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Interview with Fiction Characters by Fiction Characters – Part 39

13 Mar

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

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

An artist is his own fault.

            – John O’Hara

The lights went out and the painting started vibrating in the Thurston Library board room just as PC Joseph Oliver was showing some information to Dana Bowman. Now, one minute later, the lights go back on and the painting is still. But there is a different character sitting at the board room table. All characters except Cory Swan are from short stories in Beyond the Tripping Point  by Sharon A. Crawford (Blue Denim Press, 2012)

Dana, looking around and almost jumping up at the woman sitting in the chair beside her. Susan Stuart? No, it can’t be. You’re dead. I mean…

Susan’s ghost: True, but I did mention that I do get around in spirit. Sometimes I can manifest myself to a few people.

Dana: And that’s why the lights went out – while you were er, manifesting?

PC Oliver: It’s gone.

Dana, turning to Oliver on her left: What’s gone? The paper you were showing me?

Oliver: Yes. I had it right in front of me.

Dana, glaring at Susan’s ghost: You took it. What did you do with it?

Susan: No, I didn’t.

Dana: Well, no one else was here.

Susan: Are you sure. The lights went out.

Dana: But that was you.

Susan: No. I don’t need lights turning out to manifest myself. Just people to believe I am real.

Oliver: Then who took the paper? Who was in here? I didn’t see anyone. Dana, did you?

Dana: No, but it was dark.

Susan: I might be able to answer that. I’m not the only spirit involved.

Dana: Right. So now we have multitudes of spirits running around and interfering.

Susan: No, just one other besides me.

Oliver: Who?

Susan: Can’t you guess? Who is also dead?

Dana: Roger Stuart?

Susan: Bingo.

Oliver: Okay, I’ll bite. What interest would Roger Stuart have in all this?

Susan: If you will remember, when Dad was still alive, just before he disappeared, he was involved in a sort of blackmail scheme with Cory Swan.

Dana: And I suppose you know what that all involves?

Oliver (interrupting): I think I do. The paper I was just going to show you was a document. It was a marriage certificate between Roger Stuart and his secretary.

Dana: But he was still married to Susan and Robbie’s mother.

Oliver: Yes, but the marriage certificate was issued in Mexico.

Dana: But it wouldn’t be valid in Canada? I mean with Roger still married to your mother. (Dana nods at Susan).

Oliver: No, not valid in Canada or the US for that matter.

Dana: How did they get it in Mexico?

Susan: By not giving any info about prior marriages.

Oliver: You could get away with that there.

Dana: So, Roger Stuart was a bigamist and he didn’t want his second marriage known.

Oliver: Or the fact that he had two so-called marriages with no divorce for the first one.

Susan: Exactly, to both. And Cory Swan wheedled this out of Dad and I believe threatened to tell all if Dad didn’t pay him. Which he did, for awhile, until he decided to disappear with the wicked secretary of the well, south.

Dana: And you know this how?

Susan: I just do.

Dana: You’ve connected with your father’s spirit.

Susan: Oh, all right. I’ve been talking to Dad.

Oliver: If this is so, then it has to be his spirit that took the document.

Susan: Actually not. Dad can’t get around like me. He’s stuck in our old house. I have to go to him.

Dana and Oliver: Then it was you. You lied.

Susan: Yup. A girl has to protect herself.

Susan then disappears.

Dana: What was that all about? She’s obviously got her own hidden agenda? Now we don’t have that document.

Oliver: Yes we do. There’s an electronic copy on the police computer and a photocopy at police headquarters. But I better call Fielding to let him know that Susan is not to be trusted.

Dana’s cell phone rings. She picks it up.

Dana: Yes.

Voice on the phone: Dana, it’s Bast. I’m okay. But we need to talk. You and a few others are in danger.

Cheers.

Sharon A. Crawford

You can read more about the characters and their stories in from Beyond the Tripping Point (Blue Denim Press, 2012). Click on the book at the top and it takes you to Sharon A. Crawford’s 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. Spread the word.

Also see more of See Sharon A.’s Upcoming Gigs, workshops, guest blog posts, etc. at http://www.samcraw.com/Articles/BeyondtheTrippingPoint.html

 
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Posted by on March 13, 2014 in Beyond the Tripping Point, Blue Denim Press, Credible Fiction Characters, Interviewing fictional characters, Plot anc Character Development, Sharon A. Crawford

 

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Interview with Fiction Characters by Fiction Characters – Part 38

06 Mar

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

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

I never plot out my novels in terms of the tone of the book .Hopefull,y once a story is begun it reveals itself.

–          Alice Hoffman

In last week’s post, the woman in the abstract painting was finally revealed as the spirit of the artist, Susan Stuart. Susan says she didn’t kidnap Bast Overture but pulled him into her realm to protect him from Cory Swan the photographer. Bast, however, managed to return to earth and was then kidnapped by Swan. Now he is missing again and Detective Sergeant Fielding and Detective Larry Hutchinson (along with Susan’s spirit) are off to Thurston to find Bast. Dana stays behind with a police constable awaiting Susan’s return with news. Except for Cory Swan, all characters are from stories in Beyond the Tripping Point by Sharon A. Crawford (Blue Denim Press, 2012)

Dana, staring at Constable Joseph Oliver: How did you, head of Records Bureau, wangle coming here? I was expecting a newbie.

Oliver: I convinced Fielding I would be the best choice as I am shall we say close to you and Bast professionally.

Dana: You mean you are our police source.

Oliver chuckles: Glad you can keep your sense of humour.

