Justin Vincent is a San Francisco based artist who leads a secret double life as a cat burglar. He likes the freedom, money, and self-determination his unusual career provides but also increasingly feels that it is a life he fell into by accident. When a valuable painting is stolen from his lover Valerie, Justin agrees to use his underworld contacts and knowledge of the black market to help. The search leads him to an antiquities dealer who has fallen on hard times and a mysterious European middle man. With the help of his friend Ashna, a skilled hacker, and Gabrielle, owner of an art gallery in Nice, Justin gathers clues that lead him to a mysterious chateau in the South of France and a dangerous web of secrets and lies. To escape with his life and complete his objective, Justin’s skill, luck, and perseverance will be tested to their utmost limit.
Excerpt
“Above the bed? I didn’t—” Val turned, stopped speaking, breath caught.
A moment later, she whirled, flipped on the light switch, jumped onto the bed, and placed her hands on the wall above the headboard. In the light, I noticed there was a picture hanger still nailed into the wall and a square of slightly brighter paint where the painting had hung. She ran her hands over the bare wall then turned to look at me. Her eyes were manic, her body tense. “Tell me this is some kind of joke, Justin.”
“No joke,” I replied. “Was it there when you left for the gallery?”
“Yes, I think so.” She stepped down off the bed and started frantically pacing the room, looking everywhere. “I’m sure it was.”
“Did you have cleaners scheduled today?”
“No. They come on Wednesdays.”
“Did you leave your balcony door open?”
She looked at me, suddenly focusing. “No. I never leave it open.”
“It was open when we came in. Was it locked?”
“Maybe not. I don’t know. I was in a hurry.”
“Let’s see if anything else is missing,” I said, turning toward the door.
Valerie grabbed my arm, pulling me around to face her. “I don’t care if anything else is missing.” She was on the brink of tears, a tight, almost hysterical, edge to her voice. She raised her hands, placed them over her ears, shaking her head back and forth. “I don’t care. That painting is the only thing I own that I care about, Justin.”
Guest Post
1. Be yourself. It’s okay to be inspired by other writers but you need to develop your own voice and ideas. The thing that will make you stand out is originality, not sounding like someone else.
2. Read a lot of books and not just in the genre you want to write. Read a non-fiction book for every two fiction. Read the classics and learn from them. Read bestsellers and obscure self-published books. You never know where you will find inspiration. If you only read books in the same genre you want to write it will be difficult to break out of the mold and do something innovative.
3. Don’t pay for expensive software or fancy computers. You can use Google docs for free and write on a cheap chromebook.
4. Write an outline. If you want your book to be well paced and for the plot to develop in an a way that keeps the reader interested, you need to know where you are going before you begin.
5. Research your details. For every detail there will be a reader who knows more than you and will be thrown off if things are inaccurate. For Old Gold Mountain, I read books and articles on lock picking, techniques used by successful thieves, computer/network hacking, the international art market, and the history of the Corsican mafia among others.
6. Don’t watch TV. Don’t play video games. In general, don’t waste time with mindless entertainment. Write your book or read a book instead.
7. Bake your own bread. Mastering bread baking is a lot like figuring out how to write a book.
8. Don’t take advice from other writers like me. Just write in whatever way makes sense to you.
I am a writer and educational technology professional. I lived in San Francisco for the past fifteen years but recently moved to Los Angeles with my wife and five year old son. My first book Old Gold Mountain is out now. Buy it at Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Also available through Apple iBooks, Google Play, and Indigo.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rabbit_fighter
Website: http://www.bradleywwright.com
The book will be $0.99.
Giveaway
Bradley W. Wright will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
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