Sunday, August 31, 2008

Showing, not telling

On p. 63, while riding in a cab, Will sees two men talking to each other. At first one of the man seems to have tape over his mouth. But as the scene unfolds, that is shown to be wrong. The wrongness of Will's perception shows something about his state of mind without me tell the reader about it. It's generally better to show than tell.

If you like what I'm saying here, post a comment. And download the book or better yet, buy it directly from this blog as shown. Writing is for me an entrepreneurial activity. For my entrepreneurship course, check out www.hatman2.blogspot.com. For real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog.

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Henry Hands Will His Hat

On page 60, Henry hands Will his hat. Henry acknowledges the importance of the hat to Will, even though he doesn't understand the reasons for that importance. Why does Will wear a hat anyway? To me your hat is your "lid." It states for you that you are a defined quantity. And that because only a few men wear hats these days, you are different than others. At least that's what my hat says to me.

This is my writing blog. Writing is for me entrepreneurial. If you liked what you have read, post a comment. Better yet, download my book or buy it directly. And check out my entrpreneurship blog, www.hatman2.blogspot.com and my writer's blog, www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com

Friday, August 29, 2008

Value propositions and Writing

Wikipedia says: "In the field of marketing, a customer value proposition consists of the sum total of benefits which a vendor promises that a customer will receive in return for the customer's associated payment."

What's Wikipedia got to do with writing? Plenty. When the writer conceives a book, and expects people to read it, the writer has to think, what's being provided to justify the amount of money the reader's going to pay for it and the amount of time the reader's going carve out of his or her busy schedule to read it? Most writers don't think of this because they are too busy creating characters, moving story, developing dialogue, etc. But when the writer gets to marketing the book, just what is he or she selling? All of the elements of the book have to blend into and support the value proposition of the book.

If you like what I say, post a comments. Download the book for free and better yet, but a copy. And check out other blogs: www.hatman2.blogspot.com and www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

My play: "Somewhere Under the Rainbow"

I was in New York City visiting, when 9/11 happened. We spent the next week trying to get out. It was a horrible thing to have it unfold all around you. I started a play, which I called Somewhere Under the Rainbow which explores the things people do to keep them from reaching their full potential. I sent it to a small theatre north of here, who said they wanted a synopsis. Like I have time to write one. Well, I'm making time because others will probably want one too. Oh well.

Writing for me is entrepreneurial. If you like what I say here, post a comment. And check out my entrepreneurship blog, www.hatman2.blogspot.com and my real estate blog, www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Characterization

On pp. 57-60, Will and Julie have a conversation. A lot of things go on there. More than I realized when I wrote it. It's clear that Henry and Julie two ships are trying to avoid each other in a thick fog. Otherwise, why wouldn't she try to call when her father was more likely to be available? She apparently draws parallels between Will and Henry, which is at once illuminating for us but unfair for Will. A good conversation can develop two characters at once. The words we make reflect what kind of person we are.

If you like the book, or if you don't like the book, post a comment.

Writing is entrepreneurial. For my entrepreneurship blog, go to www.hatman2.blogspot.com. For real estate 2.0, check out www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Parallel families

On p. 59. Henry reports discovering Ian had another family no one knew about. This other family has a direct effect upon the plot.

In a way, my father-in-law had another family. He developed a life-long relationship with a woman who was first his student, then his assistant. Orlando became a quasi-father/stepfather to her six children, and she became sort of a quasi-mother/stepmother to his three. All the while, each was married happily to their spouses. The close personal and professional bond between the two of them persists today. The real life version was never hidden nor sinister, and it never became sexual. Nonetheless the idea of two families did fuel my imagination. I thought a subplot here would deepen the story. I'll not get into the details, but what went on in the book is tame compared with what went on in the real life version.

If you liked what you read here, post a comment. If you would like to get the book, download it for free or buy it from Amazon.com. You can do that right from this blog.

Writing for me is entrepreneurial. For my entrepreneurship course, go to www.hatman2.blogspot.com. For my real estate 2.0 blog, go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Suspension of Disbelief

Laurel Yourke, on p. 202 of her book, Take your Characters to Dinner (Lanham, NY: University Press of America, Inc., 2000), defines "suspension of belief" as:

The uwritten contract between writer and reader to disregard the cutomary boundaries of reality while visiting the fictional world.
It's what has to happen when the reader opens your book. If he or she gets past the 1st page, and you maintain that narrative drive, you and your reader have a deal.

