Phyllis Entis's Blog - Posts Tagged "damien-dickens"

Thanks to support from fans, friends and followers, The Green Pearl Caper achieved a third place finish in the polling for the Mysteries & Crime Thrillers discussion group's August Book of the Month group read. The discussion thread for The Green Pearl Caper is located at https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/....

Anyone who is a member of the Mysteries & Crime Thrillers group is welcome to add a comment to the thread or to ask a question. I'll be monitoring the thread on a daily basis and will look forward to answering any questions about plot, characters, settings, or future developments in the Damien Dickens Mysteries series.

I recently participated in an on-line interview with Jim Vines, which is featured on the Jim Vines Presents blog today. You can read the complete interview here:

http://jimvinespresents.blogspot.com/...

As an Indie author, I appreciate Jim's efforts to raise the visibility of those of us who have gone the non-traditional publishing route. Thank you, Jim!

In response to those who have asked, the next book in the Damien Dickens series is on track for a November 2015 release. Watch this site to learn more about The White Russian Caper.

THE WHITE RUSSIAN CAPER
Kindle Edition
Coming November 20, 2015 To Your Local Amazon estore

A mortally wounded Miss America entrusts a mysterious Russian coin to Damien Dickens, P.I. before she dies. After Damien disappears while researching the significance of the coin, Millie tracks her husband’s abductor to Florida. When his captor falls to his death from the balcony of a 7th floor apartment, Damien escapes; then he and Millie join forces to unravel the web of intrigue surrounding the Russian coin and its connection to the murder of Miss America.

THE WHITE RUSSIAN CAPER is the second volume in the Damien Dickens Mysteries series. Upon release, the Kindle edition of this sequel to THE GREEN PEARL CAPER will sell for $3.99. Place your order now to take advantage of the $3.29 pre-release discounted price for THE WHITE RUSSIAN CAPER. Orders placed before the release date will be delivered automatically to your Kindle device or Kindle app on November 20, 2015.


THE GREEN PEARL CAPER
August Book of the Month Selection

THE GREEN PEARL CAPER was selected as a Book of the Month title by the goodreads.com Mysteries & Crime Thrillers discussion group. This soft-boiled detective novel continues to receive excellent reader reviews, with a combined Amazon.com and goodreads.com rating of 4.8/5.0.


Where To Find Damien Dickens

THE GREEN PEARL CAPER is available in both Kindle ebook format and as a paperback at your neighborhood Amazon eStore in the USA, Canada and around the world.

THE WHITE RUSSIAN CAPER will be released in both Kindle ebook format and as a paperback on November 20, 2015. The Kindle edition is available now on Amazon.com at a discounted price of $3.29. Pre-release orders will download automatically to your Kindle device or Kindle app on November 20, 2015.

Have a question or comment for the author? Send it to phyllisentis@gmail.com.

The White Russian Caper: A Damien Dickens Mystery

Chapter One

I was on my way out the door when the call came in. Millie already had left for the day; I covered the distance to her desk in two long strides and grabbed for the telephone. “Dickens Detective Agency,” I announced.

“Is this Mr. Dickens? Mr. Damien Dickens?”

The voice in my ear was vaguely familiar. “Yes,” I replied. “This is Dickens.”

“Oh, Mr. Dickens,” the soft male voice exhaled. “Thank heavens! I didn’t know who to call; then I remembered your visit last year to my establishment. I require your assistance.”

“Who is this?” I interrupted.

“Why, it’s Stephane.” He paused, waiting for my reaction. “Stephane Major, n’est ce pas? Don’t you remember me?”

I recognized the voice then. It belonged to the General Manager of Boardwalk Hall, the venue of Atlantic City’s crown jewel - The Miss America Pageant. I had met the fussbudgety Mr. Major about six months before, when I was investigating the murder of Celine Sutherland. “Yes,” I acknowledged, though not without some reluctance, “I remember you, Mr. Major.”

“Oh, thank heavens,” I could almost see his hand fluttering against his chest. “Oh, I don’t know what to do. I need your help, Mr. Dickens. About Miss America, n’est ce pas?”

“What about Miss America?”

