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

14 Nov

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

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

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

– Anton Chekhov

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

David nods his head but continuous staring ahead.

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

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

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

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

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

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

David nods.

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

David nods again.

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

David nods.

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

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

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

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

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

David nods.

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

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

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

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

David nods his head up and down rapidly.

Dana: Okay.

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

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

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

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

Cheers.

Sharon A. Crawford

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

 

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Interview of Fiction Character by Fiction Character: Part 22

07 Nov

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

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

A story to me means a plot where there is some surprise. Because that is how life is – full of surprises.

–          Isaac Bashevis Singer

Dana Bowman is investigating the disappearance last week on Halloween of her fraternal twin, Bast Overture She starts with interviewing the last person Bast interviewed, Detective Larry Hutchinson from “Missing in Action” (Beyond the Tripping Point by Sharon A. Crawford, Blue Denim Press, 2012).

Dana sits in the boardroom of the local Thurston public library where Bast had been conducting his interviews of the characters in Beyond the Tripping Point. Although she can’t see anything amiss in the room, she now knows she should have followed her original instinct – hold the interviews in their Attic Investigative Agency office. For the third time she gets up and paces around the room, tapping on walls for hidden doors. But everything remains solid. As she returns to her seat at the head of the table, Detective Larry Hutchinson enters the room.

Dana: Thank you Detective for coming in. Please have a seat.

Hutchinson nods and sits down

Dana: You were the last person to see my brother, Bast, so I would like your help finding my brother. If you…

Hutchinson interrupts: I would like to but it is not my case.

Dana: I realize that, but it was only you and Bast in this room. So, if you could at least recap what you and Bast discussed.

Hutchinson: Sorry, you’ll have to talk to the officer in charge. Detective Donald Fielding.

Dana: I am well aware who is in charge and I will talk to him. But I repeat, Detective Hutchinson, I need you to recap what occurred here in this room on Halloween.

Hutchinson: We didn’t discuss much as it is police business.

Dana stands up and glares at Hutchinson: Detective, I am not stupid. However, my brother has disappeared and you were the last person to see him.

Hutchinson: Are you insinuating that I am responsible for your brother’s disappearance?

Dana: Of course not. But to put it in the police vernacular – anything you could tell me would be helpful – even the most minute detail.

Hutchinson: Hmm. Well, I can tell you that he was asking me questions about a certain murder investigation I conducted.

Dana: I see, and would that be the one where a certain character named Chrissie finds a dead body behind a church?

Hutchinson nods:

Dana: And what did you tell Bast?

Hutchinson: Just that we were looking at several suspects.

Dana: Including Chrissie’s cousin Robbie Stuart?

Hutchinson: Yes. Now look Ms Bowman, your brother recorded our interview. Why don’t you check with his tape recording?

Dana: I would if I could. But his tape recorder seems to have disappeared. Do you know anything about that?

Hutchinson screws up his face: What are you insinuating? That I’m covering up evidence? That I took his tape recorder?

Dana: No. I need to know if you saw his tape recorder just before you left the room.

Hutchinson: Yes.

Dana: Where was the recorder?

Hutchinson: On this table, right in front of where your brother sat – right in front of where you are sitting. And I know it was still there when I left, because I saw your brother hit the stop button as I stood up to leave.

Dana: Are you sure about that? I mean could you actually see what button he hit? It could have been “pause” for all you know.

Hutchinson stands up and scowls at Dana: Ms Bowman. Please listen, read my lips even. Your brother and his damn tape recorder were still in the room when I left. And all right, I couldn’t see exactly what button he hit. But he did hit a button on his tape recorder.

Dana: Okay, calm down Detective. One more question. Did you notice anything odd in this room?

Hutchinson: What do you mean by “odd?”

Any indication of someone else in the room…a knock or other noise on those windows over there. Did anyone come to the door?

Hutchinson. No, and no. It was just an interview – your brother was trying to get information that was police business only. So outside of his noseyness….

Dana: I see.

