A writing update and early look at The Fixer
The big project I’ve been working on this week is finishing my personal review of THE KILLER’S CLUB audiobook. As I mentioned in other places, Eric G. Dove is returning to narrate. He’s done such a superb job on the Mitch Turner books that I wanted to see how it would be for him to do a legal thriller in a different series.
The audiobook sounds fantastic! In addition to reviewing it myself, I have a couple other reviewers that have gone through it for me and provided feedback. With any audiobook or project of this nature it’s always critically important to thoroughly review the work for typos and bugs. Then we get those notes over to Eric and he takes those notes and puts them into the final finished product. It’s been awesome listening to him take these characters that have only existed on paper, and in my head, and bring them to life. I’ve told Eric in the past that with the Mitch Turner books that I sometimes hear his voice narrating the characters as I am working on a particular line of dialogue, especially for Mitch Turner, Frank Ward, or Winston. The voice he uses for Winston is distinct and very memorable. I often carefully consider my word choice as I write a line of dialogue because of that!
It’s exciting to have Audrey Spencer now brought to life in audio format. It’s been very entertaining listening to Audrey, Barry Michaels, and Gregory Pope all interact with one another. And it’s made me nostalgic for working on THE KILLERS CLUB. I am thinking of working on a sequel some time here in the next year or two but no promises on that yet. In addition to wanting to write sequels to both THE KILLERS CLUB and ONLY THE GUILTY, I also have a new thriller and legal thriller in mind with brand new characters. I’m very fortunate to be in a position of being able to publish standalone books along with having My two main series, Mitch Turner and Jason Maxfield. But the fact of the matter is that I have way too many potential projects and not enough time to do them. I’ve been sitting on several other manuscripts for the last couple years that I was hoping to turn into something, but didn’t have a chance to do it because I was busy working on other things. I’ve now decided I won’t ever get to them. If I ever do write books in those worlds, I’ll treat those early manuscripts as a world building exercise instead of a manuscript that I will polish for publication.
Anyhow, now that I’m done with the audiobook review for The Killers Club, I’m now back working on Mitch Turner Book Six full time until it’s time for me to do my last pass of The Fixer, which is coming up here in a few weeks. I probably would’ve gotten to that by now, but I knew that I had the audiobook review of The Killers Club coming up, and in addition to that I wanted to make sure I was spending enough time on Mitch Turner Six!
I also keep thinking about Jason Maxfield Book Four that I will picking back up as my next big project right after Mitch Turner. I got a lot of progress done on that already over the summer and it will be fun to get that going here in a few months. The Killer’s Club audiobook should be out here within the next week or two. I’m very excited to get that out and I can’t wait for everybody to experience it.
A thought:Now here is my inspirational thought for the week. I admit that it might be coming from an unusual source but it has stayed with me all week so I thought I’d share it with you.
It comes from Satya Nadella, the current CEO of Microsoft. This is what he said that resonated with me. This quote is coming from Moneycontrol.com:
“I think the world needs today, more than anything else from leaders, are optimism and energy. It’s easy to be down on everything [but] my true measure of any leader is who can come into a situation, bring clarity, generate energy, and solve over-constraint problems. As long as you do those three things, I think the world will be a better place.”
I particularly like the part about bringing clarity and generating energy. It’s vital for a leader to be able to come in, assess a problem, and then decide what the best approach to solving that problem should be.
Now I have a little snippet I’m going to read from my upcoming novel The Fixer. Please note this is just read by me. I’m not going to narrate this book when it is eventually published as an audiobook, but I thought it would be interesting for you to get a sneak peek at what I have coming down the pipe.
A first look at The Fixer:The young deputy district attorney on the other side of the table reminded me of a hawk. Dominick Barnard was tall and bony with a curved nose, and his face was covered in sweat. His dark hair had enough gel to make sure his messy mop stayed in place all day, even with the rainstorm dumping buckets of water just outside the diner door. Barnard’s skin was so pale that I thought he might be sick, probably because he never went outdoors for long. They worked them hard at the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s office.
We were at Denny’s, and I waited to drop the bomb until after we’d ordered breakfast but before it was delivered.
