Jan 2019

"Murder on Fat Alley" is progressing with the 1st reading/editing completed. I'll let it sit for a while and then go back to see what else needs to be done

December Digireads

Mark Twain’s catalog is lengthy and most are familiar with the Mississippi tales, but one that is not often referenced is “Roughing It.”

Exaggeration and outright lies form the overland trip from Missouri to California. Some of the tales are humorous but underlying them is the discomfort and dissatisfaction of the ride. So the tales were one way to ease the rigors of the journey.

Once in California Mr. Clemens lapses into the memoir phase and we find out much about his ramshackle employment as a writer. It’s a pillar to post existence for him with some humor thrown in along with a tall tale or two (some funny, some not).
He doesn’t hit his stride as a reporter until he goes to Virginia City to strike it rich, which, of course he doesn’t. What he does do there is give us a splendid view of what the miners and their claims were like. He also provides an interesting view of the city by way of his being a reporter for the Territorial Enterprise newspaper.

Clemens really sparkles when he takes ship to visit Hawaii. There he is an earlier version of Huell Howser of PBS fame giving us a blow by blow description of the scenery, the people that inhabit the islands, the architecture (what there was), the history of Captain Cook’s unfortunate demise and a spectacular go with as he explores the volcanoes of the chain.
Once back in the US, specifically in San Francisco, Clemens is out of money and ideas. One of his compatriots suggests hiring a hall and giving lectures, something that had great success on the east coast. He is reluctant, but finally agrees to buy (on credit) the hall for a night, the posters necessary and the tickets.

All is in readiness for the big to-do, but Clemens is almost sick with stage fright. He goes on stage, looks at the very large audience that is waiting for enlightenment and shrinks within. The pause lasts for some time, time enough for the audience to become uncomfortable, but then he emerges from his self-induced coma and begins to relate some of the experiences he’s had during his life.

Thus the “Mark Twain pause” becomes part of the lecture circuit lore as does his famous “Doors open at 7:30, trouble begins at 8:00.”

Part of the book requires great patience and stamina while others are page turners. There are also illustrations of various parts of the book, some straight out of the same fantastic realm that his tales emerged from and others more realistic like his experiential narrative.

Have fun storming the book.

November digireads: Novel in progress

The characters have had their way. A sequel pulls together disparate threads bouncing from axon to dendrite. Not in a regimented lock-step fashion but still rather orderly. A title once settled upon appears to be the engine that pulls the rest of the cars along the track. The destination is unclear, but it will be a product of all that goes before as has happened many times in the past.

Looking at Microsoft Word’s selection of fonts, one jumped out and it was chosen for title page, header and footer and chapter headings. That mechanical part of the process was satisfying in that it put a framework around what would become the story.

So for a mystery and a murder mystery at that a method to kill the victims remained to be fixed upon. Recalling the news stories of wives doing their husbands in with eye drops posed an interesting research project to find out every aspect of the killings as well as the murder “weapon.”

Eye drops are more lethal than heretofore expected. The nasty ingredient is tetrahydrozoline, a blood restrictor. In the eye it poses no problem and because of its chemical properties clears the redness rather quickly. However, in the body, in large doses it disrupts many of the functions that contribute to life and that’s what makes it so deadly.

Finding characters and names for those characters challenges the gray cells. One easement to that problem is that one or more characters from the previous novel will appear in the sequel. Finding the nemesis character and naming that character oftentimes proves daunting. In this case it was relatively easy. I thought about Shelley Winters playing Ma Barker and she seemed to be a good model for my anti-hero. Shelley. And what about a last name? The Irish are not thought of as really murderous people, but then one has to remember the Boston Strangler and others from Massachusetts. So she became Shelley O’Shea. And still staying with Shelley Winters her description seemed to be ready made. But thinking about what she wanted to do with the murders she was going to commit, I thought that emulating the physical description of Sue Grafton would be just right. Shelley wants to be at the top of the heap of mystery writers and looking like Ms. Grafton (r.i.p.) would in her mind amplify her ambition.

Three characters from the previous book: Janet Slade, Pete Slocum and Sam Berg didn’t require much thought since their characters had already been described. What they needed was not a rehash of what had already gone before but a fresh look at what was now happening. With the solution to the Jabberwocky murders the relationship between Janet and Pete had to change. And Berg had to be told that Pete would be readmitted to the police force after his clearance by the Internal Affairs group.

Now that the characters are firmly grounded, the action has to progress. With the first murder, which isn’t classified as a murder until the toxicology results are returned, Shelley has to be frustrated that her plan appears to be on hold since there is no mention of the murder in the press or on TV. She thinks that the only positive aspect is that she has committed the perfect crime. But that is about to change.