“She’s missing.” He paused. “You must find her and bring her back.”

THE WHITE RUSSIAN CAPER, the second volume in the Damien Dickens Mysteries series, is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com. It will be released in Kindle format on November 20, 2015.

With just one week to go before the release of The White Russian Caper: A Damien Dickens Mystery on Amazon, here is a preview of the second chapter of this new Damien Dickens Mystery

The White Russian Caper: A Damien Dickens Mystery
Chapter Two

Cynthia Mills was lying naked on the floor of the closet on top of a pile of clothes. Her face and body bore the marks of a severe beating; her left arm and both legs were bent at impossible angles. Coagulated blood matted her ash-blond hair and clung to her upper lip and the corner of her mouth, and her nose displayed an unnatural kink. Her body was a canvas of developing bruises; her face was swollen, and both eye sockets were outlined in purple-black.

“Major,” I barked, “call 9-1-1. We need an ambulance and the police.” Cynthia stirred and moaned. “And notify hotel security,” I added.

She moaned again and her eyes fluttered open for an instant. “Cold,” she exhaled, her voice barely a whisper. I took off my overcoat, crouched down beside her, and covered her. “This will keep you warm,” I told her. “Help will be here soon.” Her mouth moved, but I couldn’t make out what she was saying. She shifted her right arm a couple of inches, and her hand twitched feebly at the edge of the carpeting along the track of the sliding door. “Here,” she said, “take…”

“You want me to lift the carpeting?” I asked.

“Take,” she breathed. I pulled out my Swiss Army knife and used one of the blades to pry up the carpeting. “Take,” she repeated. I reached under the carpet pad, and my fingers made contact with something metallic. I peeled back the carpet and its pad until I was able to grasp the piece of metal and free it from its hiding place. It was bronze, about the size of a silver dollar, and appeared to be some sort of coin or medallion. One surface was embossed with a double-headed eagle. Near the rim of the coin, a small hole surrounded by a decorative border was centered just above the bird’s twin heads. I showed it to her. “Is this what you were looking for?” I asked.

Cynthia opened her eyes just long enough to see the coin. “Yes,” she whispered, laboring to breathe. “Take. Keep…. safe.”

I placed the coin in my jacket pocket. “Rest quietly, Cynthia,” I said, gently brushing a strand of hair from her forehead. “I’ll keep this safe for you.” She managed a fleeting smile as she passed out.

As I leaned over to check her pulse, I heard a metallic clink from above. I lifted my head and listened hard. I heard it again. It was coming from the forced-air heating vent. I rose to my feet, grabbed a chair, and climbed up to examine the vent grille on the wall above the closet. The grille was loose; the screws that normally secured it in place had been removed. With my ear against the opening, I could hear a scrambling sound. Someone was crawling through the heating duct. A soft thud from the next suite was followed by the sound of a door slamming shut. I ran through Cynthia’s suite past a startled Stephane Major and flung open the door. As I looked up and down the hallway, I was just in time to see the door to the emergency exit staircase swing shut. I raced to the end of the hall, and flew down the stairs. But by the time I reached the street door, my quarry had disappeared. Admitting defeat, I walked around to the lobby entrance and took the elevator back up to the ninth floor.

Stephane Major was waiting for me in the doorway to Cynthia’s suite. He grabbed me by the arm. “What happened? Where did you go?” I shrugged him off and returned to Cynthia’s side. She was lying with her eyes closed, and the rise and fall of her chest was almost imperceptible. Crouching back down, I leaned over and placed my fingers on her jugular to check her pulse. It was feeble. “Hang on, Cynthia,” I urged. “Help will be here soon.” As I stood back up, I heard a sharp intake of breath from behind me, followed by a dull thunk. I turned to see the body of Stephane Major lying crumpled on the floor in the bedroom doorway. He had fainted dead away. With a muttered curse, I picked my way carefully through the chaos over to where he lay. I bent over and slapped his cheeks to bring him around. He moaned and stirred. “Lie still a minute,” I told him. “You passed out.”

He moaned again, his color pasty-gray. “It was her face, her poor, bruised face. I could see it reflected in the mirror.” He pointed with a trembling hand to a full-length wall mirror that miraculously had remained intact except for a single diagonal crack in one corner. “She was so beautiful,” he added as he struggled to sit up, propping himself against the doorjamb.