Barnard’s hand trembled as he read the affidavit I’d just given him. I followed his eyes and saw he was halfway through the first page.
“Tell Cal Dobson he has twenty-four hours to drop all charges against my client,” I said.
I felt bad for the kid and hated that he had to bear the brunt of this. That’s why I was addressing him as if he were the messenger.
“And then I’ll take this matter out of his hands, and it will get ugly,” I added as the waiter delivered our food. I took a sip of my orange juice but didn’t reach for a fork, not yet. I didn’t want to distract him from his reading.
Barnard had been cocky before he’d seen the affidavit. He now bit his lip, turning whiter the further he got. I’d gotten the feeling when we’d first met up that he was proud to be doing this on his own, but he probably now wished he had the more senior Deputy District Attorney Cal Dobson with him.
Dobson was an experienced prosecutor who was supposed to be showing Barnard the ropes, but he was a real piece of work and the most dishonest attorney I’d ever encountered. I doubted Barnard was learning anything useful from the man.
I could genuinely say I liked most people on the other side of the aisle, believing them to be honest and sincere individuals who were trying to do their jobs.
But that wasn’t Dobson.
It was a shame Barnard had been assigned to this case with Dobson. Barnard had only been with the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s office for ten months, and I doubted he’d last another ten. This job wasn’t right for the kid. Perhaps he belonged in corporate practice, tucked away in a cubicle at a big firm where he never had to interact with the other side.
It had been my intention to meet with Dobson when I scheduled the appointment, but he backed out and sent Barnard in his place, perhaps sensing what I was up to.
I’d suggested to Barnard that we meet on neutral ground as a way for him to save face since I’d known what was coming. I didn’t want to embarrass a young attorney by having him show up in my conference room, surrounded by my staff. I could’ve suggested we meet at his office downtown, but I didn’t want to risk one of his colleagues overhearing our conversation and witnessing his reaction. I wanted to give the kid an opportunity to recompose himself and spare him the indignity of having bystanders as I torpedoed their case against my client.
Destroying their case is mandatory, I thought, but ruining this young attorney’s confidence isn’t required. I had him by the throat, and he knew it without me making it worse.
And there wasn’t anything he could do.
I wouldn’t have been so kind to Dobson.
Perhaps another criminal defense attorney might’ve taken some satisfaction from pushing their foe into an uncomfortable corner, but I didn’t.
I was just doing my job.
“If it makes it easier,” I said, my features softening, “I know this wasn’t your fault.”
And that was the truth.
The decision to withhold exculpatory testimony and evidence had to have been made by Dobson, not Barnard. Dobson had likely convinced this gullible young attorney to go along with it, telling him it wasn’t exculpatory or even relevant, so there was no obligation to turn it over.
“But, Mr. Hoffman,” Barnard said, “surely, there’s some arrangement we can—”
I held up my hand. “When you say that it sounds like you want to make a deal to bury this, and you and I both know that’s something you’d never do.” I held his eye. “You’d be risking your license if you offered up something foolish like that.”
The boy nodded as he swallowed, shaking his head and muttering. I didn’t know what the kid was thinking, and I wouldn’t let him go further for his own sake.
“The way I see it is one of two things happened,” I said. “Your team made a mistake and forgot to turn it over, or somebody hid it.” Barnard looked up, and I could tell the truth without him admitting it. I held his eyes. “Now, I wouldn’t accuse you of doing that. A lawyer fresh out of law school remembers the rules of professional responsibility better than somebody who’s been practicing for twenty-five years like Dobson.”
That was the last implication I’d make that this was Dobson’s decision because Barnard appeared to have some culpability, even if Dobson had stuffed it down his throat.
“But mistakes happen, kid,” I continued. “Almost every attorney finds himself in a bind at one point or another. It’s always better to fix it yourself. That’s why I came to you instead of going to the judge.”
Or a reporter, I thought but didn’t say.
“I’ve gotta call Dobson. Give me a sec.” Barnard stood, left the diner, and walked into the rain. He stopped as if he’d make the call right there but then went to his car.