Dana nods: Yes, well in that vein I would like some more information about my brother’s kidnapping and in particular, why Cory Swan is so upset about that photo of Bast, Susan and Robbie Stuart.

Oliver: You know as much as I do.

Dana: Come on, Oliver.

Oliver shrugs his shoulders: Very well. Swan has a checkered background.

Dana: In what way?

Oliver: He was well connected to the Stuart family.

Dana: What do you mean? Beyond photographing Robbie and Susan for Bast’s story.

Oliver: No, before then…with their father.

Dana: Roger Stuart? The one who disappeared with his secretary years ago?

Oliver: Yes. I shouldn’t be telling you this. But Swan took some photos of Roger and his secretary…

Dana: Yes, but Roger is dead and the secretary is…

Oliver: I know. But for some reason Roger was taken with Swan – it wasn’t only his photography that connected him to people. He was also able to get people to talk about themselves and listen as if it was the most important thing in the world. We think that Swan found out about Roger Stuart ’s impending disappearance with his secretary and Roger paid him some money before he vanished.

Dana: You mean blackmail money?

Oliver shrugs his shoulders. Perhaps.

Dana: All right, say it was blackmail. How does my brother fit in with this? Roger Stuart disappeared before Bast became a crime reporter.

Oliver: We think that Bast uncovered this part of the story and confronted Swan with it – probably outside the interview with Robbie and Susan.

Dana: So, did he include it in his story? Where is that story anyway? Fielding, Hutchinson and I only found the photograph. We don’t know where it was published so can’t check the newspaper morgues.

Oliver shrugs his shoulders.

Dana: Oh, I get it. You did find the story. Come on Oliver, give it up. What did the story say?

Oliver: There was no mention of the connection between Roger Stuart and Cory Swan in the story.

Dana: So, what got Swan riled? Bast isn’t a reporter anymore.

Oliver: This. (Oliver hauls out a piece of paper from his folder.)

Dana leans over to look. The abstract painting starts vibrating and there is loud pounding on the door. The lights go out.

Cheers.

Sharon A. Crawford

 
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Posted by on March 6, 2014 in Beyond the Tripping Point, Blue Denim Press, Credible Fiction Characters, Interviewing fictional characters, Plot anc Character Development, Sharon A. Crawford, Writing

 

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Interview with Fiction Character by Fiction Characters – Part 37

27 Feb

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

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

In order to have a plot, you have to have a conflict, something bad has to happen.

–          Mike Judge

In last week’s post, Dana, Fielding, and Hutchinson were interviewing Robin Stuart, brother of the murdered Susan Stuart. Stuart, the artist who painted the abstract in the Thurston Public Library boardroom was murdered in the story “Missing in Action” in Beyond the Tripping Point by Sharon A. Crawford (Blue Denim Press, Oct. 2012).  Detective Hutchinson arrested her murderer in that story. But now, Susan seems to be “popping up.” Last week Stuart’s picture started vibrating again. This week… read on.

The abstract stops vibrating and a woman’s head appears in the painting. She continues wailing.

Dana covering her ears: Shut up.

Hutchinson, wide-eyed and pale: Susan Stuart? You are dead.

The waiting stops and the woman’s lips switch to a soft feminine voice.

Woman in the picture: My body is dead, but not my soul.

Dana: What have you done with my brother?

Fielding, glaring at Dana: Dana. Let Hutchinson and I ask the questions.

Woman: It’s okay. She has a perfect right to ask. I did not kidnap her brother but shall we say, I extracted him temporarily from this life to protect him. But I wasn’t strong enough and he returned to Thurston and was then kidnapped.

Fielding: Who kidnapped him?

Woman: I thought you had already figured that out.

Hutchinson: Cory Swan?

Woman: Yes. While Sebastian was with me I told him that his story about me and my art was coming back to haunt him (She chuckles a bit) and I was trying to protect him from Cory Swan…

Dana: How did you know all this?

Woman: You mean how would a dead person know this? Well, our spirits can travel freely throughout the universe. And I’ve been keeping tabs on my paintings, where they are exhibited. While doing this I saw Cory Swan had an unusual interest in this painting here. He has made several trips to this room to look at it.

Fielding: We checked with the library’s listing of who used this room and he wasn’t listed.

Woman: He probably snuck in with a group meeting here.

Dana: She’s probably right. Various community groups meet here. Perhaps one was a photographer’s group.

Fielding, pulling out a printed list: Hmm. No photography list here, but the historical society, a ratepayers’ group, a quilting group, and Ms Dana Bowman.

Dana: Well, he certainly didn’t come in when I was here.

Fielding: You haven’t specifically answered why you took an interest in Bast and how did you know he was in danger?

Woman: It was that photo Cory Swan took of my brother, your brother Dana, and me that tipped me off. Like I said, we spirits get around, and I saw Swan packing up his Thurston office. He pulled out a photo – the one I just mentioned – and kept staring at it. He was muttering under his breath something about “that crime reporter, he knows something about her and he’s going to tell me.” At first I was just curious but when I saw him try to break into the Attic Agency and follow Bast around, I knew something bad was up. So because of what happened to me and how Robbie felt afterwards, I decided to try to save Bast. And the only way I knew how was to bring him temporarily into my world. And try to get a message to all of you. But all I could do was play around with my painting. Your son, Dana, caught on that I was here. Children are more receptive and with his situation, he was more so.

Dana: Did it never occur to you that dragging David into this could hurt him?

Woman: I was only trying to help.

Fielding: If what you say is true, why didn’t you try to communicate with us outside this room?

Woman: My spirit powers are limited. While I can move around anywhere, I can’t connect to any of the living except through something of me that remains behind – my painting.

