Etier has captured real conversations as the characters' comments overlap, entertain, and yes zing each other.”

I write for the same reason many readers open a book -- escape.

The time spent with my characters is wonderful and meaningful.

If I can escape and become totally absorbed with my characters in the story, then, perhaps my readers can also.

When I write dialog, it helps to (as they say in the theater), "get into character."

When a few weeks pass without writing, and then I return to it, I'm always surprised at how much I missed being with my literary friends.

When I begin a project, I think about characters and make notes on them. An overall story arc helps and then I write the first and last chapters. At that point, I turn the characters loose and hang on for dear life. It is often surprising what the characters do.

It is never disappointing and that’s why I love writing.

At least three of my writer friends will receive an e-mail from me soon with an invitation to answer the same questions and invite three of their fellow authors.

Meet Abe Region

The Eight Sentences:

“One of the assistant managers had hired me. I guess it must have been about the second day on the job, I was in the men’s room with a mop and other clean up products. I’d finished the urinals, toilets, and sinks and I was about to mop the floor. Someone came in behind me and it was someone I didn’t know. His name tag told me he was the store manager. The first words out of his mouth was, ‘You’re going to be in management one day.’

“I said, ‘How do you know?’

'Nobody wants to clean the restrooms except a member of management -- I sure cleaned my share of them!’ and we laughed together.'"

Behind the scenes:

     Each Friday, my publisher, Venture Galleries, posts one of my blogs. 

     Twice a month, they feature one of my blogs as a part of their "Author's Collection."  Sunday, Jan. 19, I begin a series of blogs about the members of The Presidents Club.

     This week, we begin with the first member mentioned in either of my books, Abe Region.  He made his debut in The Tourist Killer and it was a comment by him, that sparked the idea for The Presidents Club.

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They're here, they're there -- they're everywhere!

The Eight Sentences

She replied, “Name a few of the organizations you would consider if you believed in conspiracies.”

Without hesitation, Hixon said, “The Council on Foreign Relations, the CIA, the Bilderbergers, Trilateral Commission, should I continue?”

“Yes,” she said, “please do.”

“The Freemasons, Skull and Bones, the Knights Templar, Illuminati, Opus Dei, Knights of Columbus, the Schutzstaffel, Rosicrucians, Scientology, the KKK, the Costa Nostra, Al Qaeda, and the UMYF.”

“Did you ever read Ayn Rand’s book, Atlas Shrugged?” 

Hixon raised his eyebrows and shrugged, “No, but I read The Fountainhead, why?”

“She had a fictitious organization in the book called, ‘Friends of Global Progress.’ They claimed to have interests in psychology, folk music, and co-operative farming, and after decades of being known simply as ‘The Council,’ Thibaut’s group stole that name from Rand -- obviously they had more pernicious interests.”

The Set Up

  In this scene from The Presidents Club, Thibaut's secretary, Rosemary Woods, is talking to John Hixon about the organization to which her boss had been named Chairman. The image below comes from Wikipedia and depicts the wide variety of members in the Council on Foreign Relations (one of Hixon's examples).

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Dillon on Dylan

The Eight Sentences

Then back into the phone, Hixon asked, “So how’s Sweet Melinda?”

Dillon shouted, “The peasants call her the goddess of gloom.”

“Give her my love and tell her that the last time we were together, she left me howling at the moon.”

Thibaut could hear a deep raspy cough come from the phone. It sounded like the last gasp of a dying soul with chronic lung disease.

Hixon was about to end the conversation; he could see Betty Lou coming toward them with her arms loaded with plates and saucers balancing their breakfast better than the guy on Ed Sullivan spinning plates, “So you think you can fix us up?”

“Yes, I think it can be easily done. Out on Highway sixty-one,” and Dillon disconnected.

The Set Up

     Another scene from The Tourist Killer. 

     Publisher has a big push scheduled for TTK starting next Monday, Sept. 16. A direct mail campaign to subscribers who prefer this genre.

     This is the end of a telephone conversation between John Hixon and his old hippie friend, Robert Dillon. After spending a week in the desert with Carlos Casteneda back in the sixties, Dillion began speaking using only lyrics from Bob Dylan songs. 

