Throughout the entire month of November, Kindle’s e-book version of  The Tourist Killer will be on sale for 99 cents.

Why? Two reasons:

1. The Tourist Killer is a great Christmas gift and consistently receives four and five star reviews. in fact, all reviews have been three stars or better.

2. The sequel to, A Year Without Killing, debuts in December as a serial at Venture Galleries.

Download a copy today, or gift a copy to a friend, and get ready to read for the holidays.

The Eight Sentences:

Dr. Thibaut, “Like I said earlier, this project has made me work more than usual on a candidate’s masters. Where did you find out about the work of Bandler and Grinder?”

Claudia answered, “I met a [Dale Carnegie] instructor trainer from California and he told me about their work. What they[ Bandler and Grinder] do involves therapy using a person’s choice of words and body language so it’s closely associated with group dynamics. Sometimes, the group only has two people. He’s been a great help with locating resources. Have you ever noticed that I never sit directly in front of you? If you’re somewhat to my right, you are more likely to agree with me. He taught me that — and introduced me to the study of group dynamics.”

The Back Story:

This part of Claudia’s past is autobiographical for me. I taught and sold Dale Carnegie Courses for several years in the mid 1980’s. A fine introduction to NLP is Frog’s Into Princes by Bandler and Grinder. I recommend it for anyone interested in pursuing the topic.

A related snippet prompted this blog article about Claudia’s master thesis: “What the Assassin Already Knows.”

I’ve been a member since the beginning — over two years ago.

We’re looking for more writers:

Join us here at Weekend Writing Warriors.

Here’s the Facebook link for the Sunday Snippett group.

The Eight Sentences:

Claudia had been approved to work all summer as a volunteer at the main branch of the Boone County library. Her goal was to learn to use the library’s resources to do research. By September, she had become proficient with the Dewey Decimal System, the Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature and the microfiche device.

1952, the year Claudia avenged her father’s death. Her victim was a corrupt policeman from the Crescent City.

In late August of the following summer, the head librarian, Mrs. Laird, came to the table where Claudia was working and asked, “After two summers of research, have you found what you were looking for?”
Claudia smiled and told a convincing lie, “I wasn’t looking for anything in particular, but I have learned a lot about genealogy.”
The librarian did not see the article Claudia had been reading from a 1952 New Orleans Times-Picayune. The headline read, “Mid-westerner killed in Garden District drug raid.” Claudia had jotted down the name of the officer responsible — it was Emile Duplessis.

The Set Up:

Claudia was raised by her grandfather due in part to the loss of her father when he was young.

Too young.

He died at the hands of a corrupt cop in New Orleans.

Claudia began to plan her vengeance at an early age by learning to use the library and do research

the old fashioned way, long before the internet. See this snippet for 8 lines about her revenge.

Share your writing with us!

If you’ve got eight sentences (creative punctuation is fine) of a work in progress or a previously

published work, we’d love to see them. Here’s the link for Weekend Writing Warriors and more

exposure is available in the Sunday Snippet group on FaceBook. Check us out!

Our guest blogger today is Julie Medina of Garland, Texas. 

She designed the cover for my third novel, A Year Without Killing, and I thought

it would be interesting to hear about her work and how she views book marketing.

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YOU DO WHAT FOR A LIVING?

Ever get that question?

I do, sometimes, when people ask me what I “do” and I say I do book covers (and book interior layout).

Sometimes I get a half-blank look with the question: “What kind of book covers?”

Then I like to say: the kind that jumps on you in a bookstore, the kind that stands out from the crowd and  makes you want to pick it up and read it.

It’s the weirdest thing. You see, I believe that for most people their first interest in a book is sparked by looking at its cover. Have you ever been in a bookstore, looking for a book on architecture, for example, and out of the corner of your eye a book in the Thriller section gets you to look twice?

Something in the combination of Look and Title on that cover jumped straight past your eyes and into your brain. A face, a landmark, a flower, a mood, something someone is doing –  yes, even a color.

And now you want to know what this is all about.

Someone is shooting holes into a calendar?? Who does such a thing?

Is this some kind of a countdown to off your Husband or your Wife?

Why does someone not kill for a year? Why have they killed before, and who?

Can’t speak for other people but that is pretty much what happens to me when a book cover jumps past my eyes and into my brain. That is how I like to design covers, with that extra little burst that takes them straight there.