Dana: So where is my brother now?

Woman: I don’t know. He managed to get himself out of my realm and back to earth. Like you, I only found the remains of his presence in Swan’s old Thurston office. But I did see Swan dump an envelope in your Aunt Doris’s mailbox.

Fielding: And the anonymous threatening phone call to Doris Bowman?

Woman: I knew nothing about that until you interviewed her here in this room.

Dana: What about Doris’s next door neighbour.

Woman: Just a nosey neighbour. I checked him out. Look, I’ve told you all I know.

Fielding: Well, I suggest you think harder about why Swan wanted Bast and took that photograph of the three of you while we check out Swan’s new office and residence in Barrie.

Woman: I’m coming with you…in spirit.

Dana: But you can’t communicate with us anywhere but here.

Fielding: That’s why you, Dana will remain here, along with a constable I will assign here.

Dana: But, I need to go to Barrie – it’s my brother; it’s…

Hutchinson: Better listen to Fielding. He and I will go. Keep your cell on and I hate to say this, your eyes on the painting. If…(he points to the face in the painting) she discovers something we don’t see, she can tell you and you can relay it back to us. Let’s go Fielding.

The two police detectives get up and leave. Dana is left staring at the face in the abstract.

Cheers.

Sharon A. Crawford

You can read more about the characters and their stories in from Beyond the Tripping Point (Blue Denim Press, 2012). Click on the book at the top and it takes you to Sharon A. Crawford’s 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. Spread the word.

Also see more of See Sharon A.’s Upcoming Gigs, workshops, guest blog posts, etc. at http://www.samcraw.com/Articles/BeyondtheTrippingPoint.html

 
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Posted by on February 27, 2014 in Beyond the Tripping Point, Credible Fiction Characters, Interviewing fictional characters, Plot anc Character Development, Sharon A. Crawford

 

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Fiction Characters Interviewing Fiction Characters – Part 35

13 Feb

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

Storytelling is about two things; it’s about character and plot.

–         –  George Lucas

In this post Beyond the Tripping Point by Sharon A. Crawford (Blue Denim Press, 2012) scenario, Detective Sergeant Donald Fielding is back from Barrie where he interviewed Doris Bowman’s next door neighbour, Mr. Crankshaw. Cory Swan the photographer was not in his Barrie home. Detective Larry Hutchinson joined Fielding and Cooks Regional Police backup to check out the premises where Bast and Dana had originally looked for office space for The Attic Investigative Agency. Cory Swan, photographer no longer has offices there and the space is vacant. Dana was allowed to enter the building after police gave it the all clear. The three are now meeting at the actual Agency offices at 10 Maitland in Thurston to check out Bast’s published crime stories for any possible connection to his kidnapping. Dana, as usual, is trying to get “police business” information from the two detectives. Aunt Doris has been placed in a safe house with a constable posted outside.

Dana is booting up Bast’s desktop PC. while Fielding and Hutchinson search Bast’s print files of published stories.

Dana: Bast might have this password protected but I’ll see what I can find about his story notes. Meantime, Detective Fielding, I’d like to know what Aunt Doris’ neighbour had to say for himself.

Fielding, rifling through files: Ms Bowman that is police business.

Dana: Oh for Christ’s sake, you let me see that photographer’s former office and I helped you there. I identified the watch on the floor as belonging to Bast so we know he was there and… So now it’s your turn to give me something.

Fielding: We let you into the room. That’s what we gave you.

Dana: Might I remind you that it is my brother, my fraternal twin who is missing. This isn’t the first time somebody in my family was kidnapped. When David was kidnapped, you were shall we say a little moreforthcoming.

Fielding: David is a child.

Dana: So, my brother doesn’t count because he’s an adult?

Fielding: D…Dana that’s not what I’m saying.

Dana: Then why won’t you tell me?

Fielding: Very well. I will tell you this much. Mr. Joseph Crankshaw saw Cory Swan put something into your Aunt Doris’ mailbox within the time frame Doris received that envelop. He also said he doesn’t trust Cory Swan because he’s heard car doors slamming shut at all hours of the night and when he got up he would see a car that wasn’t Swan’s speed out of the driveway.

Dana: Did he actually see a person? And get a licence plate number?

Fielding: No and No. And that’s all I will say.

Dana, gritting her teeth: Fielding …

Hutchinson: I think I found something.

Fielding and Dana join him. Hutchinson holds up a photo of a young man in a hoodie and a young woman sitting at a table on either side of Bast. Bast’s tape recorder rests in front of him. Hutchinson flips the photograph. On the back is stamped Cory Swan Photographer.

Hutchinson: I know the two people with Bast. The fellow in the hoodie is Robbie Stuart. The woman is his sister, Susan Stuart. Susan was murdered and I investigated her homicide.

Dana: Susan Stuart? Isn’t that the name scrawled on that abstract painting in the library boardroom?

Cheers.

Sharon A. Crawford

You can read more about the characters and their stories in from Beyond the Tripping Point (Blue Denim Press, 2012). Click on the book at the top and it takes you to Sharon A. Crawford’s 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. Spread the word.

