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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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Today’s featured thriller

My first novel, The Tourist Killer, is the featured thriller on Kindle Books and Tips today.

Got a copy?

99 cents today on Amazon!

“Through the travail of the ages                

Midst the pomp and toil of war

Have I fought and strove and perished

Countless times upon this star.

So as through a glass and darkly

The age long strife I see

Where I fought in many guises,

Many names – but always me.”  — George S. Patton

General Patton believed in reincarnation.

Ambrose Lincoln has lived it.

How many lives has he lived? No one knows. Countless times upon this star.

Not even he knows how many times he has lived and died.

As a result of his peculiar circumstance, Mr. Lincoln has no fear of death whatsoever.

Everyone will die with secrets.

When Ambrose Lincoln dies, he will carry many secrets to the grave with him.

But he won’t remember any of them in this life.

Lincoln is the central character in Secrets of the Dead, Caleb Pirtle’s most recent offering. Pirtle is the author of over sixty books and long recognized as one of America’s great story tellers.

November 1938 is the setting for Secrets of the Dead. It was known as “Kristallnacht.” It was a night of horror in Poland. A night of broken glass, broken hearts and broken promises.

Kristallnacht would likely have been the “Gulf of Tonkin” for America’s involvement in World War II had it not been for Pearl Harbor.  Either event alone would have begun the cascade of events that brought the Yanks into the European war. Together, they assured American involvement and doom for the Axis Powers.

Kristallnacht would precede and create the venue for Ambrose Lincoln’s next assignment. He wouldn’t remember it for very long.

Rare color image from WWII found in a book we recently reviewed: “America At War in Color.” Click on the image to read the review in a new window.

Pirtle takes readers back in time to the climax of events that created World War II. From the rubble in Jewish ghetto streets to the hallowed halls of power in Washington. We experience the power of politics, hate, war, redemption and love via an unforgettable cast of characters. In addition to the assassin pawn, Lincoln, we meet his handlers, his masters and several Germans who share the misfortune of his company. We know that not everyone we meet will live to the last page.

Another character of interest is a natural element, snow. The ever-present snow erases evidence of footsteps and meetings. It seals the secrets of the dead.

Secrets of the Dead debuted as a daily serial on Venture Galleries’ web site. Venture Galleries is a leader in bringing serial novels back into the mainstream. Any given day, readers will find up to a dozen serials in progress with an eclectic variety of genres from thrillers and romance,  to historical novels, politics, and murder. All chapters are archived on the site and available anytime. So, settle down in your easy chair with your online reading device and enjoy a quick interesting read.  Secrets of the Dead is a great place to start.

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

I’m in with the in crowd;
I go where the in crowd goes.
I’m in with the in crowd;
And I know what the in crowd knows.

We breeze up and down the street;
We get respect from the people we meet.
If it’s square, we ain’t there.
We got our own way of walkin’
We got our own way of talkin’
We make every minute count! — Billy Page

Forty-eight years ago this month, December 2012, Dobie Gray had a hit (#13 in the U.S.) with the Billy Page composition, “The ‘In’ Crowd.”

The following year, the Ramsey Lewis Trio released an instrumental version. The album went to number one and the single of “The ‘In’ Crowd” went to number two.

In 1965, I became a teenager.  Being “in” was the subject of many a teen’s desires.

Being a “square” (today’s “geek”) was something to be avoided.

Could Billy Page’s lyrics be among the roots of today’s slang term, “whazzup?” (often spelled without the “h”).

The genealogy of words isn’t my specialty. I can, however, recall from personal experience, a number of slang words and phrases in the evolution of language that resulted in “whazzup.”

Before Mr. Gray introduced us to that most favorable of factions, Maynard G. Krebs introduced us to a new way of talking. His vernacular replaced the term “slang” with “hip.”  A 1965 entertainment variety show took viewers, along with Dick Clark, to “Where the Action Is.”

In 1971, Marvin Gaye asked “What’s Going On?”

More examples of hip slang include catch phrases like: que pasa, What’s shaking?, the real deal, keep on truckin’, the whole nine yards, where to get your kicks, right on, don’t be a square.

In my own case, I didn’t quite make it with Gray’s crowd.
I wasn’t hip either.
The horn-rimmed glasses and pocket protector didn’t help.
But a friend of mine fit right in.

Claudia Barry was no square in the sixties. Who dat? She’s The Tourist Killer.
What’s shakin’ with The Tourist Killer?  A professional assassin battles conscience, hired killers, and burn-out while juggling relationships and attempting normalcy in a character study with political overtones.

Art Hoffman produced the video trailers, and came up with the answer to three questions:
1. What do we title the video featuring many of the settings in my book?
2. Where is the action?
3. Whazzup?

His answer: Where It’s At.

Can you dig it?

Seated in the reading room of Blue Ridge Books in Waynesville, NC.

Received many requests about this, so now, my author’s page on FaceBook is live.

Click HERE to visit.  “Likes” appreciated!

Click on the photo to see the story of how it evolved.