.Okay...here is an exclusive sneek peek at a work in progress
Now this is just a first draft excerpt of a current Nick Crowell story.  It's due in September and then scheduled to post on the website  http://www.demonminds.com/    in October.

Now it needs some polish and also has to pass the editorial review at Demonminds but you get a little peek right now, right here on this journal

(Please Note---Demominds seems to be switching servers so it may be a week or two before you can fully enjoy their site but rest assured they will return!  Sorry!)

Meantime---Speak up and tell me what you think of the excerpt

Here is a brief set up---
Crowell's girlfriend, Lucy, runs an antique shop and she just bought an old chair off someone, not knowing that it is no ordinary chair..............



.............“Hello, Nicky. Come in, I’ll make you some coffee.” She took me by the arm and led me through the fortune telling area, which normally would be a screened in back patio and into the kitchen. Her German Shepard, Ralph, stopped eating for a moment to lick at my hand in greeting.

    As she filled a mug with water and placed it in the microwave, she told me what had happened. “This guy calls me up last week, Nicky. An older gentleman, very nice. And he tells me he has an old chair he wanted to sell. So, I told him to bring it by. He comes that night in a van. Nicky, let me tell you, it was a nice chair. A Remington.”

    I shrugged, not really knowing from chairs. She giggled again and touched my arm and continued. “So, anyway, I knew right away that I could make a few dollars off of this and I asked what he was thinking of selling it to me for. He said fifty dollars.”

   The microwave’s bell went off and she stopped to make my drink. She handed it to me and continued. As I sipped at it, leaning against the kitchen counter, she stood there watching me. Which is fine, she loves me. But I was pressed for time.“Lucy, get to the point, I’m on my lunch break.”

    “Sorry. You know, I buy lots of antiques from almost anyone and then I clean it up if it needs it and go on the internet to find out its market value. Then, I put an ad in the paper and sell it. I do pretty well too. Whatever my ex sends me each month just isn’t enough.” I nodded, patiently waiting for her to get to the point.

      “The point is, Nicky, that I knew it was worth more. I asked him if he was sure and he said that it was causing a problem at home. Family issues or something. So, I offered him a hundred.”

    “Lucy,” I gave her a scolding look and she waved her hand at me.

    “Anyways, I have the chair in the living room. Come, I show you.” She took me by the hand and we headed into the living room, with Ralph bringing up the rear.

    It was pretty dark because she had all the blinds drawn closed and I went to turn on the light. “No, no, Nicky. Here, sit down. Right here.”  She sat me at a large dining room table and I obediently let her grab my shoulders so that I was facing in the direction she wanted me to. She then walked across the room, over to an old chair, the one in question and stood behind it.  Mildly curious now, I obliged her and looked at it. I had to admit that it looked in remarkable shape for an antique. Better than some of the hand me down stuff in my own little shoebox apartment. It was made from brown leather and looked very comfortable.

    “I looked it up online and it turns out it’s a real antique. At least one hundred and fifty years old. Problem is, I can’t sell it to anybody.” As she said this she glanced at her wristwatch to check the time. Ralph started to whine and I rubbed him behind his ears to quiet him down. 

    “Oh? Why can’t you sell it?” I asked. You know, sometimes, I have perfect timing because just as I asked the question, Lucy turned blue, as if a lamp with a blue bulb had been turned on in front of her. But it wasn’t a lamp. It was a ghost. One minute the chair was empty and the next minute there was an old man sitting there, aglow in blue light. He sort of just faded into view like something from a movie that had really good special effects. He appeared to be reading a book.

    Now ever since this ghost business started with me, I’ve seen some stuff that has been pretty unsettling. And as often as I’ve seen this kind of thing (at least seven or eight times now, by my count), you’d think I’d be used to it, but I’m not. I was so taken aback by the sudden appearance of this guy that I found myself standing up but not remembering getting out of the chair.

    “It’s alright, honey,” Lucy said. “He just sits there. He’s not harmful.”

    Ralph came up behind me and began whimpering. Lucy clucked her tongue at him so he would calm down. But it didn’t do much for him as he was still jumpy. I was pretty jumpy myself.

    “How long has this been going on?” I asked.

    “Day one when it arrived. It only lasts for a few hours. From eight o’clock to just about eleven and then he vanishes. He just sits there reading. The spooky part is that he’ll look up once in awhile and look at you.”

    Just then, whomever it was sitting in the chair, did just that. He looked up and right into my eyes. He smiled and then went back to reading whatever it was he was reading.

    “Whoa,” I whistled. Ralph whimpered once more and retreated into the kitchen to finish his meal. Coward.

    The old man was sitting there looking quite comfortable. You could actually see him turning the pages as he read. He gave off a kind of greenish glow, which reflected off of Lucy and the wall behind her. And he wasn’t as solid as other ghosts I’ve seen. The parts I could see the most were his head, shoulders and his hands mostly, casually turning the pages as he read. The rest of his body was there but kind of foggy with a definite lack of detail. It was quite an eerie sight.......................

Me again- The whole story should be on Demonminds in October. A short 3 month wait

 http://kenagain.freeservers.com/

The new FALL 2007 issue of ken*again is online

My story is called Mr. Baxter and is about voyerism and safety and not really knowing your neighbors very well. 

I am also working on 2 stories to submit to contests and then I plan to return to my work in progress and see if I can finish it before the end of the year. Having some credits under my belt now might break the 9 year dry spell for me.
Or not....
But this sure feels pretty good.

New Columbo short story

I just sent off a short story based on the old Columbo TV series to a site called The Ultimate Columbo
http://www.columbo-site.freeuk.com/

Now they may not accept the story but if you wish I would be happy to email it to you. So that you won't worry about attachements or anything like that I can place the 3 page story within the e-mail itself so you can just open the email and enjoy.

Its an unusual litlte story where I explored what would happen long AFTER the crime had happened--suppose the murderer wanted to express his regret about what he had done face to face with Columbo. While writing this story, I also came up with a unique response that Columbo would reveal. (Both to the murderer AND to the reader of this tale that the character has never said before- as far as I am aware)

If you enjoyed Columbo at all I think this untold tale will intrigue you.

e-mail me at....

franci.jr8206@sbcglobal.net