Sharon A. is teaching Getting Your Memoir off the Ground Workshop, Saturday, February 22, 2014 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Details at http://www.samcraw.com/Articles/SpeakersBureau.html

Also see more of See Sharon A.’s Upcoming Gigs, workshops, guest blog posts, etc. at http://www.samcraw.com/Articles/BeyondtheTrippingPoint.html

 
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Posted by on February 13, 2014 in Interviewing fictional characters, Plot and Characters, Sharon A. Crawford, Short Story Collection, Uncategorized, Writing

 

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Fiction Characters Interviewing Fiction Characters – Part 34

06 Feb

Click on the book cover to go to amazon.com

Click on the book cover to go to amazon.com

A picture is worth a thousand words

–          Attributed to various sources from Napoleon Bonaparte to Frederick R. Barnard

Detective Sergeant Donald Fielding has left the Thurston Library boardroom to drive to Barrie to interview Cory Swan the photographer who lives across the road from Aunt Doris and her next-door neighbour, Mr. Crankshaw. Detective Larry Hutchinson remains behind to continue questioning Aunt Doris about the envelope of photos left in her mailbox. Dana hovers nearby trying to get in a word. All but Swan, Crankshaw and Ron Bowman, are characters from Beyond the Tripping Point by Sharon A. Crawford.

 Hutchison: Now, Mrs. Bowman, I want you to look carefully at these three photos and tell me if you recognize anything in them.

Doris: Well, I recognize Dana’s twin, Bast.

Hutchinson: Of course, but anything in the background, does it look familiar?

Doris: Hmm. Give me those photos young man.

Hutchinson: It’s better if you don’t touch them. Fingerprints…

Dana: Oh, stuff it Hutchinson. Fielding already has our fingerprints for elimination. Aunt Doris is an old woman so her eyesight…

Doris: There’s nothing wrong with my eyesight, young lady. I don’t even wear glasses except to drive. And as for calling me an old woman, well, I never.

Dana: But you are and you said so yourself.

Doris: standing up and glaring at Dana: Now listen here… and what Ronald Bowman ever saw in you to marry you I’ll never understand.

Dana: Ron and I are divorced Aunt Doris and he has nothing to do with this.

Hutchinson, raising his hands: Ladies, please. And Mrs. Bowman, will you please sit down. Now I find that interesting about Ronald Bowman, your ex-husband, Ms Bowman. What makes you think he isn’t involved? Wasn’t he arrested for the kidnapping of your son?

Dana: Those charges were never actually laid.

Hutchinson: But he was charged with a B and E and vandalism?

Dana: Yes, but he got off with community service and one year’s probation.

Hutchinson: He still has a record. Do you know where he is?

 Dana: I don’t know. Ask her. (she looks at Doris). He’s her nephew.

Huchinson: Mrs. Bowman, do you know where you nephew is?

Doris: He moved to Orillia Ontario after he finished his probation and community service. He should never have been arrested. Dana, this is all your doing; this is….

Hutchinson: Ladies, we are getting nowhere fast with these photos.

Dana: Fine. Let me look at them. Maybe I can recognize something, besides my brother, of course.

Hutchinson slides the photos over to Dana and she looks from one to the other and to the third. She repeats that a couple of times, looks slyly at Hutchinson, then pushes two away with her fingertips. She keeps the one with Bast sitting in a room.

Dana: I might recognize this room but if it’s where I think it is, it’s not in Barrie, but right here in Thurston.

Doris: What?

Hutchinson, raising his hand at Doris and then looking at Dana: Go on, Ms Bowman.

Dana; Going back a few years when Bast and I were planning to start up our Attic Investigative Agency, we did some looking at places outside the house where we live. One of the places was upstairs over a convenience store on Main Street here in Thurston. The two rooms were bleak looking. The first room which could be used for reception had no windows and the back room, I guess for the office, didn’t have much light, just from a small round window up high. Well, this room Bast is sitting in has the same type of window up high. No, I’d say the same window because the window in the room Bast and I looked at had this big scratch mark embedded in the right top corner. And if you look closely, so does the window in this picture.

Hutchinson and Doris both lean over towards the picture.

Hutchinson: Son of a gun, so it does. Ms Bowman, do you happen to know who or what did move into this room?

Dana: Well, it was awhile ago. Let me think. Wait… I seem to remember Bast mentioning a photographer who the newspaper he used to write for sometimes hired on a freelance basis. I think Bast said the photographer sometimes did the photos for some of his stories.

Hutchinson: And your brother was a crime reporter before he started this private detective business.

Dana: I see where you’re going with this and I have to agree. It could be connected to a story Bast wrote.

Hutchinson: Does your brother keep copies of his published stories?

Dana: Yes, in our office and he has the stories on his computer too.

Hutchinson: Well, Ms. Bowman, I think we better get over to your place and check out these stories.

Doris: What about me? I don’t want to be left alone. Someone sent me anonymous photos and threatened me on the phone.

Hutchinson: Where are you staying now?

Doris: In a hotel, but I’ve been looking over my shoulder, locking my door and putting a heavy chair up against it.

Hutchinson: Well, I’m a Toronto detective; Thurston is out of my jurisdiction except when working with Fielding, but we’ll see what we can do. Let me give Fielding a call.

Hutchinson calls Fielding on his cell. Dana continues looking at the photo.

Dana: Oh for Christ’s sake. The photographer who moved into that room over the convenience store in Thurston? I remember seeing the sign outside that upstairs window blowing in the wind. Detective Hutchinson, I think we have our connection. The sign read C. Swan Photographer – weddings, funerals – which I thought odd – parties and celebrations. I never met the man but I bet Bast did.

A noise came from the other end of the room. All three looked to the far wall as the abstract painting fell to the floor.

Cheers.

Sharon A. Crawford

You can read more about the characters and their stories in from Beyond the Tripping Point (Blue Denim Press, 2012). Click on the book at the top and it takes you to Sharon A. Crawford’s 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. Spread the word.

