Welcome to Goran Vale. A small (fictitious) town in New South Wales.

It isn’t far from Sydney and Melbourne.

It’s a long way from home—and farther from the truth than most folks find comfortable.

Author G.S. Bailey places readers right into the heart of town with vivid and detailed descriptions. We can close our eyes and see a little town reminiscent of Twin Peaks—without the picket fences.

A romance served with murder receives 4 of 5 stars.

Meet Kate.

She was left standing at the altar by one of the men in her life.

Early on, we meet them: Paul (her boss), Bobby (adopted brother), Ben (the friendly police officer), Stephen (her first love), and Lance (American insurance salesman). Will one of these candidates be the man for her?

One of them is “special” character. He’s the common denominator that links the major characters. He’s the glue that holds the story together.

Minor characters in Goran Vale are introduced and we learn that everyone seems to have secrets and several have skeletons in their closets (literally.)

Parallel plot lines follow Kate as she looks for the right man and Ben, the cop, who looks for the killer of poor little Melanie Rose.

Bailey does a superb job of weaving a page turner as we rush to learn which search is successful. Clues to the murder turn up when the shooting starts.

Which of the leading men will win Kate’s heart?

Will Kate and Ben find the same man? How do their paths cross en route to the story’s denouement?

A Man for Kate previously appeared as Remains of a Local Girl and Bailey does an efficient job of creating two female characters for whom either title would be eponymous.

A Man for Kate plays well as both a romance novel and a whodonnit. Such are the mysteries of love.

In the end, we leave Goran Vale secure in the knowledge that more books in the “Mystery Loves Romance” series are forthcoming.

Can you hear the Angelo Badalamenti soundtrack?

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.

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!

Travis Bickle lurks just a few rows from where the President is shaking hands with the crowd.
Twenty yards away, Squeaky Fromme waits with the patience of a tortoise.
John Hinckley is an adolescent who observes every movement.
A select detail of Secret Service Agents execute their duties to perfection.
The President works the crowd and departs the airport unharmed in his limousine, “The Beast.”

From her hotel room on the forty-second floor, Claudia Barry lowered her binoculars, smiled, and thought to herself, I could have choreographed that entire scene.

Her confidence in doing so comes from the fact that she was the first person to earn a (fictitious) masters degree in group dynamics from LSU (or anywhere else for that matter.)

The study of a system of behaviors and psychological processes which occur within a social group, or between social groups and individuals within and/or outside of either, is group dynamics. An in-depth understanding of these interactions coupled with knowledge of the subject individual will assist observers in predicting the subject’s movements and response to the movement of others. Such facts as the subject’s personality profile and handedness are key elements to anticipate reactions as well. (How many U.S. Presidents were left-handed?)

Ms. Barry earned an undergraduate degree in sociology with a minor in psychology from the University of Arkansas. She learned to shoot from her grandfather who was a retired motorcycle repairman (a subtle reference to Zen) and had enjoyed watching the movement of animals in the woods. She attended numerous church services, political cocktail parties, and trials to study the way humans moved in response to others. She took private dance lessons and applied what she learned while moving through crowded subway stations and common areas. Mardis Gras parades were a favorite for personal challenges.
How close can I get to the mayor?
Can I shake hands with the grand marshall on the parade route?
She interviewed street performers and scrutinized every move they made, especially as they interacted with the impromptu audiences.
To add legitimacy to her project and to mask her unconscionable motive, she titled her thesis paper, Security in Space: The dynamics and challenges of providing personal security in high risk environments.

My second novel, The Presidents Club, will be officially released on Amazon Tuesday, Nov. 19.
It will be available as an e-book for Kindle and soon will be available for Nook.
Already seeing some reviews coming in. Watch for a blog soon on how the series title was selected.
Since it features characters from both my first two books, I’m going with, “The Barry-Hixon Conspiracy.”

To support the Tuesday release, my blog this weekend in the Weekend Writing Warriors blog hop showcases

eight sentences from TPC.

“For Whom Did You Last Vote” can be found HERE.

In 1968, my high school football team won eight games and lost one during the regular season. The Mangham Dragons were district 2-B co-champs. An 8 X 10 photo of the team hangs on the wall near my computer. (See top right, notice red label.)

My wife asked me about the photo one day and I started naming all the players — by number.
Number 8 is Oliver Douglas.
Thirty-one is Tommy Pailette.
Twenty-one is Lynn Mercer.
I went on and on. The names came back to me without hesitation.

About two weeks ago, I finished reading and reviewed Dancing Priest, a book by Glenn Young. There were four significant characters.
Several times, I got them so confused, I had to write out a flow chart.
Brother, sister, roommates, friends, twins.

How could I remember dozens of names from forty years ago and couldn’t keep four characters separated now?

In the fall of 2011, I read Michael Crichton’s last book that was finished by Richard Preston. Micro featured a group of seven students. In the opening pages of the book, readers were treated to a list of characters and a brief description. It was a great help. I referred to it often while reading the book.

Now, I’m involved with another book featuring a group of seven characters. It’s my own book, The Presidents Club. While writing it, I’ve referred to my notes many times. An important point my editor/mentor brings up every time we talk is how to avoid confusing my readers.

Authors know more about their characters and stories than the readers.
Authors certainly know background information unavailable to the reader, unless it is revealed in the written word.

If I cannot remember four characters and their relationships, why should my readers be expected to sort out and remember almost a dozen characters? An added complication is that my book is serialized, one chapter each week.

One step we will take soon is to begin presenting two chapters a week rather than one.

Another step is this list of characters with brief descriptions. When The Presidents Club becomes available as an e-book and a trade paperback, this same list will appear in the front near the opening pages.

Cast of main characters in The Presidents Club by FCEtier

John Hixon – ex-FBI agent hired by Thibaut to protect the Presidents Club

Julian Thibaut – billionaire investor/political activist currently promoting an initiative to improve government efficiency and encourage public participation

Gerald Point – chief of Thibaut’s personal security staff

Rosemary Woods – Thibaut’s secretary

Carl “Louie” Chaisson – former pharmacist now part owner/bartender of the Louisville Tavern

     The Presidents Club:

          Abraham “Abe” Region – retired school teacher now janitor at Holiday Inn Express

          Ronald Gold – U.S. Air Force retired, former member special ops

          Woodrow “Woody” Risk – retired Lowes manager, domino expert, and math savant

          George Ridge – general surgeon paralyzed from waist down, speed reader

          Thomas “Tommy” Pritchett – former Baptist minister

          Ulysses “Useful” Fishinghawk – retired college professor

          Franklin York – retired chiropractor, photographic memory

My second novel, The Presidents Club, premieres as a weekly serial on my publisher’s web page.

Here’s the LINK.

A new chapter will post every Sunday.

All chapters will remain available at the site, so if you miss one, don’t despair. It’s easy to catch up

if you miss one.

Eventually, The Presidents Club will be offered as both an e-book and a trade paperback.

My first novel, The Tourist Killer, is available on Amazon now.  You can download the Kindle version for less than the price of a gallon of gasoline.

We hope you enjoy them both.

January 6, 2013, my second novel, The Presidents Club will begin as a weekly serial. One chapter each week, every Sunday.  The posts will remain on the site indefinitely, so if you come in late, or miss an episode, it will be easy to catch up.

Pitch line: A group of retirees and the ex-FBI agent hired to protect them face danger as they investigate a murder and uncover the source of ultimate government power.

Serial novels are making a come back at VG Serials and have proven to be wildly popular.

Watch for

The Presidents Club at this link:  http://venturegalleries.com/category/blog-serials/