Six Sentence Sunday: When Fools Rush in...

From Large Target, Jo has found the kidnappers’ hideout. Now what?

I drove a few blocks and parked on a side street. I wasn't sure what to do next. Getting killed seemed like the next logical step. The lack of sleep was catching up to me. I took a deep breath and then someone tapped on the glass. I looked up and nearly hit my head on the mirror flinching backward.

A florid face with bristly white hair and a weeks' growth of beard appeared crouching outside my window.

Dozens of other writers share sentences on Sundays. For a good time in many genres check them out at Six Sunday. If you are a writer who wants to share a snippet of your own work, the simple instructions are on the site. It's free and fun and you can meet some great people!

Six Sunday -- out of the line of fire, into another danger zone

From Large Target, Jo escapes from an ambush scene where the kidnapper has shot one person and incinerated a car. She has guessed the kidnapper's identity and tricked his father, who knows nothing about the crime, into giving her directions to the kidnapper's workshop.

I heard sirens, and a fire truck raced past headed for the fire that had been Zane's car with an ambulance and a police car following soon after. I started to feel very conspicuous. I got back on Foothill Boulevard and began to follow the instructions my lie had earned me.

The old man hadn't been exaggerating about needing a bodyguard in that part of town. A small detachment of marines would have been appropriate. The warehouse sat at the end of a block that was occupied by a junkyard on one side and a dirt lot ringed by several deserted buildings on the other, chain-link fences featuring razor wire on top set the dominant motif in exterior trim.


This event lures dozens of writers to share sentences on Sundays, this weekend I saw 173 signed up to play. For a good time check them out at six Sunday

Six Sentence Sunday: The Perils of Ransom Delivery...

From Large Target on her way to deliver a ransom, Jo escapes from an ambush as the kidnapper pauses to pick up the the ransom contained in a backpack lying next to Zane's body. Jo has to crouch down to look under the spiderweb cracks in her windshield:

It wouldn't do to plow into a telephone pole and conveniently kill myself and save everyone else the trouble.

Half a mile away I was amazed to find that no one followed me and there was no other traffic on that deserted road that had once been Route 66. I drove into the small parking lot of a long defunct grocery store, slid the car out of view of the highway, and waited a few minutes until the van I recognized drove past. I wanted to follow it, but instead I turned back to where I had left Zane. I didn't want to do it but I couldn't help it, until I saw the car up ahead and it disappeared in a flash of light followed by the boom of an explosion and flames. That guy sure did like to blow up cars.

Dozens of other writers share sentences on Sundays --for good time in many genres check them out at six Sunday.

A Second Year of Six-Sentence Sundays--when the dominoes start to fall

I'm starting my second year of Six Sentence Sundays with something from the part of Large Target that I personally refer to as “when the dominoes start to fall.” I’ve never been able to outline, so it was a great revelation to me when I finally got to the last few chapters of my first mystery and realized that all the loose ends from earlier in the book started coming together in a fast and furious way. This is one of my favorite parts of novel writing because I'm often as surprised as anyone by what happens.

In this scene Jo is delivering ransom money for the admiral and one additional victim whom the kidnappers grabbed to raise the stakes.

The next thing I heard was a scream from in front of the car. I moved the door open farther to look, and caught a glimpse of Zane on the ground a few feet to the left of my front wheel, one hand still resting on the heavy backpack. The door jerked in my hand from the impact of another shot and the dashboard lights went out.

The motor was still running. I kept down but slid back behind the wheel, jammed the car into gear and gunned it, steering sharp right around where Zane lay with the heavy backpack and his parked car. I drove as fast as I could, half looking out the side window to steer and hunching down to look under the spiderweb crack on the windshield.


For more small doses of fun from dozens of other writers in many genres check them out at Six Sunday.

Six Sentence Sunday week 51 - What salted peanuts and six sentences have in common...

Wow, it’s been nearly a year that Six Sentence Sundays have inhabited my weekends! I've met many fine writers and learned a lot about different genres. These little snippets are highly addictive!

