Of Plots and Pants (The Two Methods of Writing Fiction)

 

By Gamal Hennessy

Humans are predisposed to creating "Us vs. Them" dynamics. We’re getting a heavy dose of that in our current political climate, but we’ve always found ways to divide ourselves according to race, religion, nationality, ideology and dozens of other factors. None of these contrasts matter in the end because we all share a fundamental humanity, except when it comes to writing fiction. That is completely different story (insert sarcasm here).

The Two Travelers

In writing six novels, I’ve found two great paradigms in the craft of fiction writing. Each has its strengths and weaknesses that all aspiring writers should consider. 

On one side we have the “pantser” who writes "from the seat of their pants". They begin with an idea and a blank screen. Then they start writing. Their idea and their inspiration lead the way and to a large extent, the writer follows the creative inspiration until the end of the narrative. There are several well-known proponents of this method. Stephen King and Tom Clancy have published bestsellers in this style and quite a few independent writers I know also support it.

On the other hand, the plotter starts with an idea, but then builds some kind of road map as a guide before writing the manuscript. Some writers call it a plot. Others call it an outline or a script. Robert McKee explored this method in depth in his book Story and I have found that motion picture and graphic novel writers are much more comfortable with the plot method.

In short, a panster is like an archaeologist who "finds" their story as they write it, never completely sure of what they will pull from their subconscious until it’s done. They are like the traveler who takes a trip with the expressed goal of getting "lost" and reveling in the adventure of what they discover.

By contrast, a plotter is closer to an architect who "builds" their story out of models and plans, unwilling to begin construction until they know what the structure will look like. They are the traveler who takes a trip with a map, a GPS, a guidebook and an itinerary of some kind.

I'm not trying to advocate one method over another, because every writer has to find the method and the practice that works with their temperament and lifestyle. I can explain why I plot and how it helps me, in the hopes that this can help you understand your own method better.

The Method to My Madness

All my professional writing has included some kind of plotting. Creating contracts as a lawyer and understanding the development of comics or the production of films all required outlines of various sorts. Now that I publish independently, plotting enhances my structure and my timing in several different ways:

When I write from a plot I can work from the inside out. I understand how each character relates to the others and how the narrative will flow. I can build each beat within a chapter, each chapter within an act and each act within a story. A script might take three months to a year to write, but when I'm finally ready to write the book the writing goes very fast.

In my wild youth, I tried to write a novel by the seat of my pants. It took me ten years to finish and it was such a hot mess at the end that I tossed the entire thing. By contrast, the plot for my upcoming novel Dark Honey will be done in less than a year because I work from a plot.

My plots save me time in the long run because I avoid writing myself into a place I can't get out of. If the story doesn't work on the developmental levels of plot or pitch, it can be reworked or abandoned without much time lost. I'd hate to start something and then have to revamp the whole idea after a year or two of writing. It would be worse to write most or all of a story before figuring out that it needs to be chucked. I've got a lot of plots floating around that I can play with at my leisure. When one ripens, I know it’s a project I can actually finish.

The Map Is Not the Journey

Some might think that writing a plot before writing a novel is less organic and more formulaic. That might be true for some writers, but only if they are too rigid with the plot. As I write, it is normal for my characters and situations to deviate from the original script. I don't see that as a problem. It's a natural part of the journey. It’s like going on a trip; just because you have a map doesn't mean you can't take a detour. The plot is still helpful when this happens, because it will show me where I can regain the narrative thread and where previous material needs to be changed to conform to the logic of this new direction.

Creating a plot is writing by the seat of your pants in an efficient, low risk way. I can play with ideas and see where they take me without trying to manage setting, dialogue, grammar, description and sentence flow at the same time. It's like taking a trip and getting lost in a plane rather than on foot.

Being a plotter instead of a panster is not a superior writing method or a guarantee for success. No matter how you write the first draft, a manuscript still needs multiple rounds of editing and polish. But creating a plot can be helpful if it suits you. I don't think I would write any other way.

