Sunday, October 18, 2015

What if...and what if...and what if....

Andre Norton and I used to exchange phone calls and letters, and I treasured that because she had an easy way of stirring my imagination. She liked to talk about where fiction ideas came from, and sometimes we'd make a game of it.

She liked archaeology magazines, would mention articles, and ask: What if?

Once we discussed shipwrecks long buried under San Francisco; she'd read about them somewhere. And she asked: What if someone could go there?

Indeed, what if.

What if I sent a character there?

So that particular 'what if' served as a springboard for part of a case file Evelyn Love and Thomas Brock had to tackle. The duo appear in The Love-Haight Case Files, co-authored by Donald J. Bingle and published by WordFire Press.

What if someone could go there? Under San Francisco?

Well, if you're curious what my take on that underground ship graveyard contains, you'll have to read the book. It's part of an AMAZING STORYBUNDLE that's running in October. I'm downloading the bundle 'cause I want to read the other stories...by Matt Forbeck, Keith R.A. deCandido, Kevin J. Anderson, and more. They're spooky books. Gotta love spooky books.

And the Love-Haight book has spooky bits, creepy bits, fun stuff, and sections that make you think: What if?

What if a hippie from the Summer of Love couldn't cut ties with the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood? What if his spirit hovered around and continued to seek that 'ultimate high'?

What if a murdered attorney had unfinished work? What if he continued to practice law? And what if he defended other undead?

What if the attorney's resident gargoyle learned how to play World of Warcraft?

What if the city's dark heart started beating more fiercely? What would flow through San Francisco's streets then?

What if Don and I were to write more cases for our intrepid legal team? Indeed, what if.

I browsed Amazon and eBay and found all sorts of odd and old books on San Francisco. I've been reading chapters during the commercials and halftime (football junkie me)...and so I'm asking 'what if' a lot. Go Pack! (Hmmm...didja know I managed to work a Green Bay Packers reference into a case file?)

Andre Norton (not a football fan) taught me a lot of things, including how to twist the ordinary into something otherworldly by asking one question.

What if?

You should try it yourself. What if...and what if...and what if....

And what if you're interested in this AMAZING batch of books, that includes The Love-Haight Case Files? Visit storybundle.com -- you can jump in for as little as $5.

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