An Excerpt from "The Fingerprint of Jack"

Here's an excerpt from my book for your reading pleasure:

"Jameson's got it at his shop," said Xavier.  "You must get it while we distract them.  Do you think he'll be able to manage?  Pull it off as you might say?”

"Who?" said Mrs. Steers.  Once again, with their backs to him, Sam didn't hear Xavier's answer.  Mrs. Steers shook her head then paced in a small circle.  "I've got a bigger problem to deal with first.  I have my work cut out for me.  He's lost...  He's so lost at a young age.  I'm going to have to convince him.  Show him I'm serious.  Maybe I need some outside help."

“You keep working on him," said Xavier putting on his top hat.  "It's going to be tough.  Regardless, we have to get there soon.  It needs to be safe.  We must discover what they are trying to place.”

“Don't worry about that.  Rose and Ari are working on that.   They seem to think it's something small this time.” 

“Whatever happens, you can count on Xavier Graff!”

With that, Xavier Graff gave Mrs. Steers a hug and peck on the cheek. He walked back across the street and turned tipping his top hat to her just as a van drove by. After it passed, he was gone.    Sam glanced around as best he could from behind the screen door, but there was no sign of Xavier Graff.  He had vanished.   Sam stared in disbelief over his disappearance, then shook his head and went upstairs.

Almost, but not yet...

As I prepare for another weekend of languishing, staring at the monitor, and tapping on the keyboard, I am confident about my first book.   I had six reviews and each provided vast insight.  

After chopping and pruning, "the word-letting" has stopped and new words are flowing again.   This time, Sam had new direction and a better goal.  It was tough, but I did it.  Hey, it's not easy watching the story -- the one you gave birth to-- go through growing pains, but it was necessary.  

And now, I love it even more, which (and with my low self-evaluation of the book) may mean others like it less.  Who knows. 

All I know are these two thoughts... 

If you're out there reading this, thanks for reading.   I have talked about this book for a long time!   As far as I'm concerned, the end is near.  The editing process could go on for years!  Once again, thanks for hanging on.

And second, two quotes from a song from the Disney's thrilling Broadway musical, Mary Poppins...
"Anything can happen if you let it..." and "If you reach for the stars, all you get are the stars, so we found a whole new spin, if you reach for the heavens, you get the stars thrown in..."

Please be right, Mary Poppins!  Please be right, Mary Poppins!  PLEASE be right...

It is with great pleasure..

That I post the first chapter of my book.  It is not very long, but it is the first...  Enjoy!

The Fingerprint of Jack

Chapter 1 -- Who knew?

When eleven-year old Sam Henry got out of bed that Thursday morning in late October, he had no idea what an interesting day, or next few days for that fact, it would be.  

Who knew an ordinary boy would discover an important clue -- a fingerprint attributed to London’s bloodiest serial killer of the late nineteenth century, one of history’s most famous mysteries? 

Who also knew he would become involved with a mysterious club taking him on the greatest adventure of his life -- one that would show him history first hand?

So how did clue end up in the dusty attic of the old Victorian house where Sam and his mom lived with an eccentric widowed landlady?  And how did Sam get involved with this mysterious club?

The story begins on a frigid January evening in an apartment in Chicago…

Who knew?

John Bellairs



Jerimiah Cronin house in Marshall from MichMarkers.com



I recently travel to Marshall, Michigan, hometown of my favorite author, John Bellairs.   Bellairsia has vast amounts of information about him and his work.  He was known for his mystery novels featuring Lewis Barnavelt, Anthony Monday, and Johnny Dixon.  



The other night, I began re-reading The House with the Clock in It's Walls.  The house is based on a real Italianate house in Marshall.    I borrowed this photograph from MichMarkers.com.   I took my own photographs but haven't downloaded them yet.

John Bellairs is my inspiration to write.  His writing style is simple, clean, and easy to read.   I have found my style to be similiar. 



Revising... Editing... Aching back...

Each night for the past week, my back aches when I crawl into bed.  I pulled up the soft sheet and blanket, get warm, and drift off to Neverland.   Often exhausted from the revising and editing I have been doing on the first half of my book.   The changes, in my opinion, has added more flavor, a deeper sense of Sam's life, and better direction of what he needs to learn.  After all, he is the protagonist of the story.  However, I was shocked at who turned out to be the antagonist. 

Reviews, Changes, and Edits

To date, two of the five readers of my book have given their reviews.   One loved it, one didn't like it.   Personally, I thought the first half of my book was too long and too little action with shallow characters.   Both said very similar comments equally my thoughts.

These comments sparked my imagination and wondered what if Sam...   Well, I'll leave it at that.  

This project seems to be taking forever. I am not disciplined enough to make myself sit and write on a regular basis.  Oh well, it took Margaret Mitchell three year to write Gone with the Wind!   But, she had more time and maybe not as much housework.

A Hard Road to Travel -- Part 6

The writing has come to a stand still.   I am holding my breathe as I prepare to hear the first round of comments from my five readers on my book.   I've already been reworking the first chapter.   It's interesting to look at it again.   It's been about 4 or 5 weeks since last I read it.

In the meantime, here's another the newest part of A Hard Road to Travel: The Letters of Two Sisters.

 

March 20

 

Indianapolis, Indiana

 

Dear Marianne

 

Hope all is well.   We are doing fine.  It's actually been warm the past few days -- highs in the low 50s.   Snow's starting to melt.   And the tulips are starting to come up.  Our utility bill runs about $60 a month -- that's for the electric, water, and wood delivery.   We were told about 2 months ago that the gas lines would be back up and running.   Now that everything is controlled by the city, it seems to be cheaper.   It used to be about $140 for two different services -- electric and wood -- but now the council ordered they be combined which lead to lots of issues.   We're lucky in a way that we are moving forward into a more communal situation especially after last year when the riots hit.  About 120 people were killed. We stayed inside and kept watch at night.  What a mess that was.   Finally, the mayor and governor called in the national guard.  That's when the "the fences" went up and ids were required.  Lots of scammers "disappeared" -- or at least that's what we heard.

 

Gotta go.  Write soon.  Love to all.

 

Sally

 

*****

 

March 25

 

Keene, New Hampshire

 

Dear Sal

 Good to hear all is well.  Snow is melting here.   The temps have gotten up into the 50s and plenty of sunshine.   Great news -- we heard about our applications.  They have been approved for us to move there.   It will not be until May.   We broke the news to Mama and she is very excited.   She will be glad to be back in Indy.   Let us know about the apartment situation there.  Our next hoop will be applying for gas.  I wished we would have bought one of the electric cars when we had the chance.  Oh well.

 

Anyway, gotta go. 

Love Marianne