Bang the Drum Slowly

Mixed news out of the Windy City, gleaned from a foxnews.com article by Louis Casiano, in my own words. Murders were down from 804 in 2021 to 695 in ’22, but robberies, especially car theft, saw increases. Police took 12,716 guns off the street in ‘22.

RIP Fred White, 67, drummer for Earth, Wind & Fire, one of four brothers in the band. At 16 he was part of the gold records it earned. Well done, sir. Thank you.

Although my new book, Coincidence, a novella, is now available at Amazon, I’m not announcing it on Facebook until I check a copy. I just ordered five and a few other of my books I’ve run short of. Meanwhile, here’s an excerpt:
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Seated at her PC, Jenny Lindstrom put the finishing touches on the notes for her podcast. This evening she would talk about music, artists whose work she’d recently discovered, whose heyday had occurred before she was born or when she was little, whose songs she believed should have been more popular, specifically Kate Bush and Concrete Blonde. Of Bush’s Running Up That Hill, she’d written “howls with existential angst.” Beside Concrete Blonde’s God Is the Bullet, she’d noted: “not the depth of renowned philosophers, of course, but damn impressive in a four-minute song.” She added: “Johnette Napolitano’s vocals are awesome.”
She glanced at the clock and sprang to her feet. She did not want to be late to a meeting with the IRS. She picked up a large designer bag and hurried out of the terrace apartment her mom had left her. She paid the maintenance fee with funds she earned since going viral. Dubbed an “Influencer” by bloggers, she had three million-plus followers. She hoped her accountant hadn’t erred or done something fraudulent. She wasn’t averse to paying taxes, although they seemed unfairly high, as she was so grateful for her success. She made charitable contributions regularly.

Another balmy day, perfect for doing business curbside. My thanks to my old friend Adam, who delivered about 50 books of a wide variety, and to Sam who brought a handful; and to the woman who did the same; and to the young woman who bought Blaze by Stephen King under the pseudonym Richard Bachman; and to the woman who purchased Lying in Wait by J. A. Jance; and to the gentleman who took home the massive Fix It Yourself Manual by Editors of Reader’s Digest and Do It Yourself Manual by Editors of Reader’s Digest.

My Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Vic-Fortezza/e/B002M4NLJE

FB: https://www.facebook.com/Vic-Fortezza-Author-118397641564801/?fref=ts

Read Vic’s Stories, free: http://fictionaut.com/users/vic-fortezza