(Non-Star Trek Novel that is)

Squeaker and the portable typewriter

Me write a novel. Say what? I’m just out of school… just a kid. The world is a big place with lots of high rollers and talented people. I had always been creative but write a novel… Are you kidding me? I come from a middle-class background where it was a big deal that my brother and I graduated from college. In retrospect I think that my doing exceedingly well in school gave me the boost to think I the ability to do well.

At the time I was working unhappily in retail. My job friends were great, and I enjoyed that but to make a decent living I wanted to be in outside sales. Here’s the secret I carried with me during my sales career. Once I began writing that’s what I wanted to do with my life. I thought I could do numerous things at once and that writing would surpass my sales career. Wrong. Yes, I could juggle many things in the air at once but not proficiently.

So, it’s the end of 1977 (Star Wars is all over the place) and I’m living in off campus housing in Amherst Massachusetts. I’m eking out a living in retail… So why oh why did I beginning pounding the Smith Corona portable’s keys? It wasn’t to smile at my cats. The need to create was there.

I had and have a crazy personality imitating people and doing voices. But other things were happening at this time. During this time it was clear that my dad was terminaly ill. He would not be able to enjoy his retirement after a long life with a good work ethic. I realized that writing was something I enjoyed doing and I was cognizant of how short life can be.

You know life can be long
And you got to be so strong
And the world, she is tough
Sometimes I feel I’ve had enough

–John Lennon-from “Imagine.”

Full Song

The hell with not doing this. 1977-79 was the time to begin. Although very ill my dad read some of what I wrote with the comment: “You made this all up?” Now, maybe that doesn’t sound like a literary critic but for me it was an affirmation. And my mother… hocking my book around town. Nobody around me said don’t waste your time. I had the support from people who mattered.

Doris and Ken in 1977

I was always enamored by outer space and the space program. I gazed in the heavens on cold winter nights with my 3X telescope. I even took an elective a few years before at UMASS and went wild looking and listening to the radio telescope signals from the University’s radio telescope up in the hills.

I read Science Digest every month and thought Isaac Asimov was certainly super human with his incredible knowledge. But then came Cosmos and Carl Sagan’s personal voyage around the universe and proliferating scientific knowledge of planet earth.

When I wrote the Star Trek novel, The Apex of Power, I had the template from the TV show and several books from Gene Roddenberry, David Gerold and a handbook of science fiction by Asimov. And I had taken a semester long course on science fiction at UMASS. Early on I watched many science fiction movies including Forbidden Planet, Invaders from Mars, the Blob, the Day the Earth Stood Still, and War of the Worlds to list a few.

As a Baby Boomer I’m part of the first generation to be brought up on television. And with that wave came The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, On Step Beyond, Captain Midnight, Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, and Lost in Space.

Okay, so all those shows and movies are floating around inside my head in late 1977 into 1978. The template of the hidden project and the president getting involved as one man saves his town and the world is always a common theme in movies. I found myself caring more about Pulanski once he tried to save the world from Dr. Richards. However, the way he went after Charley Stevenson in the beginning was not smart but commendable that he would go after his friend’s attacker. I wished I had gone deeper in to descritptions and charatcers. I created a book called The Red Light District, the name clearly signalling nefarious interactions. It is quite a stretch to believe that one man could runaway with the project in the sandstone cliffs in Redstone, Arizona. If you’re watch a forty-eight minute TV show you could get away with it

Route 66 in 1971

California Spring Break Vacation

Having been brought up in Massachusetts I had never seen a landscape like those red cliffs!

Dr. Richards as the manical scientist is a direct result of Jonestown and over 900 people following their leader to death. The delusional Richards is interesting because not not too far removed from Jonestown. Pulanski seeking justice for his murdered freind and then getting mired in the shenanegains of the Hudson Project could have been compressed for smoother flow but it’s acceptable.

The presidential part of this book is the best part. It has tension, excitement, and a sense of consequence. And have Joe Pulanski at Camp David in the middle of the God-awful project unfolds the book nicely There is not a profound meaning because Richards is a little over the top but it’s all neatly tied up in a big Christmas bow in the end. As I have done with other early efforts, adding the audio and sound effects upgrades the work. And it’s a freebee.

 Okay, you’re probably asking:

Who is Robert P. Fitton?

I am he…I reside on Cape Cod, so I guess I’m Cape Cod author Robert P. Fitton. I was brought up in North Easton on the South Shore of Massachusetts.

Two things stand out pertaining to writing when I was a kid. I was forever imitating teachers, characters and public figures not a mimic but purely imitating.

Secondly and this a strange all these years later. When we received out weekly spelling list I couldn’t have cared less about the proper spelling of a word. Instead, I was connecting the words in sequence to a story. I had idea why. Well, now I do…

My major at the University of Massachusetts Amherst was connecting spelling words. No…No.. It was American Studies with emphasis on American History and politics-I sprinkled my courses with Native American Mythology, American Literature and that heresy course in Science Fiction. At this time in my life, the wild oats behind me, I buckled down and graduated cum laude-I loved what I was studying with professors who were both instructive and inspiring. It was in the course studying the myths of the American Indian that I had an assignment required that I write a native American mythological story which I later called the Legend of the Seasons as told by the old man. Two things happened. The story dazzled professor. ( Today I see the shortcomings of the story but it’s not bad) and secondly Now I knew I could make up stories!

Listen—If your really serious about writing it is never a hobby. A hobby is a joke when compared to creating stories. Writing has a much higher meaning. It beckons you; it captivates you to the level that you are drawn into the creation. If writing doesn’t hold that type of mantra for you, then you just don’t understand.

I had pent up creative energy after I graduated. Had to work for sure. Writing the first draft of the Apex of Power, a Star Trek story, opened the door as Rod Serling said of imagination and having the support of people around me (Thank you) propelled me into a new universe. A universe of meaning, a matrix of interacting characters, and I commenced this ascent into this other world on a Smith Corona portable typewriter, White out and Xerox paper not included. And from the caverns of Manhattan came a long-distance call that bantam books  was saying good things about the Apex of Power.

