Just thinking the other day, what if they hadn’t been Jack McMorrow novels? What if Jack had been in a supporting role? What if they were Clair Varney mysteries? Roxanne Masterson?
Truth is any of them could carry a series. A series about a Vietnam veterans, former Force Recon Marine. Now he lives in the country, cuts wood, tries to live a modest life. But every once in a while, something happens that offends his sense of justice. The ex-Marine gets out his black balaclava. His Mauser. He takes to the woods, just like he took to the jungles.
Roxanne, the social worker? What better heroine than one who saves kids? Pursues the people who abuse and neglect them. Fights a rear guard action against the bureaucracy.
Too many ideas, way too little time.
***
Went way Down East in Maine earlier this week, outside the town of Danforth. The story is about windfarms, fascinating stuff. Workers putting up 250-foot towers on mountain ridges. Very capable guys making the monumental seem easy. Or at least doable.
Ended up in the town of Danforth. A very different world, the towns of that part of Maine. Small, close places where people have long histories. Left town late, freezing rain falling on twisting roads through very dark woods. The owner of the town’s one restaurant warned us. “You be careful,” she said. ominously. “Go slow.”
The roads?
“The moose,” she said.
We lived to tell the tale.
In PORT CITY SHAKEDOWN, the first Brandon Blake novel, Brandon gets a full dose of bad guys. A brawl in a funeral home introduces him to Joel Fuller, a sociopathic hustler. Fuller is fresh out of jail and determined to take Brandon out—after Fuller and his sidekick Kelvin shake him down.
Rocky isn’t a tough guy. He’s a skinny little kid with crooked glasses, and he shouldn’t be homeless in Portland, Maine. When McMorrow and Roxanne pluck him from under the stomping feet of a gang of street kids, Rocky latches onto McMorrow–and drags him into a world of murder, both old and new. Why is McMorrow protecting Rocky? The cops want to know. Why is Rocky on the run? McMorrow wants to know. Why does death follow in Rocky’s wake? Jack and Roxanne need to find out before they’re added to the list. 
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I heard they gang up on you, and attack when you least expect it.
Gerry, I would love to read a book about Clair, so long as Jack appears in it. It would be great to see events through his eyes. Clair-eyed…haha.
Hi Andrea. Yeah, a Clair series would be fun. But you know who’s really on the front lines? Roxanne. Something I’ve been pondering.
Writing from a woman’s point of view would be interesting, I would think. Do you find, like some authors I’ve read about, that certain characters are in your thoughts, clamoring to be heard? I read in Stephen King’s essays about the Dark Tower series that those characters haunted him for years. I find the whole creative process so interesting. I used to think I would be a writer, but I’ve never had that sensation that there are stories inside me wanting to come out. I guess some of us are made simply to appreciate the way you artists show us the world. I have been taking my dog to the trails at Colby, this winter at the Arboretum, and the scenery is worthy of being described in writing, or captured by a camera. I can see the beauty in it, but am helpless at depicting it with either a pen or a camera. I like reading your blog (Mary assures me it’s not weird or geeky to comment) because I recognize the people and places you describe, and enjoy your point of view.
Anyhow, Happy New Year to you and yours, and I look forward to the next installment