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Interview of Fiction Character by Fiction Character – Part 20

24 Oct

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

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

You take people, you put them on a journey, you give them peril, you find out who they really are.

― Joss Whedon

Bast has found Chrissie’s elusive cousin Robbie from “Missing in Action” (Beyond the Tripping Point by Sharon A. Crawford, Blue Denim Press, 2012). So he tries to nail Robbie down about some situations.

Bast: Come on in Robbie. Glad you could make it.

Robbie: Do I have a choice?

Bast: What do you mean by that?

Robbie: Well, the police seem to be after me and you’re a PI so you’d probably tell them you found me. I mean you found my email.

Bast: Your cousin Chrissie had it so I got it from her. Not rocket science. Now why don’t you sit down and get comfortable.

Robbie shrugs as if in resignation and sits on a chair on the side, two down from where Bast sits at the head of the table.

Bast: Okay, let’s get started. You and Chrissie were once close until your father ran off with his secretary. How come you aren’t close anymore now?

Robbie: I dunno.

Bast: Let me rephrase. Why do you keep disappearing, and have done so since your father ran off with his secretary, and only come back for funerals and the like?

Robbie: I have a life elsewhere.

Bast: Okay, tell me about that life.

Robbie: Look I came back when I found out my sister Susie was having problems and when I heard some news of my father.

Bast: Okay, you’ve mentioned two separate things. Let’s deal with them one at a time. What is this life you have elsewhere?

Robbie remains silent.

Bast: Come on Robbie. You opened that book. Now read me some chapters.

Robbie shrugs: Fine. I live on the west coast and I’m not saying where and I work in the publishing industry. Don’t earn big bucks but I make a living.

Bast: That sounds like the newspaper business. Am I right and if so, which newspaper?

Robbie shrugs.

Bast starts Googling “Newspapers British Columbia and Robbie Stuart.” He gets a long list with the former but the only Robbie Stuart that pops up is connected to his dad’s disappearance.

Bast: Okay. Obviously you use a pseudonym. Care to tell me what?

Robbie: No, but my job is legit and you are right it is with a newspaper in BC. And that’s all I’ll say.

Bast: Very well. Let’s address the other situation you mentioned – you came back when you heard Susie was having some problems and there was more information about your dad. How did you know this?

Robbie: I phone Susie two or three times a year and this time she told me she was having problems with someone spying on her and she found out that Dad might be back in Toronto.

Bast: Did she say how she knew your dad was back in Toronto?

Robbie: Someone told her.

Bast: Who was that?

Robbie: Well…

Robbie looks up at the far wall as if driven there and starts to shudder.

Robbie: Okay. I won’t say any more.

Bast: What are you looking at? What do you see?

Robbie: Nothing. It’s just best that I say no more and leave.

Robbie gets up, nods at Bast and rushes out the door. Bast looks over at the far wall. He sees nothing but the wall and the abstract painting on it. He scratches his head.

Bast, muttering to himself: What the hell are they all seeing?

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.

Sharon A. Crawford continues to take Beyond the Tripping Point to several readings this month. Sharon A. reads with other East End Writers’ Group members at the group’s showcase presented by and at the S. Walter Stewart Branch of the Toronto Public Library. See Sharon A.’s Upcoming Gigs at http://www.samcraw.com/Articles/BeyondtheTrippingPoint.html

Cheers.

Sharon A. Crawford

 
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Posted by on October 24, 2013 in Beyond the Tripping Point, Interviewing fictional characters, Plot and Characters, Sharon A. Crawford, Writing

 

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Interview of Fiction Character by Fiction Character – Part 19

17 Oct

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

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

Writing gives you the illusion of control, and then you realize it’s just an illusion, that people are going to bring their own stuff into it.

–          David Sedaris, interview in Louisville Courier-Journal, June 5, 2005

Bast Overture interviews Todd, Chrissie’s co-worker at the Ontario Government. From “Missing in Action” one of 13 short stories in Beyond the Tripping Point by  Sharon A. Crawford (Blue Denim Press, October 2012)

Todd enters the room, nods at Bast and sits down.

Bast: Thanks for coming Todd.

Todd: Yeah. Why am I here?

Bast: I just want to know how you fit in with Chrissie.

Todd: We work in the same office at the Ontario Government.

Bast: Which ministry is that?

Todd: Natural Resources.

Bast: What do you and Chrissie do there?

