It’s the 7th Inning Stretch, and I need it. What does that mean, you may ask? It’s a baseball term. It means to stop, rest and reset, and then finish the game. Fans and players take advantage of this tradition. It’s also a chance to hit the concession stands and buy a last round of beer and snacks—any way to make money. Yes, I’m being cynical, but that’s okay too. I’m allowed to have an opinion.
If you don’t follow baseball, that’s okay. I only follow it during the playoffs, although I’ll occasionally go to a game now and then. It’s been a couple of years since I’ve gone.
Why the 7th inning stretch?
Now, you may ask why I am bringing up this? It’s because I’ve been on a marathon of writing during my vacation. I had eight straight days to apply myself to book five of the Consortium Series. As I reported in my last post, I made excellent progress. I hoped to finish out the time with three more chapters. more “7th Inning Stretch”…
It seems I am very prolific this week. I took time off from work to burn some vacation time. You know the saying, ‘use it or lose it.’ Since I don’t want to lose it, I’m using it too great success in working on Book 5 in the Consortium series.
You, my readers, will be happy to know that so far this week, I’ve written several chapters totalling twenty thousand, four hundred twenty-four words. That’s 20,424 in case you need the numerals. And I still have four days to go until I must return to work. I wonder just what I can accomplish in that time.
Definition
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the definition of the word prolific is:
pro·lif·ic | \ prə-ˈli-fik \ adjective.
1: producing young or fruit especially freely: FRUITFUL
2: archaic: causing abundant growth, generation, or reproduction
3: marked by abundant inventiveness or productivity, a prolific composer.
Prolific Time of my Life
Working on this book over the past six days has been fun. I go to bed the night before, and I wake up knowing exactly what the next chapter or two will entail. Then, it’s just writing… writing… and more writing fleshing out the scenes and incorporating the dialogue and injecting the emotions appropriate to the moment.
I’ve gotta say I’m having fun with this book. The action is getting intriguing. Of course, it’s as hot as ever, incorporating a couple of sexual scenes that will make you blush. But isn’t that what all my books incorporate.
The story picks up with Sir and the Consortium forced to deal the crash of their cargo plane full of new prey to auction off and the exposure of their cabal. Sir discovers he cannot contain the media and lost control of the situation. Never in his life has he not been in control of something important to him, and it frustrates and tortures him. I say, ‘Good!’ Serves him right.
The media, discovering the crashed plane’s cargo of naked humans spread across the crash site, sensationalizes the public. National and global media outlets pick up the story, tantalizing their viewers, and awaking powerful people world-wide not affiliated with the Consortium into action.
Can you imagine how the world would react if this happened for real? A violent riot stays fresh in the media for weeks and months. What would you do if you knew that your missing cousin, son, or daughter were among the victims? Would you sit back and say, “Oh well.” Of course not.
I know you’re eager to read this next installment. Rest assured, it’s coming and at a faster pace than the last book. I can’t wait to see how it turns out.
Okay, I’ve got to get back to writing the story. I’m too excited to leave it alone for longer than necessary.
Finally
I want to thank everyone who wrote me, in response to my post, ‘Quite the Ride.’ You shared stories dealing with medical issues and trauma similar to what I experienced over the past month or so. I appreciate you sharing your heartaches, and I strove hard to write to everyone thanking them for their well wishes. Some of those that wrote me had it even harder than I did. I feel for you; I do and I’m sorry, and you are all in my thoughts and prayers.
These last several weeks have been hard, but I have some good news. I completed the final steps in order to submit for publication my latest book, ‘The Trafficking Consortium.’ I uploaded it to Amazon last Wednesday. Sales for the first three days are off to a great start, selling numerous copies in the U.S., Great Britain, and Germany in only three days. This without any real marketing.
I’m ecstatic.
Oh yes, I have been talking about it for months now, but now it is a reality. Now begins the daunting task of marketing the book. Seeing the early results, I’m trying something new. I’ll let you all know in the months ahead how it goes. All that is left to do is the prepare the paperback version and upload it to the printers. If you get a chance, check the book out. It is available for free on Kindle Unlimited or just $2.99 to purchase it outright for your Kindle or your favorite eBook reader.
