[Guest Post]: Character Development Techniques by Daniel V. Meier, Jr., the author of Guidance to Death

My today’s guest is Daniel V. Meier Jr. His murder mystery Guidance to Death (Book One in the Frank Adams series) was released in May by BQB Publishing. Daniel is talking about his techniques of characters’ creation and development.

Character Development Techniques

Characterization can be tricky. The author does not want to ‘tell’ the reader what the character looks like, they wants to let the reader get to know him.  Following are a few techniques that makes it easier.

1. Spy

A great way to know your characters more intimately is to see how they behave when they think no one is watching. The easiest way to do that is simply to spy on them.

Watch your protagonist through a window or plant a hidden camera—whatever works for you. You’ll see his private moments as he goes unsuspectingly about his business at home. 

• What are his morning and bedtime rituals?
• What are his secret snacking habits? Late night?
  In the car?
• What does she try to get away with when no one
  is looking?
• What websites lure him away from his workday?

2. Zoom In

Follow your character anywhere he goes—cafés, parks, the office, the gym—and fire up your X-ray. What just arrested her attention, repulsed her, alarmed her, made her smile? What is she fiddling with in her purse? Pills? Pepper spray? 

3.  Follow the money

You can tell a lot about a person from his choice of products. Are his cleaners additive-free, organic and compostable, or rubber-glove and gas-mask-requiring germ-annihilators? Does he buy only the brand that’s on sale, regardless of whether it’s what he really wants? Does he own 14 kinds of cologne, or one signature scent?

4. Gossiping

Catch your character’s friends, co-workers and family at a party, in the break room, or at a reunion and get them talking. You might develop entirely new perspectives on your character’s relationships, choices, issues and untapped potential—including things your character doesn’t even know herself.

Who can she trust? Who happily trash talks her at the drop of a hat.

Ask what your character:

• is like when he’s mad
• was like when she was younger
• is good at
• is bad at
• needs to do to fix his life
• takes too seriously
• doesn’t take seriously enough
• has going for her
• has working against him.

5. Eavesdropping

When we’re at a loss for putting words in our characters’ mouths, that’s often when it’s time to stop thinking and start listening. 

If your character does her heavy communicating in a private space, you’ll just have to put a bug under the kitchen table or behind the therapist’s fish tank. Now you can get into that privileged territory of secret plans, sordid pasts and private pain. Instead of thinking up a backstory for your character, listen in as she divulges her childhood trauma to her psychologist. Or write what you hear as she whispers her most fragile longings to her secret lover, or unloads her guilt onto a priest. 

And above all, make it fun.

About the Book

Frank Adams Series, Book One

Genre: Murder Mystery, Thriller

Date Published: 16th May 2023

Publisher: BQB Publishing

It was cold and rainy, with low visibility. A perfect morning for sabotage. The company jet carrying a Senior VP mysteriously crashes shortly after taking off from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) says it was an accident. The victim’s wife says it was murder. Frank Adams, an independent aviation accident investigator has been hired to find out. Mounting evidence and an additional murder convince Adams that there was indeed foul play. 

As what seemed to be disparate events become increasingly linked, Frank reveals a crime of international dimensions. Accustomed to working independently, Frank is forced to call on the help of an old girlfriend as well as a retired DC cop. But unraveling the truth could cost him his life as well as the lives of his friends.

About the Author

A retired Aviation Safety Inspector for the FAA, Daniel V. Meier, Jr. has always had a passion for writing. During his college years, he studied History at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington (UNCW) and American Literature at The University of Maryland Graduate School.  In 1980 he published an Action/Thriller, Mendosa’s Treasure, with Leisure Books under the pen name of Vince Daniels.
He worked briefly for the Washington Business Journal as a journalist and has been a contributing writer/editor for several aviation magazines. Guidance to Death is a return to a favorite genre of his, Action/Thriller with the added intrigue of Murder/Mystery.
Other books by Dan are Blood Before Dawn, the sequel to the award-winning novel, The Dung Beetles of Liberia. Bloodroot, also an Historical novel is about the Jamestown settlement in the early 1600’s and No Birds Sing Here, is a work of Satirical Literary Fiction.
Dan and his wife live in Owings, Maryland, about twenty miles south of Annapolis and when he’s not writing, they spend their summers sailing on the Chesapeake Bay.