Todd? Mainly reports. Chrissie got stuck with the beaver report this year. (He chuckles). Annual report of beaver activity in Ontario…interesting if you like that type of thing.

Bast: And you don’t. So, tell me, what is your relationship with Chrissie?

Todd: I said she is my co-worker.

Bast: Nothing else?

Todd (face turning red): Well, friend, I guess.

Bast: Don’t you sometimes wish it was more than just a co-worker and friend?

Todd: Well, no. It can’t be…I mean…

Bast: It can’t be? Care to explain.

Todd: I’m going to take the fifth amendment.

Bast: I’m not a cop, just a private investigator. And this is Canada, not the US.

Todd (looking down at the table): Whatever.

Bast: Let me rephrase the question. Do you have any connection with Chrissie outside of work and being her friend, of course. For example, her family?

Todd: Her family? She haw a cousin Susie and I met her once at our ministry’s Christmas party when Chrissie brought her along.

Bast: That’s it? Are you sure you didn’t check out Susie where she lived and saw someone else there?

Todd, (pounds the table and looks up): No way. You’re making all this up.

Bast: Am I? Todd, do me a favour. Look over at that far wall.

Todd: Look at the wall? Are you crazy or something?

Bast: Humour me.

Todd: Fine. (He looks over at the wall at the end of the room, then jerks in his chair as if something has startled him). No, you’re supposed to be dead. No…:

Bast: Whose supposed to be dead? Did you have anything to do with it?

Todd: Get away. (He places an arm across his face, stands up, almost knocking the chair over as he scrambles to get away. He runs out the door.)

Bast looks over at the far wall. He can’t see anything but a stagnant wall painted light green. An abstract picture hangs in the middle. He strokes his beard.

Bast: What the hell are Chrissie and Todd seeing?

Next week Bast will interview the elusive Robbie…if he can track him down.

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.

Sharon A. Crawford continues to take Beyond the Tripping Point to several readings this month. Sharon A. reads with other Crime Writers of Canada authors tonight (October 17) at the Brentwood Branch of the Toronto Public Library and October 19 where she hosts and reads at the monthly Saturday afternoon Murder and Mayhem at Du Café. For more info on October’s events go to http://www.samcraw.com/Articles/BeyondtheTrippingPoint.html

Cheers.

Sharon A. Crawford

 
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Posted by on October 17, 2013 in Beyond the Tripping Point, Blue Denim Press, 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 18

10 Oct

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

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

If you will practice being fictional for a while, you will understand that fictional characters are sometimes more real than people with bodies and heartbeats.

–          Richard Bach

Today Bast Overture interviews the main character, Chrissie, in “Missing in Action” from Beyond the Tripping Point (Blue Denim Press, 2012) by Sharon A. Crawford. Alert: another dysfunctional family but of the disappearing kind.

The door opens and Chrissie enters. He notices she seems pre-occupied with the far corner of the room.

Bast: Welcome, Chrissie. (He shakes her hand.) Please have a seat.

Chrissie: Oh hi. (She sits down to the right of Bast.)

Bast: Your family seems to be a little scattered…

Chrissie: What do you mean?

Bast: Let me finish. I’m referring to your Uncle Roger and Cousin Robbie – your uncle who ran off with another woman when you and Robbie were in your teens and Robbie who seems to stay out of sight until some important family function like a funeral comes up..

Chrissie: Well, what would you expect from Robbie? His dad deserted him.

Bast: However, his sister Susie stayed put.

Chrissie: True. But Susie was close to her mother, my Aunt Sheila, and Robbie was close to his father.

Bast: And which cousin are you close to?

Chrissie, looking over at a spot on the far wall.

Bast waving his arm in front of Chrissie: Earth to Chrissie. Which cousin are you close to?

Chrissie continues staring at the wall.

Bast: Whatever are you looking at?

Chrissie: Don’t you see her? Over there? (She points to the far wall.)

Bast: Who do you see?

Chrissie: You mean you can’t see anyone?

Bast: No. Only you and I are in this room.

Chrissie: No. No. If you can’t see her then we can’t communicate.

Bast: Fine. Then tell me who you see so I can at least look harder.

Chrissie (shrugging her shoulders): Never mind. You can’t see her, then you can’t see her. What was the question again?

Bast: Which cousin are you closer to – Susie or Robbie?

Chrissie: Both, but I guess Robbie until Uncle Roger ran away with his secretary; then Susie. I can’t do this. (She again focuses on the far wall).