It’s a brutal erotic suspense thriller about Avril Gillios, a young woman in her mid-twenties, who get’s caught up in an international organized crime ring specializing in human trafficking. The thousand-year old organization call themselves ‘The Consortium.’ Their affluent and influential members can order or acquire anyone, men and women alike, to satisfy their unique needs and desires. From organ acquisition; to perverse sexual satisfaction; or feasting upon their prey, they seemingly operate above the law all across the globe.
Told from Avril’s point of view, the story describes how this criminal organization targets her, kidnaps her right off the streets of NYC and sells her to the highest bidder; marking the beginning of a new life, forever barred from returning to the only life she ever knew.
Copyright (c) Richard Verry 2016
She must navigate the perilous events that threaten her life to survive her ordeal and attempt escape. Sold to a sadistic monster, her captivity is relatively comfortable. Locked in a luxurious suite with all the trimmings included in the most elegant high-end luxury apartments enjoyed by the upper one-percenters, a cage is still a cage.
She endures brutal beatings and violent ravishments as her new owner trains her to be compliant to his demands and needs. Along the way, she discovers that her sadistic owner loves her, in his own way.
Confused and bewildered, she must figure out how to navigate the ever narrowing serpentine path to escape the growing threat to her life. Her captor eventually gives her an impossible choice, one that takes away all doubt of what he intends to do with her. However, he requires that she select the path that her life will take. Failing to choose is the same as choosing a horrific, slow, and painful death.
Will she choose life or death? I encourage you to find out for yourself.
Yesterday, I received this intriguing comment from one of my readers. My life partner girlfriend also wants to know the answer to this question. She cringes at many of my stories. As many times as I try to satisfy her with a reply, sooner or later, she brings it up once again. I figure everyone of my readers is thinking the same thing. So I thought I would give it a stab and try to answer the question.
The reader asked the following question.
“Just finished the 2nd book. [‘Her Overseer,’ book 2 in the ‘Her Client’ trilogy] and I need time to think about this one? Guess my question is how do you think of these things in such detail? It was pretty gruesome. Are there things you write about that you’ve done or want to do? Just wondering.”
The book, ‘Her Overseer’ is gruesome. It is brutal and graphic. It is the second part of a three-part story within the ‘Her Client’ trilogy. There is a twist in book 3, ‘Her Essentia’ which I think readers will enjoy. My girlfriend cringed reading the first two books, but by hanging in there, she found redemption in the third book.
Frankly, I don’t know how I think up these scenes and describe them in such detail. They just appear in my head as I write them. To me, it is a natural progression of the story that seems obvious as I write.
I’ve been an avid reader all my life. From a young age, I’ve always been interested in mystery/suspense and true crime novels. Later I added science fiction to the list. The more fantastic the story, the more out there the characters behaved, the more I liked it. However, I’m not referring to fantasy stories such as depicted in today’s graphic novels and the like. I like realistic stories that are plausible and could happen in real life. Some of my favorite books from my early years included the true crimes of the FBI, which depicted the thoughts and reasonings of characters on both sides of the law.
Today’s Challenge
My paintings and drawings reflect a naturalistic world. I love realism in my creative works. I don’t do abstract or fantastical creatures, such as depicted in much of today’s art. The one exception would be my love of mermaids.
But fantastic creatures that nature could not possibly develop on this planet through natural selection … no.
I also believe in monsters. Not the kind thought up by the creative minds of scary movie, no, I mean the human kind of monster. The kind that actually exists.
I write what I believe could naturally occur, here on earth, by humans. Nature is uncaring and brutal. Sharks and other predators don’t care about the feelings of their prey. They kill and eat what they want and move on. Orca whales have been observed playing with and tormenting their prey before killing them. From the lowliest of life on earth to the king of the jungle, this is how nature developed life on our planet.
All humans have this drive built into our DNA. Societal norms try to adjust us to not act upon our baser instincts but we all let it out, at some time or another. A husband beating his wife to belting a misbehaving child when a simple spank of the hand would do, are just two examples of human instincts struggling for release. I could list thousands of examples supporting my belief. Fortunately, most of us suppress this impulse as best as we can.
