I've been on a complete tear this AM, banging through projects that got waylaid by my various maladies and misfortunes over the past few months. One thing I managed to knock out was a new Wordpress site. The purpose of this site is a testbed for a novel I finished a while back. Before I go about publishing it, I'd like to test it out on folks.
I actually started this dang thing back in 2016. I had just gotten my first novel published, decided to officially retire (the first time), went off deer hunting, and got the idea for the story in the stand. After all the venison was in the freezer for the season, I banged out 6 chapters. The following week, I got a call for an interview, and within the week, I'd climbed back in the saddle and was doing my bit-jockey thing again. The novel sat idle until they started closing the plant last spring. With really nothing to do and a lot of time to kill, I had ample opportunity to finish the novel. I was taking the summer off to let the thing settle and figured I'd come back to it in the fall. However, the Left Nut Job happened, and . . . well, y'all know that story.
If you were watching in 2016, you may have noticed a bunch of oddball questions on 24HCF about things like:
When did cans of spray foam insulation show up on hardware store shelves? What sort of pistol would a small shop owner keep behind the counter in 1975? . . . yeah, this is the novel.
TLEE, by the way, will end up getting a credit for being my technical adviser on this. His law enforcement experience came in very handy.
The story: The High School Newspaper Editor and his girlfriend stumble on a body and decide to solve it themselves. The twist: This may sound like Brains Benton Grows Up, but it turns into something more like James Bond.
Here's the deal: I need about 2 dozen test readers. If you guys would PM me with your full name and an email address, I will send back the location of the secret clubhouse, your account will be your 24HCF user name, and I'll include a password for access. I will post a chapter or two every week, and I'll provide a way to comment. Heck, we can probably start a thread here.
I am still riding that horse so I don't have the time to devote to a novel. But, in 1975 a shop keeper would have a Colt detective special under the counter if he liked revolvers and a pocket pistol in .32. A war relic he brought home from WWII if he is an older guy or one his father brought home from somewhere in Europe if he is a younger guy. I have a similar pistol I bought from the old sheriff many years ago. We called them a war "bring back". Some farm wife brought it in to him after her husband died for "proper disposal". kwg
For liberals and anarchists, power and control is opium, selling envy is the fastest and easiest way to get it. TRR. American conservative. Never trust a white liberal. Malcom X Current NRA member.
I am still riding that horse so I don't have the time to devote to a novel. But, in 1975 a shop keeper would have a Colt detective special under the counter if he liked revolvers and a pocket pistol in .32. A war relic he brought home from WWII if he is an older guy or one his father brought home from somewhere in Europe if he is a younger guy. I have a similar pistol I bought from the old sheriff many years ago. We called them a war "bring back". Some farm wife brought it in to him after her husband died for "proper disposal". kwg
I finally decided to go with 38 S&W. The character who owned it was a frail older man and the pistol is found tucked in a cubby hole with his secret stash. One of the clues is he ends up dead with a East-bloc auto in his hand-- not something a normal guy would have. As the story progressed, I also needed whatever the guy had to be a weak enough round not to totally penetrate a cinder block wall. I've actually shot a cinder block with 38 S&W; it did a miserable job.
I am still riding that horse so I don't have the time to devote to a novel. But, in 1975 a shop keeper would have a Colt detective special under the counter if he liked revolvers and a pocket pistol in .32. A war relic he brought home from WWII if he is an older guy or one his father brought home from somewhere in Europe if he is a younger guy. I have a similar pistol I bought from the old sheriff many years ago. We called them a war "bring back". Some farm wife brought it in to him after her husband died for "proper disposal". kwg
I finally decided to go with 38 S&W. The character who owned it was a frail older man and the pistol is found tucked in a cubby hole with his secret stash. One of the clues is he ends up dead with a East-bloc auto in his hand-- not something a normal guy would have. As the story progressed, I also needed whatever the guy had to be a weak enough round not to totally penetrate a cinder block wall. I've actually shot a cinder block with 38 S&W; it did a miserable job.