This weekend from Large Target, Jo is at the home of the missing admiral’s daughter when she finds out that the admiral’s daughter-in-law has turned down the kidnappers' demands, claiming that they don't have a million dollars or any way to raise it. His children agree that they don't.

"Colleen told them to call back tomorrow and put the admiral on the line, so we'd better figure out how much we can offer," Ivor said.

"Would the admiral's money be enough?" I asked.

Amy turned to me and asked, "Why don't you ask Mrs. Madrone?"

"How did you know I worked for Mrs. Madrone?"

She laughed a little wildly, then put her hand over her mouth."You just told me, Jo."

Dozens of other writers share sentences on Sundays--for good time in many genres check them out at Six Sunday.

Six sentence Sunday week 50 - sometimes it's hard to be a kidnapper

From Large Target, Jo is at the home of the missing admiral’s daughter when her husband, Ivor, reports that the kidnappers have called Colleen, the admiral’s daughter-in-law, with detailed demands about the million dollar ransom.

"She turned them down."

"What?" Amy was horrified.

Ivor shook his head and reached out for his beer bottle and upended it, without getting more than the dregs. "Colleen said we don't have the money," he concluded.

I was fascinated and had to ask, "Did Colleen make a counteroffer?"

For more fun in six-sentence snippets, check out the writers at six Sunday.

Six Sentence Sunday Week 49 - a shady demand

From Large Target, Jo Fuller and the missing admiral’s daughter, Amy, find a murder victim at the admiral's cottage. the local police arrive at the cottage and Amy’s husband soon shows up with their daughter. He looks dazed and holds a folded-up cardboard windshield screen of the kind that people put on the dashboard to keep their car seats from heating up in direct sun. Jo says hello:

“This was on the outside of the windshield, under the wipers,” he said. “I folded it up to keep the kid from seeing it but I guess I should give it to the police, what do you think?"

I looked and did a double take, staring at the spray-painted, stenciled letters on the accordion-folded cardboard over the printed cartoon sun:

$1 MILL FOR ADMIRAL 7 FILES & TAPE / DO NOT CALL POLICE / RAISE $ WAIT

A policeman reading over my shoulder whistled in amazement, "Hey, Gordy, lookit this." Too late not to tell the police.

For the full buffet of six-sentence samples, check out the dozens of writers at Six Sunday.

Six Sentence Sunday Week 48 - a family encounter while waiting for the police...

From Large Target, Jo Fuller and the missing admiral’s daughter Amy find a murder victim. They call the police and wait in outside the cottage when Amy hears someone coming out of the main house.

Amy's brother Brad, the young man with the pigtail, had just exited the sliding door to the rec room in midargument with Amber, the young woman he had dragged out of the way of the admiral's prying minicam at the party the night before.

Today they were both clad in shorts and T-shirts and clearly hadn't seen Amy and me. "You said he'd been on the scene of abductions," Amber said accusingly.

"I honestly believe he has," Brad said, "but you know that stuff is classified."

"I only just asked about the Bermuda Triangle. He said he'd get right to it and he put his hand up my ski-i-irt," she wailed.

For more fun in six-sentence snippets, check out the authors (186 at last count) sharing work in a wide variety of genres at Six Sunday.

Six Sentence Sunday - Week 47- Missing: one admiral and something else...

From Large Target, Josephine and the admiral's daughter find a defense contractor dead in the floor of the admiral's cottage. Jo checks around...

I made a quick circuit of the cottage looking for signs of another victim. There were no obvious signs of struggle or a search effort except in the farthest corner of the bedroom where a Mosler GSA Class 5 Security filing cabinet stood—all four drawers open and empty. I recognized it as identical to the one in my father's home office, part of his ties to the civilian portion of the intelligence community. The Navy might do things a little differently but the admiral's security clearances must be functional.