My stories delve into the realm of humans who drop their shields and let out their baser instincts. My monsters are real, and I have little doubt that the monsters depicted in the ‘Her Client’ trilogy, are real and they exist. They hide and stay out of the limelight, but they exist. In the real world, a rare few are discovered and make the news, but I believe that the known monsters are a small percentage of the total out there. No one can convince me otherwise. My scenes are gruesome and describe a realistic interpretation of the human monster hiding in all of us.
As to the reader’s follow-up question, no I don’t write about what I’ve done, nor what I want to do. Like 99.99999% of the population, I suppress my inner instincts in everyday life. However, I will grant you, that perhaps it is possible, that as I write, I allow a tiny fraction of my basic human suppressed instinct out, enabling me to write in such detail.
I’ve been told that writers write what they know. I don’t believe this. Look at Stephen King’s novels. Do you really think he did all that he wrote about? Do you think he thinks about really doing it? I doubt it. Do I wish I could actually do what I write about in my scenes? Definitely not. I’m a pacifist at heart. It’s all in my imagination, knowing full well that these monsters do exist.
On thing I discovered in my writing journey is that I like to write from the character’s point of view, rather than a third party, observers point of view. I like to write what the characters think and feel. At times I will bounce from the protagonist’s point of view to the antagonist’s point of view and back again. I find it interesting to reveal their thoughts and ideas. I like to expose their emotions of surprise, love, lust, anger, fear, rage, bloodthirst, relief and revenge as the scene develops.
In ‘The Taste of Honey,’ I wrote a scene where one of my main characters goes through an ordeal of her own choice. She is offered many opportunities to avoid the tribulation. Yet, she chose to go through the ordeal, knowing she would die in the end. All because she loves her family more than she loves herself.
I wrote the scene from her viewpoint. I tried to capture her every thought, fear, and desire she experiences. I tried to capture everything she endures, moment by moment, from her point of view. I attempted to convey all of her senses; taste, touch, sight, sound, and smell; as she lived and died throughout her ordeal. I believe I was successful and again, all from the characters point of view.
Just know that not all of my books are gruesome. My free short story, ‘A Mermaid’s Irresistible Curiosity’ is a love story with a twist. It’s not gruesome nor brutal. It’s a story about a misguided mermaid who lives a life of instant gratification who falls in love with a fisherman. You can find the short story on my website, RichardVerry.com. It free and you can download it and read it at any time.
I hope that this explains the question and alleviates any concerns about my writing. More importantly, I hope this explains things to the love of my life, my girlfriend, and committed partner in love and life.
After a very hot summer and a mild autumn, winter has finally arrived at my house. Friday and early Saturday, temperatures were in the low seventies. In fact, we broke an all time temperature record on Friday. Now, it’s in the low thirties, snow is covering the ground and wind is whipping it in a fury.
In preparation, last Friday I did all of the household grocery shopping and finished decorating the outside of the house for the holidays. Afterall, I’m done with hanging lights in subfreezing temperatures.
With chores done, I’m back at writing, trying to finish up my latest novel. The storyline magically appeared in my mind October 25. After months of a non-existent creative stream running through my consciousness, it returned with a bang, an entire story begging, no demanding release.
I am consumed with getting it out of my head, into a form you can enjoy it. In the spirit of ‘Her Client’ and ‘The Breakup’, this story follows the ordeals of my heroine as she deals with trials that she inconceivably is forced to deal with.
Source: epthinktank.eu
The book, tentatively titled ‘Trafficking Consortium,’ follows a woman who finds herself caught up in the world of human trafficking. A scourge on our society and a hated subject of my girlfriend, a centuries old élite organization discovers, pursues and kidnaps my protagonist, eventually selling her into a life of slavery and submission. Her new sadistic owner believes there is something special about her, and his consuming desire to have her, overwhelms her before starting to slide into a role of acceptance and submission, only to be shattered by a new demand he places upon her, her body and most importantly, her soul. A demand in which she, must choose between life and death. And don’t be fooled, it’s not an easy decision for her.
