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Category Archives: Credible Fiction Characters

Interview of Fiction Character by Fiction Character – Part 23 – David Bowman

14 Nov

Amazon.com link to Sharon A.'s short story collection

Amazon.com link to Sharon A.’s short story collection

f you look at anything long enough, say just that wall in front of you — it will come out of that wall.

– Anton Chekhov

Before proceeding with interviewing the story characters her twin brother Bast interviewed in Beyond the Tripping Point by Sharon A. Crawford (Blue Denim Press, 2012), Dana Bowman has to tell her psychologically mute son David that his Uncle Bast is missing. She decides a neutral place, rather than their home, would be best.

Dana and David enter the boardroom of the Thurston Public Library. David has a small backpack on his back. He immediately becomes uneasy.

Dana: David, let’s sit down here. Do you want to sit at the head of the table or the side?

David seems to ignore his mother. He looks around the room and starts to rapidly move his head from side to side.

Dana: Are you all right David? Just nod for “yes” and turn you head sideways for “no.” You know the drill.

David keeps moving his head like he is in another world. He grasps the back of the chair at the head of the table, looks straight ahead, shudders, then with the backpack still on, sits in the chair. He starts tapping his foot.

Dana removes David’s backpack and places it on the table: Are you all right David?

David nods his head but continuous staring ahead.

Dana follows his eyes, but all she sees is the far wall with an abstract painting. She sits down to David’s right. Out of habit, she hauls out her sketch pad and charcoal.

Dana points to David’s backpack. Do you want to draw with your crayons?

David looks up at his mother and nods but makes no move to get out his crayons and sketch pad.

Dana leans over and opens the backpack: Here, let me get out your drawing materials.

David just sits staring at them. Dana begins sketching her brother – a comic representation of Bast with his tape recorder in front of him. Then her hands seem to take over, flipping the page and drawing David and her holding hands and Bast off somewhere up in the top. She takes a deep breath

Dana: David, I guess you are wondering where your Uncle Bast is as he hasn’t been around the past couple of days.

David nods.

Dana: I know I mentioned he had some business to attend to in Toronto, but I didn’t tell you all…

David nods again.

Dana touches her son’s right arm: Actually, your Uncle Bast might be in Toronto and then again he might not. I’m sorry but he has disappeared and I am doing my best to find him. As you know he was interviewing the characters in the stories in Beyond the Tripping Point, well, you know that as he talked to you, too. Anyway, I talked to Detective Larry Hutchinson, the last person to see your Uncle Bast and I’m sorry to say he wasn’t very helpful. He did say that Detective Sergeant Fielding – you remember him?

David nods.

Dana: Well, Detective Sergeant Fielding is in charge of looking for your Uncle Bast. I don’t know all the details here but…

Suddenly David’s chair starts vibrating causing David to shake. His face goes white. Dana gets out of her chair, crouches down beside David and puts her arms around him.

David: What’s the matter? David, are you all right?

David continues shaking. Dana grabs the back of his chair and feels a sharp current run through her hands. Then the chair stops rocking as suddenly as it started. David stops shaking, but the colour doesn’t return to his face. Dana is reluctant to remove her hand from the chair in case it starts up again. But the current has stopped, so she yanks her hand away. The chair and David stay still.

Dana: Whoo. That was strange. I wish you could tell me what that was all about. Anyway, back to your Uncle Bast. Do you understand what I said?

David nods.

Dana: Good. Now, I have to decide if I’m going to work with Fielding or just ask him a few questions and look for your Uncle Bast on my own.

Dana’s hands start sketching something up beside Bast. Fielding’s face appears with a sarcastic grin. She turns to David. David grabs her hand and points to the caricature of Fielding.

David becomes excited, stamping his feet and hitting his finger against Fielding’s face.

Dana: David, do you want me to work with Fielding?

David nods his head up and down rapidly.

Dana: Okay.

Dana hauls out her cell phone and hits some numbers: Detective Fielding, Dana Bowman here. Okay, Don…I need to talk to you about Bast.

Dana doesn’t notice her son staring at the abstract painting on the far wall.

You can read more about the characters and the strange situation in “Missing in Action” from Beyond the Tripping Point (Blue Denim Press, 2012). Click on the book at the top and it takes you to my profile – including book reviews – at www.amazon.com. The book is available there in print and Kindle. For Kobo e-book  go to http://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/ebook/beyond-the-tripping-point or go to any bricks and mortar store and order in a print copy.

See Sharon A.’s Upcoming Gigs, workshops, etc. at http://www.samcraw.com/Articles/BeyondtheTrippingPoint.html  The next one is this Saturday, November 16, from 4 to 6 p.m. Sharon A. will host (and read) at another Crime Writers of Canada  Murder and Mayhem session at Du Café.

Cheers.

Sharon A. Crawford

 
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Posted by on November 14, 2013 in Beyond the Tripping Point, Blue Denim Press, Credible Fiction Characters, Interviewing fictional characters, Plot and Characters, Writing

 

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Interview of Fiction Character by Fiction Character – Part 17

03 Oct

Cover of Sharon A. Crawford's mystery short story collection

Cover of Sharon A. Crawford’s mystery short story collection

Character gives us qualities, but it is in actions – what we do – that we are happy or the reverse….All human happiness and misery take the form of action.