So how do you write your novels? Please leave a comment and let me know.

Have fun.

Gamal

 

Trumpence’s War on Truth (about Terror)

By Gamal Hennessy

In less than a month, the Trumpocalypse has devolved in the cesspool of “making shit up as we go along” even when discussing issues as serious as terrorism.

One only has to look at stories of the non-existent “Bowling Green Massacre” or Trumpzilla’s recent anti media rant about the under reporting of terrorist attacks around the world.

But we’re used to this by now.

We challenge everything he says before it’s even left his mouth. We call him on his bullshit and he responds with the same hasty, uninformed , stupidity that defines his brand.

Consider this analysis from Katie Mettler of the Washington Post:

“But what’s more telling is not what the list included — but what it didn’t. Some of the countries most devastated by terrorism from Islamic extremists were left out entirely, as were any mentions of terrorist attacks on U.S. soil perpetrated by active shooters, or race terrorists like white supremacist Dylann Roof.”

Translation: According to Trumpence Bannon, violence that stokes fear of the other and upholds the narrative of racist exclusion needs to be over reported. Violence that doesn’t fit this narrative needs to be labeled as fake news or ignored completely.

All this ignorance would be comical, except half the population of ‘Merica either believes this bullshit without question or doesn’t care that he’s always lying. Either way, his lies are going to get us into a war. He’s going to make money from it, while some of us die. And he’ll just pretend it didn’t happen at all.

Have fun.

G

Trumpzilla Might Be the Best Spy Ever

By Gamal Hennessy

I’ve been interested in spies and espionage for my entire adult life. I write about spies in my Crime and Passion Series. I read books on real and fictional spies. I watch a ton of spy movies. When I got out of law school, I might have even applied to the CIA (but I can’t confirm or deny anything). I consider myself a proud spy nerd, which is why Trumpzilla’s latest scandal is such a guilty pleasure for me.

According to unconfirmed reports, Russian spy agencies have collected a dossier of compromising information against Trumpzilla

“The memos describe sex videos involving prostitutes with Trumpzilla. They also suggest that Russian officials proposed various lucrative deals, essentially as disguised bribes in order to win influence over him. Finally, they describe several purported meetings during the 2016 presidential campaign between Trumpocalypse representatives and Russian officials to discuss matters of mutual interest, including the Russian hacking of the Democratic National Committee and Mrs. Clinton’s campaign chairman, John D. Podesta.”

  • Scott Shane, Adam Goldman and Matthew Rosenberg for the New York Times

All this is pretty wild stuff, but the implications of the alleged information are of special interest to spy nerds everywhere. See, when a spy wants to manipulate someone, there are four major ways to do it based on the acronym MICE (which stands for Money, Ideology, Coercion and Excitement). Under normal circumstances, a spy picks one of the four methods depending on his or her target. But if the memos are accurate, then Putin made sure to use all four methods on Trumpzilla:

  • Money: Bribes
  • Ideology: *
  • Coercion: Sex Videos
  • Ego: Stroking his ego by helping him beat Clinton

From the perspective of a spy nerd, gaining control of a United States president has to be one of the most successful operations in the history of history. The Trojan Horse, D-Day and Madam Butterfly all pale in comparison. Why fight a war or steal secrets when you can control an entire country on demand?

Of course, if you are an American (or live on the planet Earth in general) this might be the worst thing ever, especially if the Trumpocalypse wipes out everything everywhere.

Well played, Comrade Putin. Well played indeed...

Have fun.

G

* Ideology is a dubious concept when it comes to Trumpzilla, since the only thing he believes in is himself.

The Trumpocalypse is a Black Hole of Fake News

By Gamal Hennessy

There is a cliche in self-help circles known as “fake it until you make it.” No one exemplifies the power of this slogan more than our president elect. He took a fake name, bragged about his fake business skill, parlayed it into a third rate fake TV show, and then rode a wave of fake promises and fake news all the way to the White House.

