The Excerpt:

Watch for a new chapter of my serial novel soon!

Claudia Barry owned Manhattan’s West 33rd Street.

She stayed close to the buildings, away from the crowds, aware of every face. Every movement got her attention. It was an old habit and hard to break. It had kept her alive. She took deliberate strides toward 8th Street.

The drizzle had stopped, the skies were still overcast, and the sidewalk wet. It would have been impossible for her to miss the action fifty feet ahead of her.

The Big News:

This week’s sample is the first eight sentences from A Year Without Killing (my third book.) It recently was selected as a finalist in the East Texas Writers Guild’s First Chapter Book Awards.

According to Roger Middleton, president of the Guild, “We received an overwhelming number of entries from around the world, including authors submitting from Australia, Great Britain, Canada, Cyprus, Italy, South Africa, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas.”

Each entry was judged by three different judges from a panel representing, editors, authors, educators, and avid book readers. An additional three judges were brought in to select winners from the finalists.

Read the entire first chapter of A Year Without Killing, HERE.

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The Eight Sentences:

Hula girls and a skull dagger.

Claudia asked, “What’s up with the choice of shirts?”
“The dagger bothers you?” asked Debert.
“I’m not sure…” she hesitated wondering what Debert was up to. “Is he mocking me—or is this some dark metaphor?” she asked herself.
Debert assumed a dignified frown, lowered his eyebrows and intoned, “You remember from your study of history, that in medieval times, before the age of printing, events were often documented with marks on the handles of knives.”
“Mmmmm…..that does ring a bell,” Claudia remembered, “and this shirt with a skull at the junction of the blade, handle, and guard?”
Debert smiled, “Well I have no idea how many skulls, or notches on your gun you might have, but I thought one would represent what you do in addition to all of them in toto.”

The Set Up:

In this scene from The Tourist Killer, Claudia is having breakfast with Mr. Debert at the Sandestin Hilton in Florida. His choice of attire becomes the subject of their conversation. And in the news, Claudia got a great 4 star review this past week. Check it out, HERE.

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The Eight Sentences:

Walkers(with the green awning)=Mayberry Soda Shoppe. Notice the open space awaits our guys from LOOM.

White had listened to the conversation and at the same time, looked up Mt. Airy on his Smartphone, “Tripadvisor has a bunch of good ratings for the Mayberry Soda Fountain. It’s on Main Street so it should be easy enough to locate–it’s also known as Walkers.”

Barger smiled at Dryden and said, “Maybe we’ll run into Barney Fife and he can tell us all about the Hummer that did a flip into the New River near Austinville.”

Dryden winked and said, “Yeah, and maybe you can use some of that two hundred bucks you won to buy us lunch.”

Scully executed a perfect parallel park and the four men walked into the restaurant. As they walked in, Barger asked, “How did you get lucky enough to find a space right in front of the restaurant?”

Scully smiled, patted his obese friend on the back as he waddled through the door and answered, “They saved it for me.”

The Set Up:

In this clip, readers learn the result of Hawk’s bet with Mr. White along with my choice of how to handle the scene. I chose this route rather than a detailed description of the shot, the bullet crashing through the windshield, and the explosion of the driver’s head. I think my readers can figure out what happened without a review of the blood, the guts, and the gore. Writing a scene like this is, for me, analogous to writing a sex scene. Everyone knows what happens between the sheets. It’s more fun if it happens in the readers’ imagination anyway. Feedback, please.

You got eight sentences?

Join us here at Weekend Writing Warriors.The  same link will take you to the work of dozens of talented writers. For a treat, please check out their work, too.

Many of the contributors to Weekend Writing Warriors also

participate in the Snippet Sunday group on Facebook.

Hawk Barger’s “testosterone truck.”

The Eight Sentences:

“If it’s the same car load of idiots we saw at the airport, they shouldn’t be surprised at anything we throw at them–I’m a bit surprised they came back for another dose. Want me to slow down and let them pull up beside us,” asked Scully, “they’re in the other lane.”

Barger reached around to his left side and unholstered a Smith and Wesson .44 magnum revolver with a seven-and-half-inch barrel, “I can take out the driver with one shot.”

Dryden said, “That gun barrel’s probably longer’n your dick. You got a big Harley, a big gun, and I bet you got a big four-wheel-drive pickup truck, too, to compensate.”

White held up a C-note, “I got a hundred bucks says you’ll miss that driver with one shot.”

Barger took the bet, “Make it two hundred and you’ve got a bet, Mr. White.

Barger rolled down the window, leaned out and leveled his big gun at the Hummer.

The Back Story:

We introduced the League of Old Men (LOOM), HERE, last year.

In this week’s snippet, we catch the action as four of their members are about to face an adversarial group for the second time in one morning. Their previous encounter was the subject of this snippet.

This excerpt and the next few will be from my third novel, A Year Without Killing which is now in it’s serial run.

NOTE:  Mr. White is of no relation to the “Mr. White” in Reservoir Dogs. He is, however, a distant relative of Bud White. Without the aid of your search engine, who remembers who Bud White was?

HINT: Bud White is a fictitious character from a big movie a few years ago.

Hit us with your best shot! 

Join us here at Weekend Writing Warriors.The  same link will take you to the work of dozens of talented writers. For a treat, please check out their work, too.

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Follow the further adventures of Claudia Barry in the sequel to, “The Tourist Killer.”