– Aristotle

Today Bast Overture interviews C.U. Fly. After his previous interviews with Annie Everglades, Ratty, those two wacky sisters-in-law and their dog, Brutus, from “The Couch” by Sharon A. Crawford (Blue Denim Press, 2012)m Bast isn’t sure what to expect. There’s a knock on the door and two people enter. One in trousers and jacket is easy to identify as C.U. Fly.  The other, a middle-aged man going bald and to belly fat is not. However, from his proprietary arm around C.U.’s back, Bast has his own idea. The latter introduces himself as C.U.’s lawyer.

Lawyer: You can understand that at this point, C.U. can’t divulge all. So I will monitor the interview.

Bast: Fair enough. It is not my intention to give away the whole story to the readers. Please sit down.

The two sit down. Bast looks C.U. in the eye, causing the PI to look down.

Bast: Okay, let’s begin. C.U. – may I call you that?

C.U. Nods in the affirmative.

Bast: I’d like to go into your background a bit. I understand you were raised by a single mother. Do you know who your father is?

C.U. No…

Lawyer: What does that have to do with anything?

Bast: The readers would like to know more about C.U.’s background.

Lawyer: The story “The Couch” already gives a lot of that.

C.U. looks at the lawyer: It’s okay. I don’t mind talking about my background. As far as I know my mother was never married. She once told me that my father was someone she dated briefly in high school; they broke up; she found out she was pregnant with me, and he wouldn’t help. And that was that. She never mentioned his name. Fly is my mother’s maiden name.

Bast: Okay. Now, I gather you and your mother were close. How did this affect your adult years?

C.U.: Well, as you know from “The Couch” she used to confide in me and I seemed to be a good listener so I carried that into high school.

Bast: You decided to become a P.I. instead of a psychiatrist because of all the years of university for the latter. What did your mother have to say about that?

C.U. She was supportive. Remember we lived on a tight budget so no money for a long time at university. So I became a PI and opened my business.

Bast: And became rich and overwhelmed with too many clients, many who are shall we say somewhat “shady.” Didn’t this bother you?

Lawyer: You don’t have to answer that.

C.U. But I want to. Yes, it did bother me. So did the time I spent with work. I wanted some free time.

Bast: To spend with Annie Everglades? Tell me about that situation.

C.U. Nothing much to tell. I fell in love with her.

Bast: And she didn’t reciprocate?

C.U. Not at first. But I was sure she would once I got rid of some of these clients.

Bast: Got rid of. That’s an interesting way of putting it when you nearly…

Lawyer: Don’t answer that. (He stands up.) This interview is concluded. Come on C.U. We have a meeting in an hour.

C.U. stands up and looks at Bast as if wanting to say more, but doesn’t.

Lawyer and C.U. exit the office. Bast turns off his recorder. He is glad he at least recorded the interview.

You can read more about  C.U. Fly, Annie Everglades, Honor Rita, Amelia, Brutus II and of course the couch, in Beyond the Tripping Point (Blue Denim Press, 2012). Click on the book at the top and it takes you to my profile – including book reviews – at www.amazon.com. The book is available there in print and Kindle. For Kobo e-book  go to http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/search/?keywords=Beyond%20the%20Tripping%20Point or go to any bricks and mortar store and order in a print copy.

Sharon A. Crawford continues to take Beyond the Tripping Point to several readings this month. For October’s events go to http://www.samcraw.com/Articles/BeyondtheTrippingPoint.html

Cheers.

Sharon A. Crawford

 
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Posted by on October 3, 2013 in Beyond the Tripping Point, Credible Fiction Characters, Interviewing fictional characters, Plot anc Character Development, Sharon A. Crawford, Writing

 

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Interview of Fiction Character by Fiction Character – Part 15

19 Sep

Cover of Sharon A. Crawford's mystery short story collection

Cover of Sharon A. Crawford’s mystery short story collection

I try to leave out the parts that people skip.

–          Elmore Leonard

Today, Bast Overture, the crime reporter turned PI interviews one of C.U. Fly’s clients, Guido “Ratty” Rattali, a self-professed blackmailer. How Bast found out about this client is how anybody else would. He read “The Couch” the first story in my mystery short story collection Beyond the Tripping Point (Blue Denim Press, 2012).

Ratty slinks into the room. He’s dragging his dirty beighe trench coat, half off, behind him. He looks around the room.

Ratty: Hey, buddy, where’s Old Horsehair. Ya know, that couch. C.U. let me collapse there.

Bast: Sorry that couch is buried in the short story of its name. Please sit in one of these padded chairs. They are quite comfortable.

Ratty: Jeez. I don’t know if I can manage a chair. It’s the arthritis you know.

Bast (looking at him as if not believing what he’s hearing). You can stand. Suit yourself.

Ratty walks slowly to the chair the furthest away from Bast, lifts up the back of his coat, and eases himself into the chair.

Ratty: So whata you wanta with me? My dealings with C.U. are confidential, ya know.