Bast, following Chrissie’s eyes. He shrugs: You get a cryptic email in the beginning of the story which seems to affect you. Can you tell us how?

Chrissie: Huh? Oh, the email. I didn’t know if it was from Robbie or not. I mean he didn’t usually communicate by email. Just showed up at funerals and the like.

Bast: Like your Aunt Sheila’s funeral?

Chrissie: I don’t want to talk about that.

Bast: She died of cancer, right?

Chrissie: I said I don’t want to talk about this.

Bast: Why?

Chrissie: Because it’s all his fault?

Bast: Whose? Robbie’s?

Chrissie: No, Uncle Roger’s, for deserting his wife for his secretary. Did you know she wasn’t young and beautiful? She was old and ugly. How could he leave a beautiful loving caring wife for that piece of crap? Although the chemo and cancer took away all Aunt Sheila’s beauty. I hope Uncle Roger rots in hell. I hope… oh my God. She’s coming closer. What is it? No, I know he’s your dad but he did you wrong, too. He… Stop!

Chrissie pushes back her chair and rushes out of the room. Bast stares ahead but sees only the walls and the room’s furniture. He shrugs.

Bast: The whole situation must have affected Chrissie’s mind.

 Next week Bast interviews Todd, who may or may not be more than just Chrissie’s co-worker.

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://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. Next week Sharon A. has three readings: October 15 for the monthly Crime Writers of Canada Murder and Mayhem at the Annette St. Branch of the Toronto Public Library, October 17 at the Brentwood Branch and October 19 where she hosts and reads at the monthly Saturday afternoon Murder and Mayhem at Du Café. For more info on October’s events go to http://www.samcraw.com/Articles/BeyondtheTrippingPoint.html

Cheers.

Sharon A. Crawford

 
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Posted by on October 10, 2013 in Beyond the Tripping Point, Blue Denim Press, Fiction Characters, Interviewing fictional characters, Plot and Characters, Sharon A. Crawford, Short Story Collection

 

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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 Characters by Fiction Character – Part 16

26 Sep

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

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

Writing is a dog’s life, but the only life worth living.

–          Gustave Flaubert

Bast Overture takes on the hoity-toity Madame Honor Rita Lanscombe, her widowed sister-in-law Amelia and “their” dog, Brutus. II. These characters are some of the questionable clients of private investigator C.U. Fly in “The Couch,” one of 13 short stories in Sharon A. Crawford’s collection Beyond the Tripping Point (Blue Denim Press, October 2012). Bast gets more than his share of the unexpected when these three come through the doorway.

The door opens suddenly and a huge husky dog charges in, looks a Bast and begins growling.

Honor Rita: Down Brutus. (She grabs the dog’s collar). Sit. (Brutus sits but keeps a wary eye on Bast). Sorry, about that. He’s a bit rambunctious.

Amelia: So that’s what you call it when you claim he is your dog.

Honor Rita: Well, he is.

Amelia: No Brutus is mine and Karl’s.

Honor Rita (turning up her nose): Karl is dead so I don’t think he has a say in the matter.

Amelia: How dare you? I’ve just lost my husband and you dishonour him.

Honor Rita: Well, he did lose…

Bast (raising his hands): Ladies, please. Let’s keep this civil.

Brutus, baring his teeth: Woof. Woof. Growl. Growl.

Bast: You, too, Brutus. Pipe down.

Honor Rita: Where’s C.U.? I thought this was a session with our Private Investigator.

Bast: C.U. will be here next week…alone. I told you over the phone that I’m another PI and…

Amelia: We don’t want to change PIs.

Bast: I realize that. I just want to try to understand some of your shenanigans in “The Couch.”

At the word “couch” Brutus gets up and starts prowling around the room as if looking for a long-lost friend.

Honor Rita: Now you’ve done it. He’ll keep circling around looking for that damn couch. It’s his favourite you know.

Bast: Why? So he can chew on it. I understand he wore out a patch on one of the arms of the couch.

Amelia: So what? That’s what dogs do? Where is the couch anyway?

Bast: You’ll have to ask C.U. or Annie Everglades. As you can see it’s not here. Now ladies…and er, doggie, I have a question about your association with C.U. Fly.

Honor Rita: That’s client confidentiality. You as a private eye should know that.

Bast: True, but that’s not what I meant. I’m just wondering how you came to hire C.U. in the first place.