The serial continues with Claudia and her newest friends find themselves in peculiar situations.

http://venturegalleries.com/serial/saw-last-thing-expected/

Chapter Three coming on Sunday, Dec. 14.

Join us right here for more of the sequel to The Tourist Killer.

The serialization of A Year Without Killing begins today.

Follow the further adventures of Claudia Barry in the sequel to, “The Tourist Killer.”

Watch for two chapters a week, HERE.

A Year Without Killing is book three of the Barry-Hixon Conspiracy series and is the sequel to The Tourist Killer.

I hope you enjoy and share with your friends.

Feedback appreciated!

If you know anything about Claudia Barry, you’ll know that when she speaks, people listen. Especially when she’s armed, which is always.  If you don’t know Claudia, now’s the time to get acquainted before the sequel comes out. She decided we should extend the sale of The Tourist Killer for one more week.

Done.

The e-book version of The Tourist Killer will remain on sale for 99 cents through midnight, Saturday, December 6, 2014.

Why?

“Because I said so,” said Claudia.

“Also,” said I, “the sequel begins the next day, Dec. 7, a day already viewed in infamy by most Americans. A Year Without Killing begins its two-chapters-a-week run as a serial novel at VentureGalleries.com.

The Eight Sentences:

The shooter relaxed and watched the rain collect on the windshield as the wiper blades paused for a few seconds between cycles. First it was images, then text. It was like e-mails appearing on the screen of her computer but now they were appearing on the windshield right before her eyes. No time to read them as the wipers cleared them away with each wave. Always changing, more messages and no time to read nor savor them.

“Did my targets realize their own frailty, their vulnerability, their mortality? Were they able to adjust the length of time the blades of fate hesitate between each event?”
The light changed, the pace of the rain quickened and without a thought, her hand came up, her finger touched the lever, and the wipers went from intermittent to regular speed—with no pauses.

The Back story:

This week’s snippet features the last eight sentences of The Tourist Killer. The narrator once again refers to her as “the shooter,” rather than by name. How easy will it be for her to be Claudia for a year rather than “the shooter?”

The sequel, A Year Without Killing opens with Claudia walking towards her favorite Irish pub in Manhattan. The rain has gone and the sidewalk is wet.

What next?

This will be my last snippet until January. A Year Without Killing begins it’s “two chapters a week” serial run at VentureGalleries.com on Sunday, Dec. 7. Every spare moment I have between now and New Years will be spent working on future chapters.  My fourth book is in the planning stages and will be titled, Transfer the Dragon.

Hit us with your best shot!

Join us here at Weekend Writing Warriors.The  same link will take you to the work of dozens of talented writers.

For a treat, please check out their work, too.

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

The Eight Sentences:

“Abortion isn’t my choice.”
“Why not, I thought you were pro-choice.”
“You’ve known me a long time, Debert, I believe a woman should be free to choose—so I made a choice. You know how I was raised and by whom—you know my religious background is nonexistent, what I know about man and God and law I’ve learned in classes and from books I’ve read. How many people do you know that can say that 100% of their visits to churches have been as tourists?”
“None.”
“I’ve visited courtrooms to study body language, seating arrangements and behavior more than I’ve been into churches, and speaking of body language, when I can feel something inside me kicking and moving around on its own, without my conscious influence, well, for me, that’s life and I’m not going to end it. You never know, it could turn out to be the president one day — or better yet, a great world leader.”

The Back Story:

At this point in her life, Claudia has already made a career choice and has two notches on her gun. For more on her decision to kill for a living but to give birth to her child, please check out my wife’s blog HERE.

Come write with us:

Join us here at Weekend Writing Warriors.The  same link will take you to the work of dozens of talented writers.

For a treat, please check out their work, too.

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A sunset made more beautiful by clouds. Cape Cod 2014

The Eight Sentences:

[NOTE: Outrageous punctuation in effect to trim this down to 8 sentences from nineteen!]

“You remember what I told you about sunsets, don’t you?” Lilly had asked.
“Yes, ma’am, I do, I’ll never forget it,” Claudia replied.

“Well, Dr. Thibaut’s passing was a beautiful clear sunset, no clouds to be seen, but a beautiful afterglow,” Lillie put her coffee cup on the table, raised her glasses and wiped her eyes with the ever-present white lace handkerchief.
Claudia thought a moment and at the risk of sounding like a challenge, pressed ahead with her question, “Do you think that people can have a cloudy life — one that would have beautiful clouds at sunset, but, aaah, still have had troubles?”

Joe Btfsplk

“Honey, no life goes by without problems–we all have our clouds. Remember that man in Lil’ Abner?” They shared a laugh and Lilly continued, “I’m sure Dr. Thibaut had his concerns, but they would have been those wispy little clouds that the wind carries away with ease. Sure wouldn’t have been anything like a mushroom cloud,” she winked at Claudia, reached out, and hugged her tight.

The Back Story:

The late Dr. Thibaut had been Claudia’s adviser/supervisor in her quest for a master’s degree. Claudia had visited his residence often enough to get acquainted with “Miss Lil,” his housekeeper. In this scene, they discuss Dr. Thibaut’s life and Claudia finds a moment for introspection with an analogy involving clouds and sunsets.

We’re looking for more writers:

Join us here at Weekend Writing Warriors.The  same link will take you to the work of dozens of talented writers.

For a treat, please check out their work, too.

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