Bast: I know. I’m just interested in your impressions of C.U. Fly and how you hooked up with…

Ratty: I didn’t hook up with C.U. We met ata one of them business networking events in downtown Toronto a few years ago. I was alooking ya know for someone to handle my confidential business and C.U. was alooking for clients.

Bast: So you clicked?

Ratty: Ya could say that.

Bast: What was your first impression of C.U.?

Ratty (looks around as if to check no one is hiding in the room. He notices Bast’s tape recorder for the first time): Hey what’s dat? Ya aren’t taping me.

Bast: Just for accuracy.

Ratty: Turn the damn thing off or I’m outa here.

Bast: Very well (hits a button on the recorder). I repeat, what was your first impression of C.U.?

Ratty: Kinda naive, but in a nica way. C.U. was willing to ya know, help me with shall we say certain parts a my business.

Bast: You mean the blackmailing.

Ratty: Now cut it out. What did I say?

Bast: Okay, okay. Tell me how the couch fit in.

Ratty: Well, CU. let us sit or lie on the couch, sorta like talking to a shrink.

Bast: But isn’t the couch itchy? It is made of horsehair after all. And didn’t it make you sneeze?

Ratty: So what? I said I have arthritis. Jeez. Are you sure you don’t have Old Horsehair hiding around here? Maybe in that room? (He points to a closed door at the back of the room, eases his ass up off the chair and starts barrelling for that far door.)

Bast jumps up and chases after him.

Bast: I thought you said you have arthritis.

Ratty: Maybe I a lied. Heh. Heh.

Bast catches up with him and steers him back to the table and chairs. Ratty will have none of it.

Ratty: I gotta go. Business ya know.

He sneers and slinks out the main door. His trench coat is dragging behind him on the floor. He is heard to mutter, “Where is Old Horsehair?”

 You can read more about Ratty and other clients of C.U. Fly in  Beyond the Tripping Point (Blue Denim Press, 2012). Click on the book at the top and it takes you to my profile – including book reviews – at www.amazon.com. The book is available there in print and Kindle. For Kobo e-book  go to http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/search/?keywords=Beyond%20the%20Tripping%20Point or go to any bricks and mortar store and order in a print copy.

Sharon A. Crawford continues to take Beyond the Tripping Point to several readings and even using it in a workshop she will be teaching with Brian Henry – all September events. The next one is this evening September 19 where Sharon A. will host the Canadian Authors Association Toronto branch season opener of readings at the Victory Café in Toronto. Sharon A. will also be reading at both events. More information on these and other September 2013 gigs, go to http://www.samcraw.com/Articles/BeyondtheTrippingPoint.html

Next week Bast interviews three more clients of C.U. Fly – two eccentric sisters and their sort of shared dog, Brutus.

Cheers.

Sharon A. Crawford

 
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Posted by on September 19, 2013 in Beyond the Tripping Point, Blue Denim Press, Credible Fiction Characters, Interviewing fictional characters, Plot and Characters, Sharon A. Crawford, Short Story Collection, Writing

 

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Interview of Fiction Character by Fiction Character – Part 14

12 Sep

Cover of Sharon A. Crawford's mystery short story collection

Cover of Sharon A. Crawford’s mystery short story collection

Writing, to me, is simply thinking through my fingers.

–          Isaac Asimov

For the next few weeks Bast will be stepping into his area for interviews as he tackles the people connected to a too successful private detective agency from the short story “The Couch,” the first story in Beyond the Tripping Point by Sharon A. Crawford (Blue Denim Press, 2012).  Today, he talks to the secretary, Annie Everglades.

Bast: Sit down Ms Everglades or may I call you “Annie.”

Ms Everglades: Ms Everglades will do. I don’t like to get too familiar with people, if you know what I mean.

Bast (looking at Annie who is wearing a tight short dress and five-inch heels): No worries there. I’m gay.

Ms. Everglades: Oh, okay, Annie will work if you wish.

Bast: Good. Now, I understand you work for a very busy PI Agency. How did you come to work there?

Annie: Simple. I answered an ad in one of the Toronto dailies.

Bast: I see. Okay, can you tell me what your PI Agency handles?

Annie: A little bit of everything, but mainly adulterous spouses, jewel robberies, blackmail, con artists, even dognappings and the occasional murder. We keep busy.

Bast: That’s for sure. Okay, your boss is somewhat of an anomaly for a PI – age mid-twenties and running a very successful business. Can you tell me something about C.U. Fly and what’s the secret to success?

Annie: Just being C.U. Fly.

Bast: What does that mean?

Annie: Well, Fly is a real go-getter and is good at listening. Comes from the background. Fly used to listen to everyone’s problems when growing up, even Mom. And Fly once told me that the psychiatric route didn’t cut it – too much schooling I suspect.

Bast: But you have a couch in the office.

Annie (sighing): You got that right and it’s been a blessing and a nuisance. Clients seem to gravitate towards it and well, I guess it helps to loosen their lips.

Bast: But you’ve had or have some shady and unusual clients, like Brutus the dog and Ratty…

Annie: Don’t mention those two. That dog has chewed away at the arm of the couch and Ratty, well his name says it all, doesn’t it?

Bast: So, I gather you are not too happy with that couch.

Annie: Well, it’s made of horsehair and it itches.