Sharon A. is teaching Getting Your Memoir off the Ground Workshop, Saturday, February 22, 2014 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Details at http://www.samcraw.com/Articles/SpeakersBureau.html

Also see more of See Sharon A.’s Upcoming Gigs, workshops, guest blog posts, etc. at http://www.samcraw.com/Articles/BeyondtheTrippingPoint.html

 
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Posted by on February 6, 2014 in Beyond the Tripping Point, Plot and Characters, Sharon A. Crawford, Short Story Collection, Uncategorized, Writing

 

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Fiction Character Interviewing Fiction Character – Part 31 – Fielding

16 Jan

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

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

Dana Bowman had planned to interview Lilly Clarke of  “Unfinished Business” from Sharon A. Crawford’s short story collection Beyond the Tripping Point (Blue Denim Press, Oct. 2012), but Lilly hasn’t returned Dana’s calls. Meantime, Dana has been into Cooks Regional Police Headquarters to look at all the surveillance tapes of someone using Bast’s debit card at ATMs and a short selected video of that is now out in the media. The only thing definite about the person caught on the tapes is that it is not her brother Bast. Now Dana has received an urgent call from Detective Sergeant Fielding and he is meeting her today in the Thurston Public Library boardroom.

Fielding enters the room, nods at Dana, sits down, opens his briefcase and hauls out a laptop which he turns on.

Dana: And good morning to you, too. What have we here?

Fielding: I’m asking the questions today. But have a look here.

Fielding swings the laptop around towards Dana. She leans in to take a look.

Dana: What are all these numbers?

Fielding: Phone numbers – all to and from your brother’s cell phone. I need you to take a look and see if any are familiar to you, particularly that one (He points), which is repeated 12 times from Bast’s cell and eight times to Bast’s cell.

Dana: No, the number doesn’t sound familiar. Let me check my cell’s list of saved numbers…Nope. Is it a burner number?

Fielding: Probably.

Dana: Oh come on, Fielding.

Fielding: Very well, yes a burner phone. Our IT is working on it. Now please check through the remaining numbers.

Dana: Fine. Oh, this one looks familiar. Just a sec and I’ll check my phone list. Aunt Doris? Her cell phone. What was Bast doing calling her and I see she called him back – six times. Fielding, what is going on? You’re not insinuating Aunt Doris had something to do with Bast’s disappearance? She and Bast aren’t best buds but Aunt Doris is old school and committing crime is not her style.

Fielding: Understood. We have contacted her and…

Dana: And you didn’t think to let me know?

Fielding: At first she had nothing to say – she hadn’t heard from Bast. We called her on her land line by the way. Then she called back and said she couldn’t find her cell phone. That was timed with when the calls to and from her cell number started.

Dana: Again, I repeat…you didn’t think to tell me?

Fielding: I’m telling you now.

Dana: Yeah, but those calls started two weeks ago. When did you actually talk to her?

Fielding: A number of times. Right after Bast disappeared and then one of my detectives called her back about once a week to check in.

Dana: And you used her land line for all these calls.

Fielding: No, we used both, but only the land line two weeks ago because her cell had no room in her voice mail.

Dana: I’m still not getting why you didn’t tell me this before. Fielding? Fielding, there is something else you are not telling me.

Fielding: D…D…Dana, your Aunt Doris has also disappeared.

Cheers.

Sharon A. Crawford

You can read more about the characters and their stories in 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. Spread the word.

See Sharon A.’s Upcoming Gigs, workshops, guest blog posts, etc. at http://www.samcraw.com/Articles/BeyondtheTrippingPoint.html  

 
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Posted by on January 16, 2014 in Beyond the Tripping Point, Plot and Characters, Sharon A. Crawford, Short Story Collection, Writing

 

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Fiction Character Interviewing Fiction Character – Part 30 – Oliver

09 Jan

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

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

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes            – Marcel Proust

Dana Bowman, one-half of the Attic Investigative Agency’s PIs has been getting nowhere fast trying to find her business partner and fraternal twin Bast Overture who disappeared on Halloween. In particular the police have been giving her the run around. Today she talks to PC Joseph Oliver, the head of Cooks Regional Police Records Bureau. Oliver has helped her in the past with information, particularly in the short stories “Gone Missing” and “Saving Grace” from Beyond the Tripping Point by Sharon A. Crawford (Blue Denim Press, October 2012).

P.C. Joseph Oliver sits kitty-corner from Dana Bowman at the head of the table in Thurston Public Library’s boardroom.

Oliver: First, Dana, I want to again say I’m sorry about your brother disappearing. If there’s anything I can do to help…

Dana: Yes, thanks. And there is something you can do. I’m not getting much info from Fielding and Detective Larry Hutchinson who was the lead homicide detective in Susan Stuart’s murder (“Missing in Action” Beyond the Tripping Point), is now avoiding my calls.

Oliver: I understand how frustrating it must be.

Dana: Okay, if you understand, don’t you agree that as Bast’s twin sister and his partner I should be given updates on the investigation.

Oliver: Agreed, but you know the police can’t tell all in their investigation.

Dana: Oh, come on, Oliver. Considering our history and particularly your history with Bast when he was a crime reporter, I thought you at least would help.

Oliver: All right. I can reveal a bit but you didn’t hear it from me.

Dana: My lips are sealed.

Oliver: We have been tracing your brother’s financial records, including credit card use, and cell phone use. As you know, his cell phone disappeared with him.

Dana:  And?

Oliver: Well, someone has been using his credit card since Halloween with the last entry so far yesterday as well as ATM hits on his personal banking account. His cell phone, however, has not been used, at least we can find no record of that and our IT experts have been on it since Day 1.