One of the classic clues often overlooked by perpetrators is the stray hair or piece of fabric. In this novel the stray hair becomes the fulcrum on which the villain is broken. To morph that stray hair into something as powerful as a fulcrum requires painstaking analysis of the hair and after that aspect of the investigation is complete the next phase is even more difficult and that is to find where the hair originated. Police labs can determine the kind of hair (human or animal), age, color and other attributes but they cannot determine the origin of the hair, i.e. whether it came from a scalp or whether it was part of the daily existence most people experience.

Janet Slade and her partner Pete Slocum continue on with the day-to-day activity of a homicide investigation. They have one person of interest, a man who has chosen to become a woman. He works at the same company as another of the women in the story, Kath Gryphen, a would-be novelist. Kath is friends with Janine Slade, Janet’s sister. Kath is using the Fat Alley murders as a template for the mystery novel she’s writing. When Janine asks her about the novel, Kath is reluctant to reveal all of the aspects since Janine is Janet’s sister.

So the novel continues with "Murder Most Foul" occurring in Fat Alley. A third victim, a legislator causes the news media to characterize the killings the result of a serial killer. A second serial killer since the Jabberwocky murderer is safely locked away in the main jail. Who the new killer is remains a mystery baffling all the effort that Janet and Pete are putting into the case. They have no fingerprints, no witnesses but they do have a murder weapon. Something as seemingly innocuous as Visine, but when taken in large amounts can be fatal. Store searches in the area do not bring up any purchasers that can be linked to the crimes. Both Janet and Pete are frustrated and hope that something comes of the one clue from Harvey Mittleton’s murder, the hair found on the couch in Fat Alley where Mittleton was dumped.

The novel isn’t finished, but this look at its genesis is. So I think you will find “Murder on Fat Alley” a fun read. Looking forward to publishing it and getting your comments in the form of an Amazon review.

Digireads for October "Gamblers, Suckers and Gold--Peter Dawes in Bodie"

Thaddeus Cooper, a mine owner in the mining district of Bodie, fears he might be harmed or even killed. That fear prompts him to commission Peter Dawes to visit his mine in Virginia City and then come to Bodie so Cooper can inform him of what the danger “afoot” is.

Dawes takes the ferry, the train and stagecoach to finally arrive in Bodie. He is eager to find out what his commission from Cooper entails. He is shocked to find out that Cooper was killed before he arrived. Who did the killing is a mystery, but there will be an inquest held in an under construction meeting hall that may provide answers to the questions Dawes has. The questions have broadened into an investigation of the relationship between Cooper’s Esmeralda mine and one run by Lysander Foggle.

Dawes pursues the answers to his questions by contacting the town Marshal, Oculus Redfin, a reporter for the Daily Bodie Standard and his old friend from San Francisco Eleanor Dumont, known affectionately as “Madame Moustache.”

A circuit judge from Bridgeport will conduct the inquest. Dawes receives information from his long-time associate in San Francisco, Maudie Simpson, about the sister of the woman Cooper was involved with. The sister evidently had said that she was going to make Cooper pay for what he’d done to her sister.

Dawes meets a variety of characters as he seeks answers to the questions he has. One that he’s determined to find an answer to is why Xi Ching, a San Francisco tong member, is doing in Bodie.

All Dawes’ questions appear to be entwined with the inquest.

Dawes hoped to have his main question answered at the inquest. Would Cooper’s killer be named? That question ran through Dawes’ mind with the testimony of Dr. Millett and Marshal Redfin. Judge Barlow had read the telegram Dawes had received from Maudie Simpson indicating that Flora O’Keefe had motive enough to cause Cooper’s death, but did she have the means? Or the opportunity?

Flora O’Keefe testified that she indeed did have the means: a .41 caliber Derringer she kept in her stocking. Her testimony was that she had fired the gun, not at Cooper but at an out-of-work miner who was pestering her outside of The Royale saloon.

Marshal Redfin described the weapon as having recently been fired and that it was indeed a .41 caliber Derringer. He added that since the bullet was composed of very soft lead striking any bone would deform it and render an estimate of its caliber suspect.

Dr. Millett stated that the slug that killed Cooper was still lodged in his body. He stated that he had not done any dissecting since leaving medical school and thus could not guarantee that probing Cooper’s body would yield the fatal bullet.

Judge Barlow was averse to ordering an autopsy since Dr. Millett opined that there was the possibility that a dissection would not yield the slug.

The conclusion of the Cooper inquest was that the person or persons who committed the homicide was undetermined. With that conclusion the Cooper inquest was terminated.

In the meantime, Judge Barlow’s clerk said the inquest into the death of Ezra Peeples would begin the following day.

Lysander Foggle took the witness place and gave his side of the unfortunate death due to what appeared to be an accident with the hoist.

Barlow pressed Foggle on how well trained Chang Wei, the man operating the hoist when Peeples met his untimely end, was. Foggle was adamant that Wei had been well trained by Spencer the usual hoist engineer who was absent from work that day because his wife was ill.