In my early twenties I had snafued an agent and we paraded around the streets of New York city. I wore a three-piece suit, showboated my brief case containing my novel. Seeing Tommy John pitch at the old Yankee Stadium would be the legacy of the NYC trip.

Sometimes it’s not easy making the transition back to the real world of world and life. The Apex of Power is a freebee on my site. Again, it’s impossible to stop being creative if one is consumed by creativity.

The novels just kept coming. Again, with a lot of affirmation. And I’d send them down to my agent… I frequently am inside my head aka asleep at the switch never questioned what the agent was or was not doing with my work. I figured that my output would get better and I was accumulating a portfolio once something hit.

I liked my career in outside sales because I worked with an immense slew of characters-many of whom made it into my books. And I liked competing. By the time I had written five books and a number of short stories I was working in sunny Southern California but missing New England.

Things really do change on a dime. Not good. Experiences shape the psyche and sometimes change hurts. I didn’t write anything for over a year. It was like a fighter having lost badly gradually working  his way back into condition. But that fighter upon his way back learns new techniques-he reinvents himself.

Then I was reluctantly prompted.(Thank you for doing so) I began over time take seminars, courses and lectures from ‘big deal’ writers, producers and screen writers. When the number one science fiction writer in the country at the time told me after reading my work-You know how to write. Yikes and thank you so saying that.

I held onto my agent way too long but jettisoned him- only when he said he was involved in Broadway now and clearly hadn’t given proper attention to my work. I wanted to control sales of my work with a copyrights and the point of sale.

Concurrently, personal computers had captured the world. Again, I reluctantly shifted from typewriter to PC and Laptop. I began to utilize the web and sold books as Palm Pilot files in the US and points around the globe. That was pretty cool.

Later I invested in companies that were eager to promise great things on the web but soon were unmasked… You can figure out the rest.

Forget the moneygrubbers. By now I had developed a strong but thoughtful voice, many times humorous and buttressed by a direct style. My time travel novels reflected my history background and a sense of adventure. My writing according to one reviewer alluded to a Hitchcockian flavor like North by Northwest or a Boagie and Becall film. Remember my first effort was a Star Trek novel. To say I was enamored by the Star Trek in the 1960’s doesn’t capture how that show influenced my writing. So did Serling and the Twilight Zone. Not that I tried to write Twilight Zone or Star Trek episodes… I think you have to hit the sweet spot of what a book to TV series is all about and it becomes part of the universe of writing.

Yes my crazy sense of humor comes through especially in the Matthias Jones books. Murder mayhem and monkey business.

I decided to keep my web site and sell paperback books from iUniverse. This worked but with the arrival of Amazon’s program, which brought in marketing, promotion and publishing both in paperback and kindle. And then a third option—Audio Books.

When I was a kid the idea of recording my voice, surroundings or events was as important as writing became for me. As a teenager you might spot me in North Easton Massachusetts with a portable tape recorder recording events or making parodies and pretend interviews.

 In college I would sometimes summarize and record my notes for exams. My vacations and travels are taped from this period.

Now with my books  I would read drafts I had written to hear how it sounded.  I would make corrections to improve the work. But I was doing something else… I was using my voices for individual. characters.

‘My name is Bucky Driscoll. I’m a professional security officer at Hamilton College in Hamilton, New Hampshire.‘

More and more. Which I kept on cassette. With edits I had a rudimentary audio book. When I purchased a professional voice recorder everything changed again as it had with the personal computer. Edits were much easier and under control. Special effects were seamless. I began selling the audio books along with my paperbacks and kindle in multiple markets.

My website at www.fittonbooks.com has quality books and audio books. Not like a bunch of trash you see around the web.

I did my voices privately over the years— to the annoyance of other, I’m sure. Now I can take my characters and emphasize them in my audio books.

Harlan Elison said to truly get the best  quality audio is to have the author himself perform the audio book. That’s Harlan speaking. But don’t think Elison went to the Fitton extreme. There are many great audio book readers better than I but they don’t have the perspective that I do so Elison is right on those counts.

So, what are you waiting for? Go over audible and listen to the audible samples.  If you need more audio samples email me- I’ll get them to you. The books are good.

Thank you very much. You have a great day and a wonderful evening…

Only one of my books does an anti-hero taking over the plot. More about that later at the end of this blog.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Why am I apologizing for having heroes in my books? I’m really not. It seems that forever there is an atmosphere in movies and books where being a hero is a liability. What’s wrong with heroes overcoming the odds for something noble? Not that I hate anti-heroes who sometimes expose problems in society. I read One flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey in college and watch Nicholson’s performance in the movie. I like Nicholson movies. Which brings me to the point. The anti-hero can spotlight injustice and inequity or sometimes nothingness. An antihero can vent against the inhumanity in humanity. It’s what Camus said about his detached character Meursault in The Stranger– that he is condemned because he doesn’t play the game. Neither does McMurphy in Cuckoo’s Nest but Nicholson is likeable in his own way. That likeability and carrying the banner of the oppressed sustains the anti-hero.

Network

Sometimes the line: “I’m mad as hell and am not gonna take it anymore!” is truer than true. Peter Finch brings forth Paddy Chayefsky‘s rich dialogue unlocking the collateral damage from reporting the news of the day over and over and over. So, I’m not saying that the anti-hero isn’t unimportant or must be excluded. Just give me my heroes.

The Shining

Or the anti-hero can be just plain out of control. Enter Jack Nicholson again in The Shining by Stephen King. Just a slight amount of foreboding before Nicholson is unleashed in the film. There are dozens of meanings behind the book which differs from Stanley Kubrick’s film which is good test it brings an individualization to the interpretation. I think all literature has an angle and redeeming value of varying intensities.

Gone With The Wind

What about Scarlett O’Hara in Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind? She ain’t no hero, baby and I have proof and his name is Rhett Butler. And he summed it up on screen: “Frankly my dear I don’t give a damn.”

Dear Scarlett! You aren’t helpless. Anyone as selfish and determined as you are is never helpless. God help the Yankees if they should get you. -Rhett Butler — Margaret Mitchell

A Clockwork Orange

A Clockwork Orange. Kubrick film again. The reprehensible Alex demonstrates that our volition is paramount. Even if it is violence. Pure Anti-Hero.