Dana: I see. And what and where from are credit card entries showing?

Oliver: Well…

Dana: Come on Oliver. I have a right to know.

Oliver: Very well, without going into a lot of detail – they seem to be from Toronto and Barrie.

Dana: Where in Toronto and Barrie?

Oliver: Hmm. Well without going into specifics, mainly department stores, sports stores, computer stores and a few fast food places.

Dana: Oliver, Oliver, you need to be more specific.

Oliver: Very well, The Bay – both in Toronto and Barrie, McDonald’s and Timmy’s –again in both cities, IT Etc. in Toronto, and Sports Unlimited in Barrie.

Dana: What is this person buying?

Oliver: Sorry, that I can’t tell you. The fast food places should be obvious and I can tell you that at the IT store one item was a burner cell phone.

Dana: Damn. So, you can’t trace the calls.

Oliver: No.

Dana: What about a laptop or iPad? Bast’s laptop and iPad weren’t stolen. In fact his iPad was left in the boardroom.

Oliver: Can’t say right now.

Dana glares at Oliver: Well, PC Joseph Oliver, what can you say? Can you tell if it is a man or a woman who is using Bast’s credit card?

Oliver: Er…not at this point.

Dana: What about those ATM hits? Surely their surveillance would show something.

Oliver taps his fingers on the table, nods his head, and seems to come to a decision: All right, Dana, I can tell you this much as we would be contacting you about it shortly anyway. All the ATMs are from banks, not the same branch or even the same bank. But the person wears a hoodie and sunglasses and is bending down in most of the photos so we don’t get a clear photo of the face. But there are photos of the person walking away so we can see the build…

Dana: Man or woman?

Oliver: Can’t tell. But we were planning on letting you view the photos to see if perhaps you had any idea – from the build or even what is seen of the face – who it could be.

Dana: And you were going to do this when?

Oliver: IT is still trying to get more info with the photo, so then.

Dana: Can you give me a date and time?

Oliver: A couple of days. Fielding will get back to you.

Dana: Thanks. One more question. Is Fielding doing anything about that abstract painting on the far wall. You do know the info about it?

Oliver: Yes, I do. And Fielding is looking into it. And that’s all I can say about that for now.

Dana: Fine. Just make sure he or you get back to me on it.

Oliver nods: And I’ll call you in a day or so to get you to come in to look at the surveillance tapes.

Dana: Fine.

Oliver gets up, nods at Dana: Take care, Dana. We’ll find your brother.

After Oliver leaves, Dana holds her head in her hands.

Dana: Why didn’t they get back to me with the ATM surveillance tapes sooner? And Oliver didn’t give me any timeline for that. Guess I’ll have to speak to Lilly Clark (from “Unfinished Business” in Beyond the Tripping Point) as she lived in both Barrie and Toronto. I’ll have to check Bast’s interview notes with her first. At least they didn’t disappear.

You can read more about the characters and their stories in 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. Spread the word.

See Sharon A.’s Upcoming Gigs, workshops, guest blog posts, etc. at http://www.samcraw.com/Articles/BeyondtheTrippingPoint.html  

 
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Posted by on January 9, 2014 in Beyond the Tripping Point, Credible Fiction Characters, Interviewing fictional characters, Plot and Characters, Sharon A. Crawford, Writing

 

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Fiction Character Interviewing Fiction Character – Part 28 – David

26 Dec

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

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

The story…must be a conflict, and specifically, a conflict between the forces of good and evil within a single person.

 

– Maxwell Anderson

Bast Overture is still missing. His fraternal twin and PI partner Dana Bowman is determined to find him. She has decided to interview everyone Bast interviewed from some of the short stories in Beyond the Tripping Point by Sharon A. Crawford (Blue Denim Press, Oct. 2012).

Dana has spent a horrible Christmas Day in the dark – widespread power outages caused by an ice storm hit southern Ontario early morning December 22. Thurston, Ontario just north of Toronto where Dana and her son David live got hit and power wasn’t restored there until 8 p.m. Christmas Day. She and David also spent a bleak Christmas without her fraternal twin, Bast Overture who has been missing since Halloween.

Today, Boxing Day, she is back in the library boardroom. After David drew a dark picture of the inside of the room and Bast’s head – drawn kid style but she can’t mistake the red hair and beard – in that abstract picture on the wall, and David’s continual pointing at the picture, Dana has no choice. She calls her friend, Sara, the head librarian, and Sara lets them into the boardroom, where they now sit.

Dana: David, I wish you could tell me what you mean by that picture.

David continues to point at his drawing and then at the abstract on the far wall.

Dana: I can see anything but the abstract – the lines, squares, colours. Nothing. What do you mean?

David continues pointing at his picture and the abstract. Dana looks back and forth between the two.

Dana: David, I can’t see anything on the painting on the wall. What do you see?

David starts nodding his head frantically and pointing back and forth.

Dana: Still nothing.

David grabs Dana’s hand and lifts it up so her fingers are pointing forward towards the painting on the wall.

Dana, shaking her head and looking straight ahead, then down at David’s painting: Still nothing, son. Sorry.

The lights suddenly go out.

Dana: Shit, not again. Sorry David.

Dana feels David gripping her hand harder. She looks up and across at the painting.

The abstract painting lights up in the dark and Bast’s face suddenly appears to be coming from the painting.

Dana:  Bast? Is that you? Are you there?

The lights come back on. Dana continues to look at the painting on the far wall. It is only an abstract.

Happy New Year to all and hope 2014 is much better for all than crappy 2013 was and is.

Cheers.