Trumpzilla might be the product of our age, but it appears that ‘Merica isn’t really sure what to do with him now that he’s coming into power. His supporters, his staff and “his” party are all struggling to deal with him and according to The Nation, the press is too fixated on the fake to report on the real.

:Then there’s the Twitter feed. Filled with falsehoods and threats, it has become a crack-like addiction for reporters, successfully diverting attention from reporting about Trump’s corruption, incompetence, ignorance, dishonesty, misogyny, prejudice, and authoritarian tendencies, to name just a few of the new president’s charms. Favoring spectacle over substance, journalists fall for this gambit every time—like Charlie Brown trying to kick the football."

Eric Alterman: The Nation,  The American Press Is Under Threat as Never Before

In 2004, Stanley Bing wrote a book called “What Would Machiavelli Do?” with a specific chapter on bullshit. One of his main examples of successful bullshit was Trumpzilla, even back then. Bing wrote “...in the art of bullshit (and it is an art, not a science) Trump towers above all others like a Colossus.”

This might have been fine for shady real estate deals and banal reality TV, but now he’s made it. While he can’t only perform at the level of his ability (160 characters or less), we don’t have to.

Sun Tzu said, “All warfare is based on deception.” In the modern war of information, Trumpzilla’s Twitter is a weapon of mass distraction. Once we look past the smoke and smear campaigns, we can resist the Trumpocalypse and restore some semblance of our sanity.

Have fun.

G

The Active Struggle Against the Trumpocalypse ​

By Gamal Hennessy

The dark cloud of the Inauguration creeps closer. Obama is taking his “victory” lap, making his “farewell” speeches. All of us have to prepare ourselves for a 2-4 year resistance. There have been several pieces written in the past few weeks offering advice on fighting the scourge that is Trumpzilla, but Charles Blow was succinct in his oped piece in today’s New York Times.

"When politics seem out of your control, remember that community and culture are very much in your control. We help shape the world we inhabit every day. A life is a collection of thousands of decisions, large and small, made every day. Make those decisions with purpose and conviction, especially [during the Trumpocalypse]"

- Charles Blow, The Anti-Inauguration

His suggested list of activities are broad and varied:

  • Protest him, his actions and what he stands for in public.

  • Volunteer to help all the people he plans to attack

  • Donate to the causes he plans to victimize

  • Subscribe to credible news sources

  • Read to educate yourself on the issues

  • Write to the people in power to frame the discussion

  • Love your tribe and let them know it

January 20th, 2021 can’t come soon enough. Until the final day of the Trumpocalypse, many of us will fight him and what he represents. This list and others like it will help. Some of us will not make it, but it is often the struggle that defines us, not the outcome.

Have fun

Gamal

The Criminal Congress

By Gamal Hennessy

When I was learning how to be a writer, I found out there are two types of criminals. One type breaks the law, the other makes the law. The law breakers include robbers, rapists and murderers. The lawmakers include the underhanded members of Congress who voted to abolish the Office of Congressional Ethics yesterday.

"House Republicans voted to eviscerate the Office of Congressional Ethics, the independent body created in 2008 to investigate allegations of misconduct by lawmakers after several bribery and corruption scandals sent members to prison. The ethics change, which prompted an outcry from Democrats and government watchdog groups, is part of a rules package that the full House will vote on Tuesday. The package also includes a means for Republican leaders to punish lawmakers if there is a repeat of the Democratic sit-in last summer over gun control."

- Donna Cassata: Associated Press

Now what might motivate Congress to eliminate ethical oversight? Is it possible that they are so upstanding and moral that the OCE is an unnecessary expense? Or is it because they plan to conduct so many ethical violations that they want to avoid any and all oversight into their illegal activities? 