Gatsby

Gatsby: Fitzgerald. A heightened sensitivity… Gatsby isn’t quite what he seems is he? (Bootlegger with a phony name) and is in love with a woman (Daisy Buchanan) who will never love him. Yet he feels as if he must climb every mountain for her unrequited affection. Nick Caraway reports with minimal judgement just what Gatsby and his deluge was all about.

Scarface

Scarface quotes

Tony Montana a Cuban immigrant grinds his way to controlling a drug cartel. The blatant, unabashed killings and the selling and use of drugs in no way makes Montana (Al Pacino) a hero. As an anti-hero he has gained villain status with his movie fans. Nor does his desire to have more and more even border on hero. And more. His greed and use of violence is his undoing and in the end seal his fate.

Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey

“The adventure that he’s ready for is the one he gets.”

My Stuff: Time Travel Books

The Patch Kincaid Series

That ‘adventure’ statement by Campbell is so important to making sense of what happens in the narrative of the Patch Kincaid Series because of the historical timeline. History has been changed and in heroic fashion Patch throws himself into history’s timeline- ready for this heroric journey across the nineteen sixties.

In my novel about Jake McBride When You’re Dead You’re Dead AKA 1882. McBride makes a deal with the mysterious Mr. Melbourne of the elusive Nexus House to avenge the injustice from a San Francisco courtroom into the setting of the old west in 1882. Attaining justice through noble actions are a part of his journey.

When the present Los Angeles timeline is inexorably altered the quest involves traveling back to the first decade of the 20th Century where Los Angeles is thirsting for water. Our villain Neeko changed all time. Time traveler Mark McKenna ends up during the construction the LA Aqueduct and where he finds the woman he loves. ‘My stuff’ contains a historical context, a direct problem, and a hero or heroes seeking the solution with obstacles impeding the quest of restoring the world into proper balance. The adventure that McKenna is ready for in Time Portal Alpha is the one he gets.

The hero of  Once in a Lifetime AKA 1927 is Charlie Russo. In the 1920’s Charlie is ready to ditch his fiancé for the amazing Jamal, a woman on a mission from the future. Along with Jamal Charlie against great odds pursues components for Jamal’s transmitter. To prevent a deadly future for humanity, Jamal must construct the transmitter, warning the Sageons, a race of the future contact, about an evil evolved group of beings called the Avegis, a contingent of which is back in 1927- All happening as the historical events of 1927 unfold.

Andy Reese lives in a world controlled by artificial intelligence, the Seraph, far in the future. This is the book I Have Seen the Future AKA 1939. Andy’s defiant stance against the Seraph causes him to be punished in an immovable suspension. He gains the attention of the last enclave of humans only a few years in the future. They send him back to contact a figure important in time, Professor Herman Geiger whom he will meet at the 1939  NYC exposition that posits progress. Important to quest is Lucy Apel a young woman prodigy who fulfills her own destiny. All the while Andy is fighting the AI from the future now having chased him back to 1939 and able to inhabit human bodies.

The Butterfly in the Deadly Storm: In the 1950’s two teenagers were murdered in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and vivid dreams of that murder haunt Catherine. How can Catherine be a hero? She is sensitive to the pleas of two souls through time. In Plymouth she meets Tucker from out west who is having the same dreams. Catherine is determined to solve the crime when a nationally known figure, TV and radio personality Conrad Ridder, is implicated in her visions. The answers lie back in 1958 when the murders were committed and Dr. Saikalateeta is the vehicle to get Catherine, her friend Roz and Tucker to 1958.

The River of Fate flows through 1968. Caroline is the heroine in the River of Fate. After contact with a psychic gypsy, Caroline’s husband Greg is gunned down by an evil prison escapee, Marco St. Germaine, from Greg’s past. With Greg dead on a street in Chicago, the gypsy offers Caroline a way back to Greg’s high school past to prevent the debilitating accident that destroyed his life. Her heroic efforts are confronted by Marco’s delinquent and almost omnipotent powers. And she is in a battle to keep Greg away from the scene of the accident. But Greg does not listen to her.

The last time travel book I’ll mention is A World Without Her AKA 2000. The character/hero is Peter Sturgis in a good marriage with Jeannie, whom he met in college. Ricardo, in control of changing dimensions, takes a dislike to Peter. When fisticuffs break out Ricardo reacts by juxtaposing dimensions, leaving Peter without Jeannie and his family. And Jeannie is married to Ricardo and is a Hollywood star. Peter with his son from the new dimension travel to Hollywood where he meets this duplicate version of his wife. They are attracted to each other, but Ricardo finds out and plans to kill them both. The evil is overcome, and, in the end, justice is served.

And now the anti-hero… and this guy will be picking up his oppositional personality award at the end of this podcast. Gordon Butts. What do you think? Does the name fit? Butts does not perform one heroic act in his immoral, selfish, ambitiousness, and reckless life. Rather, the question revolves around just what Butts will do next. You know the old saying: “What goes around comes around.”

Robert P. Fitton

Audio Books of Robert P. Fitton

“Sir, is this your home?”

“No, no I’m a retired cop from Philly. Name’s Kel. I’m watchin’ this home on the Chesapeake.“‘

“Problems here, Kel?”

“Possibly… Close friend of mine, Mary Ellen and her kids. The husband Tony. Still works in the summer but comes by every few weekends.

“Is there another woman involved her Kel?”

“Damn right. Su Lee. I just don’t know who did what and who’s upset. I just think Mary Ellen and the kids are at risk.”

“That Mustang. Orange Mustang. It was parked in front of the beach house.”

“I don’t feel comfortable addressing that right now. I’ll find out what’s going on. May take some time but I’ll figure it out.”

“Be careful, Kel. Sounds like you’re dealing with someone who’s very crafty and deadly.”

“Got a job to do. Maybe I’m just working on ‘the big one.’ “

Why is it that we would plop down hard-earned money to watch someone being stalked? I’m serious. Haven’t we enough God-awful problems in the world without paying to track the ultimate problem: being trapped by someone out to injure, harm or even kill. The good part is we aren’t really there, but we can experience all the horror and fear and then casually  head for the concession for some more popcorn. But we hurry back in for more- horror and fear.