“She still is,” I replied. “Did you make those calls?”

“Yes.” He reached out a hand to me. “Help me stand, please, Mr. Dickens.”

I pulled him upright and guided him over to the sofa. “Sit here,” I ordered, “and don’t move.” He leaned back into the unyielding cushions. “Don’t touch anything,” I snapped, as he reached out to stroke the fake scrollwork on the armrest of the sofa. “This is a crime scene. The police will be dusting for prints.” He snatched back his hand like a turtle retracting its head into its shell for protection and sat rocking slowly back and forth, his arms folded across his chest.

When I heard the distant chime of the elevator bell, I stepped into the corridor. A pair of paramedics set a brisk pace, walking on either side of a gurney that was loaded down with their emergency response gear; they were followed by two Atlantic City Police Department uniformed officers. “Down here,” I waved. As they approached, I recognized one of the cops. My old nemesis, Sgt. Conan Sherlock, was easy to identify: short, balding, and with a gut that spilled over his gun belt and threatened to pop the buttons on his uniform shirt. We’d bumped heads on a number of occasions in the years since I left the force and became a private investigator. He had made no secret of his delight in arresting me the previous summer for the murder of my client, Celine Sutherland, and I’d heard through the law enforcement grapevine that he had been bitterly disappointed at my exoneration. “Mark my words,” he’d told a group of junior officers, slapping the palm of his hand with his nightstick for emphasis, “Dickens is a bad egg. We’ll crack him one day.”

I led the paramedics through the bedroom to the closet where Cynthia lay, then returned to the sitting room. Major was already talking to a fresh-faced constable, who was nodding his head as he frantically scribbled in his notebook. Sherlock was waiting for me and motioned me over to the dining area. We sat down facing each other across the table. Sherlock opened his notebook, licked his forefinger, and used it to flip to a fresh page. Then he took a ballpoint pen from his pocket and clicked it several times. “Let’s have it, Dickens.” He glared at me and I returned his stare, willing him to look away first. He glanced down at the blank page of his notebook, clicked his pen again, and looked back up at me. “Well? I’m waiting, Dickens.”

I took a deep breath and walked him through what had happened, beginning with Major’s phone call to me. “I chased after whoever it was in the room next door,” I finished, “but I never got a good look at the suspect. The exit door swung shut behind me, so I had to go around to the front to get back inside. You guys showed up shortly after I got back to the room.”

Sherlock threw me a skeptical look. “And that’s all?” I nodded in silent response. “You’re not holding anything back?”

“Of course not!” I put on my most sincere face - the one I use when I’m trying to dodge a question. I had said nothing about the coin. I wanted to know more about it first.

Sherlock snorted. “Why don’t I believe you?” Then he shrugged, jotted a final item in his notebook, and slapped it shut. “My nose tells me that you’re mixed up in this somehow, Dickens. I’ll get something on you yet.”

“And it’s such a noble nose,” I replied, standing. “Be careful where you poke it, Sherlock. It might get pinched.”

Sherlock turned and barked at the constable who was questioning Major. “Aren’t you done yet?”

“Just finishing up, Sarge.”

The paramedics had been working steadily while Major and I were giving our statements, and they were ready to move their patient. Major almost passed out again as Cynthia was wheeled past us on the gurney. I waited in the room with him for a few minutes; even so, he was still pale and shaky when we rode the elevator down to the lobby. “I think that we could both use a drink,” I suggested, steering him to the hotel lounge. The place was empty, except for a couple of guys nursing their double Scotches at one end of the bar, and we found a quiet table near the back. As is my habit, I chose a seat with my back to the wall; Major sat across the table from me. The waiter came over. “Bushmills, please, on the rocks,” I told him, before asking Major, “What are you having?”

“A White Russian, please. And may I have the cream on the side, if you wouldn’t mind? I prefer to adjust the proportions for myself, n’est ce pas?” he explained. The waiter looked at me, raising his eyebrows and shoulders in unison before walking away.

“White Russian?” I asked.