Bast: But you wanted to get rid of it, didn’t you?

Annie: That was C.U. moving it down to the basement – the clients complained, so it had to be moved back upstairs.

Bast: I repeat. You wanted to get rid of it, didn’t you? You gave your boss an ultimatum?

Annie: I suppose so.

Bast: How did all those clients affect you? Did you have to do any of the PI work or?

Annie: C.U. took care of that – surveillance, interviews – some at clients’ places, but most here. I just took notes and typed up the reports on my laptop.

Bast: I see. Now about all those clients, didn’t your boss come up with a unique way to decrease the number of clients?

Annie. C.U. did have me send out notices about downsizing.

Bast: But that didn’t go over very well, so what else did your boss do?

Annie: That would be telling. Anyone who wants to find out will just have to buy Beyond the Tripping Point and read about it. Now, if you’ll excuse me. I have to go. Work calls.

Annie stands up, smoothes down her short skirt and clicks out in her five-inch heels.

You can read more about Annie Everglades and her boss C.U. Fly Beyond the Tripping Point (Blue Denim Press, 2012). Click on the book at the top and it takes you to my profile – including book reviews – at www.amazon.com. The book is available there in print and Kindle. For Kobo e-book  go to http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/search/?keywords=Beyond%20the%20Tripping%20Point or go to any bricks and mortar store and order in a print copy.

Sharon A. Crawford will be taking Beyond the Tripping Point to several readings and even using it in a workshop she will be teaching with Brian Henry – all September events. The next two are this Saturday, Sept.14, 2013 at Du Café in Toronto, where Sharon will host a Murder and Mayhem reading by Crime Writers of Canada members and Thursday, September 19 where Sharon A. will host the Canadian Authors Association Toronto branch season opener of readings at the Victory Café in Toronto. Sharon A. will also be reading at both events. More information on these and other September 2013 gigs, go to http://www.samcraw.com/Articles/BeyondtheTrippingPoint.html

Cheers.

Sharon A. Crawford

 
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Posted by on September 12, 2013 in Beyond the Tripping Point, Blue Denim Press, Credible Fiction Characters, Interviewing fictional characters, Plot and Characters, Sharon A. Crawford, Short Story Collection, Writing

 

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Interview of Fiction Character by Fiction Character – Part 13

05 Sep

Cover of Sharon A. Crawford's mystery short story collection

Cover of Sharon A. Crawford’s mystery short story collection

The scariest moment is always just before you start.

 – Stephen King

Today Bast is hoping to interview Lilly Clark, the mother of Trish who was interviewed last week. Trish avoids the limelight but Trish promised she would persuade her mother to show up for a brief interview. Bast and Trish have been exchanging texts on the progress Trish has made getting mom to come to the interview.

Note: Trish and Lilly Clark are the main characters in “Unfinished Business” one of the 13 stories in Beyond the Tripping Point (Blue Denim Press, 2012).

Bast’s I-phone buzzes.

Text from Trish: Mom’s coming. See u in 5.

Five minutes later, Trish and Lilly enter the room.

Bast (extends his hand): Bast Overture. Good to meet you Lilly. Have a seat.

Lilly (remains standing): I prefer to stand. And Trish has to stay.

Bast: Hm. Okay, but the interview is with you.

Lilly: I understand. Trish is only here for moral support.

Bast (leans over the table and turns on the recorder): Okay. But feel free to sit down if you wish.

Lilly (points to the recorder): What is that? I don’t want you recording any of this. What are you going to do with it? You’re not going to put it online are you?

Bast: Very well. (He hits the power off button). Now, Lilly, tell me something about your background. You grew up in Toronto, in the east end?

Lilly: Yes.

Bast: Did you have any siblings? I’m asking because your daughter mentioned she wanted to know about your background?

Lilly: Well, she already knows now. I had no brothers and sisters just my parents.

Bast: Sounds like you wish you had a sibling?

Lilly (shrugs): I don’t know.

Bast: Do you think if you had a brother for instance that things would have been different when you were 12?

Lilly: I don’t want to talk about it.

Trish interrupts: Mom, you said you would. And remember what the therapist said – it is part of your heeling. Sorry, Bast. I’ll keep quiet.

Lilly: Very well. I think I’ll sit down now. (She sits down and so does Bast). Maybe a big brother would have helped. Maybe with a big brother that awful er “thing” wouldn’t have happened.

Bast: Do you want to talk about that awful thing?

Lilly: Not really.

Trish interrupts again: That would be telling the reader. Oops sorry. I’ll shut up.

Lilly: Yes, the reader does have a sort of intimate relationship with me when he or she reads my story, so spinning it out in my story for the reader I guess is okay. But I can’t talk about it in an interview.

Bast: Fine. So, let’s talk about the after effects. You moved around the US and Canada a lot. Can you explain why?

Lilly: Well, obviously because of what happened. But in therapy I’m learning that I was acting “normally” for someone in my position. I was trying to block out, run away from what happened because if I could block it out then maybe it never happened. But it isn’t like that at all. It followed me around and I had to return to Toronto. My parents were both dead by now and Trish was turning 12 and I kept thinking what if something like that happened to her?

Bast: And you had to confront this because your demon showed up? How did this affect you?