Honor Rita: C.U. Fly was recommended by one of my friends. She hired C.U. for something shall we say discreet and it was kept discreet. We don’t even know what it was.

Amelia: Oh for goodness sake sister-in-law. Her husband was cheating on her and she wanted to catch him and the other woman in the act.

Bast: Ladies. Okay, okay. I know that wasn’t your business with C.U. But without going into details about what, I understand the two of you ended hiring C.U. on a long-term basis.

Brutus: Woof. Woof.

Bast: And you, too Brutus, for dog-sitting I believe

Amelia: Hey, client confidentiality.

Honor Rita: She’s right. I think we better leave.

The ladies get up. Brutus gives a final growl at Bast and follows the ladies out the door. Bast scratches his head.

Bast: What was that all about?

You can read more about Honor Rita, Amelia, Brutus II 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 this Saturday, Sept. 28. For more information on this event go to http://www.samcraw.com/Articles/BeyondtheTrippingPoint.html October events will be up there shortly. But meantime go to the Crime Writers Association of Canada website http://crimewriterscanada.com/eventsnews/authorevents/month.calendar/2013/10/26/-and check their calendar of events for October. Some are posted there

Next week Bast interviews C.U. Fly.

Cheers.

Sharon A.Crawford

 
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Posted by on September 26, 2013 in Beyond the Tripping Point, Blue Denim Press, Fiction Characters, Interviewing fictional characters, Sharon A. Crawford, Short Story Collection, 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 Fiction Character by Fiction Character – Part 12

29 Aug

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

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

The role of the writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say.

Anaïs Nin

For the next two interviews Bast Overture, crime reporter-turned PI talks to the mother and daughter in an unsettling family situation in the short story “Unfinished Business” (from Beyond the Tripping Point, Blue Denim Press, 2012). The daughter, Trish Clark (no relation to the crazy Clarkes from the last four interviews), is 12 and curious about her mother’s background forcing her mother to face her past. Today, Bast speaks with Trish.

Trish enters the room carrying a pile of newspapers, which she places on the table. She nods at Bast, and with a comment “Have to get these ready for delivery” she hauls out a small knife and cuts the binding holding the papers together. She pulls out a small notepad from her other pocket and starts ticking off items on it.

Bast, clearing his throat: I heard you were very industrious with your paper delivery. Which newspaper is that?

Trish (looking up): The Barrie Advocate. I deliver papers throughout the north end of Barrie.

Bast: How long have you lived in Barrie?

Trish: About three years.

Bast: Where did you live before?

Trish: All over North America, sort of.

Bast: Can you be more specific?

Trish: Fine. I was born in Seattle, but Mom and I lived in Montreal, Miami, LA, Calgary, and now Barrie, Ontario.

Bast: Travelled around a lot, I see. Why is that?

Trish: At first I thought Mom was just restless and needed a change of scenery. But as I got older – I’m 12 now – (She smiles as if she’s hit a milestone) and looking back it was more than that. You see in every place we lived there was a man involved with Mom. Sometimes we lived with him and sometimes not.

Bast: I see. Did any of the men mistreat you or your Mom?

Trish: I think some took advantage of Mom. Mom is fragile. And I suppose I got mistreated by Harry in Miami. (Trish lowers her voice). He pushed snow – and I don’t mean the white wet fluffy winter stuff – up my nose. Well, that got to Mother and she moved us out of there fast. You won’t tell her I told you this? Please.

Bast: Of course not.  I’m just curious why Barrie?

Trish: To be honest with you I think Mom got homesick but she didn’t really want to go back to her exact home until I pushed her to do so.

Bast: Why was this?

Trish: I wanted to know more about my background. She had already told me about the dirt-bag who was my biological father but Mom came from somewhere and I wanted to know if I had aunts and uncles and grandparents on her side.

Bast: So you goaded her back to Toronto?

Trish: Yes.

Bast: Do you think she would have gone back on her own?

Trish: I don’t know. She told me afterwards that she had tried once. She went down with a girlfriend but hid down on the car floor. She couldn’t look up at the place.

Bast: I understand you had something of a wild ride into your Mom’s old neighbourhood.

Trish: Not really. Mom was driving a bit fast but I stopped her in time before she hit anything.

Bast: So, what did you think of your mother’s family home?

Trish: It’s an old bungalow. Now prime real estate…

Bast: And you know this how?