“It’s quite delicious, really. It consists of vodka on ice, coffee liqueur - I favor Kahlua, but Tia Maria is satisfactory, I suppose - and light cream.” He licked his lips, and his eyes sparkled in anticipation, his distress over Cynthia’s shocking appearance temporarily forgotten. We sat without speaking until the waiter returned, carrying our drinks and a bowl of mixed, salted nuts. “Nuts are in the house,” he announced, then blushed slightly. “Sorry, I meant on the house.” He placed the bowl of nuts on the table between us and left. I watched Major fuss with his cocktail, adding a smidgen of cream, stirring, adding a few drops more, stirring again, and repeating the process until he was satisfied. He took an exploratory sip, put his glass down, nodded, and sighed, “I needed that.” He sipped again and looked up at me. “What happens now, Mr. Dickens?”

I thought for a moment. “I assume you have Cynthia’s next-of-kin information in your files?”

“Yes, of course.” He stopped to take another sip. “Her parents, Rachel and Joseph Mills, live in Florida. I met them during Pageant week.”

“You need to notify them.”

He looked at his watch. “It’s after nine o’clock. Do you think it’s too late to call?”

“I think they need to know as soon as possible.”

Major sighed and pushed himself to his feet. “Then I guess I had better return to my office and make that call, n’est ce pas.” He paused and looked at me, a plea for help in his eyes. “Unless you could undertake that service for me?”

I shook my head as I stood to leave. I wasn’t going to let him wimp out of that job and toss it in my lap.

“Very well, Mr. Dickens. But could you come to see me tomorrow morning in my office?”

“Sure,” I replied, “Around nine?” I draped my bloodstained coat over my arm and walked out of the lounge. Millie was expecting me, and I was late.

Copyright © 2015 Phyllis Entis. All Rights Reserved

THE WHITE RUSSIAN CAPER: A DAMIEN DICKENS MYSTERY (Kindle edition) is available now on Amazon for pre-order. Order now at a discounted price of $3.29, and receive the download automatically on November 20, 2015 on your Kindle device or Kindle App.

I learned my alphabets - English and Hebrew - at my grandfather’s knee. My parents read to me (and not only at bedtime), and encouraged me to pick out words. By the time I entered kindergarten, I was able to read. The highlight of my week in third grade was the weekly spelling test. Every Thursday evening, Dad would quiz me on the spelling words from that week’s lesson. Every Friday morning, I would ace the test, and receive a coveted gold star. Five successive gold stars earned me a trip to the principal’s office, where Mr. Stewart would place a special sticker in my workbook, and sign his name under the sticker in bold, black ink.

I had earned two of those special stickers, and was well on my way to a third, when I tripped over the word ‘their,’ spelling it ‘thier.’ I sulked and stormed that entire weekend. How could this be? What about, ’i before e except after c?’ No one had ever told me about exceptions to a rule. I vowed that I would not be caught out again. By the end of the school year, my spelling workbook contained a galaxy of gold stars. But, the gap in the ranks of those special stickers gnawed at me.

To read the complete article, please visit Omnimystery News at http://www.omnimysterynews.com/2015/1...

Hi everyone,

If you'd like to get to know the person behind Damien Dickens, check out my interview on Mercedes Fox's writing blog at

https://mercedesfoxbooks.com/meet-aut...

Thank you, Mercedes, for a great interview. It was fun.

It's taken about a year, but the manuscript for my third novel, THE CHOCOLATE LABRADOODLE CAPER is in the hands of my beta-readers.

Rather than sitting and waiting anxiously for feedback from my loyal critics, I have decided to celebrate by offering an audiobook TWO-FOR-ONE SALE. Here is how it will work:

1. Purchase an audio download of The White Russian Caper: A Damien Dickens Mystery from Amazon, Audible or iTunes.

2. Forward to me the email you receive from their website that confirms your purchase. My email address is "phyllisentis(at)gmail(dot)com"

3. I will give you a free audio download of THE GREEN PEARL CAPER: A DAMIEN DICKENS MYSTERY.

It's that simple, folks. But, act now, because this offer turns into a pumpkin at the end of Labor Day weekend.

Watch for the release of THE CHOCOLATE LABRADOODLE CAPER in all ebook formats and in paperback during the first half of October. An audiobook edition will follow.

I always had an excuse: a manuscript to complete, a manuscript to edit, a new book to plot. The idea of building a website had as much appeal to me as the thought of my next mammogram.

I've been putting it off for almost a year. Last month, I ran out of excuses. The third book in my Damien Dickens Mysteries series was on the market. I was between plots, and needed something to take my mind off the election ads. It was time to tackle the website.

The first decision was where to build. I looked at Wix, but decided on Wordpress. I was familiar with the Wordpress tools, as I had used Wordpress to host my old food safety blog, eFoodAlert. They have a plethora of free templates, and offer a static home page - all I needed for a relatively modest website.

Once I decided on a template, it took just a few hours to design and populate the site with a Welcome page, a short bio, a page for my books, and a blog page. And, magically, Gone Writing was born.

To celebrate the birth of my latest writing offspring, I am offering a free e-copy of my first novel, THE GREEN PEARL CAPER: A DAMIEN DICKENS MYSTERY, to the first 50 people who visit the site and either leave a comment or complete the pop-up form to subscribe to my monthly newsletter, Damien Dickens News. This celebratory promotion is in effect until the end of November.

I hope to see you over at Gone Writing very soon.

Thank you, Lauren Pierre, for allowing me to share this Ultimate Indie Authors! interview on my goodreads blog

Ultimate Indie Authors! (Lauren):
Hi everyone! Today I’m very lucky to be interviewing Phyllis Entis, author of the Damien Dickens Mystery series. Phyllis, thank you for agreeing to this interview. Before we get started, tell us a little about yourself and your background. When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?


Phyllis:
In my first professional incarnation, I was a food safety microbiologist. After I graduated from a full-time job at the lab bench to a position behind a desk, I spent a fair bit of time reading and writing technical reports, articles for scientific journals, and other work-related material. I realized that most of the reports I had to digest were so heavy on jargon that they were essentially unreadable. When I wrote my first book - a lab manual - I made a conscious effort to avoid jargon, and to write in a style that would be more accessible to my audience. I believe that was the moment when I realized that I was a writer who happened to be a scientist, rather than a scientist whose job included writing.



Ultimate Indie Authors! (Lauren):
Wow! So do you write part-time or full-time?


Phyllis:
My husband and I are retired, but I wouldn’t say that I am a full-time writer. My current day job is our puppy, who we adopted last February.



Ultimate Indie Authors! (Lauren):
Aw, that’s sweet. What does your production schedule look like? How long does it take for you to finish a book once it’s started?


Phyllis:
I released my first two books in 2015 - The Green Pearl Caper in the spring, and The White Russian Caper in the fall. The third book, The Chocolate Labradoodle Caper, released in October 2016, about eleven months after the second book. The first book took about a year to write and edit. I started the White Russian while I ‘shopped’ the Green Pearl to agents. When I realized that I needed to take matters into my own hands, I released the Green Pearl on Amazon. By then, I was about ready to begin revisions to the White Russian - hence the relatively short gap between the release dates of the first two books. I didn’t start to write the Chocolate Labradoodle until after the second book was released, and put it aside for a while after three false starts. I am hoping to pick up the pace a bit on the production of book #4.



Ultimate Indie Authors! (Lauren):
Can you tell us a little bit about your book(s)? (No spoliers!)


Phyllis:
I write a mystery series. My protagonists are a husband-and-wife team, Damien and Millie Dickens (they married between the first and second books), who are based in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The series began in 1979 and is now in the early 1980s. I like to vary the settings, and readers will find themselves traveling with Millie and Damien to Vermont, Florida and even Montreal. I’m planning a new side trip for the next book.



Ultimate Indie Authors! (Lauren):
Sounds interesting! So where do you ultimately get your information or ideas for your books?


Phyllis:
From all over. The major settings are all places where I’ve lived or that I’ve visited. Some of the characters are made up out of whole cloth; others are based on people I’ve met. One of the plot lines in the Chocolate Labradoodle draws on my experiences as a food safety microbiologist.