Dawes testified as to what he knew of Ezra Peeples.

Barlow was frustrated that he could not hear testimony from Change Wei since the man had been killed in a mine explosion that very day.

As the inquest into Peeples death was about to wind down, Xi Ching spoke up that he had something to say about the accident. He testified that Chang Wei had told him that Foggle stated that the usual operator of the hoist would be absent on the day Peeples was coming to the mine for the audit. That showed Barlow that there had been a conspiracy and he ordered Marshal Redfin to take Foggle into custody for the murder of Ezra Peeples.

A short inquiry into Kevin Dodger’s shootout exonerated Dodger.

Dawes was left with the nagging doubt about O’Keefe’s role in Cooper’s death. He finally found out from her that she had a secret concerning Cooper’s demise.

With that revelation, which Dawes’ had told O’Keefe would be kept confidential, his questions about all the deaths that had occurred since his arrival in Bodie had been answered.

Peter Dawes confronts the last one of the Tulelakers from Susanville. The confrontation occurs when Dawes and Eleanor Dumont are on a picnic. Using an old army dodge Dawes is able to escape the pinned-down position and with Eleanor’s help capture Braxton.

Back in Bodie Braxton is handed over to Marshal Redfin and Dawes thinks that will put an end to the threat Braxton embodies.

Later Braxton escapes from Redfin, taking the marshal’s gun and seeking Dawes. Dawes asks him which part of his body he’d like the bullet to enter. That question stops Braxton momentarily but then he goes for the shot but Dawes is as fast and more accurate. Braxton is hit mortally while Dawes has a hole shot through his coat. Onlookers galore observe the shootout. Marshal Braxton arrives and tells Dawes that it was self defense so no legal action will be forthcoming.

Dawes plans on leaving Bodie after Cooper’s funeral but a telegram from Peeples’ firm in Reno offers Dawes a commission to finish the investigation that Peeples started before his untimely death at Lysander Foggle’s hands.

Chip Sicklemore has taken over the Hart and Freeland Number One mine and he appears willing to assist Dawes in his investigation.

After a tour of the workings and a look at the nuggets inside the safe in the mine’s office Dawes knows he will have to do a lot of research in the mine’s ledgers to find the answers to the question he has regarding the amount of ore dug versus the amount of bullion shipped.

A telegram from Maudie surprises Dawes. It details a supreme irony that the beneficiary of the trust that owns the Hart and Freeland Number One is or was Thaddeus Cooper.

Dawes continues his examination of the ledgers. The inescapable conclusion is that high grading has been going on. His question about “who” now centers on Chip Sicklemore.

A new man shows at the mine: James Strake an ostensible assistant superintendent. Dawes holds his judgment of Strake until he has more information.

Meanwhile Dawes asks Marshal Redfin to safeguard the incriminating ledgers as Dawes waits for Mr. Cistern, the trustee to make his desires known for Sicklemore’s disposition.

A telegram from Cistern says that the trustee wants no adverse publicity so he says he will terminate Sicklemore.

Dawes returns to the Continental Hotel to write a report on his findings to complete his commission.

I hope you’ve gotten as much pleasure from reading another Peter Dawes adventure as I did writing it.

September Digireads

Finishing and publishing a novel and having a few copies sold should have that internal voice saying, “Hey, it’s time for a break.” But that voice is only one of many and has to compete with the others that say “What about a sequel?” The time-for-a-break voice is pushed aside by another voice that also asks about a sequel. How about a sequel to The Jabberwocky Murders? With that hook the persistent questions start to flow: Who will be the villain? Where will the action be? Another midtown case or cases?

And thus the forces coalesce to get the creative juices flowing. As with science and the climb from the early men to the giants we have come to honor the novel creating process builds on real world experiences, novels read or written, and other intangible aspects of the creative process.

The first few words to appear may only be like distant clouds on the horizon indicating that a storm is brewing. Those words may only be that and nothing more or they may lead to the sturm und drang of uncharted territory with characters and plot points. All that preliminary material is more than idle typing because, though preliminary, it could be reshaped into a scene, a character or a plot point as the story progresses.

The hard part comes when the preliminary focus makes the transition to the vista offered by experience, that at the end there will be another finishing and publishing that will lead to another cacophony of voices demanding progress.

August Digireads

Having another interlude allowed me to finish the work on "Gamblers, Suckers and Gold: Peter Dawes in Bodie." The book is out on Amazon, both in paperback and ereader. This is the fourth book in the Peter Dawes series. Starting with "Massacre at Fort Sage" and continuing with "Looking for Jack" and "Celestial Moon" a time span of ten years recounts Dawes' investigations in and around California.

Thanks

Спасибо всем моим русским читателям!