Good choice. That was my #3 option. kwg
For liberals and anarchists, power and control is opium, selling envy is the fastest and easiest way to get it. TRR. American conservative. Never trust a white liberal. Malcom X Current NRA member.
OK I get that part of the story involves just pretending to like some of the baked goods. PLEASE consider making one of the Pie Brigade a true virtuoso. Bonus points if she is a real looker too
Dang, I went back and looked: The actual term Pie Brigade didn't make it in. I may have to remedy that.
See, back when I ran the real Black Hole Coffee House (not in a church basement), there was this thing that happened. Whenever I'd drop a girlfriend, the Pie Brigade would form in a weird nearly instinctual way. All the women would start bringing me pies, and then spend half the evening in the kitchen arguing who had brought the best pie. I was never involved. I've hen turkeys do something similar-- get to flogging each other over who's going to get serviced when.
In some cases, the pies would show up before I'd given the chick the heave. That was a sure sign they knew what was going on more than I did.
Definition of psychic 1: of or relating to the psyche : PSYCHOGENIC 2: lying outside the sphere of physical science or knowledge : immaterial, moral, or spiritual in origin or force 3: sensitive to nonphysical or supernatural forces and influences : marked by extraordinary or mysterious sensitivity, perception, or understanding
The good ones are mysterious and enchanting the bad ones are to be avoided at all costs.
Now back to this pie maestro, could she be say a swimmer or long distance runner so she can sit around the coffee house and eat pie covered in fresh whipped cream late into the night? Asking for a friend.
Is the Pie Brigade anything akin to the Casserole Cascade that shows up right after the untimely passing of a woman whose husband is still kicking, has a house paid for and no record of beating the dearly departed?
Watched the parade of church women with covered dishes show up at my recently passed Father-in-law's when my wife's Mother made her break from this world of woe. They were hip deep to a tall Indian at the back door, fighting for parking spaces for the Fairlanes making sure he did not starve, for weeks. Wife and her sister about resorted to setting up a sniper's nest to cull the worst offenders.
To preserve liberty it is essential that the whole body of people always possess arms and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them.-Richard Henry Lee
Endowment Member NRA, Life Member SAF-GOA, Life-Board Member, West TN Director TFA
Let's keep the Pie Brigade on a much higher level. I'd like to suggest Michelle Jenneke as the top tiered high school pastry chef. If she happened to enjoy helping to track and drag deer out of the woods I'd be good with that too
Have to go to You Tube to see the first one . Lets try another
It's funny, but I actually wrote my first novel out in the open on TLEE's old board. TLEE's best advice was after reading chapter 2 and saying "Where are the tits?" I turned around and wrote in a torrid affair with a water nymph that gave me maybe 10 chapters of good fodder.
You guys? You're thinking about pie.
BTW: Due to TLEE's prodding, I found out that my first novel's treatment of sex romping was very popular, and I really enjoyed feeding it.
BTW#2: The femme fatale in that first novel is the same one in this. This is somewhat of a prequel to the first book-- at least it exists in the same universe. The difference is the femme fatale in this one is just learning her trade. It is later revealed in the first novel (#2 predates #1 by 5-6 years), that she's a spy that got to go to KGB Blow Job Training. On second thought (sorry) the novel that's out on Amazon, doesn't have the femme fatale. She got bumped to the second book of the trilogy. Sorry, even I get lost sometimes.
Is the Pie Brigade anything akin to the Casserole Cascade that shows up right after the untimely passing of a woman whose husband is still kicking, has a house paid for and no record of beating the dearly departed?
Watched the parade of church women with covered dishes show up at my recently passed Father-in-law's when my wife's Mother made her break from this world of woe. They were hip deep to a tall Indian at the back door, fighting for parking spaces for the Fairlanes making sure he did not starve, for weeks. Wife and her sister about resorted to setting up a sniper's nest to cull the worst offenders.