Contact Links

Website: https://danielmeierauthor.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/danielmeierauthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AuthorMeier

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/53590968-daniel-meier-jr

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dvmeierjr/

Purchase Links

Barnes and Noble: 

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/guidance-to-death-daniel-v-meier-jr/1142524888?ean=9798886330021

Kobo: 

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/search?query=GUIDANCE+TO+DEATH

Giveaway

$5 Amazon Gift Card and an eBook Copy

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/408264011732

[Article on publishing]: My long road to a book deal… and a very important announcement

It was December 2019 when I left my publisher (a small indie press, based in the USA), changed my author’s pseudonym to my real name, and started my publishing journey from scratch.

It wasn’t an easy decision to make. After all, I had a novel, three novellas, and a couple of short stories published by this publisher. Why did I terminate the contract then? Well, it’s a long story for another long blog post. All I can tell you right now is that I know I’ve made the right decision. I knew it was for good.

All I had back then works-wise were a couple of unfinished short stories, my already published novellas and novel with the rights reverted to me, and my brand new project, a sci-fi thriller novel Dive Beyond Eternity (only a 30,000+ word novella back then with the cryptic title The U-nseen). 

Only one thing I was sure about: I needed a new good home for my new book. Why didn’t I consider self-publishing? Well, this is another good topic for another post.

So I started from scratch… Again! This time, I decided to “go big” and look for an agent or a well-established publisher.

After my first round of queries, I realised that both agents and publishers preferred novels to novellas and, in fact, novella as a genre was almost impossible to sell. Calling for help from beta-readers, I realised the main thing–the story was far from completed, it needed more “space to breathe”. I spent another few months of 2020 rewriting it into a full-length novel, dealing with beta-readers, hiring a professional proofreader to polish my manuscript, participating in #PitchWars and other contests, and finally, renaming it Dive Beyond Eternity.

The second round of queries was more successful with one partial and two full requests (one from a #PitchWars mentor).

And then… An R&R email came from an agent who’d requested my full manuscript. An R&R (or Revise and Resubmit) from an agent or a publisher is like a lottery ticket for a querying author. I must admit I felt over the moon! The agent was very polite and explained in all details what they would like to see in my work and why they were not ready to represent it as it was.

Excited and inspired, I spent another three months rewriting my novel, making it stronger, changing the ending, cutting all “fat”, and speeding up the pace.

In September 2021, the third round of queries started, which brought me a couple more full requests, but… no answer from the agent.

It was the beginning of 2022. By then, I had built my portfolio of short stories and short non-fiction, publishing my stories, essays, and reviews in magazines. I didn’t regret terminating my contract with the publisher, but… I’d started to get exhausted from querying, waiting, receiving a generic “no” or no response at all. I chased the agent a few times with no success.

I thought I’d exhausted all the resources and was ready to put Dive Beyond Eternity aside. I almost gave up on it. Then… I had an insignificant chat with an editor on Twitter about northern genres vs southern genres in the UK. This chat led me to a query, followed by the full request, followed by… Yes!! A publishing contract.

I still can’t believe it! After two years of researching, writing, rewriting, editing, and querying, I’m thrilled to announce that my science fiction/thriller novel Dive Beyond Eternity has finally found an amazing home at Northodox Press UK (link to the publisher’s site: https://www.northodox.co.uk/ ). Northodox Press is championing authors from the north of England who’re currently underrepresented on the UK’s publishing stage.

The idea of my long post is to encourage my fellow authors not to give up on their writing. I know it’s easier to say than do, but trust me, you never know what the future is holding for you. You never know where, when, or under what circumstances you can meet your agent/publisher. Please don’t rely on traditional routes only (QueryTracker, official cold querying), build your social media presence, and talk to people. Twitter and #WritingCommunity helped me a lot with finding beta-readers, participating in #PitchWars, and even finding my publisher.

I hope my post encourages my fellow readers to buy more books from smaller presses. Big publishers play safe. Very often they acquire books similar to the ones they’ve published already. In most cases, they follow well-established trends instead of creating new ones. Smaller publishers are more adventurous. They give a voice to debut, usually underrepresented authors and topics rarely touched by the big presses.