Ultimate Indie Authors! (Lauren):
What do you feel you bring to the table that is different from other mystery writers?


Phyllis:
Well, my science background, for one. My family’s east-European roots, for another. And an adult life spent living in and traveling in a lot of different places.



Ultimate Indie Authors! (Lauren):
That’s great! You mentioned earlier that you self-publish (Whoohoo!). What is your publishing process like?


Phyllis:
My initial strategy was to maximize royalty share by using Amazon’s exclusive Kindle program for ebooks. I published a paperback edition using CreateSpace. However, I found that a significant portion of my potential initial audience (i.e., friends and family) used Kobo (in Canada), or Nook readers, and were unable to access the ebook. After my second book languished on Amazon for a couple of months, I decided to change my approach. I allowed the 90-day exclusivity period to lapse for both books, and broadened my exposure by publishing on Smashwords. This allowed me to reach Nook, iBook, and Kobo users, as well as library customers (via OverDrive). I also found a narrator who was willing to work on a royalty-share basis to produce an audiobook edition for the first two books, which are available on Amazon, Audible and iTunes. I published my third book on both Amazon and Smashwords, in addition to continuing to use CreateSpace for the paperback edition. I haven’t yet initiated production of an audiobook edition of The Chocolate Labradoodle Caper.



Ultimate Indie Authors! (Lauren):
Do you believe in writers’ block? If so, how to you cope with it? If not, what’s your diagnosis/solution for lack of creativity?


Phyllis:
I experience writer’s block from time to time, so I know that it’s real. There’s always a letdown once a book is finished, edited and published. I try to take a few weeks off - give my characters a vacation, so to speak. When I feel my fingers getting itchy, I start to kick around plot ideas with my husband during our daily walks. I also talk to myself (a lot) and to the puppy. As the ideas begin to coalesce, I feel the characters coming alive inside my head; I start to hear their conversations and feel their emotions. That’s when I know I’m ready to start writing again.



Ultimate Indie Authors! (Lauren):
What was your favorite childhood book? What is your favorite current book?


Phyllis:
The first books I remember devouring were the Nancy Drew, Cherry Ames, and Judy Bolton series. My cousin and I used to spend summer afternoons sitting outside reading. We would each choose a book (we both owned the complete collection of Nancy Drew) and start it from the beginning. Judy and I were fast readers, and our reading sessions evolved into informal competitions as to who would finish her book first. Periodically, one of us would ask the other what page she had reached. Although we both could devour a Nancy Drew in a single session, Judy almost always finished first. These days, I still read a lot of mystery series, mostly books by Louise Penny and Jacqueline Winspear. But the book that had the greatest emotional impact on me was Still Alice, by Lisa Genova. My late father suffered from Alzheimer’s, and Still Alice helped me to better understand what he had experienced.



Ultimate Indie Authors! (Lauren):
Do you have any advice/tips for aspiring mystery writers and/or writers in general?


Phyllis:
Read, read, and read some more. Do a heap of reading in your own preferred genre, but also sample other types of writing. As you read, think about how the author has structured the story, shaped the paragraphs, and the sentences. Think about what you like in the writing and what you find irritating. And write. It doesn’t matter whether you write flash fiction, memoir, short stories, or letters. Just write. Let the words flow and save the editing for later. If you can, find a writing group in your area. It doesn’t have to be a formal class; it can be just a group of people who want to share ideas and experiences. Start a diary or a blog and write. Find fellow writers on Facebook or at your local library, and WRITE.



Ultimate Indie Authors! (Lauren):

How can readers discover more about you and you work?


Phyllis:
I recently set up my own website, Gone Writing (phyllisentis.wordpress.com). It’s still fairly spartan, but there is a Welcome page, a short bio, a page that lists my published books, and a blog. I also have an author page on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/Phyllis-Entis/...) and on goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...), and a Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/DamienDicken...). Readers can send me a direct message via Facebook or goodreads. I promise to respond.



Ultimate Indie Authors! (Lauren):
Is there anything else you would like to add that I haven’t included?


Phyllis:
I am about to start on the first draft of the next book in the Damien Dickens Mysteries series. Puppy permitting, I am hoping that this one won’t take a year to complete.