TrueWatcher
Administrator  Member is offline Poor Victor....
Posts: 21,081
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Posted: May 29th, 2005 at 02:25 am
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Yes, indeed
"Mr. Gentry! Oh, Mr. Gentry!"
Gerold Gentry, the reknowned author of tens of best selling mysteries, looked up from the note card he was signing for a giggly teenaged girl in the direction of the call. It was only minutes after his speech on mystery writing and his obvious plugging of his latest novel, "The Red Pen'. He saw a plump well-dressed middle aged woman with short dark hair dodging the throng of fans between them as she hurried toward him. Even at the ripe age of fifty - though he still looked boyish with a full head of salt and pepper hair, and having braved throngs of fans such as these for the last ten or so years, he was always taken aback by the passion they exhibited.
It was obvious that the woman was bursting to speak with him, but she waited until he'd finished his signature with 'The nightmares continue. Best, GG' in his customary signature flourish on a book a fan wanted signed. She only spoke went he made eye contact with her.
"Oh, Mr. Gentry, I am so glad to finally meet you!" the woman spoke with obvious awe in her high pitched voice. She put out her slim hand, then withdrew it, then put it out again. "I have been a fan of yours for - ha, ha, many many years!"
"Oh? Well, that's quite flattering..."
"Yes, Mr. Gentry. I've read every single book you've ever written, and all the short stories of yours I could find. Some are out of print and need to be released again!"
"Please, call me Gerold, Miss...?" Gerold quickly signed a book that was thrust toward him and gave the owner a smile.
"Oh, Heavens to Betsy! Where have my manners gone! I'm Sylvia. Sylvia Plattman." The woman turned a severe shade of red, almost like the first blush of womanhood. And her eyes shone with reverence as she looked at him. "I'm from Oregon. And it's Mrs. Plattman. Robert, my husband, is in sales. Cosmetics. Oh, geez! I can't believe I'm rambling like some schoolgirl! It's just that I've always wanted to meet you, Mr. Gentry!"
Gerold smiled the smile he'd perfected from hundreds of these types of fan encounters, knowing the wrinkles made around his grey eyes would make the fan feel more at home, and which also made him look even more attractive. He believed he could have been dressed in rags with dirt on his upper lip and Mrs. Plattman would not have noticed in the slightest. Another fan handed him a copy of his latest novel to be signed.
"I really want to say that I really, really enjoyed 'The Nowhere Man', you know, your novel where Jackson discovers it's his own mother who was killing all those people!"
"Thanks, I-"
"And!" Mrs. Plattman interrupted him. A very attractive young female put out her arm to be signed, and he smilingly obliged her. " And I simply adored 'The Thin Red Line' which was made into the blockbuster thriller starring Ed Norton and Sandra Bullock! I mean, you know, where the detective, Mr. Marchment, Norton, uncovered the sordid plot where the teacher and the student were partners! Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!"
"Well, thanks again, Mrs. Plattman. I-"
Again Mrs. Plattman interrupted him, such was the fervor she was under in her mind's eye.
"And I really liked 'The Blood Rock', where Mrs. Sloan, the caretaker, was the real murderer; and 'Letters from the Dead', 'The Pitchman', 'The Arnold Diaries', all the 'Monseur Death' novels! I could go on and on and on!"
"You're too kind, really... Well, I-"
"Oh, golly, Mr. Gentry! Here I've been, babbling on taking up your time!"
"Yes, well, actually-"
"Before you go, can I ask you a question?"
"Ask away! I am always willing to-"
"In all your novels, the murderer almost gets away - he or she always has an air tight alibi, and they usually have done the perfect crime. But somehow they always slip up, or happenstance does them in. Am I right in this?"
"Well, yes, indeed. But I haven't really-"
"So my question is this: How do you come up with all these wonderful twisted things that you write about?"
"Mrs. Plattman, they just come to me literally out of the blue."
"Really?"
"Yes, indeed, really. Now, if you'll -"
"One last thing!" Mrs. Plattman's face turned quite sad as she looked at him. "I just wanted to say how terrible it was, the tragic accident that made you a widow last year! Your beautiful wife, God rest her soul, was taken from you way too soon! I mean, it was only last year that the tabloids were having a field day, saying you and Darla were getting separated, that you were having some kinda sordid affair. That year must have been hell for you!"
"Thank you for your kind words, and yes, it was terrible. But I really must-"
"And it's so strange as well." Mrs. Plattman frowned. "I mean, if you just change around a few things here and there, her accident could have come straight out of your novel, 'Death is a Handsome Suitor'!"
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Yes, Indeed - (Read 505 Times)
