Fiction – OmegaBooks

Snippets-to-Spin-Offs: The Murder Rule, and More (Part Six)–The Plot Thickens

Hopefully, by mid-June, Part One of The Murder Rule will be completed (and then comes the editing part). It is mostly completed already. Part Two, featuring roadie Bobby Jones, is mostly completed but I need to manuscript the climax and leading up to the climax. Then comes Part Three and maybe, Part Four. The plan is to complete the entire novel, The Murder Rule, before the end of 2022.

This post is the one that leads up to the climax of Part One of The Murder Rule, where narrator and pop-culture pundit Lloyd Denholm begins to come to the conclusion through investigations as to who murdered fictitious rock star Denny Spradlin in early 1996.

Spradlin’s band mate Blake Fenmore has requested of the pop culture magazine X-Zine to have pundit and free-lancer Denholm to find out ‘who done it’ and how. The request was made in Spring, 2005. In this snippet, Denholm meets with Blake at his rock house in the Lake District of northwest England. Below is the snippet, copyright © 2022 by Deborah Lagarde:

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Snippets-to-Spinoffs (Part Five): The Murder Rule Part One Meets Part Two

When novels are divided into parts or sequels or series, there always have to be connections from one part to another part, or the next part, or the sequel, or series or trilogy novels. And there must be connections to any novels of which they are ‘spun-off.’

The previous post entitled Proof that my new novel, The Murder Rule, is derived from my Prodigal Band Trilogy (Episode One), shows how the new novel is based on the trilogy. In this post, using characters that narrate Parts One and Two of The Murder Rule, there, too, are references to parts of The Prodigal Band Trilogy. The narrator of Part One of The Murder Rule is pop culture pundit Lloyd Denholm, who is the narrator of The Prodigal Band, and the narrator of Part Two is Bobby Jones, a prodigal band roadie minor character of both Battle of the Band and The Prodigal Band. Within a chapter for Part One of The Murder Rule, Bobby meets with Lloyd at Denholm’s apartment in the fictitious city of Richmont, California, in 2002, so he can reveal what he learned about the ‘suicided’ and murdered rocker, Denny Spradlin, that proves Denny was indeed murdered. The proof comes to Bobby from a prominent support character working for ‘the Good,’ the so-called ‘witch,’ Morwenna, who, along with God’s angels, the Tooters, guides the prodigal band Sound Unltd in their ‘missions of God.’ And a reminder: The Murder Rule is copyright by Deborah Lagarde and will be registered with the Library of Congress when officially published, hopefully, this year. Below is the snippet:

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When Snippets Become Spin-Offs: The Murder Rule, and More (Part Two)

In the previous post, here, I discussed the new novel-in-parts that for right now will be called The Murder Rule, with two parts already being worked on and one or two or three more parts being considered—there will be at least one more part to this novel. Here is a snippet from the previous post linked above featuring two of the main characters within this first part:

In order to introduce this novel-in-the-works, I will begin with a snippet that will introduce a major character within The Murder Rule. He is another rock star, singer Denny Spradlin of the band that helped mentor the prodigal band Sound Unltd, called Wolfin. (Note: it was originally called ‘Wolfen,’ but since that is the name of an 80s mystery movie set in the Bronx, I had to change the spelling.) Denny and his collaborator, guitarist Blake Fenmore, while loving their fame and fortune, eventually turn into nothing but party animals and eventually become lazy and stop producing hits, falling into has-been-dom, which leads to trouble and danger. Denny becomes a ‘useless eater’ of sorts to those controlling the music industry evil agenda; further, he is addicted to the opioid designer drug mentioned in the trilogy, called skuz.

The previous post linked above ends with a snippet from Chapter Nine of Battle of the Band that inspired this part of the new novel. This snippet ends with a televised report of Denny being found dead ‘from a drug overdose,’ which shocked the viewer of this report, the singer for the prodigal band, Erik, who considered the possibility that Denny might commit suicide even though Denny told him he wouldn’t even consider it.

This notion of a rock star committing ‘suicide’ has been commonplace since the 60s, if not a drug overdose: Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain, Chris Cornell and Chester Bennington were prominently featured in my post from last June, here, about ‘if dead rock stars could talk.’ Some of these deaths, which have been proven of late to have likely been murders, caused some inspiration for my trilogy, considering that it seemed as if these murders happened because these rockers went against the evil narrative that has been growing within the music industry since the 60s. And because my fictional prodigal band Sound Unltd slowly but surely turned against the narrative, they too would be planned ‘victims.’ Only it didn’t quite work out as the fictional evil music industry overlords had hoped for the prodigal band. Unfortunately for Denny, the evil ‘plan’ did work; but before he died, Denny put a kink of sorts into the ‘plan.’

And that brings me to this snippet from The Murder Rule, which features the entire first chapter. The first part features Wolfin singer Denny Spradlin and an ‘advisor’ and ‘friend’ who just happens to represent the music industry evil narrative, who is ‘advising’ Denny (as well as fellow band member and ‘party animal’ Blake Fenmore, Wolfin’s guitarist) to, so to speak, ‘do what you’re told.’ Get back to the music business in order to make hits and hit videos; recruit for the agenda ‘mission’ according to what is called ‘The Pleasure Rule,’ and mentor these future rock stars according to the industry narrative—in reality, recruit for the evil, which in The Prodigal Band Trilogy is known as Corion, the ‘god’ of the evil and satanic cult called ‘The Church of the Circle of Unity.’ For there are ‘consequences’ for those who fail to fulfill these ‘missions.’

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How I Wrote The Prodigal Band Trilogy, Parts One Through Three (Repost)

Part One

This post is not about how, in the 60s and 70s and 80s, I came up with the characters as a gang, and then as a band. This post is about how I developed the final plot involving good vs. evil spirits and entities using the prodigal band for good or evil purposes, how I was inspired this way and how I managed to write the three novels, the final one (The Prodigal Band) twenty years after the second one (The Prophesied Band). How I turned just an entertaining piece about the foibles of rock stardom into a spiritual plot using the Parable of the Prodigal Son of the Gospel of Luke Chapter 15 as a guide. Finally, it is about actually creating the novels using various software including ClarisWorks (for Mac) and Corel WordPerfect, Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat conversions for PDFs on both Mac and PC desktops and laptops. I reviewed the “why” in the previous post; now is the “how.”

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Snippets of The Prodigal Band Trilogy: Biblical References Series, Episode Three—“The Parable of the Laborers of the Vineyard”

Several New Testament Parables given by Christ to His Apostles influenced how and why I wrote the three novels in The Prodigal Band Trilogy. One of these is from the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter Twenty, verses 1 through 16. It is called “the Parable of the Laborers of the Vineyard.” It is cited below, from the copyright-free public domain King James Version of the Holy Bible, the PDF version.

To sum up the message: The “householder” (God) “hires” “laborers” (missionaries) to reap new fruit (believers on Christ) within the vineyard (the world), beginning with those hired early in the morning (that is, early in the life of the “laborer”; children, teens or those in their twenties), then hired mid-day (“laborers” in their thirties), then later (“laborers” in their forties or fifties), then later (sixties and seventies) then the “eleventh hour” (those on their death beds or close to it…I actually know a couple of folks who accepted Christ as their Savior days or even hours before they died or ‘passed on’!). I myself, while I (with one exceptional time period I described in an earlier snippet) believed in God and Christ, never fully committed to God and Christ until I witnessed a miraculous event while in my mid-forties. The “laborers” in question are those who not only accept Christ but tell the world about why they should consider accepting Christ as well (and EVERY Christian author, fiction or non-fiction, needs to partake in this however God guides them!). That is, these “laborers” are on their “mission of God,” an expression I use often in the trilogy. The final verse, 16, says the last (to accept Christ) will be first (as they will die shortly) and the first shall be last (as they have a full life ahead of them, God willing), and that “many are called but few are chosen.” And among these “few” there just might be those that prior to accepting Christ led extremely evil lives! And the “few” that are “chosen” are “chosen” for a reason; for one thing, among these “few” that are chosen are those that “choose” to be “chosen.” God is calling the entire world, basically, but only few will choose this “calling.” The “payment” of course, is eternity with God in Heaven. And it doesn’t matter to God at what point in the lives of the “laborers” they do become workers for God, and it shouldn’t matter to one who works his or her entire life for God gets the same reward as one who works for God at the end of his or her life—so it shouldn’t matter to anyone working for God, either. Below is the parable.

