Teaser Tuesday :: The Mummer's Masque

An early glimpse at the beginning of The Mummer's Masque, my current work in progess, a mystery/suspense novel I've been working on in the background of working on the Howard Carter novel.

I usually have more than one story going at a time. It's still a bit rough, but I wanted to share...

-Scott

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One

It was October and it was raining, which was right and proper for Seattle.  AJ MacLeod was wearing handcuffs and riding in the back of a police car, which was not.  He was also apparently dead -- at least as far as the Seattle press was concerned -- but that was easily remedied by demonstrating to the nearest doctor that he had a pulse.

The handcuffs might be a bit trickier.

Twenty minutes ago, he was in a school library interviewing a potential student for the MacLeod Academy, where he was headmaster, when the vice principal busted in and accused him of being an imposter.  MacLeod had a bad habit of losing his wallet and keys anyway, so he had very little to proof to counter a news anchor that insisted he was dead in the street on Queen Anne.

Anger. Shouting. Handcuffs. Cops.

It was probably just as well he had chosen to be an academic instead of going into the family business. He would have made a lousy smuggler and a worse embezzler.

As they waited their turn on the entrance ramp for Interstate 5, a man standing on the corner smiled at him and waved.  The man held a sign that simply said “Calm Down” and people were stopping to hand him money even though the sign didn’t ask for any.  MacLeod thought the advice was probably worth a couple of bucks too, but he doubted the detectives would allow him to roll the window down.

He didn’t have any cash on him anyway.

“So, aside from looking for new ways to make my life miserable, why is the Seattle press so sure that I’m dead?” 

Long Is the way and hard that out of hell leads up to light...

One of the tricks illustrators sometimes use is to draw upside-down because it forces them to view objects differently, a pattern of object and void. I'm posting snippets of the novel I'm editing here for much the same reason. By selecting out tidbits, it forces me to look at them devoid of their surrounding context, focusing my attention on the writing... it's an interesting exercise if you've never tried it. This is what it looks like in the rough draft... ----- The footsteps entered the hall outside as he kicked the closet door shut. They were no longer interested in stealth. They were coming for him. Voices called out commands and responses as he lay wracked by pain just beyond the louvered closet door from them. Booted feet squeaked on the hardwood as they searched for him, room by room drawing ever closer to his hiding place. He used the ties hanging on the wall rack to pull himself upright. His fingernails looked black in the slanted light coming through the door as he scrabbled for the coat-hook hidden behind the hanging suits. The hook spun and clicked and he fell through the secret door into the space beyond. Down the spiral stairs he tumbled, aware that he had made a racket, aware that the men would hear it and come after him. The envelope led the way, held out before him like a talisman as he lurched across the stone floor and up a set of steep concrete steps. The heavy cellar door resisted but he would not be balked, drawn upwards and out by the cold night air. The frigid whip of the rain against his face revived him somewhat and he was able to stumble down the driveway to the street. He leaned against the light pole, trying to catch his breath. His chest felt as though something wild had been caged within and was clawing its way out. Behind him, the shout went up. No more time. He staggered out into the street. His eyes fixed on his destination -- on the innocuous blue box sitting atop the opposite curb. The stylized eagle of the US Postal Service winked at him. His failing sight narrowed to a darkening tunnel at the end of which the mail slot beckoned. He had to reach the handle. Get the envelope in that box before they… “MacLeod!” He spun around, searching with failing eyes for the source of the voice. He stumbled and fell. He could barely feel the bite of the pavement on his palms and knees. Blinding light seared his eyes. His heart shuddered… paused… beat again… Tires screeched. The pain was excruciating, but only for a moment.

A Clear Morning's Cold Dawning... ('Mummer's Masque' snippet)

Chapter One
Seattle, WA

The second week of October brought an unexpected arctic front down from Canada and with it the first frost of the season. Leaves and pine needles scattered before it, bowing and swirling like courtiers in the wake of a courtesan. The residents of Washington State hunkered in front of their fireplaces and woodstoves and waited it out, knowing that the cold couldn’t last. Even with the onset of global climate shifts, their state still had only two seasons: rainy and not; the cold snap was an aberration.

The breeze shredded the column of steam rising from AJ MacLeod’s coffee mug as he stepped out of the Mercedes. The bitter wind cut to the bone, reminding him of winters he had endured during college on the East Coast. He stemmed the memories by focusing on the cup in his hand. The warmth radiating into his palm balanced out the cold seeping into his knuckles from the outside. The sensation centered him, allowed him to shake off the dark memories that clamored at the gates…

Friday Randomness...

It's (almost) finished! The first draft of my second novel in the AJ MacLeod/Jordan Elias series is almost complete. It is tentatively titled The Mummer's Masque. Click the link to read a short synopsis/teaser for the new book from my website. I've been plugging away at it for about a year now, and it's in a stage of completion where I will be sending copies to my reading group soon. This is quite the milestone for me. Meanwhile, if you're an editor or agent who has yet to see it, look forward to seeing my letter of enquiry arrive in your inbox soon! --- This August, I will be attending the Pacific Northwest Writer's Conference which is hosted by my good friends at the Pacific Northwest Writers Association. The keynote address will be given by Terry Brooks, which is every geeky sci fi kid's dream come true. As you may or may not know, the first Fantasy book ever to appear on the New York Times Paperback Bestseller list was The Sword of Shannara. I look forward to hearing what he has to say.