Lilly: I think it scared me but it also shook me up. No way was that creep going to hurt Trish. So I faced him and I think in doing so, I started to get it out of my system.

Bast: Sort of mother protecting the cub?

Trish snorts.

Lilly: Of course. A mother will do what she has to do for her child even though she won’t…won’t do it for herself. (She starts crying). Sorry.

Bast: That’s okay. One more question. And I’m going to apologize ahead of time, but I have to ask. Do you forgive your parents for not being there for you?

Lilly stares right at Bast. No. Never. (She stands up.) Come on Trish. We are out of here.

You can read more about Trish Clark and her mother Lilly Clark in Beyond the Tripping Point (Blue Denim Press, 2012). Click on the book at the top and it takes you to my profile – including book reviews – at www.amazon.com. The book is available there in print and Kindle. For Kobo e-book  go to http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/search/?keywords=Beyond%20the%20Tripping%20Point or go to any bricks and mortar store and order in a print copy.

Sharon A. Crawford will be taking Beyond the Tripping Point to several readings and even using it in a workshop she will be teaching with Brian Henry – all September events. For Sharon A.’s September 2013 gigs, go to http://www.samcraw.com/Articles/BeyondtheTrippingPoint.html

Cheers.

Sharon A. Crawford

 
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Posted by on September 5, 2013 in Beyond the Tripping Point, Credible Fiction Characters, Interviewing fictional characters, Sharon A. Crawford

 

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Interview of Fictional Character by Fictional Character: Part 10

15 Aug

Cover of Sharon A. Crawford's mystery short story collection

Cover of Sharon A. Crawford’s mystery short story collection

What is character but the determination of incident? What is incident but the illustration of character?

— Henry James

For this interview, Bast tackles Clara’s father William Everett Clarke in “For the Love of Wills.” “For the Love of Wills” is one of 13 stories in my mystery collection Beyond the Tripping Point (Blue Denim Press, 2012).Clara’s father has dumped her mother for a much younger secretary nicknamed behind his back as “The Bimbo.” Hopefully his wife, Heidi Anastasia Clarke will stay out of the picture today,  but she is a loose cannon so you never know.

Bast (seated at a table): Please sit down Mr. Clarke. I don’t bite.

Clarke: You are a reporter.

Bast: Not any more, I’m now a private investigator and with my sister, Dana, I run the Attic Investigative Agency. But right now I’m more concerned with you and your situation.

Clarke (looking around the room): What do you mean my “situation?” Hey, you don’t have any hidden cameras or bugs anywhere here.

Bast: Nope, just my trusty digital recorder.

Clarke (jumping back): Shut that thing off.

Bast: Why, you got something to hide?  Okay, sorry. I just use the recorder for accuracy. Now, let’s get down to some basics. And please sit down. Now, Mr. Clarke, you were married for how many years?

Clarke (now seated across the table from Bast): Forty.

Bast: Tell me something about your wife, Heidi.

Clarke: What do you mean?

Bast: Where did you meet? Your children, that sort of thing.

Clarke (sighing audibly): Heidi was a secretary where I worked as a clerk. We went out on a few dates and seemed to hit it off. We were married a year and a half later. William Jr. came along four years later and then Clara was born a few years after that. William is a lawyer and Clara, well she is Clara. She likes climbing up walls, did you know that?

Bast: Yes, and it seems that she got your wife involved in that in the beginning of “For the Love of Wills.”

Clarke: More likely the other way round. (Clarke chuckles).

Bast: In what way?

Clarke: Heidi is well, what they call her own person with a mind of her own. She’s spontaneous and doesn’t take any nonsense from anyone.

Bast: Is that why she and Clara snuck into the matrimonial home via the walls because you threw her out for your secretary? Do I see a pattern here with secretaries?

Clarke (jumping up and leaning over the table). Now see here young man. I still love Heidi but well, when you’ve been married as long as Heidi and I, you get too familiar with each other and you want something different.

Bast: I can see that, but you did more than have an affair. You moved your secretary in with you and Heidi had to leave.

Clarke: Yes, I suppose so, but I was having second thoughts when the m…”

Bast: Sh. We don’t want to give anything away to the readers.

Clarke (now sitting down): Right.

Bast: Did you trust your wife?

Heidi storming into the room: What kind of question is that? Of course he trusted me. My poor William.

Bast: Heidi, you had your turn last week. And William did throw you out of your home?

Clarke: Now wait a minute…

Heidi: But it was only temporary. I was…

Bast: Stop. Heidi, you have to leave. My interview is with your husband.

Heidi: But…

Clarke: No, this interview is over. Come Heidi, we have things to talk about.

The two leave the room. Bast stares after them and then at his tape recorder, muttering, “I’ll get at the truth next week when I talk to William Jr.”

You can read more about the Clarke family in my mystery short story collection Beyond the Tripping Point, (Blue Denim Press, 2012). Click on the book at the top and it takes you to my profile – including book reviews – at www.amazon.com. The book is available there in print and Kindle. For Kobo e-book  go to http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/search/?keywords=Beyond%20the%20Tripping%20Point or go to any bricks and mortar store and order in a print copy.

Cheers.