If something I've said grabs you, post a comment.

Writing for me is an entrepreneurial activity. For my entrepreneurship course, go to www.hatman2.blogspot.com. For my real estate blog, you should go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Naming characters

Naming characters is tricky. I named Henry Harrier to capture the alliteration and to tell you something about the character. A harrier is a kind of hawk. It hovers over its prey until just the right moment, then drops straight down and snatches up its victim.

You should choose a name is evocative of the character, but not too obvious. You want the name to attract the reader too. For example, you might name a young man who's slightly scary and who gives the feeling of otherworldliness, maybe with some tattoos and pierced body parts and big spikey hair and wearing leather and chains all over, Noah Witchcraft, or better mabye Noah Witchcaft, (after all Noah was the guy from the Bible whom the Lord told to build an ark) but if you get too cute the name gets to sounding a bit stale, like a joke told too often. Names mean something, too. Deborah, for example, was a judge in the Bible. Gideon blew a trumpet. Judas was a traitor.

Dickens had a terrific flair for naming characters. Uriah Heep just sounds depraved and disgusting and Mr. Micawber like someone strange and sinister. Kafka, in The Trial just used K, a single letter. It worked for him, but I'm not sure it would have worked in A Tale of Two Cities. Sydney Carten was not Dickens' best effort. But, whatever name you pick should feel right to you. After all, you're the character's creator. He or she owes his existence to you. After all where would be be as a society if Doyle hadn't created an enduring character like Sherlock Holmes (sounds like sure lock, a very confidence-inspiring name).

If you find this interesting post a comment.

Writing for me is entrepreneurial. For my course, go to www.hatman2.blogspot.com and for my real estate blog, go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Dreams and moving story

Dreams can be important in moving story. On p. 57, Will puts his head down and has a conversation with Ian in a dream state. What he dreams helps him in his helping Henry of figuring out his mystery and helping Will solve his own current problem. The passage also introduces a possible motivation for whoever killed Ian. Is it correct, or merely a distraction?

If you liked this, post a comment here. Better yet, download the book or order it from Amazon.com.

Writing for me is entrepreneurial. For my entrepreneurship course, go to www.hatman2.blogspot.com and for my real estate blog to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog.

Friday, August 22, 2008

Character using humor

Musicians have great jokes. Henry tells one on pp. 55-56: "You know Fritz Reiner, the Chicago Symphony conductor?...He had to cancel rehearsal once because he was ill. His temperature went up to 85 degrees." Reiner was famous for being cold and unemotional.

Humor is a good way to call attention to yourself or to divert people's attention away from a subject. Henry is making a desperate attempt to change the subject. Except Will knows why he's doing it, so it only lowers Henry in his eyes.

Like what you read here? If something grabs you, post a comment.

Writing is for me an entrepreneurial activity. For my entrepreneurship course go to www.hatman2.blogspot.com and for my real estate blog, go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Conflict

On the bottom of p. 55 and over onto p. 56, two things happen simultaneously. Will is worried that Henry is on to him. The difficulty Henry has talking with his daughter is revealed. Will uses Henry's reluctance to talk to Jen against him. Piggy-backing conflict on top of conflict adds dimension to a story and makes it more interesting.

If like what you read here, post a comment. Dounload the book, or better, order the book for from amazon.com, right from this blog.

Writing is an entrepreneurial experience. For my entrepreneurship course, go to www.hatman2.blogspot.com and for my real estate 2.0 blog go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Stories promote subtext

On p. 54, Henry explains the issue related to his banishment from Kearney. I had Henry tell the story to show both what happened, allow Will to comment from a distant point, and show part of Henry's character. Stories allow the subtext to carry us along. The story teller doesn't realize what he's revealing about himself. He just thinks he's relating facts. But we come to understand the character better than the character understands himself.

If you find this or anything else interesting, post a comment. Download the book, or order it from amazon.com.

Writing for me is entrepreneurial. For my entrepreneurship course, go to www.hatman2.blogspot.com and for real estate 2.0 go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Cross-fertilization

My work has to be cross-fertilized. Often I use how one character handles one situation to help another character in another book. Right now I'm working on Hell's Half Acre, one that won't see the light of day soon, and waiting to finish that before working on Griffin Island Murders, my next one. I think having one book lay fallow for a while helps it. That is unless I mistake activity for production.