And what is worse? Is it the murderer who kills a man in cold blood or the politician who cripples national healthcare, imprisons people for profit and helps destroy the environment for his corporate masters? Is it a matter of intimacy, or a matter of scale?

We’re about to find out.

Have fun.

Gamal

 

Who Gave the Trump Zombies a Monopoly on Social Media?

By Gamal Hennessy

As the Trumpocalypse begins to take shape on the horizon, the Resistance looks for new tactics to help in the struggle. Like everyone else in the modern world, law makers on all levels are using social media to get the message out and win the war of words. But that will change if the Trump Zombies get their way.

“House Republicans have proposed punishing representatives who shoot video or take photos on the floor of the chamber — a change in rules seen as a direct response to a dramatic sit-in in June by House Democrats demanding a vote on gun control legislation that was streamed live online.”
— FRANK THORP V: NBC News

So why is it that Trumpzilla can tweet anything he wants, any time he wants, and manipulate mainstream and social media at will, but any attempt by the Resistance to shed light on the process of government is met with a proposed fine? The hypocritical demand for asymmetric media access isn’t new. Totalitarian regimes do it all the time. But maybe if we get a chance to see how Washington is really governed, we can limit the damage Trumpzilla and his Zombies can do.

Have fun.
G

United We Stand

There are going to be more than 100 POC congress people when the Trumpocalypse starts, and they're planning to fight Trumpzilla at every possible turn.

“My role as a member of Congress, as a Latino member of Congress and as a veteran, is to make sure that we remind a lot of our immigrants, a lot of our minority citizens in general, that this country is still theirs.”
— Ruben Gallego D. Arizona

These are the people we need to support through the next four years. We can rally, protest, donate and write letters, but these are going to be the people staring across the table at Trumpzilla and his Legion of Doom. If we work together, maybe some of us might make it out in one piece.

Creating Story by Using the Three Levels of Conflict

By Gamal Hennessy

If I can write a book, you can write a book. This article just offers a few tips to help you explore your own creative gifts.

When writing, I’ve always found it helpful to understand the vast majority of all fictional plots boils down to a struggle to achieve a goal. A protagonist or hero has an object of desire that is material or situational. Maybe they want to get a rare item or get into a relationship with a particular person. To get what she wants, your heroine has to exert effort against everything that stands between her and her goal. The power and intensity of her obstacles will define both your heroine and the strength of your story. But where do those obstacles come from and how can we build them into the story in a way that tests the heroine in the most satisfying manner for readers?

I’ve found one answer in playing with the different levels of conflict.

Three Levels of Conflict
 

A level of conflict is a source of antagonism that stands between your protagonist and their goal. Robert McKee's book Story defines three major levels of conflict:

  • Internal: where the thoughts, feelings or physical characteristics of a protagonist block achievement of the goal
  • Interpersonal: where relationships with other people or groups block achievement
  • Extra-personal: where institutions, natural phenomenon and situations block achievement

As an example, let's say you're writing a story about a Jewish boy living in Jerusalem. He has just seen a beautiful Arab girl and in that moment realizes he’s in love. What obstacles does Adam face in his quest for a relationship? As a writer, you have several options:

  • Internal: His shyness, lack of experience with women and unattractive features could get in the way of his budding romance. 
  • Interpersonal: The girl might resist his advances for her own reasons, or she might have a boyfriend who wants to remove him from the picture. Also, his parents could try to prevent him from getting involved with an Arab girl. The girl's brothers might threaten him with violence.  His own friends might reject him.
  • Extra-personal: The wider Arab Israeli conflict could also inhibit our hero. Hezbollah bombings into the settlements could disrupt Adam's life or create a curfew situation. A suicide bomb could destroy everything or even kill the girl. Protests, strikes or other mass social events could tear their relationship apart before it even gets started.

This is just a few examples of what this boy might be up against. If he is able to win this girl's love, the obstacles he'll have to overcome could make an amazing story.

