Very excited! My new novel, Thawing A.C. Nielsen, is now up and available for "pre-sale" (just $2.99 for Kindle or other ebook format, then price goes up before the holidays) on Kindle here:
http://amzn.to/2bULRD1
Selling like crazy- please go to that link and consider ordering the ebook or at least sharing the info with other book enthusiasts! It's already hitting top 100 various genre lists on Amazon!
Newly posted there-- a 5-star review from one of the top reviewing companies! Until it goes "live for sale" there won't be any customer reviews or samples-- that happens Oct. 18th. There will also be a paperback version up soon. Check it out and please spread the word. I need all the publicity help I can get since I am not giving away my book to a mainstream publishing house!
I am wondering if any of you would consider reviewing the book. It will be released on Amazon/Kindle on October 18th. I need reviews from regular folks posted to amazon on the release day, if possible. You get a FREE pdf, word.doc or .mobi (Kindle ebook file) copy and plenty of time between now and mid-October to read it. Let me know, friends!
Chapter 26 is pretty short-- it's a flashback to 1990 and I don't let you know who is talking--can you figure it out? And how does it tie in to the whole story??!
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
May 1990
“Hello?”
“It’s me—geez, this cell
signal is crap. Anyway, I’m here. I found him. You’ll never believe it, that
shit old hippy Volkswagen bus of his is sitting in the side yard. It’s rusting
away like it always was. He must have hauled it two thousand miles just to
watch it rust some more. Crazy.”
“That’s funny. This
whole idea of yours is pretty epic karma. You’re a genius.”
“Ha, that’s what they
always call you. Anyway, I’m gonna
ring the bell in a sec. Let’s hope he likes the plan. I can’t see how he
wouldn’t, right?”
“Right. He’d by crazy
not to. You’re not going to mention you-know-who right away, are you?”
“No, of course not. But
it will be interesting to see his reaction when I get to that, don’t you think?”
“For sure. Say hi for me
and call back when you’re done, okay?”
“Okay, bye!”
“Oh my God! Look who the cat dragged in! How did you find
me?”
“It wasn’t too hard. I just
asked around. You know, people in the biz.”
“Come in, come in. Here,
sit down.”
“Thanks, so… Iowa? Why
exactly Iowa—Mason City? And isn’t this where The Music Man was filmed
or something?”
“My parents left New
York City and settled here, not really sure why. I went to high school here,
but I didn’t fit in very well. Anyway, Music Man was based on Meredith
Willson’s childhood here in Iowa, but it was filmed in LA. Of course, you
should know that, right? My sister is out back with her two granddaughters.
We’ll let them keep playing, okay?”
“Sure. No problem.”
“So what in Sam Hill are
you doing here?”
“Well, I heard you were
sick. I can tell—you don’t look too good. Hope you don’t mind me saying it. We
were always straight with each other, right?”
“Yes, true. So you’re
still in La-La Land? Working?”
“No, those days are
over. But it was fun, wasn’t it?”
“You bet. So what brings
you here? Why are you looking up old friends? Got something to sell me? A
vacuum cleaner? Hey, I know. Maybe you’re the new Fuller Brush man!”
“Ha, no. Well, come to think
of it, maybe I do have something to sell you. That would be one way to put it.”
“Okay, pretend you’re
Willy Loman and give me the pitch.”
“Sure. Well, like I
said, I heard you’re pretty sick. Word travels in LA.”
“Yes, real sick. Lung
cancer. Should never have started smoking, I guess. And you see how skinny and
yellow I am? Got stomach and liver problems. Cirrhosis—too much drinking. And
to think I was such a model of moderation when I was younger. Anyway, I’ve got
about a month now, something like that. There’s nothing anyone can do about my condition.”
“And you’re okay with
that? You don’t act too worried.”
“Sure, I’m worried. All
those two orphan girls out back have are me and my sister. Her daughter Grace
and her husband were killed in a car crash last year. Damn drunk driver. Of
course, he lived. The drunk drivers always walk away from the crash, dammit.
When I die I don’t know what’s going to happen. We don’t have much money at
all.”
“Yeah, that’s what I
figured and it’s why I’m here. Say, can I get a glass of something to drink?”
“I’ve got some lemonade.
No hard stuff anymore. I do miss that at times. All the carousing and drinking
you and I used to do. Remember?”
“Sure, I remember those
days. They were pretty friggin’ epic, right? So listen close now. What if I
told you that you don’t have to die?”
“I’d say you’re fucking
nuts, pretty much fucking cuckoo, but go on, keep talking. I can hear you from here
in the kitchen.”
“And what if I said that
I have some money laying around that I could put in your sister’s name for
those girls out back. And there’d be some for you, too. But you’d have to wait
awhile to get yours.”
“Here’s your lemonade.
It’s from a mix, nothing fancy. Wait a second, so what did you just say? I have
to wait for this miracle money? Wait how long? I’m dying, man.”
“No, you aren’t going to
die. Not going to. Understand? The girls can have their money as needed
for school and whatever. But you yourself might have to wait fifteen or twenty
years to get your money. It’ll be worth the wait. Still interested? Intrigued?”
“Yeah, but what do I
have to do? Who do I have to kill? I’m not exactly the assassin type, you know.
Especially now—look at me. And you think I can live another fifteen years, maybe
twenty? Me? Look up terminal lung cancer in the encyclopedia and they got my
picture there. This sounds nuts.”
“Maybe. But you’re
interested, right? You trust me?”
“Of course I do. You’ve
always been an honest man. But you do sound pretty crazy right now.”
“Right now I may be
crazy—crazy like some kick-ass fox in a storybook. Go ahead and call me looney
tunes if you want, I don’t care. I’ve got all the angles figured out. This is a
thing of beauty. You wanna hear why I say that?”
“Duh, yeah, man. I’m
ready. What else have I got to do today besides cough up my lungs laying here
watching crap TV?”
“Then strap yourself in,
old buddy. Here we go….”
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