If this grabs you, post a comment.

Writing is for me an entrepreneurial activity. If you want to see my entrepreneurship course, go to www.hatman2.blogspot.com and for my real estate 2.0 blog go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Sub-mysteries

Sub-mysteries, I call them. We find one of them starting on p. 51. In fact there are several of them. To keep the story fresh, it's useful to introduce some subplots as long as they reinforce rather than detract from the main story. You can tell that the subplots are annoying when readers have a what-the-hell's-this-doing-in-here? kind of reaction. If you've done your job, they they just keep on reading.

If anything I've written grabs you, post a comment.

Writing for me is entrepreneurial. Check out my entrepreneurship course at www.hatman2.blogspot.com and my real estate 2.0 blog at www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blot.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

The Unreliable Narrator

On p. 50, Will admits he told Henry a lie. Normally, this would make him an unreliable narrator. Readers generally don't read stories told by unreliable narrators because they don't believe them. Readers have to trust the narrator and find him interesting, even if they don't like him.

Now, Will is telling this story after it has been completed in the past. He can now admit he lied and we root for him. If he then acts in ways that justify our forgiveness, credibility is enhanced. People like to see that people who exhibited bad behavior in the past have changed their ways and are now upstanding citizens.

If something here grabs you, post a comment.

Writing for me is entrepreneurial. For my entrepreneurship course, go to www.hatman2.blogspot.com and for my real estate 2.0 course, to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Subtext

When Henry criticizes Will for wearing a hat indoors, what is the subtext? Does he mean that you shouldn't break social conventions? Not to stick out? A hat also calls attention to the wearer because only a small percentage of men wear hats. Does he mean that he doesn't want Will to get more attention than Henry? Maybe it also means that you shouldn't be limited in your life. A hat could represent a limitation.

Laurel Yourke, in Take Your Characters to Dinner (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, Inc., 2000), on p. 202, defines subtext as "the unwritten meaning that readers infer from what is implied rather than expressed through the dialogue or description."

Subtext is what stitches the novel together, and must work together with the exposition, dialogue, and description to reinforces its narrative drive.

If this or anything else I've written moves you, post comment.

Writing is for me entrepreurial. Check out my enterpreneurship course, www.hatman2.blogspot.com and my real estate 2.0 blog, www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog.

Friday, August 15, 2008

Wills Ambivalence and Learned Helplessness.

On p. 48 the scene documents Will's desire to get out of the situation he's in. It's a little like the dog in the box from the famous learned helplessness experiments. He also has certain feelings about Julie which contribute to his dog-in-the-box-ness. The idea "learned helplessness" came into being after an experience in which a dog was put in a box. There were two parts of the box and under each part there was a shocking mechanism that would give the dog a shock whenever the researchers wanted. The dog could not jump out of the box. Pretty grisly. When the researchers shocked the dog, it got up and went over to the other side. When they shocked him on that side, he went back to the other. If they shocked the dog on both sides and he couldn't get out, he'd just lie down and do nothing. Don't we know people like that? When things go bad for them, they just give up. They're exhibiting learned helplessness, just like the dog in the box

Writing is for an entrepreneurial experience. For my entrepreneurship course, go to www.hatman2.blogspot.com and for real estate 2.0 go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog. And post a comment here if you like the book or just have something to say about writing.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Metaphor

A metaphor is of course a comparison between two things. An extended allows you to write about one thing as if it were something else. In Watership Down the writer outlined the effects of ecological catastrophe on human society while talking about impending the destruction of a warren of rabbits. A writer can get readers to empathize with the rabbits. The same story based on human characters may come off as polemical or trite. Laying out a problem or issue in an unexpected venue, the writer can seduce readers into thinking about the issue differently than before. For me, the Kearney Music School is the arena in which the obsessive drive for perfection occurs. This pursuit of perfection can lead, if not to insanity, to at least varying forms of mental trauma and anguish. Watching this pursuit both thrills me and scares me.

If something in this blog strikes you, post a comment. And check out my real estate blog at www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog; and read my entrepreneurship blog at hatman2.blogspot.com.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Novel ideas

Laurel Yorke, in Take Your Characters to Dinner (Lanham, MD; University Press of America, Inc., 2000), on p. 3, asks: "What brings a fictional world to life? Some writers get comfortable, reread some journal pages or mentally review an idea, and then...nothing happens?" Well, folks. I never have that problem. Ideas just happen to me. I used to write them all down, but there were so many of them I gave up. I figure when I want to start a new novel, something will percolate. Once, my wife (subsequently) moved a refrigerator to give my kitchen more space gave me an idea for a great short story, "My Amazing Wife," which I intend to put out in a book of short stories I'm collecting.

