Manuscript Preview

The following is a very rough, pre-draft excerpt from my latest novel.  The particular idea for this novel placed dead last in the fan voting several weeks ago, but my vote counts for 51% of the total so there you go.


          Halfway through his second cup of coffee, ordered black as always, and on the next to last page of the local morning paper Ward had an epiphany.  Those don't come too often to men of his character and educational background, and was, in fact, his first.  While scanning an article on the latest global warming predictions Ward was struck with the clearest, deepest desire to simply leave the only job he had ever known, and to do so that very day.  That is not the kind of decision to be taken lightly by a man who has done nothing else for 26 of his 40 years. 

     Ward was a fifth-generation rodeo clown and by all accounts was the very best in the business.  He had won the coveted All Around Best Clown award a record-breaking eighteen times, including a stretch in the 1990's when the trophy sat on his mantle for seven straight years.  Ward was good at what he did.  And what Ward did was draw the attention of 2,600 pound agitated bulls on purpose. 

    But that was pre-7:37am Ward on this cloudless day in late September.  In the fourth paragraph the article had mentioned the change in the migration pattern of a well-known and documented pod of killer whales currently moving north along the Washington coast.  Suddenly, and without a single tinge of self-doubt, Ward knew that he must leave his life in Stillwater, Oklahoma and move to Washington state.  He intuitively knew that his future and that of the orcas would merge; that this had already begun some time previously and that he was only now made aware of it.  Without another thought as to the how or why Ward paid his breakfast bill and walked out the smudge-streaked door toward his destiny.

     ******

     Tazul Mohammed Abdullah bin-Akmar sada-Jabar Ahmed Mustapha cleared customs at Vancouver's beautifully modern airport with scarcely a second look from security officials.  His forged passport was flawless and his blond hair and goatee certainly helped to mask his extremist heart.  He professed to being in this visually stunning and exciting city for vacation, but he had a very different itinerary in mind.  In 24 hours he would be in Bremerton, Washington and 24 hours after that, Allah willing, he would be dead.

    *****

     The matriarch of the pod shifted her course slightly to avoid the rapid acoustic vibrations that suddenly cut through the water and the other 17 orcas matched her movement instantly.  The punishing waves of energy were coming from just outside the mouth of the Sound some 20 miles north of her.  They were not natural within her realm and may prove to be a threat to the pod.  Threats were avoided or met; order was restored or it wasn't.  That is the way it has been for eons and the way it would continue to be.


I know, right?  The paths of a rodeo clown, terrorist, and a pod of killer whales are all about to intersect. Kind of leaves you breathless, doesn't it?  Oh, it's going to be big.  I just have to develop the story lines, write 350 more pages, hire an editor, secure a publisher, and BAM! this thing is on the NY Times Bestseller list. If I limit the sex and scale down the language I can see this being required reading in ninth grade too.  Just sayin.