Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)
This is the Six Sentence Story bloghop.
Hosted by Denise.
Format: a six sentence top and bottom limit.
(Full Disclosure: Stole the underlying idea from Dyanne, i.e. ‘borrowing people from the ‘real’ world’. Nevertheless, the Six that follows remains true to the fictional world of my Ian Devereaux mystery stories. This week’s new characters are for purely transitory-entertainment purposes only. That said, if the Reader response is sufficiently positive, they may remain a part of our increasingly broad narrative.)
Previously, in ‘the Case of the Missing Fig Leaf’
Although Ian remains on the case as Dr. Leanne Thunberg’s private investigator, their personal relationship definitely is on the iffy side. The secretive, and demonstrably-lethal, Order headquartered outside Wiesbaden, Germany their continued existence since before men laid the foundation of the patriarchal template for human civilization provides abundant testament to the effectiveness of their strategy. Old-money coed, Lacy Whitelaw, is just getting warmed-up, though it would be a kindness to let her new bf know about life expectancy in her company. Somewhere in the stone and steel towers of Chicago, Anya Claireaux bides her time; everything, (and everyone), has the potential of becoming a valued resource. And, in the last booth, on the lounge side of his establishment, mirth begins to kindle in Lou Caesare’s face and threatens to flare up into laughter.
Prompt word:
Island
“Mr. Devereaux, there are people insisting they see you,” the ‘Mister’ tipped me off, so I shuffled a stack of divorce surveillance photos into a manila folder and stood up as the door opened, “Thanks, Hazel, I’ll take it from here….”
“Good of you to see us, Devereaux, Ford Jouets,” the Y-Chromosome half of the couple approaching my desk, reached towards me with a manicured-hand and a sardonic smile; we ended up in an impromptu fist bump as I was staring at the woman at his side, tall, south of thirty-five and dressed like a librarian, if, that is, Gormley and Gamble had a book section; an aggressiveness lurked beneath her smile that would’ve prompted Salome to offer one of her veils; I was glad I was already standing.
“Thank you for seeing us on such,” ignoring her companion, who was already sitting, crossed legs pulling on impeccably tailored trousers to show half a pair of bespoke Corthay Oxfords; he’d somehow managed to take a folder off my desk and was reading it and was, as God is my witness, in the process of tamping tobacco into what could only be a Dunhill Bent Apple pipe.
“We understand you’ve been investigating a recent, and quite unfortunate, accident in Wiesbaden,” seeing my eyebrows begin to push at each other, she added, “I’m Chris Stanople-Talle, I’m… we’re both based in the London branch of Interpol and have reason to believe there might be a mutually-satisfactory relationship here,” without the slightest hint of sarcasm or irony, she pronounced the compound adverbs in a way that sounded like, ‘dreamt-of’.
Hazel opened the door from the outer office, “Can I get you anything?” which triggered a smile from Ford and a nod from Chris who had just extended her hand, palm down, the climax of every knight-in-shining-armor fantasy; I grabbed the life preserver and said, “No, thanks, Hazel… hold all my calls.”
***
“Do I look like I’m here for a job as a stripper?” spotlights, chasing the dancer currently on stage, threw multi-colored frisbees around the entrance of the Bottom of the Sea, hitting the angry woman scowling at Diane Tierny, the club hostess, in the back of the head; the effect was, somehow, like a green screen in a tv weather report, streaks of green and purple trying to trick the long, blond-into-grey hair of the woman holding a stenographer’s pad and a cell phone into surrendering and joining the party;
“Tell ya boss that Denise Janus is here…about a story I’m writing dealing with the Rhode Island mob in the 21st… fuck it, just point me at him.”
About clarkscottroger
I like how you described the guy as the “Y-Chromosome half of the couple”. And your description of Chris’s hand palm down as “the climax of every knight-in-shining-armor fantasy”.
Thanks Frank… (hardly ever see that in the ‘real’ world any more…. the palms down thing, not the Y-Chrome)
Interpol, eh? I like that you have an X-Chromosome Chris!
Well, given that I was indulging in the ultimate fiction-writer fantasy, it only makes sense.
am I write?
Every single time, I’m swept into ‘the room’ with your characters! Your descriptive finesse is superb. As a ‘people watcher’, I thoroughly enjoy how your characters ‘size each other up’.
My vote is to keep these characters. Their potential expanding depth that is intriguing.
I applaud your vote (and feel the same way).
As a fellow people watcher… have you spent any time at the Wakefield Doctrine blog? As an aide/enhancement of said fun in observation it is, imo, second to none. (I don’t write and many ‘direct/how-to’ posts on the Doctrine, so if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask. But then again, according to the aforementioned Doctrine, you would be one of those who have very little difficulty with using it as an additional perspective on the world around us and the people who make it up.)
bogie and queen, dos manos UP
gracias
Like Chris, who liked how you have a Chris here, I like how you have a Ford here! And, like Chris, who said: ‘Interpol, eh?’, I say ‘Interpol, eh,’ too.