The type you choose is often a function of genre. An action adventure might have heavy interpersonal and extra personal conflict when the hero battles the arch villain on the top of a mountain in a blinding snow storm, but very little internal conflict. A cozy mystery might have strong internal focus as the detective quietly strains her intellect to solve the crime. Every style of writing can tap into each type of conflict, but some genres lend themselves to specific conflict types.

Conflict as Spotlight

The best way I've found to develop conflict in my work is to focus on the aspects of my protagonist that I want to reveal and then creating conflicts that explore those traits. One of my main characters in my new novel Smoke and Shadow is a man named Harrison Trent. At the most basic level, Harrison’s conflict is internal. He wants to forget the mistakes he’s made in his past and he is willing to place himself in extreme danger because the immediacy of a life and death struggle is the only way he can forget the things he’s done. To show his dedication to this goal, I put several obstacles in his path every time he steps into the readers mind.

The best stories have the strongest conflicts. While it's not necessary to throw every obstacle at every character in every story, a weak story is most often the result of weak antagonists. Pit your heroine against the strongest combination of antagonism that you can think of. Your characters will hate it, but your readers will thank you for it.

Now go write something. ;-)
Gamal

Espionage and Covert Operations: A Book Review

By Gamal Hennessy

Spying is often referred to as the second oldest profession (prostitution being the first). In Espionage and Covert Operations: A Global History, Professor Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius traces spying from Biblical mythology up to our current surveillance state. While the twelve hour audio book skims over or leaves out much of the global history of spying, the book is a good overview for anyone interested in the impact of espionage on history.

Liulevicius takes the reader on a trip through the major epochs of world history and attempts to peer behind the curtain to see how spying (stealing secret information for a political, military or economic goal) and covert action (secret attacks against opposing forces) have shaped historical events. The book does offer a fresh perspective on the world history you took in high school and draws out themes in tradecraft and operational methods for the readers of modern and historical espionage. Liulevicius even explores the relationship between spy fiction and the real world of spies, focusing on the impact of Kipling, Fleming, Le Carre and Clancy.

Where the book falls short is in its lack of global focus. The vast majority of the course is Eurocentric and biased towards the United Kingdom, the United States and Russia. The combined impact of the assassins of the Crusades, Chinese espionage during Sun Tzu’s warring states period and the rampant spying during the Sengoku period of Japan take up less than ten minutes in a twelve hour lecture. The organic covert action and spy activities by and against populations in Africa during the slave trade are left out completely. If you accept the term “global history” to mean “Western history” then the book has few flaws. Anyone looking for a true global history will need to add another source to this material.

Espionage and Cover Action is a solid overview of the second oldest profession. Anyone interested in history, military affairs, or spy fiction will enjoy the unique perspective the author provides. Like most introductory courses, it should be used as the beginning of an exploration into the subject and not a definitive analysis. But it is one of the better books on spy history I’ve read.

Have fun.
Gamal

What Happens If American Police Departments Get Their Own Torture Sites?

 

by Gamal Hennessy

Last year, the internet expressed a considerable amount of outrage when we realized some elements of American law enforcement were using military weapons and tactics on American citizens. People went out into the street to protest sanctioned police brutality and murder (See Who Watches the Watchers). On this blog, I advocated endangered groups in our society adopt a version of the Moscow Rules to cope with the reality we live in (See Racism, Misogyny and the Moscow Rules). All these deaths and revelations have not altered the climate of fear. If the latest reports are to be believed, things might be getting worse. 

The Guardian recently ran a story about a secret detention center run by the Chicago police department. (See Chicago Police Detain Americans in Black Site). Like Abu Gharaib in Afghanistan, the CIA secret prisons in Turkey and Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, we might be creating institutions and venues to deal out the same punishments we ascribe to our hated enemy. The only difference between Gitmo and Homan Square is the nationality of the people being abused. In the military secret prisons, alleged foreign fighters and terrorists are the inmates. In Chicago, and perhaps in other cities, the prisoners are American. 