If you have ideas about fiction writing, or if something I've written has moved you, post a comment here.

Writing is an entrepreneurial activity. Check out my entrepreneurship course, www.hatman2.blogspot.com, and for real estate 2.0, go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

The need to write

Yesterday, I suffered from clogged agenda. So, I didn't work on one of my manuscripts. I wrote my blogs but it wasn't the same. It was like skipping that daily call to a close friend. I need to write, that's for sure. It is an activity that I cannot not do. I think if I were marrooned on a desert island, I would write in the sand. If I were held captive in a forest, I'd break my skin and write on a leaf with my own blood.

If you have any thoughts on anything I've said or on writing in general or in specific, post them here.

Writing to me is entrepreneurial. If you want to read my course, go to www.hatman2.blogspot.com. If you want to read my thoughts on real estate 2.0, go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog.

Monday, August 11, 2008

Clue or not a clue

On p. 46, Henry has a conversation with Jana Pope, one of the students at the school. She shares some information with him which appears to be a clue to the mystery. But is it?

If you're interested in anything I write here, post a comment.

Writing is an entrepreneurial activity. For my entrepreneurship course, go to www.hatman2.blogspot.com. For real estate 2.0 go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Feeling Real

In a Starbucks (I'm tempted to write "Local Starbucks" but what other kind of Starbucks can you be in?) I had a brief conversation with a medical student about a novel, Body of Work, apparently about someone who does dissections. He was half way through so I assumed he was enjoying it. He said he had to read it for a class, without that he wouldn't be still reading it. He said something like: "I've done dissections. I don't know what this person is thinking about, but it doesn't feel real to me."

I made a note to myself: fiction must always "feel real" to the reader if you're going to fulfill your part of the pact you strike with the reader when he or she begins to read your book. If it doesn't ring true, you've lost the narrative drive that keeps people reading it.

If you find something I've written here that strikes you post a comment.

Writing is to me an entrepreneurial activity. If you want to read my course, go to www.hatman2.blogspot.com. For my thoughts on Real Estate 2.0, go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com.

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Henry and the professional detective

On p. 44, Henry shows his complete disdain for Pevicek, and Pevicek for Henry. The detective even misspeaks Henry's name is, calls him "Harrison" even after corrected. The error is either inadvertent or intentional. If the first, the detective is an idiot; if the second, malicious.

If anything you read here or in the book strikes you, post a commment.

Writing for me is entrepreneurial. For my entrepreneurship course, go to www.hatman2.blotspot.com. For Real Estate 2.0, go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog.

Friday, August 8, 2008

Voice and soul

Laurel Yourke defines voice as:

The combination of tone, style, and phrasing that projects an author's singular personality onto the page. This captures the sensation that one sounds exactly like oneself without being artificial or manipulative (Take your Characters to Dinner; Creating the Illusion of Reality in fiction. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2000, p. 203).
Your voice flows directly from your soul. What is your soul? Tom Chappell defines your soul as
the part of you that survives when you eliminate your flesh and bones--the part you can't point to but can feel, the part you might describe to someone else as your essential being, your soul. Soul is what connects you to everyone and everything else. It is the sum of all the choices you have made. It is where your beliefs and values reside. Soul is at the center of our relationships to others, and for me it is at the center of the business enterprise. The Soul of a Business; Managing for Profit and the Common Good, New York: Bantam books, 1993, pp. ix-x)
Your voice is your presence. It's what creates narrative drive and keeps people reading.

If anything you read here grabs you, post a comment.

Writing for me is entrepreneurial. For my course on entrepreneurship, go to www.hatman2.blogspot.com. For real estate 2.0, go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

It's hard to get published.

In the past it was hard to get published and sell a lot of books. Hemingway almost gave up writing and might have had he not gotten My Old Manaccepted into a contest which a relative of his was running. James Joyce also had a devil of a time. Elmore Leonard got his first manuscript rejected 40 times.