     Hixon humored him and often joined the banter with Dylan lyrics, also.

     Lyrics featured in this snippett come from "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" and "Highway Sixty-one."

What next?

Looking for more viewers, readers, and contacts?

Join us here at Weekend Writing Warriors. The same 

link will take you to the work of dozens of talented writers.

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Friends of Global Progress

The eight sentences:

Image credit: northernbellediaries.com

“The Council is more like a Medusa than it is a single snake. You cannot stop us by simply killing one or even two.”

“She’s taken out three that we know of, and if she gets LaFrance and Hussein, that would be five. How many heads y’all got?”
“If she takes out those two, and if Kleinstein is either dead, in hiding, or for some other reason, incommunicado, we’re screwed. The internal factions would -- if they haven’t already -- begin to act autonomously. The result would be chaos. Miss Braun may have unwittingly played into their hands and broken up the organization -- stay tuned, Mr. Hixon, but don’t expect to hear about it on the nightly news.”

The setup:

   First speaker is Klaus Gershenfield, a member of the internatinoal conspiratorial organization, "Friends of Global Progress."

   John Hixon asks a question, and then Gershenfield's reply closes the snippett.

     

What next:

     Looking for more viewers, readers, and contacts?

Join us here at Weekend Writing Warriors. The same link will take you to the work of dozens of talented writers. Check out their work, too. 
     Here's the Facebook link for the Sunday Snippett group. 

April 7, 2013 - Conspiracy Defined

The Set Up:

          John Hixon, a character common to my first two novels, The Tourist Killer, and The Presidents Club is a former FBI agent.

          He is also a devil's advocate -- at least when it comes to conspiracy theories.

          In this week's snippet, the gang of retirees at The Louisville Tavern are discussing that very topic. Let's join them.

The Snippet:

“What’s the difference in a ‘plot’ and a ‘conspiracy’?” asked Woody Risk after a long sip of draft beer.

“They’re the same thing,” York replied, always so sure of himself.

Ron Gold began his reply with a deep, hearty belly laugh, then commented, “A conspiracy is when you get caught!”

The others laughed with him, then York countered with, “Was Bill Clinton’s fling with Monica a conspiracy? He got caught.”

Risk looked at Ulysses Fishinghawk, “You’re our resident linguist, Dr. Fishinghawk. What’s the answer?”

“One person can have a plot. A conspiracy needs more than one person involved.”

York burst out, “See! I was right! The ‘Monica Lewinsky Affair’ was a right-wing conspiracy to impeach the President.”

Risk said, “I thought a conspiracy by definition involved doing something bad.”

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St. Patrick's Day at the Louisville Tavern

The Set Up

Meanwhile, back at the Louisville Tavern, one of the members of The Presidents Club, Woodrow Risk, is sharing a newspaper clipping with the group. We join the scene near it's conclusion...

The Snippet

Reverend Pritchett now offered up a summary of the situation, “So what we have here is a sign. Maybe not from God, but a sign to which we should give some credence. If this document survived the rigors of a tumultuous journey from someone’s front lawn, into their bathroom, then to the recycle bin, and almost into a bird cage, to now be spread out before us here, on the bar in the Louisville Tavern, it must warrant our serious attention and consideration.”

York chided the minister, “Are you trying to channel William Faulkner or Billy Graham?”

Louie, who had been serving a recent arrival at the far end of the bar rejoined the conversation and said, “I heard you mention Creedence. Are you talking about ‘Fortunate Son’?”

Gold said, “Abe’s friend must have been a fortunate son. It sounds like he must be rich. He sponsored that PBS show I saw and now he’s got his own ‘initiative’ and something called a ‘Government Literacy Project.’”

Fishinghawk had to join the discourse, “Well, I’m in favor of more literacy in government. Woody, did you read this thing before it got the bird shit on it?”

What next?

Interested? Sample the work of over four dozen other writers by visiting the home web site for Weekend Writing Warriors.

The following video is, of course, relevant to this post as well as my previous article on helicopters. Enjoy!

John Hixon's Gang

Caroline and Luger -- Uzi's photo was unavailable.

The speaker after lunch at the Kiwanis Club was personal security specialist, Joyce Chamberlain. She gave us several suggestions on how to protect ourselves. Some of the suggestions, I’ve never forgotten.  The event at which she spoke occurred over twenty years ago.