And there is another element. Hitchcock sums this up a lot better than I can:

“Drama is life with the dull bits left out. There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it. I believe in putting the horror in the minds of the audience, and not necessarily on the screen. The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder.”

Anticipation is a funny thing. The anticipation of something wonderful is markedly at odds with the anticipation of doom. Anticipation is like a carrot, luring and drawing one closer to the ultimate- the ultimate what? That’s the point.

I know of dozens of stalking movies and there maybe hundreds because people will never tire of being a voyeur to the unthinkable.

The Fan

Okay we’re in 1981. Lauren Bacall is Sally Ross, actress of stage and film. Bacall links up with her ex-husband James Garner aka Jake Berman. But Garner isn’t the obsessed stalker. Michael Biehn (Douglas Breen) becomes infatuated with Bacall. Breen begins writing to Bacall (Sally Ross) The letter is filled with wandering nonsense. This and subsequent letters are screened by Maureen Stapleton (Belle Goldman) as Douglas Breen becomes consumed by his love for Sally Ross. Sally scoffs at a hand delivered letter from Breen. Breen later attacks Belle, and then kills Sally’s maid.

Sally, distraught, flees New York and retreats to a secluded house in the country, where she is visited by Jake. After a third murder Breen shows up in the audience at a Sally Ross performance. Breen kills a costume designer and night watchman before he reaches Ross in her dressing room. Ross whips his face with a riding crop. As he tries to make love to her, she confronts Breen and in his rage he attempts to embrace her-only to get a knife plugged in his neck. So long Breen.

The formula: Obsessed stalker: Kills along the way: Final confrontation.

Martin Scorsese produced Cape Fear. A second time for the film, original in 1962, based on the John D. MacDonald’s novel, The Executioners. In this film we have revenge as a major factor. Cady (Robert De Niro)  is a former client of Sam Bowden, (Nick Nolte) a lawyer from North Carolina. Cady learns over the years that evidence was hidden in his rape trial. He is a sophisticated psychopath who now knows the law from his time in prison. Without reason the family dog is killed. Bowden cannot get Cady arrested. Cady then rapes and almost murders a courthouse clerk, Lori in love with Bowden. Lori refuses to press charges. Bowden employs Kersek a PI (Joe Don Baker ) to follow Cady. The clever Cady pretends to be Bowden’s daughter’s new drama teacher and makes a clear effort to seduce the daughter. Bowden now activated his PI’s plan to beat up Cady. But Cady overwhelms his attackers.

As the story unfolds Cady enters the house killing the PI and the housekeeper. Bowden and his family  race to their houseboat once they find the bodies.  Cady, lighting a cigar, is engulfed in flames and leaps off the boat. As a thunderstorm commences Cady returns and sets up a mock trial for Bowden. Cady is swept off his feet in the storm. Bowden uses Cady’s handcuffs to secure him to the boat. The boat hits a rock, Cady is washed overboard and drowns. But the terror lives on.

One can almost feel the unlimited rage brewing in DiNiro. You have to be angry and want Cady taken out.

When the Bough Breaks

A stunning woman Anna is hired to become surrogate mother for John and Laura Taylor. Anna’s boyfriend Mike beats her up and Anna is taken in by the Taylors. But Anna is whacky and is enamored with John Taylor. Mike and Anna had planned to extort money from the Taylors. When Mike returns and wants money from the Taylors through Anna, she kills him. That’s right. He’s gone. What kind of a woman is this?

Anna puts a full court seduction press on John, wanting him to go out to lunch. When he declines she nixes the call. John now refuses to answer any call from Anna. Anna ratchets it up and tries to seduce John in his office but the performance is stopped, and Anna departs the office when John’s supervisor arrives.

In the guest house Anna laments her longing for John, but John is emphatic he doesn’t feel the same way. Anna goes into a highly animated temper tantrum. John stabilizes the outburst. So how to solve this dilemma? Anna gets a knife from the main house! Cops arrive and Anna confabulates a story about having sex with John every night. But she still possesses the surrogate baby.

Now it’s John’s turn to make up stories. He claims he cares about Anna. Even when he slaps the make on Anna and asks her to come to the house by the lake, Anna is suspicious. The next day Anna, snooping  sees John and Laura holding each other. Whoops! Anna drops a message on the phone voicemail informing the couple the baby is about to be born. John hurries to the hospital leaving Laura behind…. Not good.

The demonic Anna makes a beeline to the Taylor House. She whacks the cat and then bops Laura’s skull with a lamp. Laura is down for the count. But surprise-surprise Laura goes into labor. She does have the baby and exits the hospital to of all places- the house by the lake. The Taylors find this out. John grabs the baby but when Anna awakens, she attacks John in a vicious fight. John hurls her body against a cabinet-Good for you John. John and Laura place the baby in their car. Laura flips on the lights, but Anna is ready to blow her away with a shotgun. Anna fires at the vehicle, smashing the window. Laura flattens  Anna with her car, and the ignominious Anna is dead.

When the Bough Breaks absolutely brings about the unexpected, the evil, demonic, and the ever-present threat of a painful death. When something good (the surrogate) is about to brighten up the Taylor’s life down comes the Sword of Damocles.

Being alone was not a problem in itself for Mary Ellen in the Beach House. Leaving her suburban Pennsylvania home for an endless summer on the Chesapeake with her family is a wonderful experience. This is just the set-up for the summer that could have been. Kel is an integral character, because he carries the baggage of unjustly been accused of incompetence. When things are closing in around Mary Ellen, Kel has a chance to redeem himself. The little man scrounger Su Lee is exceedingly clever, able to murder with impunity, and willing to torment those affected. Added to those despicable qualities is her charm mixed with an irresistible sexuality. In her Mustang or in her bikini short shorts as a bartender she maneuvers Mary Ellen’s husband Tony into a checkmated reality. In the end it is Mary Ellen who must suffer the monstrous demons that lurk inside Sun Lee’s soul.

