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April 8, 2013

Uncle Rex Gets the News

Thought some of you might find this deleted scene from the extras for Endless Vacation, a prologue that ended up on the cutting room floor.



When the doctor stopped talking, Rex thought, "This is not the Middle Ages. People don’t die at sixty-four anymore."

But clearly some did and he was one of them.

He didn't meet the man's eyes. Instead, he looked at the doctor's leather valise leaning against the desk, at the corner where it was worn through to the fabric underneath.

His heart raced as adrenaline coursed through his system, blood pounding in his ears. It was the panic moment, that point at which you know you've done something horribly wrong and nauseatingly irreversible. The split-second in the middle of the intersection when you realize you missed the light and the truck bearing down on you can’t stop.

Here he was, frozen in the second before impact, face to face with the inevitable. According to the doctor, he had months, not seconds, to stare at the semi filling his vision. Was that a second chance or a living hell?

His second thought was a prolonged "No" echoing in his skull. He stared at the frayed leather as if he could zoom in to see the fibers and then the molecules and then the atoms and the electrons and neutrons and further in until a single atom was the universe, or the universe was a single atom. Or perhaps they were the same thing. Or maybe they were nothing at all.

His third thought was, "I can fix this. It will be okay." That didn't last long. He couldn't and it wouldn't.

He pulled his gaze from the valise to the doctor. The man had done this before, probably dozens of times, but he looked like it was his first time. Let him. It was Rex's first time, too.

He had heard that four people die every second. Somewhere, right now, in four places on the globe, four people were staring down four semis. He wondered how many times a second a person was told he would die. Fewer than four, certainly.

Maybe he was the only one for this second. He wanted to believe that it made him unique, but the truth was he was just one more snowflake on a glacier. And what did a single snowflake matter in the scheme of things, in this universe inside an atom?

He thought of Bridget and the ghost of a smile haunted his face. She had been more than a snowflake. She had made a difference of some kind, however small, however fleeting. And what more could one ask of a life?

Rex held the doctor's gaze and said, "Thank you." He ignored the muted confusion on the man's face.

It was a second chance and he would make the most of it.



Which way do you think the novel should have started. Like it does now with Dave in his office or like this with Rex getting the news? You can leave your thoughts in the comments.

April 6, 2013

Review Procrastination

I've had a few emails from people missing my book reviews. I have been reading, but writing and releasing Endless Vacation has taken precedence over writing reviews of what I have read. As a concession, here's a list of the books I've read since Nov that I haven't taken time to review.
  • *** My Story Can Beat Up Your Story: Ten Ways to Toughen Up Your Screenplay from Opening Hook to Knockout Punch, Jeffrey Schechter, 2011
  • *** Bullets and Fire, Joe Lansdale
  • *** The Rivers Run Dry, Sibello Giorella, 2009
  • *** Everything But The Squeal (Simeon Grist #2), Timothy Hallinan, 2010
  • *** Skin Deep (Simeon Grist #3), Timothy Hallinan, 2010
  • *** The Safe Man: A Ghost Story, Michael Connelly, 2005
  • *** Mulholland Drive: Three Stories, Michael Connelly, 2012
  • *** Suicide Run: Three Harry Bosch Stories, Michael Connelly, 2011
  • **** The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard, Arthur Conan Doyle, 1896
  • **** The Adventures of Gerard, Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903

April 1, 2013

Happy Wunderfool's Day!

It's April Fool's day, and we all know what that means. Another book from Wunderfool Press. We deliriously submit to you the latest collection of inanity that is a Whittington novel.
Available in paperback or Kindle version from Amazon.com. Nook version coming in August. Here's the back cover copy:

BROTHERS. CAN’T LIVE WITH ‘EM. CAN’T SHOOT ‘EM.

On the best of days Special Agent Dave Fletcher wants nothing more than for his long-lost brother Hensley to stay lost for a long time. But it’s not the best of days.

Dave learns that Rex, his uncle and mentor, died while vacationing in CancĂșn. Just after drafting a last-minute will leaving his fortune to Masie, a stranger who is first on the scene when Rex dies.

Suspecting foul play, Dave goes to Mexico to make sure the murderer pays. But he can’t decide whether Masie is the most amazing woman he’s ever met or a cold-blooded killer.

When Hensley resurfaces to provide unexpected and unwanted help, he stirs up decades-old resentments and attracts the attention of the killer. Will the brothers kill each other and save the murderer the trouble?
ENDLESS VACATION is the most outrageous novel yet from the twisted pen of Brad Whittington.