It's no longer hard or expensive to get published. We have print on demand publishing. Read The Long Tail . Vanity presses have always been with us, but the Internet has made it feasible for just about any writer to publish his stuff and socially acceptable. Instead of being seen as narcissistic and egotistical, it's now seen as innovative and attractive.

The big question: why are you wanting to be published? Are you wanting to be famous and sell a lot of books? If that's the case, get famous for something and write a book about it. Look at Barack Obama or Bill Clinton. Me, I want people to read my stuff. A movie deal would be great, but not the primary driver. So, I take a long view and am building a brand around my fiction.

But it's still hard to sell a lot of books. We have to be creative and realize that the traditional publishing industry and the main line publishing industry aren't going to help us. Now, it's possible to published ourselves, then get picked up by the mainstreem press. The Celestine Prophesy was self-published at first. So was the Mutant From Down Under.

Are you writing a book or does something about my blog strike you? Post a comment here.

Writing and publishing for me is an entrepreneurial activity. For my course on entrepreneurship, go to www.hatman2.blogspot.com. For Real estate 2.0. go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Dissing the detective

On p. 44, Detective Richard Pechivik appears. He's the police detective assigned to the investigation. He, in good Sherlock Holmes tradition, is completely idiotic and inept. He provides some good comic relief for the stories. In retrospect, I'd have made him Italian, but no big deal. It's not about the national origin of the detective. Henry is happy to have him to make fun of and to deflect everyone so Henry can go about his business without interference.

If you have a comment about this book or writing or publishing, post it here. And buy a copy. You can look at it and then order it, or download it completely. Enjoy.

Writing and publishing is an entrepreneurial activity. For my entrepreneurship course, go to www.hatman2.blogspot.com. For Real Estate 2.0, go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog.

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Anti-local biases of bricks-and-mortar book stores

On a lark, I thought I'd explore the possibilities of offering my book on consignment to one or more of the local bricks-and-mortar. One of the local stores I might find attractive depending on how much of a author's discount I can get from Book Surge. The others were universally dismissive. Borders and Barnes&Noble treated me as though I were dirt, as did one of the small, independent book stores. Remind me never to buy a book from one of those places. My mind's eye saw with unbounded glee Borders and Barnes&Noble closing down like Tower Records did a few years agon. In retrospect, it was a silly idea even to go to those places because the economics of publishing doesn't work for long-tail writers such as myself. But I had to try. Leave no scone unspurned, I say. This morning I got to wondering if any of those who dismissed me would have acted differently if they had actually written one of the books, the sales of which pay their salaries.

If you have any ideas or comments to make, post them to this blog. I'd like to hear from you, and I'll respond.

Writing and publishing is an entrepreneurial activity. For my entrepreneurship course, go to www.hatman2.blogspot.com. For my ideas on real estate 2.0, go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Writing is writing

Somebody said only writing is writing. Research is not writing. Sharpening your pencils, refilling your pen, replacing the toner cartridge in your printer is not writing. Reading other works is not writing. Only writing is writing. The writer should set a time every day to write. Me, it's right after I get up, shower, make coffee, play 3 games of on-line Reversi, then I spend up to an hour writing. Actually writing.

These are my thoughts on writing and publishing. If you have any points or comments or questions, post them here. Do you have any comments or questions? Post them here.

For my Linkedin profile, go to www.linkedin.com/in/timbosworthsprofile. For my thoughts on real estate 2.0, go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog. For my entrepreneurship course, go to www.hatman2.blogspot.com.

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Plot device

Every writer needs devices to help move story, he or shejust needs to make sure the device doesn't seem contrived or impede the development of the story. On p. 43, I use a device. I had the Kearney Music School staff keep attendance at concerts so Henry would know who left early and when on the night Ian died. Students were required to attend at least the first half of every student recital. I hope it didn't seem artificial. The way to know is ask, when you read it, does it stick out at you. If it seems bogus, it is.

But I was also reacting to a problem I have with concerts at the Curtis Institute of Music on which the Kearney school is based. Students aren't required to go to other students' recitals. And when they do go, their attendance varies according to who is playing and what they're playing. So there's this constant flow of attendees coming in and going out. I think people should come at the beginning and stay to the end. Otherwise, it's annoying to the audience, disrespectful of the performers, and not as educational for the students. But what do I know? I'm not driving that train.

If you have any remarks you'd like to make about this blog or the book, post a comment.