The anticipation is there, the demented killer weaves in and out of the story, the murders are real, and the over the hill cop does his job. And in the end there is no way to know what will happen next.

Robert P. Fitton

BUY FROM AMAZON

And a P.S. From Alfred Hitchcock….

Belch Cosgrove Presents:”Sorry Wrong Number.”

BELCH COSGROVE: “Mr. Stefani, Belch Cosgrove FLEX News. Sorry wrong number. Ha. Ha. Ha.”

COCOA STEFANI: “Whaddya want, Pal?”

BELCH COSGROVE: “Are you the one who signed Matthias Jones to coach at Hamilton College in New Hampshire, a rag tag college with no visible athletic prominence?”

COCOA STEFANI: “Hey Cosgrove that mouth of yours is gonna take you down.”

BELCH COSGROVE: “Sorry wrong number. Get it, Ha. Ha. Ha.”

COCOA STEFANI: ” You’re a laugh a minute.”

BELCH COSGROVE: Word has it you were hired by channel Z, a gambling channel and that money changed hands to lure Jones into his present position.”

COCOA STEFANI: “I have no idea what you’re talkin’ about. Who the hell let you inta the club?”

BELCH COSGROVE: “We ‘re prepared to go to air on this money laundering scheme.”

COCOA STEFANI: “That right? I gut Jonesy back here in conjunction with the old man because Jonesy’s the best. Jonesy doesn’t take cheap shots and flap his big trap. You Mr. tough guy are goin’ for a little ride.”

BELCH COSGROVE: “Great I like people who cooperate.”

COCOA STEFANI: “Uncle Dullio. Never mind where I am, Dullio. I have a passenger for you and Earl.”

BELCH COSGROVE: “Sorry wrong number! Ha. Ha. Ha.”

COCOA STEFANI: “ Enjoy the ride Cosgrove. Nice knowing ya.”

BELCH COSGROVE: “Good, we can talk about Jones’s old man.”

COCOA STEFANI: “Au Revoir, Mr. Wrong number.“

BRUNO DONOVAN: “That guy is a loser.”

COCOA STEFANI: “Ya gut that right, Bruno. Jonesy’s old man was an ace. Just like Jonesy. He went right after the low-lifes.”

BRUNO DONOVAN: “And they murdered him.”

COCOA STEFANI: “Right in his own pickup. Jonesy was too bummed out to see it. When I went out there that stuck out like a sore thumb. Wasn’t no heart attack, Bruno.”

BRUNO DONOVAN: “If I know Jonesy he wouldn’t back off at the point.”

COCOA STEFANI: “We both went after ’em Bruno. We’re not dealin’ with dummys like Dewars and Driscoll. They can’t wait ta take people down. We had to figure out what Bill Jones had figured out.”

BRUNO DONOVAN: “The FBI was impressed enough to give Jonesy some kinda clearance.”

COCOA STEFANI: “Right like collectin’ Captain Midnight decoder rings.“

BRUNO DONOVAN: “Didn’t that moron Lester Larsen show up?”

COCOA STEFANI: “Yeah, he showed up. Almost gut us killed. He was tryin’ to stop Jonesy from takin’ the coachin’ job so his old man could continue to lose games. Lester is all done Bruno.”

BRUNO DONOVAN: “What about Cosgrove?”

COCOA STEFANI: “Sorry wrong number!“

Crazy Characters:

When I first introduced Lester Larsen into the Jones series, I began to question whether I had gone too far. Not only are Lester’s spastic machinations bordering on absurd, but his physical stature or lack thereof is like a character out of a sci-fi novel. Now why would I put this numbskull in a Matthias Jones Mystery? Remember Jones stories have: ‘Murder, Mayhem, and Monkey Business.’ Because all of Hamilton and its zany population were back east in this story. Since Jones and Cocoa are in a very precarious situation, I wanted the usual unusual character brought in to muck up the investigation as well as ratchet up the danger.

Cole Salo, a blog writer and aspiring novelist came up with a list of crazy characters. Let’s talk about a few.

Alice in Wonderland, never been out of print since 1865, by Lewis Carrol is filled with insane characters.

“We’re all mad here.”― Cheshire Cat

The Shining-Jack Torrance by Stephen King-Something about that hotel brings out the best in Jack.

How about Frankenstein by Mary Shelly? Slightly over the top? Monster extraordinaire. And I do mean monster!

Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Doesn’t get so markedly different these aspects the psyche. Bizzaro!

Live from the lab: Human-animal creatures on Dr. Moreau’s Island-H.G. Wells.

The Union Corruption that Bill Jones was Investigating:

Not all unions are corrupt, but corruption does exist. Corruption is a myth you say. Bill Jones found something, and it cost him his life. Study some of these stats from Union Facts.com:

• During fiscal years 2000–2019, OLMS investigations led to over $156.3 million dollars of restitution in over 2,100 criminal cases;
• OLMS investigations also led to 2,297 indictments and 2166 convictions;
• The Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act’s (LMRDA) reliance on self-government, public disclosure, and ultimately deterrence has failed.
• The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) has investigated and prosecuted union leaders for embezzling more than $100 million in union dues since 2001.
• Investigations by the DOL’s Office of Inspector General, which investigates labor racketeering and organized crime’s influence within the labor movement, has resulted in more than $1 billion in fines, restitution, and forfeitures.
• Fewer than 5 percent of unions audited by the DOL received unqualified passes.

Bill Jones was dealing with the big boys and now Cocoa and Jones are in the center of that same great power that threatens their very lives.

At the end of this first Jones novel, Jones is welcomed back to Hamilton and at Club Max in Prince William. The solidification of Cocoa and Jones’s relationship is critical and an excellent way to bring the series forward. That’s no side road theory- it’s life in the wacky town of Hamilton, New Hampshire.

Robert P. Fitton

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Live from Hamilton with Arlo Wombatt

WOFI brings you to the Hamilton town Common and that roving reporter Arlo Wombatt.

ARLO WOMBATT: “This is Arlo Wombatt! We’re here live in downtown Hamilton, New Hampshire a mere few hours after the death of town patriarch Hamilton Fletcher. I have with me Hamilton Police Chief George Strickland. Chief what can you tell us?“

GEORGE STRICKLAND: “I can only say right now that Hamilton Fletcher was shot from behind in his first-floor study at the Fletcher mansion on Fletcher Hill.”

ARLO WOMBATT: ” I’m going to cut to the chase, Chief. Who shot Hamilton Fletcher?“

GEORGE STRICKLAND: “I’m not going to comment on that Arlo.”

ARLO WOMBATT: But you do have suspects?“

GEORGE STRICKLAND: “Yes.”

ARLO WOMBATT: “Hamilton had a lot of enemies.”

GEORGE STRICKLAND: “Arlo, that is the understatement of the year.”

ARLO WOMBATT: “Doesn’t make your job any easier, Chief.”

GEORGE STRICKLAND: “It’s not the number of people who wanted to get at Hamilton. Better to focus on who had the means, the motive and the opportunity.”

Hamilton Fletcher’s death makes sense. The list of people whose lives have been squelched, stomped, and squished by Hamilton Fletcher is boundless.

JC Gatlin tells us of his ten motives for murder. With Hamilton Fletcher’s death there had to be a motive.

To hide a secret, greed, revenge, obsession, frustration and hate, love, sex and jealousy, crime of passion, psychosis and mental disorders, to protect personal status, to protect a loved one, and empathy or sympathy.

Alex Harmon: Groundskeeper who was not paid and is fired by Hamilton. Seen leaving the scene of the murder on his motorcycle.

Malcolm Hayes : Company Controller: Made the Fletcher economic machine run smoothly for years-no thanks from Hamilton or extra monetary compensation. How upset was dear Malcolm Hayes?

Anna Fletcher: Flirty daughter of Hamilton Fletcher. Shafted by her father concerning funding a restaurant on the West Coast. Anna never got along with dear old dad.

We definitely have greed, frustration and hate. Even a crime of passion.

What real and unreal characters have specific motives for murder?

(From Nancy Bowers’s Iowa Unsolved Murders and Historic cases.)

-A US Cavalry man struck with an axe in 1866 because of an argument.

-Silas McCart (1860) stabbed because of a political disagreement.

–A coal miner in 1894 surprise surprise shot to death because of jealousy over a woman.

–Allan F. Shoemaker (1925) Gunshot as he tried to avoid arrest.

-George Diggle in 1888 killed by alcohol and morphine OD. His wife wanted him out of the way.

-1869 Jesse Wilkerson. Motive for death: Bullying by kicking.

-Oliver Pierson pushed from a great height. And what was the motive? Business quarrel.

-A con woman was strangled because she was hiding illegal activities.

-Dr. Swisher had a secret from the past. So, in 1898 he was shot dead.

–This man Nathaniel Carnagy bludgeoned to death. Motive: None. It was in a drunken rage.

-Let’s get rid of the husband. (Edwin F. Hodges) Motive: To get a wife! Method was poison and the year was 1869.

“Fred” Quade- Gunshot-1897- Family Quarrel.
Jeremiah Rummell Zollinger was bludgeoned to death in 1897 because someone bore Zollinger a grudge from the time he served as Deputy and then Sheriff of Jasper County.

Jones and Strickland begin accumulating clues but they have no killer. Then the larger picture comes into view when the killer directly confronts Jones. In the end the question arises as to who gets Hamilton Fletcher’s estate. With everyone champing at the bit a shocking conclusion where everything changes. The motive for Hamilton Fletcher’s death was quite simple.

Robert P. Fitton

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Chief Strickland were you on duty at the Bowl-a-rama in Prince William when Chet McLaughlin was shot.

GEORGE STRICKLAND: No, I was not on duty and was bowling with the crew from Hamilton. We were playing against a Prince William team.

I understand that you tended Lark Larsen when he was shot to the ground, Chief.”

GEORGE STRICKLAND: “That’s not what happened. Lark was loaded… Not the first time either.”

“You heard the shots, Chief?”

GEORGE STRICKLAND: “One of them may have been from a silencer. The other was the usual crack you might associate with a gunshot.”

“You know McLaughlin?”

GEORGE STRICKLAND: “Yeah, Chet was an OK kind of guy.”

“Then why would someone or more than one person gun him down?”

GEORGE STRICKLAND: “His daughter had a guy Mark Pierra who was stalking her. Guy carried a knife. And word has it that Johnny Stefani a known gangster was on site here at the bowling alley.”

“What about you Bucky? You were on the Hamilton team.”

BUCKY DRISCOLL: “I don’t know nothin.’ I was having trouble with my balls.”

“Excuse me?”

BUCKY DRISCOLL: “My balls kept gettin’ stuck.”

GEORGE STRICKLAND: “Bowling ball in the return.”

“Arnie?”

ARNIE DEWARS: “Chet was a pro-Bowler!”

“I don’t care about his biography. What did you see?”

COCOA STEFANI: ” Dewars and the rest of them didn’t see nothin.’ They were boozin’ it up with those blue cups. I told ya no drinkin’ at the Bowl-a-rama.”

ARNIE DEWARS: ” A little lubrication never hurt nobody.”

COCOA STEFANI: “That right? You’re gonna take a little ride with my Uncle Dullio, Dewars.”

ARNIE DEWARS: “Hey Cocoa. I didn’t mean it. I was just kiddin.'”

BUCKY DRISCOLL: ” I ain’t afraid of you guys. You’re all paper tigers.”

COCOA STEFANI: “Is that right, Rodent? Dullio, take Mr. Tough Guy here with Dewars to meet Earl”

BUCKY DRISCOLL: “Who’s Earl?”

COCOA STEFANI: Somebody who’s gonna teach you the meaning of life.”

BUCKY DRISCOLL: ” Oh, what a relief. Thanks Cocoa.”

COCOA STEFANI: ” Don’t mention it.”

“So Cocoa, your father was in the coat room with somebody from Vegas.”

COCOA STEFANI:”I can’t speak for the old man. He’s been gone for years. But if he was back here he had a good reason.”