If the Guardian report is true, then the Homan Square detention center might have more in common with the old Soviet Union gulag system then the War on Terror black sites. When Stalin and his regime wanted to remove dissidents from the political discussion and sow fear into the populace, people would be snatched off the street and perhaps never heard from again. Dictators like Pinochet, Pol Pot and Idi Amin are accused of doing the same thing. Is it time to add the Chicago chief of police to this list? Have we moved from fighting totalitarian regimes to supporting them, to using their tactics on our enemies to using those same tactics on ourselves? If so, if the Guardian report is true, what happens next and to whom? What, if anything, are we going to do about it?

Based on the internet chatter going across my screen, we aren’t going to do anything. This week, I’ve seen far more arguments about the color of a dress than the alleged atrocities of Homan Square. There wasn’t even the impotent call for indictments like the one the Times issues after the CIA torture report was issued. (See The Futile Call for Torture Justice). Why? Have we so fully accepted our collective impotence against the power of the state that we’re not even willing to address their atrocities anymore? Are we so numb to discussions of torture that we accept it as an inevitable reality? Do we enjoy the idea of security so much that a secret police prison makes us feel better? (See America’s Love Affair with Torture).  

I understand the concept of police using detention and the labyrinth of the criminal justice system to manipulate and abuse suspects. As a person of color, the fear of walking into a police station and never coming out has crossed my mind more than once. The idea has become a trope in modern crime drama from Dirty Harry to The Wire. Is Homan Square just another step in the direction of roughing someone up in an interrogation room? Is it too late to turn back now?

There is a line from the last Captain America movie I think of when situations like these cross my mind. Steve Rogers and Nick Fury are staring out at four huge aerial battleships designed to hit anyone in the world anywhere at any time.  

Fury: We’re going to use these to maintain security all over the world.

Rogers: That’s not security. That’s fear.

The exchange might come from a comic book movie, but there is more insight there than in our current cultural discussion. It is a sad day in America when local law enforcement creates secret prisons to hide and abuse Americans. It is a tragic day when Americans decide they don’t care. 

Have fun.

Gamal

A New Touch of Honey Teaser Sample and Free Book Offer

by Gamal Hennessy

Teasers, trailers and samples are an expected part of modern entertainment. Movies, games and TV shows try to build up excitement by offering a sneak peak of new releases. Well, what’s good for them is good for me. I want you to get excited about my new novel A Touch of Honey, so all this week I’m offering a sample chapter to get you ready for the release on March 17th. 

You can find Part One Here, but if you already read about the handcuffs and the international spy operation, please feel free to jump into part two.

Enjoy… 

Part Two

Nikki wanted to say something to end this torment. She wanted to scream or lash out at Baker’s intense and animated face. She couldn’t handle his fascination with her nightmares. She couldn't listen to this, but she couldn’t open her mouth to stop him. 

Baker must have noticed the pain on her face. His tone lost its enthusiasm, but he continued. "Unfortunately, Nikki had a problem. Actually, she had three problems. First, her case officer was a man named Christopher Carpenter. That was a problem because Carpenter is mentally and emotionally unstable, completely unfit to run field operations. He'd gone so far off the reservation a Congressional committee considered investigating him for acts of genocide. And Carpenter wasn't really interested in the op. His obsession focused on controlling Nikki more than anything else." 

“I don’t want to hear anything about him.” The nausea churned in Nikki's stomach at the word genocide. The idea of sharing a bed with a mass murderer made her feel like she’d bathed in blood. She didn’t challenge Baker’s accusations. She'd seen Chris’ true nature on video. He revealed his demonic passion and used Dominique as his disposable prop. 