Sharon A. Crawford

 
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Posted by on August 15, 2013 in Beyond the Tripping Point, Credible Fiction Characters, Fiction Characters, Interviewing fictional characters, Plot and Characters, Sharon A. Crawford, Writing

 

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Interview of Fictional Character by Fictional Character – Part 6

18 Jul

Cover of Sharon A. Crawford's mystery short story collection

Cover of Sharon A. Crawford’s mystery short story collection

Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down.

–          Oprah Winfrey

In this week’s interview, Bast Overture, crime reporter turned PI, interviews Millie Browne, the driver of a car in peril in the short story “No Breaks,” from Beyond the Tripping Point. This requires Bast to time travel from 1999 to present time.

Bast: Millie, I understand you have a problem with your car.

Millie: You could say that. The brakes don’t work.

Bast: Not a good thing for travelling up Highway 11 into cottage country. Did this brake failure happen suddenly or were they acting up before you left?

Millie: Suddenly when Jessica and I were driving up the highway. You don’t think I’m stupid enough to head on a road trip with faulty brakes. Hey, I even got my mechanic, Eddie, to check out the car yesterday and he found everything working fine.

Bast: You sure of that. In light of what happens…

Millie: What are you saying? My mechanic missed something. Hey do you know something I don’t know?

A snort comes from the front passenger seat. Millie, glaring at Jessica: Hold on, your turn will come soon.

Bast (from the car’s back seat): It just seems a little strange that the brakes would suddenly start to fail. Did you have to brake anywhere before you noticed them not working?

Millie: Well, no.

Bast: So, what are you going to do about it? You obviously are continuing to drive to your destination.

Millie: We have to get to Jessica’s grandmother’s cottage.

Bast: Important business up there?

Millie (scowling, face turning red): None of your business.

Bast: Very well. I’ll repeat my question: What are you going to do about the brake situation?

Millie: I’m looking for a garage with a bay to fix the brakes.

Throat clearing from the passenger seat.

Millie: Okay, okay. We are looking for a garage with a bay. And I’m using the parking brake if I have to brake. Can we stop talking about the damn brakes?

Bast: Very well. Now in “No Breaks” you mention something about a deep dark secret. What…

Millie: Not mine.

Screeching from the passenger seat. The car swerves throwing Bast’s head forward against the back of the driver’s seat. The screaming from the front reaches a high pitch level as Millie pulls the parking brake.

You can read more about Millie, Jessica, and Eddie in my mystery short story collection Beyond the Tripping Point, (Blue Denim Press, 2012). Click on the book at the top and it takes you to my profile – including book reviews – at www.amazon.com. The book is available there in print and Kindle. For Kobo e-book  go to http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/search/?keywords=Beyond%20the%20Tripping%20Point or go to any bricks and mortar store and order in a print copy.

The video link to my thatchannel.com interview and reading from Beyond the Tripping Point on You Tube can now be accessed via the new page “Video” at the top of this blog.

Cheers.

Sharon A. Crawford

 
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Posted by on July 18, 2013 in Beyond the Tripping Point, Blue Denim Press, Credible Fiction Characters, Fiction Characters, Interviewing fictional characters, Plot and Characters, Sharon A. Crawford, Short Story Collection

 

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Interview of Fictional Character by Fictional Character – Part 5

11 Jul

Cover of Sharon A. Crawford's mystery short story collection

Cover of Sharon A. Crawford’s mystery short story collection

“Live passionately, even if it kills you, because something is going to kill you anyway.”

– Webb Chiles

Starting with this week’s post, Bast Overture, crime reporter turned PI will be interviewing characters from the other stories in Beyond the Tripping Point. Some of them will require him to do a variation of time travel. This week’s interview is with Elsa Richards, the main character in “16 Dorsey St.” Elsa and Bast are in the same time frame (late 1990s).

Bast: You are a fashion designer who works from home?

Elsa:  Yes, I prefer that because my boss, Monsieur Louie is always breathing down my neck at his place. I’m a very creative person and I need solitude to create my best. It’s like I’m in another world with all senses, all areas of my mind focused on the current dress or skirt.

Bast: But your new home, an apartment in a former old Rosedale home doesn’t turn out to be so solitary. Could you elaborate?

Elsa: The other tenants were mad and scary old people. It makes me shudder to think about them.

Bast: I understand. But could you tell us something about them?

Elsa: (Takes a deep breath). Okay. Did you ever watch those old Frankenstein movies starring Boris Karloff? (Bast nods). Well, Harold Marchant has a face just like him. But believe me, he doesn’t move around stiffly like Frankenstein. And the old biddy, Winnifred Hoyle – her eyes just bulge out so far you’d think they would pop out. She says she’s a retired school teacher.

Bast: Probably scared her students into studying?

Elsa: (chuckles slightly). Probably. Don’t know when she was a teacher, maybe in the 1940s because that’s how she dresses, complete with padded suit jackets and nylons with seams. Who wears stockings with seams anymore?

Bast: Didn’t you think for a time that there was a third person living in the old house?

Elsa: Well, I suppose so.

Bast: Tell me about that.