When I begin a project, I like to learn a little about the story, the people that live in it — perhaps some pivotal moment in their lives.

Andre Le Gallo was very specific with what he wanted on the cover of his Red Cell.

In this case I tried to accommodate pretty much what the described.

Other authors are wide open and I have only the title and a brief synopsis on the story.  I think those are actually my favorite covers. Those give me complete creative freedom and I love that. Of course sending those covers to the author for viewing is a nail-biter every time. High stakes gambling in Las Vegas couldn’t be anymore exciting when the dice roll.

I drew four aces with Heartsongs From a Washboard Road by Roger Summers and won the Jackpot with CrissCross by Dale Fowler.

Designing a book cover (or an entire book) is a little like having a baby. You worry, You want it to be beautiful and perfect and you want everyone to love it. It has to be romantic, scary, funny, dramatic, melancholy, dark and brooding or the conveyor of hope and love, all depending on the story, and it has to almost tell the entire story in one picture.

On most projects I sift through thousands of photos until just the right one grabs my attention.  The mood, colors, and themes combine into an image or images that I think will work.

Playing around with pictures in Photoshop produces crazy good effects sometimes and can change everything about any photo and give it an entirely new “feel.” A good example for this is the Compost Pile by Stephen Woodfin. [The two photos on the left were combined to make up the final cover image.]

And then, when I think the cover is what I had in mind, I send it off to the “Parent”, the author, and wait.

No problem, I check e-mail only like every 20 minutes or so! No, I do not pace!

My clients report success with every project. We work together. We don’t stop until the author is as pleased with the cover. Until then the motto is: nothing is chiseled in stone, everything and anything can be tweaked and changed.

How did I get into this crazy, exciting world of book publishing?

Thanks to my friend and former boss, Caleb Pirtle of Venture Galleries, who kept telling me that I could forget about commercial advertising now and dig deeper to find that artist he knew was in there somewhere. I hope I have succeeded.

When I was young, I dreamed of being the one who wrote the books. Well that plan did not work out. But I found something equally great. I am the one who puts a story into a picture for all the world to see.

It does not get any better than that.

The Eight Sentences:

Biloxi Beach, Mississipi, circa 1947 This man is my mental image of Mr. Debert.

“Yes and it’s nice to meet someone who knows French, you never know these days.”
“I spent several years in the Deep South — Louisiana, they speak a little French down there.”
“I know,” his voice was a rich baritone, almost bass, soft yet confident — and so masculine — he could have been the man of her dreams.
“How would you know that?”, she asked.
“I’ve followed you for several years now,” Debert said, “It isn’t easy to keep track of your movements, but then you try so hard.” He could see that she was becoming uneasy with that revelation, “Don’t worry, I won’t tell.”
“I like your voice,” she commented, “You seem mysterious and, at the same time, charming.”
There was a twinkle in his eye, and he smiled again.

The Back Story:

There were two men in the life of Claudia Barry that had earned her respect and trust. The older of the two had been around for years, although they had not had the opportunity for much conversation since a lunch meeting in New Jersey in the fall of 1976. It had always been an occasional fleeting glance. Then one icy day in January of 1999, Claudia was dining alone at her favorite Irish pub, the Tir na nOg in downtown Manhattan, across from Penn Station when he walked up to her table. The snippet above comes from their conversation.

An Invitation to Join Us:

The Eight Sentences:

“You know my history and accomplishments. Not many shooters — regardless of sex — have the resume I’ve acquired and my vision is remarkable for any human. When I chose this career, it was obvious that I would never be in the limelight. I’ll be happy to be just as anonymous as you.” Claudia had resigned herself to anonymity even before the choice of professions. She had taken herself out of the fight for women’s rights with the selection of careers, because she couldn’t attract attention to herself advocating any issue publicly and then hope to reach the upper echelons of her craft. She could, and did, find ways to make financial contributions to the cause. After her first few jobs, she had stashed away enough funds to live happily ever after when and — if she ever retired.

The Set Up:

 My third novel, A Year Without Killing, will debut in December on my publisher’s site as a serial. One chapter at a time will be presented twice a week.

November will see a big promotion for The Tourist Killer to build interest in the sequel. In conjunction with these events, my snippets will be excerpts from The Tourist Killer’s flashbacks. Each of the seven parts of the book begins with a flashback into Claudia’s past. Today’s selection is from the first flashback and comes from Claudia’s meeting with the one who recruited her into the profession.

Calling all writers: