32,341 words & an observation

Peg & Puchinsky visit a mausoleum that holds 9,
but has only 8 occupants.
Marty Albrecht sits next to the Devil on a red-eye to Presque Isle.

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Not long ago, I saw a man smoking at the zoo. He was overweight, riding in a motorized chair, and breathing from an oxygen tank. A park attendant asked him to extinguish the cigarette, and he did.

What struck me wasn't the sad intersection of waning health and addiction (though that's what initially got my attention).

Instead it was how well preserved he was for his age. His cart appeared new and expensive (large, powerful, shiny bumpers and tires). He wore a crisp baseball jersey and matching shorts. And his skin was fair and nearly blemish-free, from his head to his toe, as though he'd rarely stepped out in the sun his whole life.

I used to smoke and understand the addiction well. I know why he was smoking when he couldn't walk or breath on his own.

But he struck me as someone who might still be alive because he could afford it, while those who suffered the same addiction in poverty were probably dead.

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24,565 words

22 chapters.

Day 1 is almost done.

Full novel will run 50 days, but select days will contain most of the twists and turns.

I've been doing a lot of research and rewriting (in one case changing the trajectory of a key figure, thanks to my reader pointing out a serious flaw); that partly accounts for slow progress this month.

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21,047 words.

One ghost,
one babushka,
and a bowl of black jelly beans.

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19,815 words

Two funerals and a murder.

EOM

You do what you know.

My name is not Clarence, it's Charles (though Clarence and I have become close friends), and I'm a writer.

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I started my retail career at store level. I suppose you could say it started with Loblaws at the age of 16 when they had a sizeable presence in the northeast US. But I've spent nearly 25 years with a different retailer. Five of those were at the store. I needed a job and they had a sign in the window.

You do what you know.

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I've been writing since I was a kid and always dreamed of getting a novel published. I've written enough to fill a shelf and read enough to fill a private library. But although I'm an inveterate writer, I'm not very good at self-promotion (ask my boss). That's okay. Others are good at that, and that's the way it ought to be.

Recently while reading, a number of ideas that have run parallel for years intersected, and there where they met was a story.

And so, with no daily deadlines to publish, and a bit earlier than I had thought, I will spend my time on my next novel.

You do what you know.

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I'll make updates here, but very infrequently, and will post them to Facebook for those that follow me there.

Anyone wishing to contact me can reach me here.

The easiest way to get news is to subscribe. Just use the field on the left under "FOLLOW CLARENCE BY EMAIL." You'll only get an email when I publish a post. I have no clue who or how many do this, since the email is self-contained and you don't need to visit this blog or Facebook.

[2015-01-18]

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