Johnny Stefani did have a good reason to be back in the Prince William area. His presence back in the area and the subsequent plot with Cocoa brings Cocoa’s life full circle since his brother Anthony’s death in NYC and Johnny’s abandonment over twenty years ago. And whoever was after Chet McLaughlin is trying to finish the job.

Las Vegas Weekly last year in conjunction with the Mob Museum published a list of people, not necessarily mob leaders, who were gunned down for reasons-some known, some unknown. In light with what happens to Chet McLaughlin in the Jones book, let’s look at someone these wipe outs.

Gus Greenbaum and his wife:

Did they skim money to keep a high roller lifestyle? Probably. Throats slit…

Bill Coulthard

Former FBI agent bombed in broad daylight inside a Downtown Vegas parking garage. Coulthard was Mr. Law and order in Las Vegas. Headed the FBI’s local office and became well known attorney.

Elmer “Al” Bramlet

Elmer “Al” Bramlet- flashy dresser and traditional labor leader. Refused to pay his firebombing thugs for a job not done. Unfortunately for Elmer they completed another job-his demise.

Charles ‘Sonny’ Liston

Heart failure and lung congestion–owed money to the mob–a forced overdose?

The Murder of Sonny Liston

Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel

Dead at age 41

Bugsy Siegel: The Life and Legacy of the Notorious Gangster Who Helped Develop Murder, Inc. and the Las Vegas Strip

Who knows why he was hit? Jack Dragna from LA might have wanted him dead. Moe Dalitz’s ex-girlfriend was abused by Siegal. The big boys wanted him gone because he was skimming money from the Flamingo.

So, what the heck did Chet McLaughlin do? This is where Jones and Cocoa have to look through the people around Chet at the college. That leads them to northern New Hampshire followed by the Hamilton crazies) and the beginning of the showdown. We learn why the old man in the mountain collapsed, ruining great landmark.

Everything leads back to Prince William and a bizarre death chamber. Remember the past is always present. Chet McLaughlin knew something, and it got him killed.

Robert P. Fitton

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TOM McGILL: “Bucky I’d like a few words with you about the murder at the Conservatory.”

BUCKY DRISCOLL: “As far as I’m concerned as a Class A Certified Security Expert Lark Larsen, the big dummy is guilty as the day is long.“

TOM McGILL: “McGill from the Enterprise. How do you know this Driscoll?

BUCKY DRISCOLL: ” HUH?“

TOM McGILL: “Did you see Larsen kill Professor Neusbaum?”

BUCKY DRISCOLL: ” Oh, I didn’t have to. I was on duty at Hamilton College. I saw the Big Dummy pull into the Conservatory. Shots were fired.”

TOM McGILL: “You’re saying that Lark Larsen was in proximity of the deceased and his movements synchronized with the chronological events?”

BUCKY DRISCOLL: “Yeah whatever you say.“

TOM McGILL: “And no one else was around the building.“

TOM McGILL: “And no one else was around the building.“

BUCKY DRISCOLL: “Sure lots of people.”

TOM McGILL: “Then how the hell do you know it was Larsen who killed the Maestro?”

BUCKY DRISCOLL: “Well, Mayor Picata’s wife was peeking in the Conservatory windows. She’s built like a brick-“

TOM McGILL: “So she could have gotten in there?”

BUCKY DRISCOLL: “Maybe the old man was … ha-ha-ha– you know making whoopee with Mrs. Picata.”

TOM McGILL: “You don’t know that, Bucky.”

BUCKY DRISCOLL: “I cordoned off the area but didn’t see the broad. Guess they wanted privacy. Ha-Ha-Ha-“

TOM McGILL: That’s not funny, Bucky.”

BUCKY DRISCOLL: “I thought it was… Hey, what about the other guy who taught here.”

TOM McGILL: “Who’s that?”

BUCKY DRISCOLL: ” He plays at Club Max. Mick Dumas… The Mick Dumas Trio.”

TOM McGILL: “Why would he kill Neusbaum?”

BUCKY DRISCOLL: “Bad blood Boogaloo…”

ARNIE DEWARS: “What about Steve Corbett? That guy with the head injury. He was right in the next building supposed to be shinin’ the floors!”

TOM McGILL: “Arnie, you’re not in this interview.”

ARNIE DEWARS: “What’s the matter? Afraid of the truth?”

TOM McGILL: ” Arnie, you wouldn’t know the truth if it bit you in the ass.”

TOM McGILL: “Testy, Tommy. Testy.”

GEORGE STRICKLAND: “I’d like a few words with you, Bucky. You had that whole area locked down. You may have allowed the killer to get out.”

BUCKY DRISCOLL: “I know my rights, Coppa.”

ARNIE DEWARS: “Georgie, you’re missin’ the obvious.”

GEORGE STRICKLAND: “What’s that, Arnie?”

ARNIE DEWARS: “The dog. The dog was the only guy there. The dog shot the Maestro.”

GEORGE STRICKLAND: “Arnie do you know how dumb you are?”

BUCKY DRISCOLL:“ Yeah, Arnie, do ya?”

GEORGE STRICKLAND: “Perhaps I should call in Pinky Harris from the State Police.”

BUCKY DRISCOLL: ” I gutta go. Come on Arnie!”

ARNIE DEWARS: “I’m outta here!”

TOM McGILL: ” Who do you think did it, George?”

GEORGE STRICKLAND: “ In this town? If it wasn’t the dog it was one of Woozie Williams’ horses.”

Real-life Weirdo People Arrested For Crimes:

There once was a man who lived in Pennsylvania

A man with a strange mania

He wasn’t very difficult to please

For all he wanted sex mixed with Swiss cheese

Or the dude who thought life was such a bore

So, he would break into a department store

And it was all needles and pins

Until the dude- ran off with the mannequins

A British soliloquy will make you ask why

Victims would watch a man cunningly drive by

As he gripped his manure-filled sock

And let it fly to a resounding plop!