P.S.: As for the agent and R&R, they have finally replied to me after almost ten months of waiting. They said that the book has got potential, but they were not quite sure how to represent it. I’m grateful to them nevertheless. Without their constructive feedback, I would never rewrite my novel and would find it a good home. So “no” doesn’t necessarily mean that your book is unmarketable or not good enough to be published/represented. If you try to get as much useful feedback out of every “no” you get and apply it to your work, sooner or later, you’ll succeed.

About Dive Beyond Eternity (out February-March 2023)

Zara Rose is a World War II naval historian who dedicated her research to submarines and German naval tactics.  When her mentor, Professor Karl Milne, engages her into a promising project, Zara can’t miss an opportunity to investigate the remains of a German U-boat, discovered in the North Sea.

Two divers from Zara’s team disappear during the mission, and Professor Milne sends Zara help, Dr. Stefan Krause who specialises in this type of U-boats. Zara and Stefan discover a mysterious device onboard the U-boat, Die Fledermaus, a Nazi superweapon, able to split time and space.

When the professor vanishes together with the device, the U-boat is confiscated by the Navy, and the intelligence agencies become involved, Zara must stop the weapon from falling into the wrong hands before Die Fledermaus turns reality into a nightmare where time is long dead.

Important announcement!

Dear followers, readers, and fellow bloggers,

With regret, I want to announce that all my books, published with Crazy Ink Publishing, are currently unavailable on all platforms.

When one door closes, another opens, and great changes are inevitable…

I hope to find a new good home for my previously published books and works in progress very soon.

Meanwhile, I’ll continue to entertain you with book reviews, articles, and posts, featuring works of my fellow authors, excerpts from my works in progress, and hosting books’ tours.

This place will never be boring.

Stay safe in this turbulent time and read a good book!

New Release Giveaway!

Winter holidays are over, but I’ve got a little gift for my readers and followers.

Read my new release “The Seeds Of Stars” for free! Download it on Booksprout . 

Hurry up! The amount of copies is limited.

Happy New Year! I wish your 2020 to be filled with great 5* reads.

The Indie Showcase presents, L. Salt

via The Indie Showcase presents, Valeriya Salt

[Off The Ways series]: New release announcement. “Angels of Zion” (Book 2) is out today!

   The story of Laura Danco and friends continues today, thanks to Crazy Ink Publishing .  

    “Angels of Zion”(Book 2)  is available on Amazon and all major platforms. 

Blurb:

Three years have passed since Laura Danco and her friends left St. Petersburg. Isaac and Dr. Levit continue to work together on their top secret project Angels of Zion. The main purpose being to create an army of ultimate soldiers—the kainomorphs—the clones whose physical abilities and strength exceeds humans.
When the project goes out of control, one of the kainomorphs goes rogue, Dr. Levit is attacked and subsequently dies, Isaac and Miri have no choice, but to follow the clues that the scientist left them to find the rogue clone and to stop a catastrophe. The investigation brings them back to St. Petersburg, where they meet Laura and Chris.
Daniel Polanskiy disappears without a trace. The friends suspect his life can be of an interest to many parties. With their own lives at stake, they should decide whether great victories require great sacrifices.

[New release. Excerpt]: Angels of Zion (Book 2 Of f The Ways Duology)

 A military convoy moved slowly in a narrow canyon, like a huge, well-fed snake. Military jeeps, guns, armoured troop-carriers, captives—mostly men, but a few women as well. These guys had tried to get rid of the whole squad of kainomorphs a few days ago.

  Miri sat in one of jeeps with a couple of other human officers. Their car was third in line; there was a heavy armoured troop-carrier with kainomorphs soldiers and another jeep in front of the column.

  The heat was unbearable. The wind blew sizzling hot sand which stuck in the hair, eyes, even clogged under collars. The humans were exhausted and silent; the kainomorphs looked focused, determined, and indifferent to their own safety. The heat, the wind, the lack of water and food didn’t bother them at all. They could survive in much worse conditions. They didn’t complain, they never did, they were not allowed to, and they didn’t even know what it meant.

   The wind turned into a furious sandstorm. The visibility was close to zero, and it became almost impossible to move farther.

