Nick watched the guy’s uncomfortable posturing while turning sharply in either direction as if being bumped around by unseen forces. His low rider jeans, blue t-shirt, and black vest complete with weirdly strapped sandals completed a look Nick could not place. Then in the middle of his perusal of the man’s figure, the man stared straight at him with malevolent hatred.
“Oh yeah. Nice pick up, Gus. John should get a kick out of this one. I wonder which one he is. I have a few recent BK’s he could fit into my perception of them easily.”
“It’s getting late in the day. You’d think a BK would try to be first in line like the grammar Nazi,” Gus whispered unobtrusively.
Nick finished the next person amiably before answering. “Unless he’s not concerned about ruining the book signing. He might be one of the drive-by one star hitters I’ve told you about. No one can figure why they do it, but the Amazon Marketplace has more than a few. They’ll pick an author or product and do a one star hit piece on it even though they don’t know anything about the book or the product, hence my term drive-by. They shoot one star hit pieces indiscriminately strictly because they can. I bet he’s one of them which will be fun.”
“If you say so,” Gus replied as the next person began a lively conversation about Diego’s love life which allowed Nick to preview the plot involving Fatima in the new novel ‘Dark Interlude’ much to the fan’s delight.
The woman in front of the wispy bearded suspected BK talked to Nick about breaking into the writing field. The blonde, trim looking middle sixties lady affably described her fascination with writing for a few moments. “I’d love to try writing but I wouldn’t know where to start.”
“My advice after you’ve researched the template for writing, and learned the writing tools in whatever software program you’re comfortable with, is write what you love to read. I bet you’ve lived a full life with myriad humorous and interesting encounters. Use them all in your fiction. Start with short stories and see how you like it. If you plan to write for any other purpose than you enjoy creating stories then you’ll probably need to rethink your fascination with writing. It’s pure drudgery unless what you create at the keyboard makes you laugh, tear up, your heart pound, and at times pump a fist in the air.”
“Thanks, Nick. I like that advice. I’ll try what you suggest. I’ve been around the block and have been in many situations that would evoke the feelings you describe. I’m going home and make some notes. Thanks again.”
“Anytime. I always answer my e-mail so contact me if you’d like. The address is at the end of every novel.”
“You’re serious?”
“Sure. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I will take you up on that, Nick. Bye.”
“Good luck with your writing,” Nick replied, smiling at the scowling man being allowed to approach. “Hello, Sir. I see you have ‘Assassin’s Folly’.”
The man glanced down at the book as if surprised he had it. He quickly returned his gaze to Nick with more vitriol than Nick could remember seeing in a human being’s features with the exception of the male members of the Kader family. Nick stayed quiet, waiting for the man to speak.
“You have a lot of nerve giving someone advice on writing!”
When the man didn’t speak again, Nick smiled. “Thank you.”
“It wasn’t a compliment you idiot!”
Nick heard Gus and John stifling enjoyment of the odd man’s opening remarks. “Okay. Would you like me to sign your book?”
“No! I want you to know there is no excuse for the kind of violence depicted in your novels. I don’t care what kind of straw man you build to be whacked by those private detectives in your novels, there can never be a reason for vigilante justice. Writing like yours will influence some whack job into taking the law into their own hands!”
Nick clasped his hands in front of him on the table. “I think there’s been a misunderstanding, Sir. You may be at the wrong book signing. I don’t have private detectives in my Diego novels. My main character is an assassin.”
“Uh… what does that matter? The violence in your novels is over the top gore, inviting the wrong element in our society to use firearms that should be banned!”
Nick looked over at Gus and John. “I know this guy. He’s been doing one star hit pieces on my novels, but hasn’t read any of them. He doesn’t even take the time to read the blurb or the preview. He’s hilarious.” Nick stood and extended his hand. “You’re Lokus. It’s good to meet you. I’ve laughed my butt off at some of your reviews. Thanks for coming. I have to say though, if you’re going to do drive-by one star hit pieces, you should at least read the ‘Look Inside’ preview Amazon offers so you don’t get the characters confused from other novels you’re doing book killings on.”
Lokus appeared shocked for a second at Nick recognizing his avatar on the Amazon marketplace. He ignored Nick’s hand, his features settling into original form. “Fuck you, McCarty! You don’t know me. It’s my duty to flush out pulp garbage poisoning our society!”