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Monday, January 01, 2007

First Appearance of Psychic James Hoover in My Current Novel...

Hoover was black; a deep rich color without blemish or variation. His hair was cut close to the scalp and a puff of curls capped his chin. He was dressed in a wrinkled white shirt with epaulets, tan poplin slacks, and a pair of worn topsiders – no socks. A silver and black tablet PC, encased in a yellow bumper case, hung from one shoulder.

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Okay, I wanted to share that. Because that's what I'm working on. Right now. As I write my way into 2007. Two good friends are accompanying me -- every few minutes punctuated with friendly chatter. Anyway, notice the TPC reference -- and the proper spelling of it. Heh.

9 comments:

Charles Gramlich said...

Great description.

Sidney said...

I like the "puff of curls capped his chin" description.

Clifford said...

Thanks guys. I'm at that point in the novel where you have to put a lot of effort into making the prose sound effortless. Still tweaking James' initial scene, and though it's not quite there, it's coming along.

James Burnett said...

Good luck on your novel. I found your blog through Stewart's, and I have to support my fellow scribes.

Happy New Year to you.

Clifford said...

Thanks James, and welcome to the site!

Stewart Sternberg (half of L.P. Styles) said...

Wow. Good, sharp. I have a psychic in the current novel I am working on. He's more a reluctant psychic. A social worker, called upon by a frustrated police detective running out of options.

The world of the psychic is fascinating. Have you ever been to one, Clifford? Or have you talked to people who have? It's amazing. The people who see psychics on a regular basis are almost a subculture onto themselves.

Clifford said...

Stewart -- very cool! We'll definitely have to exchange novels down the road!

I've only gone to a psychic once -- with a male friend. The psychic was blind, and when I saw her dog, I stupidly said, "It must be great to be able to bring your dog to work." She quickly retorted -- "You poke both your eyes out and you can bring your dog to work, too."

Ouch.

She then asked if we were a couple (wrong) and proceeded to read braille tarot cards...one hand slid across the cards, the other read the explanations out of a braille tarot book (lame). It didn't increase my faith in the profession. That said, I do believe that some of us have certain powers...all you have to do is "turn" when someone behind you or across the room is staring at you to know that there is some transference of energy that takes place when someone is concentrating on you, possibly intending to do you harm. It's an ability we all have, and seems to be irrefutable proof of intangible communication. It was one such incident that made me a believer.

Thanks for the kind comment. I may just have to go to a psychic this weekend...

Anonymous said...

Thanks for writing this.

Clifford said...

Amina -- thanks for the comment...I'd almost forgotten about this post...funny, I'm working on my Nano novel for 2008 and James Hoover looks like he's going to show up in it. Heh.

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This is me and one of my two cats. His name is Cougar, and he’s an F1 Chausie. A chausie is a new breed of cat under development. Chausies are the result of a cross between a domestic cat (in Cougar’s case, a Bengal) and a jungle cat (Felis Chaus). Cougar’s mom is 8 pounds and his father is a 30-pound jungle cat. He’s about 16 pounds, super intelligent, spirited, and toilet trained. A writer without a cat (or two) is not to be trusted.