  The howl of the storm drowned in the thundering blast, and Miri saw the troop-carrier in front of the column start to flip upside down. In the same second, machine guns rumbled from all directions. Miri and her fellows-in-arms jumped out of the jeep just in time, because the next moment it was smashed into pieces. A blast wave threw her a few meters away, but she managed to crawl and hide behind a rock, preparing her gun. 

  The gunfire didn’t stop for a second. Miri witnessed a group of men running to the carrier with the captives as their peers covered them from the rocks around the canyon. The assailants were in a much better position, whereas Miri’s detachment had become trapped at the bottom of the canyon.

  She saw two kainomorphs running to the carrier, shooting without a break, and trying to stop the attackers. They managed to kill a couple of them, but the man who ran first broke into the carrier, trying to free the captives. Miri fired and the man fell down, but it was too late. She pointed her gun to the next target, but a sudden punch made her lose her balance, drop the weapon, and fall to the ground.

  A female figure dressed in all black, with a black scarf around her head which covered part of the woman’s face, jumped from the rock and picked up Miri’s gun.

 ‘That’s it.’ The only one thought ran through Miri’s mind. ‘This bitch won’t hesitate.’ She couldn’t see her face, hair or hands, but those eyes… like two massive black holes full of fury stared at her.

 ‘Protect your officer!’ The loud voice of her commander sounded from afar as he tried to shout down the gunfire and the storm.

  One of the kainomorphs jumped on her, pressing her to the ground. Like in a slow-motion video, Miri heard her attacker empty a full magazine at them. The kainomorph’s body jerked in convulsions but continued to squeeze Miri. She screamed, but she didn’t hear herself.

   The gunfire stopped, and Miri heard something heavy fall down next to her. She closed her eyes; she didn’t want to know what could happened next. She felt the weight move as somebody pulled the dead body from her, and she finally opened her eyes.

‘Please, Gveret.’ Another kainomorph gave her his hand, helping her to get up and handing her back her gun. In his other hand, he held a piece of a metal bar, covered in blood.

  The woman’s head lay next to Miri. Two massive black holes still stared at her…

  Miri’s heart sank, she felt out of breath, she tried to scream, but vomited instead…

 

‘Miri, Miri. Wake up, wake up! It’s only a bad dream.’

She finally broke through the heavy, sticky cover of her nightmare. It was dark in the bedroom. The snowstorm came down from the mountains and had been raging behind the huge chalet’s windows for several hours.  Isaac looked at her anxiously. ‘A nightmare again?’

‘Yes. The canyon.’ She got out of bed, putting on her dressing gown.

She stood in front of the window. The peaks had disappeared in the storm; there were no mountains, no ski slopes, no pine trees. The white, snowy haze had swallowed everything.

‘Forget this bitch.’ Isaac waved his hand. ‘She got what she deserved. It was a good lesson for her peers as well.’

‘I don’t bother about the woman. You know my concerns.’

Isaac sighed and leaned back on pillows. ‘They were created to protect us and the country,’ he started, staring at the ceiling. ‘No questions, no hesitations, no mercy. They will never turn against their creators.’

‘Why do you work on this new project?’

‘Miri.’ He got up as well and came to her. ‘You know I can’t discuss it with you, with anybody.’ His explanation was interrupted by a phone call.

‘Who’s that?’ Miri frowned.

‘Maybe it’s somebody from the lab.’

‘So late?’

Isaac only shrugged, putting on his clothes and pressing a button on a Surface.

A 3-D hologram appeared that wasn’t very clear, and there were multiple disruptions in the connection, however, Isaac recognized one of the mentor-officers.

‘Hey, Sara, what’s up? How are you doing?’ he started with a smile which covered his worry.

‘Isaac, thank God I got in touch with you.’ Sara started quickly. ‘I’m calling to let you know that the lab has been closed, and all the activities suspended.’

‘What? When? Who’s done it? Does Dr. Levit know?’

‘It is the order of our new Minister of Defence. They did it this long weekend. Just closed all premises, took all samples, tests results, all documents, equipment—everything.’

‘What’s happened to the personnel?’

‘Most of them have been transferred to other bases, a few people have been made redundant and given huge compensation packages.’

‘How can it be possible?’ Despair covered Isaac like the huge cumulus cloud covering the mountains. ‘I’d talked to the Advisor a couple of weeks before my vacation. He promised me to talk to her; he promised me to continue the project at least for another year, maybe longer.’