Elsa: I’d go out to run errands and such and when I returned I’d find some of my things like my lipstick and hairbrush moved from where I put them. I’m very particular where I put my stuff. Then there was that wig. I couldn’t figure out where that came from until my sister, Sylvia, reminded me of a Halloween party costume I word a few years ago.

Bast: That brings up my next question. You tell your story through emails to your sister. Why is that?

Elsa: Because, Sylvia doesn’t live in Toronto. I know; there is the phone. But I’m like you a computer techie and then there is the privacy issue. Our mother keeps popping unannounced into Sylvia’s place and stays for a bit. So Sylvia and I don’t want her to know about all out conversations.

Bast: Your mother comes up with a cryptic revelation later on in “16 Dorsey St.” What do you think of that?

Elsa: I’d rather not say. I go through a harrowing experience…

Bast: That’s right. Life threatening, even.

Elsa: Sh. We don’t want to tell the readers all.

Bast: Right. Well, thank you Elsa for your time and I hope you, your sister and your mother can sort out all these, er, matters.

You can read more about Elsa, her sister and the scary oldsters in my mystery short story collection Beyond the Tripping Point, (Blue Denim Press, 2012). Click on the book at the top and it takes you to my profile – including books reviews – at www.amazon.com. The book is available there in print and Kindle. For Kobo e-book  go to http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/search/?keywords=Beyond%20the%20Tripping%20Point or go to any bricks and mortar store and order in a print copy.

The video link to my thatchannel.com interview and reading from Beyond the Tripping Point on You Tube can now be accessed via the new page “Video” at the top of this blog.

Cheers.

Sharon A. Crawford

 
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Posted by on July 11, 2013 in Beyond the Tripping Point, Credible Fiction Characters, Fiction Characters, Plot and Characters, Sharon A. Crawford, Short Story Collection, Writing

 

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Interview of Fictional Characters by Fictional Character – Part 4

04 Jul

Be obscure clearly. – E.B. White

Cover of Sharon A. Crawford's mystery short story collection

Cover of Sharon A. Crawford’s mystery short story collection

 Bast interviews his fraternal twin, Dana Bowman. The twins were close when growing up but in their twenties drifted apart partly because Bast didn’t like Ron Bowman, Dana’s husband at the time. They reconnected a few years before the four linked stories in Beyond the Tripping Point, after Dana’s divorce when Bast helped Dana buy out her ex for the “family” home and moved in to help his sister raise David and meet expenses. Their backgrounds, personalities and looks are different (Fraternal twins don’t necessarily look alike) so all is not always smooth sailing.

Bast: Dana, you have a somewhat unusual approach when we are doing an investigation. Care to elaborate?

Dana: Well, little brother, (From her 4’11” height she looks up at Bast, standing tall at 6’ 3”) I suppose you mean my sketches?

Bast: Yes, in particular your caricatures of the people we interview.

Dana: I’ve always liked to sketch, particularly people and I like to get at what I see as the heart of the person, what makes them tick. And everybody has something they don’t tell the world. So, I look into their face, their body language and see what they aren’t saying. Often that helps with our investigation.

Bast: Yes, but sometimes it startles the person, like Anne Belcher in “Road Raging.”

Dana: Yes, but Anne was pretty upset already when she banged on our door. I guess if someone close to you, like your husband, had been seriously injured in a car collision, you’d be upset…unless it was all an act…and that’s what I am trying to find out when I sketch a person.

Bast: And was Anne all an act?

Dana: Now, Bast, I’m not telling. That would spoil it for our readers.

Bast: Okay. Let’s go to “Digging Up the Dirt” where you were actually doing caricatures of seniors and other guests at Mavis Crandock’s 100th anniversary celebration. Did any of them help solve the double murder here?

Dana: Thanks for not giving it all away. I think probably subconsciously although we did solve this one using other means.

Bast: I presume you mean Great Aunt Doris. She…

Dana: Don’t mention that woman and I’m surprised you do considering what she thinks of you…

Bast: And of you. The two of  you really got into it in “Saving Grace” with her criticising your parenting…

Dana: Don’t you start. You know we were having difficult times because of David being psychologically mute. Aunt Doris didn’t have to live with us day-by-day, thank God (Dana makes a mock sign of the cross).

Bast: Fair enough. But she did help you a lot in “Saving Grace?”

Dana: I suppose so. Without her intervention things might have been quite different for all of us.

Bast: Back to “Digging up the Dirt” which was a few months after “Saving Grace” – Aunt Doris did help you…

Dana: Inserted herself in the investigation was more like it. Bast you should have seen her get-up when we went out to interview people. I wish I had sketched that one although I suppose I could from memory. (She sits down, picks up her sketch pad and charcoal and starts sketching).

Bast: You are also not that fond of computers; how do you get around that?

Dana: Well, at first I wouldn’t touch the damn machines, but then I started a bit with the email.

Bast: Ah, the email will do it every time. (Note to readers: The Dana-Bast stories take place in the late 1990s before Facebook and Twitter and high speed Internet connection was just coming into use in late 1999 in Canada).

Dana (shaking her charcoal at Bast).Yeah, but I’m not glued to it like you are little brother.

Bast: Will you stop calling me that. Just because you are a few minutes older than me. (Clears his throat). Okay, Dana will you tell us what you actually use the computer for?

