Well, Jason had had some disturbing news earlier... Chapter 19: Blood and Moonlight When I can't talk and can't act and can't work… I drive. I cruised down the various highways—the Northway, then part of the Thruway, 787, back to I-90—the windows wide open and the wind roaring at sixty-five. Even so, I barely felt any cooler; for sheer miserable muggy heat, it's hard to beat the worst summer days of Albany, New York, and its environs, which unfortunately include Morgantown. It was days like this that made [ Continue reading... ]
Paradigms Lost: Chapter 18
July 21, 2014 By Leave a Comment
We start a new section of the book with another brand-new chapter! Part III: Photo Finish August, 1999 Chapter 18: Action and Reaction "But I thought we would be seeing The Thirteenth Floor tomorrow night," Syl said. I winced. Truth be told, I'd forgotten all about our movie plans in the past few weeks, and Verne had made an appointment – after hours, naturally – to discuss several interesting opportunities he was looking into. Given the situation with Verne, I hadn't yet let Syl [ Continue reading... ]
Paradigms Lost: Chapter 15
July 9, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Jason had found himself in something of a pickle, because drug barons don't like the word "no"... Chapter 15: Enter Freely and Of Your Own Will "Ten o'clock," Carmichael said. "Jeez, will you look at that stuff come down!" Even as worried as I was, I had to admit it was an impressive storm. Gusts of gale-force winds battered the house, blue-white lightning shattered the night, torrents of rain came down so heavily that they obscured our sight of the front gate, even with all the lights of the [ Continue reading... ]
Paradigms Lost: Chapter 14
July 9, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Jason had found a potential client for his client... Chapter 14: A Sudden Trip Downstate I opened the trunk and helped Sky get out his portfolio. Innocent that I was, I thought a "portfolio" would be a notebook-sized collection of pictures—reproductions, etc. Artists, of course, do not do things that way. Reproductions are often used, but they're done as near as possible to full size as can be managed, and Sky had a lot of samples. He was trying to show a number of things about his work (most of which I [ Continue reading... ]
Paradigms Lost: Chapter 13
July 9, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Jason had taken on a rather unorthodox client with an unusual request... Chapter 13: Interview With the Artist The apartment door opened in front of me, at least to the limit that the chain on it would permit. Two bright blue eyes looked somewhat up at me, framed by blue-black hair and set in a pretty, well-defined face. "Hi. Can I help you?" "I'm Jason Wood." "Oh, right, Dad's expecting you! Hold on, I'll get the chain off here." The door closed. I heard rattling, and "Dad! Your guest's [ Continue reading... ]
Paradigms Lost: Chapter 12
June 30, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Another completely new chapter! Chapter 12: Mystery of a Brother "Sure, Syl – I'd love to go out tomorrow. You want a movie or something else?" "How about Sabers of Twilight? I've heard that one's a lot of fun and just up your alley, Jason." I grinned into the phone. "Because of the pretty girls in interesting costumes? Sounds fine. Odd how you don't mention the pretty boys in tight leather outfits." "I didn't say it wasn't up my alley too," she said with a laugh. "All right, after we [ Continue reading... ]
Paradigms Lost: Chapter 11
June 25, 2014 By Leave a Comment
So Jason was now consulting for a vampire... Chapter 11: Personal History "All right," I said, "you can meet people in the daytime if necessary. Just not a good thing to do often. That's great—there are a lot of things, like signing papers, getting permits, and so on, that are close to impossible to manage if you can't get the principal to make himself available when other people are." I was going over the notes I'd gotten that night, while Verne answered my questions and read the work-for-hire agreement. "Yes, I [ Continue reading... ]
Paradigms Lost: Chapter 10
June 23, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Jason had accepted an invitation to visit a metabolically-challenged client... Chapter 10: Career Counseling It was, at least, somewhat more comforting to be pulling into the huge, curving driveway in my own car under my own control. My prior visit had been rather informal, ending with my being shoved into Verne's parlor while still in my pajamas. So this time I was not only here by choice, but I was also better dressed. The door opened as I reached the landing, and I saw the impeccably elegant butler/majordomo I [ Continue reading... ]
Paradigms Lost: Chapter 7
June 11, 2014 By Leave a Comment
So, Jason had managed to keep from getting killed... Chapter 7: Unwrapped Wrap-Up "So what are the police going to do about this?" asked Sylvie. It was the next evening. I was lying on my bed with my left ankle's cast propped on a pillow. "I was lucky. It was Renee Reisman who got there first. Between us and the ME we faked up a story that should hold." "So what's the official line?" "Klein was running a sideline of drugs and protection and was going to set Domingo up to take the fall. The victims like Lewis [ Continue reading... ]
Paradigms Lost: Chapter 2
May 30, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Finding a dead man on your doorstep does take a lot of time in paperwork... Finding a body on the doorstep does keep you up with paperwork... Chapter 2: Picture Imperfect I got back to Wood's Information Service at 2:45. The cops were gone but one of those wide yellow tapes was around the entire area. Damn. I went to the pay phone on the corner (lucky there still are any… pretty soon I'll have to get a cell phone myself), dialed the station, asked for Lieutenant Reisman. I was in luck. She was still in. [ Continue reading... ]
What You’re Saying