‘Isaac, please.’ Sara only sighed. ‘He’s not a soldier, not a scientist, he’s a politician. Do you really believe his promises?’

Isaac bowed his head. ‘What about Dr. Levit? Does he know?’

‘The doctor is in a hospital.’

‘What?’

‘He was found in his house a couple of days after the lab’s closure, lying on the floor in the living room unconscious. He’s in a coma now.’

‘God! I need to go back…immediately.’

‘You can’t do it, Isaac. This call may cost me my freedom. I don’t want to go to jail for treason.’ Sara was ready to burst into tears. ‘I’ve done this because I don’t want you to be caught unawares and because I do care about the project. At least you have some time to think it over and decide what to do next.’

‘They’ve chosen the right time.’ Isaac banged the table in helpless anger. ‘I’m on my leave; there was almost nobody at the base.’

‘Stay there till the end of your holiday, don’t show you know anything.’

‘What’s happened to the א-group?’

‘When I arrived at the lab, all rooms have already been emptied. They’ve taken them away.’ Sara bowed her head.

‘Where?’

The officer tried to explain something, but her words drowned into interferences. The image began to fade, and the sounds became lower and lower.

‘What did you say? I can’t hear you. There’s a storm here, and the signal is bad,’ Isaac shouted loudly, trying to break through.

‘I need to…need to go…I can’t talk any…long…longeeeeer,’ the sound continued to break and, finally, the call disrupted.

Miri had been witnessing the whole conversation from the sofa. She came to him and embraced his shoulders. He didn’t say a word.  Miri sighed heavily. Their long-expected holiday had been ruined.

Release day: July, 8th

Available now on pre-order on Amazon  and all major platforms.

[New release]: Angels of Zion (Book 2 Off The Ways duology). Release day: July, 8th.

Just three weeks left until the official release of my second (and final) story about Laura Danco and friends. You can pre-order an eBook now on Amazon and all major platforms.

 Paperback is live already!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blurb.

Three years have passed since Laura Danco and her friends left St. Petersburg. Isaac and Dr. Levit continue to work together on their top secret project Angels of Zion. The main purpose being to create an army of ultimate soldiers—the kainomorphs—the clones whose physical abilities and strength exceeds humans.
When the project goes out of control, one of the kainomorphs goes rogue, Dr. Levit is attacked and subsequently dies, Isaac and Miri have no choice, but to follow the clues that the scientist left them to find the rogue clone and to stop a catastrophe. The investigation brings them back to St. Petersburg, where they meet Laura and Chris.
Daniel Polanskiy disappears without a trace. The friends suspect his life can be of an interest to many parties. With their own lives at stake, they should decide whether great victories require great sacrifices.

[Excerpt]: Legacy of the Iron Eagle

The humming sounds of falling water had surrounded him; it sounded like a lullaby. He had found himself standing on a steep, rocky cliff, staring at the dark waters without a movement. No doubt, he was in the wood, and the falling mass of water in front of him must’ve been the waterfall.

The lullaby had stopped abruptly, the sky flashed and coloured in all shades of scarlet-red. It was a tree in front of him. The more he stared at it, the more it seemed to him the tree’s mighty, thick branches had been changing their shape and finally…

  Oh, my God! It’s a… 

The branches swirled slowly, creating an easily-recognizable symbol—a massive, about five metres large, swastika.

His stomach had cringed with spasm. He was out of breath; his lungs were ready to explode as if the icy waters of the waterfall had filled them up. He screamed, and the next second, the giant swastika caught fire. The thirsty flames had been licking the branches, illuminating an unknown landscape.

He wanted to run, but stood rooted to the spot. It seemed to him the flaming symbol had started to swirl, pulsating and growing bigger and bigger every second.

He had screamed again, but this time, his scream echoed all around him.

The next second, everything disappeared. He had been standing in an unknown spacious room. All colours were blurry and faded, as if he had been watching an old-fashioned video—a heavy crystal candelabra hanged from the high ceiling, wooden panels on the floor and on the walls…

Oh, what is it on the floor? It looks like…stains of fresh blood…

A tall-case clock in the far corner had chimed two o’clock, interrupting his thoughts. He had turned around, when he noticed a familiar object on the opposite wall—the mirror…his mirror.

