Coincidence: You Tell Me
I’ve never been a fan of coincidence, especially when it
comes to writing. Some authors will use it as a device to draw you into the
story. I’d rather work the details, the
conflicts, the subplots, the character interactions and let them run wild,
following their lead. But sometimes, things happen that makes me want to step
back, smile and shake my head in disbelief. Here’s an example.
Recently I discovered the series “Justified” on Amazon. This well-crafted drama came from the
creative genius of Elmore Leonard, who authored more than thirty novels, many
of which became successful Hollywood movies, such as “Get Shorty”.
In “Justified” Timothy Olyphant stars as U S
Marshall Raylan Givens, a trigger happy lawman who has his own way of taking
care of business. The character Raylan appeared in several of Leonard’s novels. So where’s the coincidence?
Well, the series is set in Kentucky, where Raylan hails
from. And yesterday was the Kentucky
Derby. The winning horse was ‘Justify’,
the first one ever to win without racing as a two-year-old.
Coincidence?
You decide. I’ll
stick with Gibbs’s rule 39. ‘There is no such thing as coincidence.’
Here’s a little nugget from “Vanishing Act” the second book
in the Jamie Richmond series.
Malone was going to kill me.
There wasn’t a doubt in my mind. He was
going to kill me.
I knew it in my heart, in my soul—right down
to the marrow of my bones. From the top of my wavy red locks to the bright, red
polish on my toenails, I knew without a doubt that it was a sure thing.
Malone was going to kill me.
That was provided I got out of this alive,
of course.
He’d warned me time and again to mind my own
business. Why couldn’t I listen to reason? How could it be that less than four
months after I narrowly escaped certain death at the hands of a psychotic
bikini-bar waitress, I found myself in another situation where chances of my
survival were so slim? Only this time, it was not just my life on the line. I
had somebody else counting on me.
Now it was up to me. I needed to figure out
a way of getting us out of here, fast, because right now, time was rapidly
running out on me. Make that us. There was no way I was leaving alone, but
there sure as hell was no way I wanted to stick around. Right now, all I really
wanted was to be back in my cozy little home, curled up on the plush sofa I
affectionately call “The Jewish Aunt,” waiting for Malone to come home from
work. But I knew that was not going to happen.
We were trapped. And waiting on the other
side of that wall was someone who would rather see us sliced open on a
coroner’s slab than walking out the door. And to help them make that wish come
true, they were setting the wall on fire.
Malone may have to wait in line to kill me.
Today's musical selection has absolutely nothing to do with this post. It's just the first song that came up in cue from Pandora. A little rock and roll jewel from "Queen".
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