I can’t wait to finish this erotic and suspenseful story. If I stay on track, it should be released sometime in the next month. Of course, editing and book cover design may impact that schedule, with the world on the cusp of the holidays.
Thanks for following me. Now, back to the story.
This is Richard Verry, signing off for the time being so I can document my heroine’s fate.
Over the last four segments, I wrote about the roots of the plague and the causal effects on Mona’s community. In this segment, I cover the cultural effects which resulted.
It should be noted that while the plague was halted, it was not eradicated. Over centuries, people made many attempts to revive the extinct species. Huge stores of seeds were set aside on the chance that one day, they could be replanted. Attempts to germinate these seeds failed. A millennium later, survivors made little progress finding an alternate source of high protein food stores.
In the early days, societal controls fell apart as starving people sought ways to find the nutrition they needed. Populations started to diminish once more. On the verge of succumbing to extinction, the survivors banded together to deal with the stresses of trying to live. Through trial and error, often violent, they eventually settled on a systemized process to select candidates for conversion through random selection. Over centuries, everyone accepted that one day, they would help feed the future generations.
Population Disparity
Due to the disparity of numbers between men to women, it became commonplace for sterile women to supply the bulk of those converted for food. Afterall, they represented more than three quarters of the population. Still though, everyone submitted to conversion processing at some point in their lives. There were no exceptions. From birth to conversion, people lived their life based upon this eventual fate. In between, everything they learned, did and produced was focused meeting the needs of society. They became the primary producers, workers and sex toys. In short, each person lived to serve and contribute.
In summary, due to the inability to satisfy basic nutritional needs, they turned to each other. To manage the conversion process, a complex society arose to fairly deal with the new reality. No one was immune from this fate but a culture developed to de-horrify the practice. In time, the stigma of consuming themselves disappeared. It became a simple fact and accepted as a part of life.
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Excerpts
Excerpts from an interview I gave some months ago. The question explored dealt with the ‘Purge Plague’, a vehicle I invented to explain how Mona’s culture came to be. This is the final installment in a five-part series published over the past several days. Feel free to comment on the link at the bottom. I welcome your insights and opinions.
Good morning world. I’m looking forward to a new week that ends better than the last.
Why? Let me tell you.
Reflective in the title of this post, last Friday, I literally saw stars. No, they weren’t a bunch of five-star reviews of my books. One can hope. No, I didn’t see the stars of the night, sweeping across the sky. I wish it was just this.
Nope, I saw stars when I banged my head against a very large, low hanging pipe designed to carry conditioned air. I was straightening a set of small boxes that I was stacking, knowing that there four hundred similar boxes arriving in moments. Yup! I was at work, doing my job. Mind you, I knew the pipe was there. However, in that moment, bent over focused on my goal, I had forgotten it was there.
Source: 123rf.com
Then I stood up and saw a galaxy of stars.
I wacked my head hard. The room around me went dark and I saw untold stars flashing behind my eyes. Think of a lot of mass against an immovable object. In that split second, as pain walloped my head, my brain bounced around inside my head. Expletives galore rang out as I fell to the ground, supported on all fours.
It was several minutes before I could stand up again. Bent over, recovering, I could only think, “Stupid, I knew it was there. Why the fuck didn’t I move first. ‘Stunad!’ (Italian slang for moron)”
Eventually, I seemed to recover and finished stacking the boxes. An hour later, sitting at my desk, my headache grew, despite the overdose of Tylenol I took to combat what I knew was coming. An hour after that, my thoughts stopped focusing and I knew I was in trouble. I went home early and called my doctor.
A short time after that, I’m in the Emergency Department at the local hospital being treated for a concussion. Oh, how can athletes play their sport with a concussion? It must be the millions they make doing it.
Me, I’ve been suffering everyday since. The headache hasn’t gone away, and I get nauseous getting driven to the pharmacy for meds. I’ve been planted in my recliner, getting up to use the bathroom or getting a bite to eat.