He had taken a few steps closer. The crystal candelabra, the clock, the wide beige sofa—the mirror reflected everything, everything apart from him.

It’s a dream… Of course, it’s a weird, nightmarish vision, Philip had realised finally.

He shot a glance at the mirror again, but it had changed. The glass became dark, almost black; it didn’t reflect anything at all. And then…the familiar figure dressed in the SS-uniform had appeared. Philip wasn’t afraid, but rather curious. The man’s quiet, deep voice resounded from the walls and the high ceiling, but the figure hadn’t opened his mouth. He was speaking German, but surprisingly this time, his words sounded familiar to Philip. He didn’t know the language, and yet, he knew what the man had tried to tell him.

  ‘Listen to the voids in the sound of humming waters.’

These words had surrounded Philip, whispering in his ears and filling up the whole space of the room. And then, they had stopped by a thud. Something had been dropped on the wooden floor.

  A ring? Philip picked up the object. When he turned back to the mirror, the man had disappeared, but the glass was left smoky black.

He had turned his attention back to the ring. Its band had been covered in some mysterious symbols which looked like ancient runes; a skull with crossed bones decorated it in the middle.

  ‘Listen to the voids in the sound of humming waters.’ The whispers had started again, however this time, the voice belonged to a woman.

Philip had raised his head to the mirror. A slim blonde woman smiled warmly to him. Dressed in a floral long gown, the blonde lady looked unfamiliar, but Philip could swear she wasn’t a complete stranger to him. He must’ve met her many years ago, somewhere in another reality, between two worlds, in the reflections of the mirrors, in the voids of the sound of humming waters.

He hadn’t had time to finish his thoughts, when the sound of waterfall filled up the room, growing louder and louder, making him completely deaf. And then the pain which had been busting his lungs returned with vengeance.

He struggled to inhale; he was drowning in the icy dark waters of the waterfall…

 

‘Phil, Phil…wake up, mate, wake up! God, what’s going on?’ David’s worried face had appeared in front of him. He was lying in his bed in the guesthouse.

‘It was just a bad dream, but it felt so real,’ he mumbled absently, taking a seat.

‘Oh man, you’ve scared me,’ David continued. ‘You’ve been screaming and mumbling, and howling like mad.’

‘I’ve seen this man again. The German officer,’ Philip had started quietly. ‘This time, he gave me a ring.’

‘A ring? What ring? What exactly have you seen?’ Swallowed by another portion of mysteries, it seemed like David had already forgotten his offence.

‘The ring with a skull and crossed bones. There was some writing in it, too.’ And Philip had told him the whole nightmare from the very beginning.

‘The ring, the woman, the voids in the sound…Hm, hm…’ His friend got up from the bed and circled around the room, trying to analyse and to connect all bits and pieces of this puzzle. ‘The voids in the sound, but the sound has no voids… It makes no sense whatsoever.’ He gave up finally.

Philip leaned back on the pillows helplessly. ‘Probably, it’s just a nightmare, inspired by today’s events. Let’s try to get some sleep. We have a long day in front of us.’

He had stretched his arm, trying to find the light switch, but his fingers touched cold metal instead. He had turned to his bedside table instinctively and, the next second, covered his mouth with his palm, trying not to scream.

‘What’s up?’ David came closer.

‘The ring…’ Philip whispered barely audible; his full lips became as white as his bed sheets. He had pointed to the metal object on his bedside table. ‘The ring from my dream.’

‘Damn!’ His friend picked up the ring carefully, as if he was afraid it might disappear. ‘Are you sure you haven’t seen it here before?’

‘I’ve never seen such a thing in my life.’ Philip jumped on his bed. ‘In fact, I’ve never been a big fan of jewellery.’

‘How on Earth does will appear here, if it doesn’t belong to us?’ Refusing to believe in poltergeist, David was close to breakdown.

‘Somebody has brought and put it here.’ Philip only shrugged.

‘Oh, please, don’t try to convince me it was the man in the mirror.’ His friend had made an impatient gesture.

‘There are only three people, besides us, who have an access to the keys for this room—our hosts,’ Philip suggested.

Then both men shot a glance at the room’s door.

