The primary aim of the "Novel Excerpts" blog category is to showcase my creative writing, specifically from the novels I've written. Hopefully, these posts will provide a glimpse into my storytelling style, themes, and narrative skills. It's an opportunity to share my artistic expressions and the worlds I've created through my novels.
The Boaz Scorekeeper, written in 2017, is my second novel. I'll post it, a chapter a day, over the next few weeks.
I decided against sending a ransom demand to the Radford family. This twist would give investigators good reason to ponder whether the disappearances of Randall and John were related.
However, I did decide to communicate with the grieving family in a different way. Three years ago, Raymond and Randall had purchased the old Boaz Spinning Mill property from the City of Boaz. The rumor was they were going to consolidate the four current locations of their hardware and building supply business into one giant facility. But, a feasibility study by an Atlanta firm had shown only minimum increases in sales versus a phenomenal increase in initial investment and ongoing operating costs. The Radford’s, all astute businessmen, canned their plans and put the real estate back on the market.
My plan was risky but also astute, even remarkable, or so I believed. I contacted realtor Bruton Silvers and told him I represented a client who was looking to build a miniature Gatlinburg in Boaz, but with one unique twist. It would have a recreational facility including Olympic size pool, tennis and basketball courts, a health care spa, and a small but five-star hotel. Surrounding this facility would be an assortment of small clothing and craft boutiques, along with at least three specialty restaurants. And, if this wasn’t enough, I convinced Bruton that now was a perfect time after the citizens of Boaz had just last fall approved the sale of alcoholic beverages, telling him that my client intended to build and operate a brewery and pub to feature and sell six brands of his ‘southern shine.’
Less than two months after posing the idea to Bruton, including some delay to deal with the non-disclosure of the buyer’s name, he had convinced the City to instruct its attorney to draft a Letter of Intent to approve plans for Sparksburg, a name I had coined. The letter was not ironclad, but conditioned final licensing upon approval of architectural drawings and a detailed business plan. However, the letter was sufficient to motivate the Radford family to enter a sales contract subject to the City’s final approval. On November 18th, I wrote a $50,000 check from the Law Firm’s trust account to Silvers Realty for a down payment on the $350,000 purchase price. An astute use of the attorney-client privilege.
The Pencil-Driven Life 