Just after the turn of the century, my wife and I moved to an area of town that had endured some vandalism and some break-ins.  We used one of Joyce’s ideas.  We purchased an oversized dog dish and gave it a highly visible location on the front porch. My wife came up with a creative breed of dog, and Uzi, the German-pit-weiler was born.  It’s hard to say for

Our cat, Boris in Uzi's dish.  

sure that Uzi’s clearly labeled dish helped prevent any unwanted visitors, but it certainly scared off the neighbor’s grandson.

In my first book, The Tourist Killer, there were a couple of scenes in which it was revealed that Hixon had several dogs. More recently, in my second novel, The Presidents Club, it is made clear that our favorite ex-FBI agent has three dogs. Of course, one of them is Uzi. For the other two, I wanted one to be a breed that enjoyed a vicious (though not necessarily warranted) reputation so it was a Doberman Pinscher named Luger.  Finally, since Hixon lived out in the mountains, he insisted on a hound.

According to Wikipedia, “Bavarian mountain hounds are calm, quiet, poised, and very attached to their masters and family. When hunting, they are hard, single-minded, and persistent. Courageous, spirited, fast, and agile, they are at ease on a rugged terrain, with a superb nose and powerful hunting instinct.

“The Bavarian Mountain is not suited for city life. It is in regular need of space and exercise and also requires regular brushing. They are not dogs for the casual hunter. Most are owned and used by foresters and game wardens.”

John Hixon’s third canine companion became Caroline, a loyal Bavarian mountain hound to whom he reads.

Together, he refers to them as his “gang.”

Will they come through for him when the chips are down?

Which dog(s) will make it to the last page?

Become a regular reader of this serial novel and find out the answers to these questions and many more.

Feb. 3, Weekend Writing Warriors

News

       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. 

Jan. 20 - Six Sentence Sunday

The Set Up

      This week's snippet once again comes from my second novel, The Presidents Club. Regular readers will remember that this book is being presented in serial form, one chapter each week. 
       Chapter Three debuts on Sunday, Jan. 20, 2012, HERE. 
       Today, we join a conversation between billionaire investor, Julian Thibaut and his personal security chief, Gerald Pointe. They're discussing an assassination attempt on Thibaut that occurred last year in my first book, The Tourist Killer.
       These six sentences come from Chapter Three as did my weekly contribution back on December 9, 2012. 

The Six Sentences

“A smaller man would have been on the ground after that shot. What is the knock down power of one of those rounds?” asked Thibaut.

Gerald Pointe answered, “Not sure what hit him, the thing mushroomed and disintegrated in Hixon’s Kevlar vest. Not much forensic evidence to work from. But you’re right. A man my size would have hit the ground leaving you open for a second shot.”

More...

Thanks for stopping by. We appreciate your comments. For samples of the writings of over one hundred great authors, click HERE to visit the home page of Six Sentence Sunday.

Epiphany Six

The Setup

     A mystery man arrives on the scene in the opening chapter of The Presidents Club, as my second novel begins its weekly serialization at THIS LINK.

The Back-story

     All my life, I've always heard that part of the hospital where ambulances deliver their patients as the "emergency room." Recently, the jargon has changed to "E.D."  My daughter, a nurse practitioner who teaches, confirmed the name change to "emergency department."  The first time I saw "E.D." I wondered what Viagra, Levitra, and Cialis had to do with ambulance patients!

Kennestone Hospital, Marietta, GA

The Six Sentences

A tall slim man whose eyes missed no detail waited while an EMS crew pushed their way through the open double doors to the Kennestone Hospital emergency department.  

He adjusted his tie and took several deliberate, confident strides towards the check-in desk.

He exhibited the self-assured demeanor of a hospital administrator.

Few people in the busy emergency room noticed him.

The ones that did, thought he was a lawyer.

He was neither.

Thanks for stopping by! Rather than comments, this week it would really be appreciated if you visited Chapter One. Hopefully, the snippet above (as well as those of the last few weeks) have whetted your reading appetites sufficiently for you to do so.

ALSO, to sample the works of other SSS writers, click on

THIS LINK.

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.

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.