‘You’ve locked the door and left the key in the keyhole,’ David had continued his friend’s reasoning, staring at the long, heavy key peeping out from the door.

‘Exactly.’ Philip nodded. ‘So the only way to get to the room is…’ His long finger pointed to a slightly opened window.

David shook his head in disagreement.

‘Ricardo is in his early eighties, for Heaven’s sake.’ He stood in front of the window, leaning his elbows on the wide wooden windowsill. ‘Can you imagine him, squeezing through this window and coming into the room soundlessly? Even I would struggle to do it, trust me.’

He turned to his friend, but Philip looked captivated by the ring. It was heavy, made from white metal, small in diameter. Its band was wreathed with oak leaves and runes.

‘It seems it was writing inside the band,’ he pronounced slowly, examining the mysterious object.

‘Maybe it was the name of its owner engraved there?’ David suggested, taking a seat next to Philip.

‘Maybe.’ He nodded. ‘We need to know what these symbols mean,’ he continued, pulling his laptop out of the suitcase and switching it on.

‘Oh, my God.’ He covered his mouth with his hand, browsing the Internet pages, then turned the laptop’s screen to his impatient friend. ‘The Totenkopfring, also known as “Death’s Head Ring”…’

‘…Was an award of Himmler’s  Schutzstaffel (SS),’ David continued reading an article. His eyes widened, his jaw dropped. ‘A personal, customized gift from Himmler himself to high-ranking SS-officers?’ He frowned.

‘It looks like the one,’ Philip agreed. ‘The date of the reward and the recipient’s name should’ve been on the opposite side of the band, but they had been erased, erased on purpose. If we know the owner of the ring, we could…’

‘We could figure out why it’s given to you.’

‘To us.’ Philip frowned. The last friend’s words hit him where it hurt.

‘No, mate. This ring is connected directly to you,’ David objected. ‘I’ve volunteered to come here to help you solve this quest, but I don’t want to do anything with the Nazi’s jewellery and all this crap.’

‘Oh, so you want me to deal with this shit alone, do you?’

‘It’s your shit, not mine. The man in the mirror is talking to you, not to me.’ David only shrugged.

‘Who’s given me this mirror?’ Philip’s aggression was ready to breach the dam of his patience.

‘Of course, you’ve shit your pants and want to blame me in all your mess.’ David almost shouted it in his face. ‘You’re afraid to take any responsibility. Typical Philip—scared to death to get his hands dirty, wants to be nice and sweet to everybody. It seems like now, mate, your spotless reputation of Mr. Nice Guy is under serious threat.’

‘You’re still moody towards me for this evening, aren’t you?’ Philip snorted bitterly.

‘Oh man, whatever…’ David waved his hand, switched his bedside lamp off, and turned away from his friend.

Available on Amazon and all major platforms.

[Off The Ways series]: New release announcement. “The Ways We Follow” (Book 1) is out today!

      Today is a great day! Today, my first novel, a romantic suspense/urban drama of “Off The Ways” series was re-released by Crazy Ink Publishing .  

      This book has made its long way to publication, so I’m extremely excited about this release.

            “The Ways We Follow”(Book 1)  is available on Amazon and all major platforms as an eBook and in paperback.

 

Blurb:

St. Petersburg, Russia, 20XX.

Laura Danco, a young talented designer, returns to her favourite city after studying and working in the UK. She’s excited to meet her best friends, but soon her happiness turns bitter.

Friends tell Laura about a new controlling institution, the Department of Censorship. All media sources are under control, the opposition is destroyed completely, minorities are under threat.  Everyone who resists is obliterated.

Laura tries to push her life back on track—friends, relationships, travels, parties… Everything changes when a reputable design company employs her as an assistant to a dangerously attractive, scandalous architect, Daniel Polanskiy, whose ambitious and outstanding projects don’t comply with the government views and its dictated taste.

The situation becomes even more complicated, when Laura meets her uni-mate from the UK, Mark Evans. Completely lost between two absolutely different characters—friendly, amiable Mark and sophisticated, bad-tempered, but ingenious Daniel—she struggles to whom to give her heart.

The future looks bleak for Laura, as the company gets into trouble, when the Tax Office conducts a detailed financial audit, the Department gives Daniel the final warning, and one of Laura’s friends is killed. Going through so many challenges, will friends find their way to follow?