On the floor in front of the cabinet was a single sheet of paper with Top Secret printed on it in red letters two inches high with a paper clip on it. Nothing was clipped to it.


For more fun in six sentence segments check out the many writers in many genres at Six Sunday.

Six Sentence Sunday Week 46 - one cottage complete with murder victim...

From Large Target, Josephine and Amy, the admiral’s daughter, go looking for him after Amy receives a suspicious phone call. The cottage where the admiral was staying is filled with an acrid smell and a foot is sticking out of the open bathroom door:

Looking around the door, I saw a man sprawled face down on the floor in a Hawaiian shirt with one outstretched hand that seemed to be reaching for a small plastic funnel-like apparatus on the floor next to him. My mind registered that it was an asthma inhaler at the same time that I realized the man was totally still, his stretching hand too stiff for sleep.

Amy gasped and pushed past me to look. "It's not Dad," she said, putting her hand to her mouth. "It's Stewart Meade.

So where was the admiral?

For more fun from dozens of writers in a wide variety of genres, check out the six-sentence snippets at six Sunday.

45th Six Sunday - Ladies and Gentlemen, our murder victim has arrived...

Josephine finally contacts the admiral’s daughter but their interview is interrupted by a strange phone call from the admiral, who seems to be in danger. They drive to the cottage where he was staying:

"Dad!" Amy called, pulling the screen door open and pushing the front door inward, and I followed her in.

There was an acrid smell in the air, unidentifiable but strong enough to make my eyes water. We walked across the cool tile floor of the living room past old-fashioned wicker furniture and bamboo blinds. That burning, choking smell was even stronger.

Something was sticking out of the half-open bathroom door. It was a man's foot, lying still, too still.

The Six Sentence Sunday writers for this weekend numbered 177 last time I checked. Lots of snippets and lots of fun at Six Sunday.

44th Six Sunday - from Large Target, an encounter with Genghis Ron

A pivotal moment from Large Target, just released last week. Investigator Josephine Fuller has a special assignment looking for an admiral’s daughter who may be in the grip of a fanatical organization. Unfortunately Jo walks into a family house party and runs into the admiral himself, drunk, grabbing at women guests and living up to his nickname “Genghis Ron.” He tries to aim a minicam up her skirt but Jo shakes him off:

"Thinks she can get coy," he brayed, gripping my skirt for purchase and holding out the minicam with the other hand.

"No," I said as I shook the can of soda with a thumb over the hole and aimed it at his eyes. The spray at close range startled him enough to send him back on his rear while I jerked my skirt from his grip.

"Whoa!" the admiral exclaimed, shaking his head and looking around as if he weren't quite sure how he had landed wet-faced and back on the living room floor.

Several guests applauded as I retreated into the kitchen where a woman handed me a dampened dish towel and took my dripping soda can with a smile, "Here, honey," she said, "we all enjoyed that."

To party on with six sentence servings from dozens of authors in many genres check out the action over at Six Sunday.

43rd Six Sentence Sunday, starting the new year with a bang...

Welcome back Six Sunday friends. I'm digressing a little from The Falstaff Vampire Files because the second Josephine Fuller book, Large Target just came out and I have to celebrate with suitable fireworks.

After a night of passion that took an unexpected turn toward dawn Josephine and Mulligan have a serious talk over breakfast. They're on Coronado Island near San Diego where automobiles rule, so she tries to lighten the mood with some car talk...

"Come on, I'll walk you to your car," Mulligan said.

As we reached the parking lot at the hotel, I decided to show off the car I was borrowing, Mrs. Madrone's Lexus. "The remote control is hooked into the alarm so it makes the most amazing sound. Listen to this," I said, whipping out the remote as we headed for the Lexus.

I pressed the button and a deafening explosion shattered the car's windows and rocked it on its tires. I jumped back against Mulligan who was already pulling me away from the hot slap of air and spatter of glass.

For a good time check out the dozens of other Six Sunday writers who will be offering up New Year's surprises in six sentence doses at Six Sentence Sunday.