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Snippets of The Prodigal Band Trilogy: Biblical References Series, Episode Two—Gnawing of “Bones Forever.”

I had originally called this post “Episode One.” Sorry about that, it is Episode Two.

The previous Biblical Reference post here about “weeping and gnashing of teeth” was used to point out that the evil satanic character Corion would mete out retribution onto those he commanded if they did not carry out his will. But Corion never says anything about ‘gnashing’ of teeth on the bones of those wayward minions—he uses the term “gnaw” and “gnawing.” While both ‘gnashing’ and ‘gnawing’ mean pretty much the same thing—teeth scraping on bones or whatever—I used the term ‘gnaw’ because it is more commonly used. Everyone knows about the gnawing of rodents on wood, on nuts, on gardens, on leftover food such as dog or cat food; gnawing is why rodents have those sharp fanged front teeth that they have.

There are only two references to ‘gnaw’ or ‘gnawing’ used in the Bible; I learned this by using Strong’s Concordance, which defines both in a similar way as it defines ‘gnashing,’ which is only found in the New Testament referring to Christ’s “weeping and gnashing of teeth” quotes in Matthew and Luke Gospel verses. But both ‘gnaw’ in Zephaniah 3:3 and ‘gnawing’ in Revelation 16:10 make the same connotations, except that while in Zephaniah the ‘gnaw’ is on bone, in Revelation the ‘gnawing’ is on the tongue ‘for pain.’ Zephaniah’s ‘gnaw’ on bone refers to evil leaders within Jerusalem that “are evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the morrow.” (KJV) One could compare the evil Corion to these evil leaders in Jerusalem. So one could say that Corion’s ‘gnaw on bones forever’ has the same connotation as Zephaniah’s use of the word. However, in Revelation 16:10, the gnawing is on the “tongues for pain” and the ones doing the ‘gnawing on their tongues for pain’ are likely those who refused to repent of their deeds in the Revelation time-frame, which could mean either Corion’s minions had their tongues gnawed on by Corion or the evil minions gnawed on their own tongues. In The Prodigal Band Trilogy, the connotation is that Corion or his Demons did the ‘gnawing,’ but not one tongues, but bones. Forever.

The term ‘gnaw on bones forever’ is used several times in all three novels that make up the trilogy, and all refer to Corion’s gnawing on bones of either wayward minions or on the forces of Good, such as the angels called The Tooters who work for The Creator, God.

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The Prodigal Band Trilogy Original Deleted Scenes, Part Seven

Welcome to the next episode in the ‘Deleted Scenes’ series of sections of the original trilogy novels that were not included in the three-books-in-one The Prodigal Band Trilogy. It has been a while since I have posted in this series as loved ones had come out for a visit. So here goes.

In this episode which gives more detail to a sinister event that happened on top of the burning of the band’s jet as it landed at a London Airport for an important meeting that never happened–it was a ruse to get the band to London so that even more nefarious events could happen, but didn’t (in Chapters Eleven, Twelve, and Thirteen)–the forces of evil tried another nefarious event to get even with the prodigal band for not toeing the evil line anymore, but instead siding with Good. The Evil couldn’t burn them in the jet, so instead it chose to burn them at home, so to speak.

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My Interview Hosted by Esther Rabbit

Several months ago when the Corona Virus event began I had posted in a Goodreads comment on the Author-Reader Forum regarding ways authors could advertise their books for free, saying to post links to your book site on websites that would attract possible readers of the novels the author writes. Esther Rabbit, who is an author, mentor to indie authors, interviews authors of all kinds of novels and non-fiction books, and promotes indie author books on her Esther Rabbit site, asked me to choose seven interview questions from her site and answer the questions for an online-interview.

Here is the link to the interview. Enjoy!

Questions include how I came up with the books in the Prodigal Band Trilogy, the publishing history, the inspiration, as well as (to use author-speak) the ‘plotter vs. pantser’ issue…I am both, especially pantser. So that makes me a ‘plantser’!