Trish: Hey I deliver the newspapers and I read the ads, including the real estate ones – well for Toronto I checked with one of the Toronto dailies online.

Bast: So, without giving away what happens at your mother’s old place, did you find it surprising or?

Trish: Not so surprising as somewhat unexpected. I knew there was something terrible in Mom’s background but I didn’t know it was that.

Bast: And when “that” showed up and came after…

Trish: I thought you said you weren’t going to give away anything that happens?

Bast: Correct. Okay, I guess readers will just have to read “Unfinished Business” in Beyond the Tripping Point. And stay tuned next post when I talk to your mother, Lilly Clark.

Trish: If she’ll come. She’s shying away from the interview but I’ll have a talk with her and tell her she has to do it. It’s part of her healing process.

Bast: Thanks, Trish. And thanks for coming today.

Trish: No problem.

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 August 29, 2013 in Beyond the Tripping Point, Interviewing fictional characters, Plot and Characters, Sharon A. Crawford, Short Story Collection, Writing

 

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Interview of Fictional Character by Fictional Character Part 11

22 Aug

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 the Crime Reporter turned PI interviews the last of the main characters in “For the Love of Wills.” William Clarke Jr. is a lawyer and like the general take on most lawyers he is cagey. However, William Jr. may be hiding more than most lawyers. Bast has his work cut out for him. “For the Love of Wills” is one of 13 stories in my mystery collection Beyond the Tripping Point (Blue Denim Press, 2012).

Bast sits at the table, twiddling his thumbs as he waits for his interviewee to show up. He starts rereading his questions when William Clarke Jr. enters the room.

William Jr.: Sorry, Mr. Overture, I was delayed with a client. Nice to meet you. (He extends his hand.)

Bast (standing up and shaking William Jr.’s hand): That’s okay. Take a seat and we can get started so you can get back to your valuable clients.

William Jr.: Okay, point taken.

Bast: You are the eldest child – for want of a better word – of a shall we say eccentric couple. How was it growing up with Heidi and William Sr. as parents?

William Jr.: Interesting. Never a dull moment.

Bast: Were you close to your sister Clara when growing up?

William Jr.: Until I got into my teens. Clara is four years younger than I. And to answer your other question a bit fuller. Clara and I were always getting into shall we say scrapes, often instigated by one of Mother’s weird ideas. Dad was sort of the calming factor.

Bast: Hm. What were some of these scrapes?

William Jr. (chuckling): Well, there used to be a tree house in the backyard. It’s long gone now. Clara and I used to hide up there when Mother got a little loud and unreasonable about what she wanted us to do or not do. Mother and Dad never caught on about this until one day – I was about 10 and so Clara would have been six – we stayed up there all night. Mother and Dad couldn’t find us and called in the police. They looked all over the neighbourhood and didn’t find us until Clara got the bright idea to throw rocks down into the yard. You should’ve seen their faces when they looked up. (William chuckles again.)

Bast: Was this how you got the idea to try to hide things from the police in “For the Love of Wills?”

William Jr.: What do you mean? I answered their questions.

Bast: True. But you insisted on talking to your father away from the police and you and Clara had a whispered conference away from that constable who was supposed to be keeping an eye on you.

William Jr.: Now wait a minute, Mr. Reporter…

Bast: I’m a PI now.

William Jr.: Well then, Mr. PI. Speaking to my dad was lawyer-client privilege so no cops should be present and well, Clara and I had to compare notes. Anyway that cop watching us wasn’t exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer.

Bast: Interesting that you use that analogy as the murder weapon in “For the Love of Wills” isn’t a knife but a…

William Jr.: Now, let’s not give the plot away.

(A commotion is heard just outside the door and Heidi Anastasia Clarke charges into the room).

Heidi: William, my good lawyer son. Your father, my poor Will needs your help. He’s got himself into a devil of a situation.

William Jr.: Now calm down Mother. Let’s go outside and talk. (He turns to Bast). That’s about it, Mr. PI. Duty and family call.

William smirks and leads his mother outside the room.

Bast shakes his head and mutters something about having enough of the Clarke family.

Stay tuned for next week when Bast goes into a most unsettling family problem and interviews the 12-year-old daughter from “Unfinished Business.”

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 22, 2013 in Beyond the Tripping Point, Interviewing fictional characters, Plot and Characters, Sharon A. Crawford, Short Story Collection

 

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