Sharon A. Crawford

You can read more about the characters and their stories 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://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/ebook/beyond-the-tripping-point or go to any bricks and mortar store and order in a print copy. Spread the word.

 
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Posted by on December 26, 2013 in Beyond the Tripping Point, Credible Fiction Characters, Sharon A. Crawford

 

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Interview of Fiction Character by Fiction Character – Part 27 – Robbie

19 Dec

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

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

I try to leave out the parts that people skip.

–           Elmore Leonard

Bast Overture is still missing. His fraternal twin and PI partner Dana Bowman is determined to find him. She has decided to interview everyone Bast interviewed from some of the short stories in Beyond the Tripping Point by Sharon A. Crawford (Blue Denim Press, Oct. 2012). Last week she talked to Todd, Chrissie’s somewhat mysterious co-worker in “Missing in Action.” Dana is still trying to get another interview with Detective Larry Hutchison but he is still not returning her calls. However, she has tracked down Chrissie’s elusive cousin Robbie Stewart and today she will be talking to him – if he bothers to show up.

Dana taps her fingers on the boardroom table and glances at her digital watch for at least the tenth time. Robbie Stewart is 15 minutes late but what did she expect of a guy who disappears regularly and shows up only when someone in the family dies. She stares at the abstract painting at the end of the room. Yet again, she wonders what everyone else seems to be seeing there and for some reason she can’t see. Maybe she’ll have to bring David back in – although she hesitates to do so considering all he’s been through. But children can often see things grownups can’t.

Dana muttering to herself: Come on Robbie. The sooner you get here the sooner we get the interview done.

Robbie (from behind Dana): I’m here. Sorry, had transportation problems with the GO.

Dana (swinging around). Robbie, you startled me. Thanks for coming. Yeah, this is Thurston, not Toronto but you know there is that new bus transit system for the area. You don’t need to take the GO.

Robbie shrugs: Whatever. So, what did you want with me?

Dana: As you know my fraternal twin and business partner, Bast Overture has disappeared and…

Robbie: What’s that got to do with me?

Dana: Well, for starters, just before he vanished he was interviewing the characters from “Missing in Action” and that includes you.

Robbie: Yeah, but I wasn’t the last one he talked to. That would be that detective, what’s his name – Hutch something or other.

Dana: Detective Hutchinson. And I’ve already talked to him.

Robbie: So, what do you need me for? Nothing.

Robbie turns to go. Dana grabs his arm.

Dana:  Not so fast. Sit down, Robbie. You just might know something you don’t know you know that can help.

Robbie: Fine. But get your paws off me.

Dana complies and Robbie sits down on the right side of the table, three chairs down from Dana’s end.

Dana: Thank you. Now Robbie, you were close to your cousin Chrissie when you two were growing up. But then you did your own disappearing act somewhere in your late teens. Why was that?

Robbie: You know damn well why. My father left my mother, my little sister Susie and me and ran away with his secretary.

Dana: How did that make you feel?

Robbie shrugs his shoulder: What do you think. Abandoned, betrayed.

Dana: Yes, but you still had your mother and sister Susie and of course, Chrissie.

Robbie: Not now. Some of those people are now dead.

Dana: Did you ever try to find your father?

Robbie: Didn’t have to. The old buzzard showed up back in Toronto.

Dana: But then he died too.

Robbie: Good for him.

Dana: Did you see him before he died?

Robbie: Why would I want to?

Dana: I repeat – did you see him before he died?

Robbie: No.

Dana: What about your sister Susie?

Robbie: What about Susie?

Dana: Did she see your dad before he died?

Robbie shrugs his shoulders.

Dana: Come on. Don’t play stupid with me. I know you and Susie re-connected before Chrissie found out. Why did you send Chrissie that cryptic email?

Robbie: Because I wanted her to know that none of us still living in this family were safe.

Dana: Not safe from what?

Robbie:  Read the damn story.

Dana: I have.

Robbie: Well?

Dana: Tell me about your sister Susie.

Robbie: She was my younger sister. I missed her. What do you want me to say?

Dana: Just the truth. How long before you emailed Chrissie did you re-connect with Susie and what did you two talk about?

Robbie: None of your damn business. This was all before your brother disappeared. Take it from one who knows about this disappearing business. Maybe your brother wanted to disappear and just did it all by himself.

Dana: I don’t think so. I know my brother better than you do and Bast and I were close. He would tell me if for some reason he had to “disappear.”

Robbie: Suit yourself, but it’s something to consider.

Dana pointing to the end of the room: What do you know about that painting on the wall down there?

Robbie: Painting? Looks like an abstract to me. Never seen it before. What does it have to do with me or even your brother?

Dana: That’s what I’m trying to find out. I don’t see anything odd about it, but everyone else whom I’ve talked to has seen something in it and runs out the door.

Robbie: Not me. It’s a painting. Still. An abstract. It’s not going anywhere. It’s not vibrating. Nothing happening there.

Dana: I find that surprising; I mean you do write novels so do use your imagination.

Robbie: Well, my imagination on that painting is zilch. Is there anything else? Because if not, I’m out of here.

Dana: That’s all for now. But I may call you back.

Robbie: Whatever.

Robbie stands up and leaves. Dana is left staring at the painting and scratching her head. She has about made up her mind to bring David back in here. But Christmas is almost here, so she wants to spend a normal Christmas with her son – and not here in this boardroom.

Cheers and Merry Christmas.

Sharon A. Crawford

You can read more about the characters and their stories in 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. Spread the word.