The treatment? Seven to ten days of rest and I can return to work when I am no longer symptomatic. Three days later, and I still am. It’s hard to concentrate just writing this post. Imagine what it would be like at work where my job is to sit at a computer and write code, et. all. Before I lose it, I’ll sign off and find my favorite chair and rest, doing mindless, brainless stuff.
All I can say is thank you to all my fans for reading this. I appreciate you.
My girlfriend and I had chinese food for dinner the other night. I’d like to share with you what my fortune cookie had hidden inside.
“Good books are friends who are always ready to talk to us.”
For the readers out there, I think you will agree. Good or bad, they talk to us, reach into our souls and stimulate emotions. I don’t know about you, but I have conversations with my books. Yes, the books themselves. I talk to them and they respond.
I also have conversations with other readers about books, either mine or someone else’s. We can debate whether it was a good read or a bad read. We can argue about the elements of the characters, the plot or the outcome.
My favorite books are those that I cannot predict where the story is taking me. Not just the ending either. I want to be surprised and jolted all along the way. Just when I think I figured out ‘who done it’ or whether the couple will final get together, the best stories for me those that change direction. By the time the last page is turned, I want the story wrapped up. I want all of the pieces to fit, like a jigsaw puzzle.
So far, from what people tell me, my books fit that criteria. However, I would be interested in what you, the reader of this blog, thinks. Write me. Fill out the comment field below and lay it on me. Tell me whether your favorite books talk to you and what it is about them that makes the book one of your favorites.
Till next time, have a great day and a better tomorrow.
Hello friends and fans. Yesterday afternoon I got a pleasant surprise. Someone bought a copy of my book, ‘Broken Steele‘ from Smashwords. Thank you.
However, that one little revelation got me poking around all of my sales outlets. To my surprise, over the past three months, unbeknownst to me, hundreds of copies of all of my books have been downloaded from various sites. Many are free copies of my book ‘Her Client’ but many of you out there bought your own copies of my other books from various sources. I noted sales on iBooks for the Apple platform, B&N for the Nook platform and even Kobo for who knows what eBook reader.
I’m ecstatic.
Thanks to all who have purchased and downloaded one of my books. I hope you enjoy them. Please, I would be interested in a review or two from you. Of course sales are the best review so I must be doing something right.
Read what others have said about my books. Many are summarized right here. Feel free to read them and decide for yourself. Thank you for giving me a slice of your valuable time. I appreciate it.
A big thank you to David who gave me a pair of reviews for The Taste of Honey and Broken Steele. You’re awesome man. A big thank you also to everyone who bought my books these last couple of weeks. Apparently, the ‘Her Client Series’ is quite popular and a lot of you around the world are reading them.
My books and more, including another free one, are available on my website, RichardVerry.com as well as on Amazon for your Kindle, Smashwords, B&N, or at your favorite eBook retailer for your iPhone, iPad, Nook or what have you. You can even purchase paperback copies from these sites.
To get a taste of my stories, feel free to read the opening chapter from ‘The Taste of Honey‘.
As one reader wrote:
I’ve been under the comforter most nights, reading Richard Verry’s title, “The Taste of Honey” and calling out from under there, saying “go ask Daddy” and returning promptly to my hot and steamy read.
Hot and steamy? I couldn’t agree more and I’m confident you’ll agree. Right now, I’m working on the third book in the series, ‘Lucky Bitch’ which promises to be just as hot and steamy. All three books have intrigue, suspense, mystery, kink, and lots of sex with a healthy dose of romance.
As another review wrote:
The plot is intriguing and kept me spell-bound throughout the book. I found it to be well-written & the author draws you in with not only his clever storyline but also his complex characters. The more I read, the more I understood the emotional turmoil the various characters were going thru. I am excited to see where this author takes us in the next adventure!
So, if you are looking for a good book to read this weekend, download a copy of ‘The Taste of Honey’ and it’s sequel, ‘Broken Steele’. You’ll be sucked-in and captivated all weekend long. Then, be sure to look for ‘Lucky Bitch’ which is in the works.
Thanks again for your support and drop me a line with your thoughts. I look forward to hearing from you.