For my course on entrepreneurship, go to www.hatman2.blogspot.com. For entrepreneurial real estate, go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Epiphany

An epiphany, according to Wikipedia is

"The sudden realization or comprehension of the essence or meaning of something. The term is used in either a philosophical or literal sense to signify that the claimant has "found the last piece of the puzzle and now sees the whole picture," or has new information or experience, often insignificant by itself, that illuminates a deeper or numinous foundational frame of reference."
On page 22, Will gives an account of what he did which reveals that he understands things differently at the time of the narration than he did at the time of the action he narrates. We all have had such a moment. When you pass through it, you never see things the same way again. In order for a writer to write about his or her life, they must have had such an epiphany.

What do you think? If anything strikes you about this, post a comment.

For my entrepreneurship course, go to www.hatman2.blogspot.com; for entrepreneurial real estate, go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog.

Friday, August 1, 2008

Backstory

Backstory is the 95% of the story that never gets into the novel. A character lives a life. That life has to be shown from what that character does and says. The writer can't just dump it all in there-it's boring and people will diminish the narrative drive of the book, the thing that keeps people reading. We have a responsibility to provide an interesting and impactful (I hate that word) experience for the reader.

I'm thinking about this now because I'm working on Hell's Half-Acrea story I wrote initially about 10 years ago and revised sporadically. There's a lot of backstory in there, and I'm getting rid of as much of it as I can and filling the space with more characterization and dialogue which will make the story more compelling. I hope I did okay with the Kearney mystery. Do you think I did? If you have some feedback, post a comment.

Writing and publishing are for me entrepreneural. For my course on entrepreneurship, go to www.hatman2.blogspot.com. For my thoughts on Real Estate 2.0, go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog.

Synopsis:

Ian Kearney, the director of the Kearney Music School, an elite musical training school in Philadelphia, dies after a fall from a balcony during a recital. World-famous cellist, Henry Harrier, recently forced from the faculty, returns to investigate Ian's death when his prized former student is arrested. Henry shows through his brilliant and single-minded pursuit of the truth that, as usual, they have it all wrong. This Sherlock Holmes-type mystery leads the reader through the world of classical music and lays bare the conflicts which dominate the lives of talented adolescents when placed under the pressure of studying for a demanding, stressful, and often elusive career as a classical music performer. Henry Harrier is part John Le Carre's George Smiley, part Arthur Conan Doyle's Holmes, and part Orlando Cole the beloved teacher, renowned chamber musician, and until his own retirement, the premier cellist of the Curtis Institute.

Author Profile:

Tim was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, on January 30, 1946. In 1951 he moved with his family to Schenectady, New York, where he lived through high school. He attended Baldwin-Wallace College, Berea, Ohio, from 1964 to 1968. He graduated in 1968 with a B.A. in history and philosophy. He received his Ph. D. in history in U.S. history in 1980 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison after spending 2.5 years in the U. S. Army. Most of his army service was completed in Wuerzburg, Germany, from 1969-1971. In 1972 he returned to Madison to complete his doctoral study. His dissertation, Those Who Moved; Internal Migrants in American 1607-1840, combined the statistical analysis of genealogical and biographical data with the study of traditional literary diaries, letters, and journals.

Tim was a market and survey research consultant from 1983 to 2000 and a smoking cessation researcher from 2000 to 2003. His consulting practice focused primarily on conducting community health needs assessment. He authored hundreds of market research reports and published a number of his assessments in Community Health Needs Assessment published by McGraw Hill in 1996 and in a revised volume published in 1999. In 2000 he joined the staff of the Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention of the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he conducted smoking cessation research. He published several articles in peer-reviewed journals and spoke at national smoking cessation conferences.

In 2003 he moved to Philadelphia and earned his real estate license. He now practices real estate, works on publishing his novels, and studies and teaches entrepreneurship.Tim has written a dozen novel-length stories, a volume of short stories, and about a 3-foot stack of pages poetry. He is currently working on earning his 4th million in real estate sales, publishing his novels, and working on an entrepreneurish handbook as a support for his students.

Tim is a trained violist and an experienced string quartet player. He is an avid listener to classical music and regularly attends classical music concerts. He has two grown children by his first wife and a stepdaughter with his second wife. He likes to cook, read, write, entertain, develop relationships, and help other people. Formerly Tim used to travel frequently. He doesn't so much anymore. Now he regards the combination of real estate practice, writing and publishing, and the teaching and studying of entrepreneurship as enough of a trip.