"Ok. The second problem involved Dominique. Nikki fell in love with Manuel’s wife. That made the mission of betraying Cruz Maritime almost impossible. Finally, Dominique presented the most complex problem of all. She claimed to be an agent from another intelligence service who also wanted to spy on Manuel. Based on unconfirmed reports, Dominique might have worked for British, French or even Russian intelligence. Near the end, the operation went sideways in a big way. Every op hits some kind of snag, but this was fucked beyond all recognition. Do you want to know how it ended?"

"I know how it ended." Nikki's voice sounded so tiny in her ear. She didn't want to admit anything, but she couldn't listen to Baker talk about the night Dominique died. 

Baker's voice became a whisper to match hers. "Then you know how important that drive is. A lot of people suffered for that information." 

The emotional manipulation took its toll when she snapped. "If you know what happened, then you know the USB is useless." 

"Why do you say that?"

Nikki let out a long breath in an attempt to focus. "When Manuel died, Cruz Maritime became compromised. The assets were seized and Argentinian authorities started a full investigation. Any smuggling Cruz might have been doing died when he did. You can't use what's on that drive." 

Baker gave Nikki his inside joke smile again. "Luckily for you, compromised assets can still be useful in the right hands."

"What the hell does that mean?"

He shrugged.  "It means that if you still have the drive, then it is possible for us to form a relationship based on mutual exploitation."

"And if I don't have it?

"Then we both have a problem."

A Touch of Honey will be available for all major book platforms on March 17th, 2015. If you’d like to get my first novel Smooth Operator for free while you’re waiting, just click on this link to get your e-book.

Have fun.

Gamal

A Touch of Honey Teaser Sample Part One

by Gamal Hennessy

Teasers, trailers and samples are an expected part of modern entertainment. Movies, games and TV shows try to build up excitement by offering a sneak peak of new releases. Well, what’s good for them is good for me. I want you to get excited about my new novel A Touch of Honey, so all this week I’m offering a sample chapter to get you ready for the release on March 17th.

Enjoy… 

Part One

"So I'm hoping you still have the flash drive you acquired from Cruz Maritime."

Baker opened the cuffs and dropped them into his lap in one smooth motion. Nikki rubbed her wrists to project an image of pain. They didn't really hurt, but she needed to do something with her hands to stall for time. She held his gaze for an extra beat to reinforce her sincerity then shook her head and lied.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just a bartender at a strip club, at least I used to be, before you got my attention."

Baker nodded. "I understand what you’re trying to do. You want to stick to your cover story as long as possible. You’ll deny everything that doesn't fit your legend. That's your first line of defense. It's interrogation resistance 101. But if you were going to work that angle, it would have made sense to act more frightened back in the alley." Baker smiled as if teaching tradecraft to an eager student over drinks. "Let me play along. I’ll tell you a little story and pretend to put things in perspective for you. Does that make sense?"

"It's your car."

"Actually, this is a company car. I prefer to drive something much nicer than this on my own time." 

Nikki shook her head in spite of herself. "Whatever."

Baker smiled back "Whatever. Approximately nine months ago, a woman named Nikki Siriene attended a Christmas party in the resort city of Mar del Plata, Argentina. The host of that party was one Manuel Cruz, former President of Cruz Maritime. In the days following that party, Nikki became an intimate acquaintance of both Manuel Cruz and his wife; a French painter named Dominique. What do you think of that picture so far?"

Nikki's jaw clenched as she forced out a response. "A high profile international threesome sounds pretty hot."

"It was, but it got hotter." Baker shifted in his seat to face her. His interest and excitement in the story filled the whole car. The memories he exposed forced bile into her throat. "You see, Manuel didn’t know Nikki had been sent to spy on him." Baker let those words hang in the air for a moment as if to savor them. "Prior intelligence suggested Cruz Maritime might be smuggling illegal weapons into Mexico. It was Nikki's job to steal the data that could prove or disprove that suspicion."

A Touch of Honey will be available for all major book platforms on March 17th, 2015. If you’d like to get my first novel Smooth Operator for free while you’re waiting, just click on this link to get your e-book. 

Have fun.

Gamal