When you go to the site you’ll see that funny-looking ‘old lady’ at the beginning…that’s me. I sent in a portion of a picture taken on my son’s cell phone. I do not have a cell phone and do not want one. I do not like being tracked and traced if you know what I mean–I am a very private person. And because I have no cell phone I have very few photos of myself, and I am 67 years old, that’s the best of the most recent photos I had access to. Believe me, I was not prepared for my son’s decision to take that photo! Hopefully that goofy looking lady in the picture does not discourage folks from reading the interview!

Thanks, Esther! Blessings!

Note: Esther also has a YouTube author-mentor channel and Goodreads channel as well.

The Prodigal Band Trilogy Deleted Scenes, Part Six

Episode Six is similar to Episode Three, where singer Erik’s girl and future wife Ger is conversing with the bassist Keith’s wife Jarris by a swimming pool at the home of a movie producer; they are starring in a ‘zany’ comedy.

This particular episode however is more satirical—knowing how hypocritical Hollywood-type celebrities can be, claiming they care about endangered wildlife while wearing fur coats of endangered animals or wearing leather clothes of animals they claim to care about, I just can’t help pointing out this hypocrisy!

In Episode Six, Ger and Mo, the estranged wife of synthist Bry, get together within her room at a fancy palatial estate next to an Ashram of New Age cult leader Cole Blessing, whom had just ‘cured’ Ger of esophagus cancer. After the cure, Ger, who is brunette, Erik and their children moved to a fancy estate in ‘LA Hills.’ Note: Bry is also at the bash to try to win her back. The ‘bash’ in question is a gala to help fund Blessing’s New Age cult, the Church of the Circle of Unity founded by the evil Swami Negran, and his Ashram.

Ger arrived at Mo’s room right after Blessing left the room—to perform a satanic ritual in the basement cavern of the palace, which Blessing did not know drummer Tom and his lover Princess Tina had witnessed outside the cavern through a small door window. The Red Crystal of Corion used by the late Swami Negran was essential to the ritual. This gala and ritual event takes place in late May, 2000. From Chapter Eight of the original The Prophesied Band:

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The Prodigal Band Trilogy Original Deleted Scenes, Part Five

Welcome to the next episode of scenes or sections from the original novels that make up The Prodigal Band Trilogy that were deleted within the trilogy book. Most of the scenes or sections posted in this series were deleted for the sake of allocation of the amount of pages.

But this section here was not included in the three-books-in-one trilogy mainly because I had originally written this as a short story related to the trilogy series and I only put it into The Prophesied Band for its heart-warming, feel-good quality. When I was writing this short story that I’d incorporate into the second novel in the trilogy, I cried my way through it! And when I was re-typing from the original novel onto this laptop for inclusion here, I cried again!

The short story, by the way, made its way into a yearly publication of poems and short stories written by members of my local writers group, Texas Mountain Trail Writers. At the time I was the editor of the monthly newsletter as well as the yearly publication.

This section/story takes place within the time frame of spring, 1996, when singer-frontman Erik and bassist Keith are recovering from mild heart attacks they endured in early February (as told in the final chapter of Battle of the Band.) At the same time, Ger, Erik’s wife, is battling esophagus cancer she brought upon herself during her long bout with the eating disorder called bulimia, which involves eating lots of food and then immediately purging it by vomit into a toilet or whatever. This is told in Chapter Four of The Prophesied Band referenced here. In Chapter Six, she is seeing doctors for treatment and discovers she has the cancer, and has difficulty swallowing any food or drink.

In April, 1996, after bringing her to a doctor visit for a second opinion on this cancer, Erik decides to buy chocolate chip cookies (called biscuits in England) at a local cookie shop, but not for Ger. He has not been a worthy father to his two-year-old son, Alec, as he admitted in Chapter Four of The Prophesied Band, and he has vowed to change that–he himself never really had connected to his own father as stated in the final chapter of Battle of the Band, so he had no guidance as to how to be a good dad. He had to figure this out on his own.

But son Alec wanted nothing to do with his father, either. Erik was an alcoholic, and he smelled like it! Alec did not want to be around someone smelling of whiskey or scotch and having ‘clammy’ hands. Yet Alec also knew his father did not smell that way anymore, as the singer severely cut down on his booze consumption, only having drops of booze added to tonic water ‘for the taste of it’ by his personal assistant–who had strict charge over all booze in the house so Erik wouldn’t!

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