Today I have a mysterious piece from Crossing Bedlam. Hardest part about excerpts from Bedlam is that they don’t always work out of context. A brief explanation of what’s going on here is that Cassidy and Lloyd have gotten into trouble with the Pennsylvanian Civil War. That should cover it without revealing what’s going to happen.
“We can solve this without bloodshed, Firestone, and you know it,” Noah claims, drawing his handgun with his other hand. Showing that the safety is still on, he keeps his thumb on the switch in case his words fall on deaf ears. “The jeep, weapons, and travelers are too valuable to put in harm’s way. Now the young lady could be lying about their usefulness as a team, but it could very well be the truth. Last thing either of us wants is to come away from this with broken spoils and fewer soldiers. Split a coin in half and both sides are worthless is something my dad used to say. Not sure why, but it makes sense here.”
“If you’re suggesting what I think you’re suggesting then that’s a long walk,” Firestone argues, waving for his people to lower their weapons. A shudder runs through his body until he tears off an old steroid patch and angrily slaps on a fresh source. “I guess we can keep them in the jeep, but one of my men will drive. It would make carrying all of the spoils easier.”
“What are you talking about?” Cassidy interrupts, her patience hanging by a thread. Getting off the hood, she frowns when she sees several fresh scratches on the blue paint. “We’re practically in the middle of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Last I heard all of the surviving towns were turned into military bases. There’s nowhere to fucking go to solve this, so stop wasting our time and let us go. As my friend said earlier, we don’t give a shit about your war and only want to continue on our way.”
Firestone lunges forward to shove the young woman against the car, stopping when he hears Noah click the safety off his gun “You can present your arguments to the Judge. He or she is an impartial elder who listens to all sides. They help us handle these small issues, but only if the two sides agree to visit. You realize that the closest one is in Punxsutawney, right? That Judge tends to take a bigger payment for his services than the others. I’d rather travel further south and reach the one in Hershey.”
“I vote for the first one!” Lloyd announces, stopping Noah from openly accusing his rival of choosing an easily bribed Judge. The serial killer grins while twisting over the cuffs, putting his hands in front to scratch his nose. “Better to get this over with, right? I mean, the longer you keep us hostage and not lay down the law, the more chances we’ll get to escape. Punxsutawney is the best choice.”
Cassidy chuckles while Firestone scowls and Noah nods in agreement. “You’re thinking of the fucking groundhog, aren’t you?”
“Do you honestly think I would travel to a place with the sole purpose being to kill a lying rodent who has probably been eaten by now?”
“Yes.”
Lloyd nudges the nearest soldier with his elbow as he says, “she knows me far too well.”
Legends of Windemere 
I honestly can’t wait for this one. Lloyd is over the top, and while they are different, there is a similar undertone with Clovis from my next publication. I really want to read yours.
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Lloyd is definitely a spectacle. A good counter to Cassidy’s more subtle demeanor. Curious to find out how he matches up with Clovis.
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From what I can see, they are different, but a similar undertone seems to be there.
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Got it. I’ll have to read some of Clovis’s scenes with Lloyd in mind.
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I’ll be paying attention to that too, but I actually want to read the story too.
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Only a few more weeks as long as everything goes smoothly. Next week starts the hype posts to give people an insight into the mechanics. 🙂
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You’re still getting a ton of stuff done. I need to be more like you. I get bits and pieces done every weekend, but they add up eventually. You’re much more focused.
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The weekend is where things fall apart for me. Too many people around. Honestly, it’s tough right now because I can barely feel my fingers when I type.
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Yuck. Medical or temperature related?
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Temperature. It’s cold and windy and I think the heating system forgot how to do its job.
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Reblogged this on Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life and commented:
Charles Yallowitz with an excerpt from Crossing Bedlam. Cassidy and Lloyd have gotten into trouble with the Pennsylvanian Civil War
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Thanks for the reblog. Really hoping context isn’t a problem. 🙂
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Hilarious that you mentioned Punxsutawney and the groundhog! And that Cassidy knew what Lloyd was thinking.
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Couldn’t resist and I saw how close the town was to where I imagined this taking place. As for Cassidy, she figures out his wavelength rather quickly. Not sure if that’s a good or bad thing.
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Really liked this. I can imagine this crew and am looking forward to the story. Lloyd is a character all right.
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He’s definitely getting a lot of the attention. The vivid and big personality definitely helps him.
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I think doing away with Phil would be good for all of us.
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There’s still at least 2 or 3 more though. The groundhog labor union is a powerful force here.
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Ha ha ha
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It may be that it is an excerpt, but I had a hard time with attribution. I haven’t read any of this series and know nothing of the characters or situations involved. From this perspective within 4-5 paragraphs you introduced four characters: Firestone, Noah, Cassidy and Lloyd and allude to a team-within a team and different sides of a conflict (the war). From what I could tell Firestone is on one side and Noah is leading a team, of which Cassidy is a part. Lloyd sounds like a member of the party but not necessarily a team member. (?Serial killer?) It sounds like an interesting premise, but again, without context things were a little hard to parse out. Just an outsider’s two cents.
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It’s the first of a series and I haven’t released it yet. Thanks for letting me know about the context. Means I might not be able to do any teasers with this book any more. The situation here is that Noah and Firestone lead opposing squads. They’re bickering over Cassidy and Lloyd who are traveling. Those are the two main characters and they’re just trying to get through the area. Not sure if that clears anything up.
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I think teasers work well with a devote audience familiar with an authors work. I wouldn’t base any decisions on my input. (Cause that’s how important I am to the universe, dontcha know.) It must be difficult starting a new series, the great unknown and starting over angst and all that. Best of luck with it.
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Thanks. Honestly, it’s invigorating to start a new series. Especially since it’s in a different world than my other stories. I get to flex different muscles with ‘Crossing Bedlam’. I have to admit that this is a story that works almost like a set of short stories instead of chapters. So there’s going to be missing context. Any future installments probably won’t have this problem.
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I went back and read another post and it did make a lot more sense. I can’t say whether one should be able to open a book at any point and be able to immediately jump to the plot and understand. I should practice this more before questioning anyone else’s methods.
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I haven’t read many books that work that way. It’d be weird if it did because then you’d have to wonder what the point of the earlier stuff is. Almost like you don’t need it.
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I can’t wait to spend more time with Lloyd – he truly is delightful (in a scary, crazy kind of way). Knowing how much fun you’ve had writing him, will no doubt reflect on a readers enjoyment 😀
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I hope so. The entire world and cast were fun to use. Even the supporting characters were able to be wild and insane. There’s just this level of weird one can go to when the world has no laws. I may be pushing boundaries with a few of the freakier encounters.
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You can push as many boundaries as you want in a world you created and take us along for the ride!
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I’ve yet to test that theory on a ‘real world’ adventure. Unlike Windemere, the Shattered States is on Earth and has familiar locations. Guess we’ll see what people think and how they react.
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I’m sure the familiarity will add an interesting element and the characters will likely steal the show!
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Sweet. The last line packs the punch. 😀 😀
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Thanks. Love ending on a powerful line. 😀
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I like to hear that. 😀
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I liked this excerpt a lot, I like the characters they work well. Want to read this.
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Thanks. 🙂
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Loved this. My husband battles with crows constantly.
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They aren’t obnoxious around here, but we have pigeons, gulls, and the occasional angry jay. Glad you enjoyed the teaser.
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