Worse- a not so honorable a man from Japan

Who wasn’t happy to use the proverbial can

As he roamed the countryside tourin’

When he pitched a full cup of urine

Another hero from the Island of Japan

Behind the steering wheel a sticky little man

Loaded with a gun that he fired in this craze

Globs and globs of soupy Mayonnaise

Now I don’t feel too bad about writing about the bizarre town of Hamilton New Hampshire. In Funeral March for the Maestro four suspects are investigated by Jones, who heard the shots inside the conservatory as he ran his baseball camp in the adjoining field. Each of these characters have defining characteristics and a proximity to the murdered Maestro.

Calling all weird killers? Calling all weird killers?

Ah here we go: ( From Katherine Ramsland, PhD in Psychology today.)

A guy who on the surface was charming— chose his victims by their VOICE! Because he missed his mother and wanted to take his mother’s voice with him-” Ah, as Johnny Carson used to say, “Well be right back.”

In the early 1930’s a guy caused accidents and death so he could pretend to be one of the victims and sue for damages. And he had an odd sexual component to his problem. Found guilty but escaped.

Several murders around Maryland where a Jazz guy blames his former housemate. He said the murders were an existential experience.

This investigation by Jones brings him into a maze of contradictions. But the part I like the most is the finale when Jones confronts the killer in a very dangerous situation.

Jones might be aware from working with his investigator father of the following:

People try to get rid of the evidence… In Funeral March for the Maestro the evidence is on display rather than hidden. Then the question is why kill the Maestro? Lark is upset because Neusbaum owed the cheap former coach money for the Steinway piano. Corbett is mentally compromised and has long standing grudges with his father-in-law. Dumas lost a position due to the Maestro’s bad recommendation. How about the classy Mrs. Picata, so close to Neusbaum with her association to the Prince William Symphony?

I will only tell you that justice comes swiftly for the murderer.

Robert P. Fitton

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“This is WOFI in Prince William New Hampshire. We now switch to a live report from Hamilton concerning the strange murder in that tiny town this morning.“

ARNIE DEWARS: “Yeah, I wuz in here early droppin’ off some stock from Dewars Lumber, Hamilton New Hampshire. We deliver anywhere in the continental US.”

   “What exactly did you see, Mr. Dewars?”

        ARNIE DEWARS: “Well, I wuz doin’ some trash pickup.”

        ” Isn’t it true you were illegally dumping trash on the project so he wouldn’t have to pay the landfill fees.”

ARNIE DEWARS: “Ugly rumors.”

“What happened, Mr. Dewars?”

        ARNIE DEWARS: “So I see this work boot stickin’ out of the concrete.”

“I find that hard to believe.“

ARNIE DEWARS: “Believe it Baby.”

        “When did you realize there was an actual body in the concrete?”

        ARNIE DEWARS: “I could tell by the contours.”

        “Come on, Dewars.”

        ARNIE DEWARS: “I have an eagle eye. It was a work boot, attached to a leg, honey.”

“I’m not you’re honey, slime-ball.”

“Whoa… Feisty!”

“Who was the victim Dewars?”

BUCKY DRISCOLL: “I can answer that question.”

“Get Lost, Dweeb”

BUCKY DRISCOLL: “I’m not dweeb-I’m Driscoll. Bucky Driscoll. I’m a class A certified security specialist.”

” Perhaps you can tell us who’s buried in the cement.”

BUCKY DRISCOLL: ” Classified. We have legal issues here madam-moyzell.”

“Then, you don’t know.”

BUCKY DRISCOLL: “Huh?”

“Who’s buried the the damned foundation, Driscoll?”

BUCKY DRISCOLL: “Oh, tough one? You don’t scare me cream puff. I can take you down with my eyes closed.”

“Do you you or do you not know who’s buried in that foundation, Driscoll?”

BUCKY DRISCOLL: “I ain’t tellin’ you Goober.”

“You are an irascible degenerate who exacerbates a lack of basic civility.”

BUCKY DRISCOLL: “Oh why didn’t you say so? It’s Leo Crowley. Coach Jones’s good friend and team manager.”

“Thank God we can edit this piece.”

        So, you think it’s weird that Leo Crowley’s body in a cement foundation? It probably is and the perpetrators of this crime that Jones will track down made one fatal mistake in not securing the boot within the concrete form. I thought it might be interesting to show a slew of idiotic crimes, not necessarily murder.

How about the lady in South Carolina who was bagged for drunk driving. Only one problem kiddies- She was driving he children’s toy car.  NO, it’s really true! Chugging along in the little electric vehicle down the road-three sheets to the wind!

 

   Okay this guy in Harlem, I still don’t believe this one myself. As the the story goes the guy simply wanted a tiger cub in his apartment. But Tiger cubs grow into full-fledged, carnivorous adulthood. Yes, it’s true. The African jungle tiger right there in Harlem, in the apartment, living with the guy. PS- he had an alligator too. The alligator refused to have his photo taken.

       

Listen to this. Two guys fighting over– a woman? Nope. A car? no. The TV. Wrong again… A bag of Cheetos. So what Happened? Murder! Murder over a bag of Cheetos. Give me a break… or at least a Cheeto.

Rapid list of weird locations for the deceased:

Guy drops a cell phone into a papier-mâché Dinosaur leg-then he fell into until found-dead.

Disney Paris employee stuck under It’s a small world ride boat when it accidentally started. Round and round we go- where he stops nobody knows.

Guy on a rabbit hunt falls into a rabbit hole while leaving his dog tied to a tree. The dog survived.

Lady in South Africa, in for a broken leg, found dead in hospital ceiling and no one knows how she got there.

And now back to our story.

When I was on the road in outside sales many times, I called on home builders. I also met a slew of other customers which inspired may of the characters in my books. Jones enters the world of Bobby Bonner Homes, which includes Bonner himself as well as Scott Gleason the job superintendent. There is the sub–Red Kroch who will fight at the drop of a hat. No, I didn’t copy exact characters, but I did exaggerate character traits. And all the Hamilton crazies such as Lark Larsen, Bucky Driscoll, Wendell Harris, Courtney Jefferson and his mother along with the Hamilton regulars Frannie McShane, George Strickland and Father Gallagher are in this book.

And then the murder conspiracy in Murder at the Applegate expands well beyond Hamilton and Prince William which is cool but dangerous for Cocoa and Jones. Distant locale and wider conspiracy.

Robert P. Fitton

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