Dead
Air
A
Glenn Beckert Mystery
by
Cliff Protzman
Genre:
Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
Dead
Air signals trouble at the radio station. Glenn Beckert discovers his
high school best friend is shot in the head while on the air. Beck,
the owner of Blue Water Security, is employed to provide security for
the station.
He
becomes willingly embroiled in the investigation by the
not-so-innocent widow. The list of potential suspects is long,
gleaned from the numerous extramarital affairs of the victim and
widow. The pending sale of the radio station has created friction
between his now dead friend, Richie Zito and the major stockholders.
Motives for murder becomes increasingly murky after the search
reveals an encrypted file on Zito’s laptop.
Beck
enlists the help of an old flame, Irene Schade, to break the code,
revealing a money laundering network leading to the financial and
political powers of his beloved city of Pittsburgh. Their
collaboration ignites the flames of passion each had considered
extinguished.
A
former college teammate, police Lieutenant Paglironi delivers a
message to back off. Arrogantly, he ignores his friend’s advice.
The threats from less friendly sources are more ominous, forcing Beck
to move in an unfamiliar world. A startling revelation from his
client forces Beck to deal with his inner conviction of right and
wrong, challenging the gray areas of his ethical principles.
Betraying his client’s confidence could expose the killer. The
alternative is to confront the suspect and take matters into his own
hands. Either way his life is in jeopardy.
Cliff was born and
raised in Pittsburgh, PA. Cliff’s family relocated to Northeast
Ohio when he was in high school. Immediately after graduation he
returned to his hometown to attend the University of Pittsburgh.
Cliff planned to major in journalism and write the great American
novel. Instead, he switched to Business Administration and began a
30-year career in accounting and finance.
Cliff rekindled his
passion for writing acquired as a reporter for his school newspaper.
He published his first novel, DEAD AIR: a Glenn Beckert Mystery in
September 2017. Cliff also writes short stories. He was a winner in
the Unfinished Chapters anthology in 2015. Cliff is a member of the
Mystery Writers of America and Pennwriters.
Website
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GUEST POST
GUEST POST
BUILDING WINGS
ACCEPTING THE WRITER’S
LIFE
The
only constant we face in life is change.
We
begin life as toddlers moving on to elementary school, middle school,
and high school. Then comes secondary education, careers,
relationships, possibly marriage and parenthood. At each juncture, we
are presented with new opportunities and challenges. Our life is
upended and rebuilt. Yet we move forward with trepidation and
determination, because that is what expected. As unsettling as these
transitions may be, they are our comfort zone. However, what about
our passion?
A
recent commenter on my blog shared a quote from Ray Bradbury, the
author of Fahrenheit
451, about
creating the passionate life. "If
you have an impulse to try something, do it! Don’t think about
things. Live your life. Explode! Do what you love and love what you
do. That’s the rule. And the other thing I say to people is, go to
the edge of the cliff, jump off and build your wings on the way down.
Don’t build your wings up on the top of the cliff. Jump off and
build them on the way down. That’s the way to live.”
Can
change get any scarier than that? Bradbury said wings and not a
parachute. He intends us to fly, not land.
I
tried to build my wings at the top, the prudent way to write I
thought. Building wings would be the easy part, actually jumping
would be difficult. Writing a novel could be accomplished within my
comfort zone. Perched in front of a keyboard, I began typing away, in
the solitude of my home. The resulting manuscript evaluations were
disappointing at best.
Bradbury
was right. The wings I had built were inadequate. I jumped off and
started new wings. I joined a writing group. We shared our work,
inviting comments and suggestions. I read a short story that I
planned to enter in a contest. The group ripped it apart. Instead of
retreating, I adopted their suggestions, submitted it and was
accepted for publication.
I
recommend a group representing a variety of genres in order to see
how techniques may work in your writing. Have thick skin, not all
suggestions are useful. At least be aware of them.
Attend
writing conferences. Interact with other writers and build a network.
The classes will be helpful and what you learn at happy hour equally
as valuable.
Publishing
Dead Air
was my
next challenge. Should I pursue traditional or self-publishing? There
I was at the top of that cliff again looking down. My writing wings
were no longer adequate. I chose self-publishing. I leaped and began
to build a new set of wings. The details of formatting text and
designing a front and back cover were foreign to me. Rely on the
network you have built. Find out what works and what doesn’t.
Authors as a group are extremely supportive and willing to help.
Now
the book was out. It was nice to look at, but how was I going to sell
it. There I was again on that ledge, shedding the wings that had got
me this far. On my way down, I learned how to use social media, work
with Amazon, and traditional bookstores. There are numerous sources
that can explain the process of marketing. Again, rely on your
network for guidance. There may be some costs involved. Look at it as
tuition for that book marketing degree.
Each
step required a new set of wings. I am again on the cliff, working on
my second book. Bradbury was right. What he didn’t say was that we
have to continually rebuild our wings.
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the tour HERE
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