See Sharon A.’s Upcoming Gigs, workshops, guest blog posts, etc. at http://www.samcraw.com/Articles/BeyondtheTrippingPoint.html  

 
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Posted by on December 19, 2013 in Beyond the Tripping Point, Credible Fiction Characters, Interviewing fictional characters, Sharon A. Crawford, Uncategorized, Writing

 

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Interview of Fiction Character by Fiction Character – Part 26 – Todd

12 Dec

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

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

Nothing so fretful, so despicable as a Scribbler, see what I am, & what a parcel of Scoundrels I have brought about my ears, & what language I have been obliged to treat them with to deal with them in their own way – all this comes of Authorship.

– George Gordon, Lord Byron

Bast Overture is still missing. His fraternal twin Dana Bowman is determined to find him. She has decided to interview everyone Bast interviewed from some of the short stories in Beyond the Tripping Point by Sharon A. Crawford (Blue Denim Press, Oct. 2012). Last week she talked to Chrissie, the main character in “Missing in Action” and we know how well that went. She had planned to interview Detective Larry Hutchinson again but he isn’t returning her calls. So, today she is talking to Todd, Chrissie’s co-worker at the Ontario Government.

Dana sits in the Thurston library boardroom. She is staring at the abstract painting on the far wall and shaking her head.

Dana: I just don’t get it.

Todd: What?

Dana swings around: Sorry, I didn’t hear you come in. You must be Todd.

Todd: That’s correct. Chrissie emailed that you wanted to see me.

Dana: Yes, and as she might have told you or perhaps you found out through the media, my fraternal twin brother Bast Overture disappeared from this room right after interviewing Detective Larry Hutchinson.

Todd: So, what does that have to do with me? I wasn’t here then.

Dana: True. But Bast did interview you before and you are involved with the sequence of events in “Missing in Action.”

Todd: Well I work with Chrissie and I could see she was upset.

Dana: So you started following her around and…

Todd: Who told you this?

Dana: Todd, I’m not stupid. I’ve read Sharon A. Crawford’s story “Missing in Action” so I know exactly what you did and didn’t do. (She glares at him). Do we understand each other?

Todd: Yes, but…

Dana: No “buts,” or “ifs” or “ands” either. Just honest communication. I’m not here to get you into anymore shall we say difficulties, unless you had something to do with my brother’s disappearance.

Todd: I don’t know anything about your brother’s disappearance. He was fine when he interviewed me and still here when I left.

Dana: I know that, if for no other reason than he interviewed Detective Hutchinson after you.

Todd: Then why don’t you speak to him again?

Dana: Oh, I will. But now I’m speaking with you and I’d like some co-operation. Now, to answer my question – you started to follow Chrissie around right after she got that cryptic email alleged to be coming from her long lost cousin Robbie Stuart.

Todd: Who isn’t lost anymore as you probably know from reading the story. Why don’t you talk to him?

Dana: I will, but today, right now I’m talking to you, so answer my question.

Todd: Yes, I was following Chrissie. Like I said…

Dana: Oh screw, what you said. You had another reason besides Chrissie’s welfare. Never mind that now. Remember I read the story too. What I want to know is this: are you still following her around?

Todd: No. Should I be?

Dana: I wouldn’t know that. Okay, let’s go to something else. (She turns to look at the far wall and points to the abstract painting). What can you tell me about that painting on the wall?

Todd: What painting?

Dana: Oh come on, Todd, don’t be dense. The abstract painting on the far wall – look straight ahead where I’m pointing.

Todd: I just see a bare wall.

Dana. Christ. Okay, Todd, we’re going to take a little walk to the end of this room and look at the wall.

Dana and Todd get up and walk to the wall. Todd shrugs his shoulders.

Dana (pointing to the painting): Now Todd, tell me what you see.

Todd: A blank light green wall. No painting. Sorry.

Dana: Oh for Christ’s sake. Chrissie saw it; even Detective Hutchinson saw it. It scared Chrissie right out of this room. Didn’t she tell you that?

Todd: No. We’re not speaking.

Dana: That must be fun. I mean with the two of you working together.

Todd: I’ve been moved to a different office, different section.

Dana: I see.

Todd: Just until I’m cleared. I still have a job. I didn’t want to upset Chrissie.

Dana: That’s rich. You already upset her a lot.

Todd: Look. You don’t understand. I cared…care for Chrissie.

Dana: That must be awkward with all that’s happened.

Todd shrugs his shoulders: So, you can’t help who you care for.

Dana: I agree. Now one more question…for now. When following Chrissie around, what was she doing?

Todd: I said I wasn’t following her around now…

Dana: Todd, the truth.

Todd: Oh all right. I keep an eye on her – for her own safety. She’s been doing nothing out of the ordinary – going to work and returning home. Visiting her cousin Robbie – a lot of that recently. Going out to dinner – with Robbie and girlfriends. Not much else.

Dana: You must be watching her almost 24/7. Has she noticed?

Todd: That’s two questions. And enough. I have to go.

Dana: Fine. But I may call on you again.

Todd: Whatever.

He gets up and leaves the room. Dana gets up and walks back to the abstract painting. She runs her fingers lightly across it.

Dana: What the hell is it with you and why can’t I see it?

You can read more about the characters and their stories in 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. Spread the word.

See Sharon A.’s Upcoming Gigs, workshops, etc. at http://www.samcraw.com/Articles/BeyondtheTrippingPoint.html  

Cheers.

Sharon A. Crawford

 
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Posted by on December 12, 2013 in Beyond the Tripping Point, Credible Fiction Characters, Interviewing fictional characters, Plot and Characters, Sharon A. Crawford, Writing

 

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