Dana: Okay, given that you taught me what I know. Besides email, I use that Word program occasionally to type up reports although I prefer to leave that to you. And I do some research on the Internet. But I still prefer my sketches and face-to-face contact. I mean if something goes wrong with the computer when I’m using it, well, I’m out of here. And speaking of that, I have to go pick up David from school. Here… (She stands up, walks over to Bast and hands him her sketch).

Bast: Hm. You’ve captured a good likeness of me, but two things. Why do I have a smirk on my face and why did you draw me with a beard? I shaved that off a few months ago. (He touches his chin).

Dana: Because little brother, that beard gives you some authority and dignity. And if you repeat that to anyone I’ll deny it.

Bast: Fair enough.

You can read more about David, Dana, Bast, Great Aunt Doris, Detective Sergeant Donald Fielding and the others in the four linked stories which are part of my mystery short story collection Beyond the Tripping Point, (Blue Denim Press, 2012. Click on the book at the top and it takes you to my profile – including books reviews – at www.amazon.com. The book is available there in print and Kindle. For Kobo e-book  go to http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/search/?keywords=Beyond%20the%20Tripping%20Point or go to any bricks and mortar store and order in a print copy.

The video link to my thatchannel.com interview and reading from Beyond the Tripping Point on You Tube can now be accessed via the new page “Video” at the top of this blog.

Cheers.

Sharon A. Crawford

 
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Posted by on July 4, 2013 in Beyond the Tripping Point, Credible Fiction Characters, Interviewing fictional characters

 

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Interview with Fiction Characters by Fictional Character: Part 2

20 Jun

Cover of Sharon A. Crawford's mystery short story collection

Cover of Sharon A. Crawford’s mystery short story collection

The things that you know more about than you want to know are very useful.

            — Robert Stone

In this post, Bast Overture, crime reporter turned private investigator interviews Detective Sergeant Donald Fielding. Fielding appears in three of the four linked shorts stories in Beyond the Tripping Point (“Gone Missing,” “Digging up the Dirt,” and “Road Raging”). Note: Bast has encountered Fielding in his crime reporting days and the two are not best friends – forever or for any time.

Bast:  Now Detective Sergeant, you have been the lead investigator in several of the crimes that The Attic Investigative Agency has been involved in and…

Fielding (in his clipped British accent): Meddling might be more accurate…

Bast: Very well then but don’t you think that both you and our agency each came up with information that helped solve the cases and that  by cooperating and pooling our resources…

Fielding: The police do not cooperate with private investigators.

Bast: Yes, but didn’t you pass some information along to my sister, Dana, about some of the principals involved in “Road Raging.”

Fielding: That information was already in the press and I “passed it along” as you call it to your sister because when it was in the newspapers she was. shall we say, busy with trying to find her kidnapped son so she may have missed it (From the pre-quel novel, currently in rewrite stage).

Bast: And isn’t that another instance of you helping us?

Fielding: I said the police don’t cooperate with…

Bast: I know you said that but sometimes you do and don’t you think it helps solve the case?

Fielding: Listen here, Sebastian Overture. You and I go back to your crime reporting days, so I know your tricks to get information. What are you insinuating here? That the police act unprofessionally?

Bast: Of course not. (Bast clears his throat). I’m merely asking if the mutual info exchange helped. Hold on a minute before you say anything. If you remember in “Gone Missing,” Dana gave you some valuable information about the missing Rosemary – something we gleaned from our interview with her twin brother Robin – a blue text book. And that led to another person…

Fielding: (raising his hand). We were already talking to that person of interest.

Bast: Very well. Now, you are saying that the police don’t usually cooperate with private detectives. But what about when one of the PIs is shall we say more than a PI to you?

Fielding: (face going red). What are you insinuating Overture?

Bast: Come on Fielding. It’s no secret that you are attracted to my sister. So, I’m asking you – do your feelings for Dana have anything to do with the sharing of information.

Fielding (clipped British accent more pronounced): You’re making things up. That would be unprofessional.

Bast: But isn’t it true that you are attracted to my sister?

Fielding: That is none of your business. You leave D…D…Dana out of this.

Bast: Very well, then…

Fielding’s cell phone rings. He opens it.

Fielding: “Yes, Fielding here… Uh huh. Fine. What’s the address? Fine. I’ll be right there.” (He closes the cell). “Sorry, Overture. Duty calls.” (He stands up to leave)

Bast: Very well. Thanks for your time. I’ll catch you later for the rest…”

“Fielding: “No. This interview is finished.”

You can read more about Great Aunt Doris, Bast, Dana, David, Detective Sergeant Fielding and the others in the four linked stories which are part of my mystery short story collection Beyond the Tripping Point, Blue Denim Press, 2012. Click on the book at the top and it takes you to my profile – including books reviews – at www.amazon.com

Next week: Bast interviews his nephew David, which proves challenging as David is psychologically mute.

Cheers.

Sharon A. Crawford

 
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Posted by on June 20, 2013 in Beyond the Tripping Point, Blue Denim Press, Credible Fiction Characters, Interviewing fictional characters, Sharon A. Crawford, Writing

 

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