Hutchinson:  Do you. I suggest you talk to Detective Sergeant Fielding. I’m done here.

Hutchinson exits the room. Dana sits back and mulls that over. She really didn’t need another confrontation with Fielding. But she did seem to have some kind of a hold over him. Maybe…She looks up at the wall at the other end of the room. The abstract painting isn’t really her style. She pulls out her sketch pad and starts sketching Detective Hutchinson. She thinks he is holding something back, a lot of somethings.

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

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

Cheers.

Sharon A. Crawford

 
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Posted by on November 7, 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 21

31 Oct

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

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

We care what happens to people only in proportion as we know what people are.

–          Henry James

Today Bast interviews Detective Larry Hutchinson who investigates a murder in “Missing in Action,” from Sharon A. Crawford’s short story collection Beyond the Tripping Point (Blue Denim Press, 2012)

Bast: Detective Hutchinson. Glad you could make it. Have a seat.

Hutchinson: Thanks.

Hutchinson sits down on one side of the table. Bast sits at the head.

Bast: Now Detective, this case turns into quite a complex one. Could you elaborate a bit?

Hutchinson: As you know there was the murder behind the church on Bloor St. and police had a number of suspects for that.

Bast: Yes. Could you tell me why you went after Robbie Stuart first?

Hutchinson: He wasn’t the only one. Police were looking at a number of persons of interest.

Bast: Would you care to elaborate?

Hutchinson: I’m not at liberty to say too much – police business, you know. But I will say that Robbie Stuart did have the habit of disappearing a lot and conveniently shows up back in Toronto when the murder occurs. So police took a close look at him and went on the local media to ask the public to call 911or Crime Stoppers if they had seen him.

Bast: Who were these other persons of interest?

Hutchinson: I can’t say at this time. Police business, you know.

Bast: Weren’t you looking into the disappearance 13 years ago of Robbie’s father, Roger Stuart and his secretary whom he ran away with?

Hutchinson smiles: Perhaps.

Bast: Let me put it another way. Didn’t you find it more than just a coincidence that these other people suddenly showed up – one way or another around the time of the murder?

Hutchinson shrugs his shoulders.

Bast: Let me put it another way. Isn’t it true that police were already re-visiting the disappearance of Roger Stuart and his secretary before the murder took place?

Hutchinson: No comment. Police Business.

Bast: What happened to make police suddenly re-open this cold case? Was it because one of the principals had died?

Hutchinson: No comment. You’ll have to contact our PR Corporate Communications department for more information.

Bast: With a PR twist, no doubt. No, Detective Hutchinson. I need the details from the horse’s mouth and that is you.

Hutchinson stands up: I am not at liberty to tell you anymore as it could interfere with the police investigation. All I will say is that police are looking at all angles and all people concerned.

Bast: Including Chrissie, the cousin.

Hutchinson: I said all people concerned. Now, I have an investigation to conduct. It’s been a pleasure Mr. Overture.

Hutchinson shakes Bast’s hand and exits the boardroom.

Bast remains seating and shakes his head. He becomes aware of a noise at the other end of the room and looks up at the far wall. He sees what appears to be mist coming from the picture on the wall. The mist starts to take on the outline of a human, but Bast can’t tell who. He stands up.

Bast: Who are you? What do you want?

The misty form shoots towards him and a misty hand reaches out and grabs his arm. As Bast is pulled forward, inside his head he hears a soft, but angry voice.

Voice: How dare you and the others ignore me. I am important. I am the key to all of this.

Bast is sucked into the picture.

The room is now empty and quiet.

Stay tuned next week for more. Meantime…

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

See Sharon A.’s Upcoming Gigs at http://www.samcraw.com/Articles/BeyondtheTrippingPoint.html  The rest of November’s will be posted shortly.

Cheers.

Sharon A. Crawford

 
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Posted by on October 31, 2013 in Beyond the Tripping Point, Plot and Characters, Sharon A. Crawford, Writing

 

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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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