Yeah, but, given her apparent ‘tude and demeanor, I suspect ignoring Miz Janus will totally be at our peril.
(classic movie trope (or meme, can never figure out which is which) “Now do Miss Appleby our teacher!!” with his back to the door he is late to wonder why the laughter has been supplanted by silence)
lol… like they say, “Give a kid a a starter pack of Crayolas and they’ll develop their talent…give them a magic marker or a spray can and they’ll be in juvie hall before you can say, “Who’s going to get that off my wall?!?!“
After my lengthy break I return refreshed and have no idea what is happening here.
I guess it’s still me.
I concur.
lol
serially, seayr, your comments were useful earlier on (in fact, contributed, in part, to my adding the ‘Previously on...” to each post) to offset the continuity lag*).
But I have, of late, let go of the ambition to make this a story in the traditional sense. Too much time between episodes, especially given my proclivity for adding characters…
So now, (and, tell me, should I include a warning: “Reader! This is a glance at an instance in a narrative that does not provide paper programs on which notes and reminders might be jotted against the next performance. Enjoy spending time with the characters but don’t try to memorize their history.”).
damn, too wordy, right?
Hey! you wanna do a walk-on? There are two worlds, pretty well established, in my two serial Sixes, ‘the Whitechapel Interlude’ and ‘the Case of the Missing Fig Leaf’ but there’s room for any number of characters and storylines**
or… if you’ve always wanted to be a character, (in an amateur-writer’s efforts to improve their skill and amuse their friends), let me know!
According to all the rhetoric books that I’ve succeeded in not reading, interesting and engaging characters are the foundation of every successful story.
Next week, we pick up in the general vicinity of where we left off at ‘the Whitechapel Interlude’
*if no one has coined that yet… it’s ours
** see comment above
Okay, Klarc, what does a walk-on entail?
I’m not sure that I have the vocabulary or the verbosity to emulate your somewhat unusual ‘style’, but I’m always up for a challenge.
Dis-moi tout.
(cool, ce sera amusant)
A walk-on, in this application amounts to a co-writing, of a single episode, in an established story/fictional-reality/narrative.
And…and! you have two story-worlds to choose from!
‘the Case of the Missing Fig Leaf‘ and ‘the Whitechapel Interlude‘
the fun in this is to write in a way, while effectively being a new direction, that doesn’t create a sense of dissonance in the Reader.
The basic rule is to find an ‘under-established’ character and see what interesting things they might do.
(An example of an ‘un-established’ character might be the boyfriend of Lacey Whitelaw found in Chapter Twenty-six in the Ian Devereaux story. Or maybe the carriage driver in the Whitechapel Interlude.)
(Two) whole worlds providing a context for whatever fun and adventure strikes your fiction-writer’s fancy.
Ford Mage did a walk on at the Whitechapel Interlude as did our host Denise.
The splicing-in of a new narrative is the challenge, the reward and the fun.
Follow up
This is a Whitechapel Interlude week. Next week, Fig Leaf and so on, alternating week.
Whichever story you would like to do a walk-on for, best do it on that week.
Is there somewhere I can ask you a couple of questions that will not reveal whatever pretence at a plot-line I can concoct?
totally.
will email to the address associated with this comment
Keep. As long as you don’t get all Dostoevsky on me and have so many characters i have to keep a notebook.
lol
I know, right?
That used to drive me crazy when I was into reading stories that were real (as opposed to writing stories that are not)
hey! thanks for triggering a song for tomorrow’s TToT (one line of lyrics in a song having little to do with with what we’re discussing.)
And they all have an abundance of long unpronounceable names, and a nickname, which Ol’ Fyodor uses interchangeably, thereby multiplying the number of characters by 3 or 4. Furthermore, his story lines can never be described as concise, and yet his books are unputdownable.
Oh, man! “I” finally get to meet Lou! 😁
Enjoyed your Six and daresay I’m with Miss M on this – keep these 3 characters around. Or at least in reserve.
So, it just hit me “Denise Janus”. Last name, spelled differently from the first name in that other story, the collaborative one over ‘ta the Rag years ago. Clever you, sir.
You surely had fun writing this one, lol.
I always enjoy spending time in Lou’s club.
Thank you
Hello???
I can’t seem to leave a comment at your site and its bugging the WP outta me!
came through (requiring approval but showed in the comment queue)
I have been in device hell but managing sort of but your site has been the difficult one. Hmm. Anyway, I am back on track, sort of and just want you to know that I’ve been reading the past few weeks but haven’t been able to comment here. But wow, the stories! I enjoyed these two characters this week, I suspect they will be back.
Yeah, went (for characters) a little on the ‘what the heck! why should I stress out trying to imagine whole characters and build from scratch when I’m kinda surrounded by interesting people?!’
so, you live on New Shoreham, do ya?
lol
Hello?