I’m not sure it’s possible to come up with a mystery/suspense/thriller word for all twenty-six letters of the alphabet, but that’s what I’m aiming for.
Today is the first day of Arlee Bird’s Blog Boggled: Blogging From A to Z April Challenge, and I’m determined to make it all the way to Z by sticking to my genre theme. This is no April Fool’s joke, even though it may turn out to be my April Fool’s errand. Some letters could be difficult. We’ll see.
But let’s get to get back to the today’s topic: A is for Assassin
Please note we’re talking about assassins with a lower case a, not the upper case A Assassins, a whole different topic. The first definition of assassin at dictionary.com is: “a murderer, esp. one who kills a politically prominent person for fanatical or monetary reasons.”
Writer Laurell K. Hamilton is quoted (at brainyquote.com) as saying, “You’d think a sociopath assassin wouldn’t have a fan following but he does.”
I don’t know the context of this quote, whether Ms. Hamilton was speaking of vampires or humans, but I can believe what she says, just as I believe most serial killers have a fan following of sorts.
There is an assassin in my current manuscript, the one I’m still revising. I’m hoping he has a fan following someday. Albert Getz is a killer who is out to get his client, Benny Ortega. Albert has an unfortunate run of bad luck on the job, suffering one accident after another, until he…well, that would be giving away a crucial piece of the plot. Let’s just say an assassin should not be accident prone. It’s unseemly.
Speaking of assassins, a recent article at POPSCI described an Air Force Flying Assassin Robot, a drone that can isolate and dispose of individuals without taking out innocent bystanders at the same time.
Albert’s line of work may soon be obsolete.
An accident prone assassin, interesting! Good luck with the challenge.
Let’s just say an assassin should not be accident prone. It’s unseemly. I love this line! It’s just so perfect.
I guess it’s pretty bizarre the types of people who can develop a fan base. It always amazes me to see those serial killers who have the women writing them love letters.
Great start Patricia.
Lee
Aargh — I had good intentions of checking in several times this afternoon but my laptop went insane. I ran a deep virus scan on it which has taken almost all afternoon. And I wasn’t about to hide away at my desktop in my little office because darling granddaughter was way more entertaining than e-mail and blogging. So here I am, and it’s practically time to write B is for … bloody, … bludgeon, or …
Admirable goal! I like it! (and probably far more appropriate than me doing the 26 letters of butts *snort* (though in defense, that was an April fool’s joke))
You can do it!
Great beginning to a fun challenge.
Good luck with the challenge! Can’t wait to see what you come up with for x…
oops…fogot to add can’t wait to read your books..they sound wonderful!
Well, you are off to a wonderful start my dear lady…thanks for sharing, good luck on your manuscript endeavors…following you now!
My mind jumped to Q, X, and Z – those would be hard. Good luck.
Sounds like a fun exercise. I’m looking forward to seeing what you come up with tomorrow.
I’m not usually a fan of assassins, but Albert sounds…well,almost lovable.
Patricia,
I love your accident prone assassin. He sounds fabulous.
In our sixth grade, the kids have to write an ABC book. The project is huge and takes a year to complete, from idea to research to writing to hardcover. Yes, they bind it as a keepsake for the kids.
Anyway, my DD ambitiously wrote her ABC book on books. She found a book title for every letter of the alphabet (not Miss Grafton’s either!)ranging from picture books to YA.
If she can do it, so can you. I can’t wait to see the rest of your alphabet!
Oops, forgot to answer Terry — Nope, haven’t read Eisler (but he’s now on my TBR list). 🙂
I think this challenge is going to be a lot of fun, so I’m looking forward to this month (and it’s kind of nice to know I can take Sunday off each week and regroup).
Ann, I was super excited to see I went over 100 followers this week. Not only has the GLA guest post given me a bunch of new contacts, but this A to Z challenge has introduced great bloggers I hadn’t met before. Now I’m off to read a bunch of posts.
Wow, you’ve gone over the 100 follower mark. Congrats. Great post on assassins (with lower case a) and interesting about the assassin robot. As long as I’m not a target.
Have you read Barry Eisler’s “Rain” series? Talk about a fan following for an anti-hero.
I have faith you can run through the alphabet. I admire you for undertaking the challenge. For me, it would be another set of “rules” I’d end up breaking.
Patricia, you make me smile – a lot.
Karen
A most interesting “A” in the challenge.
Why not do a mystery in the alphabet, would be original.
Good Luck with the rest of the challenge.
Yvonne.
Good luck with your challenge. It will be interesting for us readers to see what words you select. 🙂
Oh, but it is absolutely possible to come up with a mystery/suspense/thriller word for every letter of the alphabet – in fact I think you might be channeling Sue Grafton (though she hasn’t made it to z yet, has she?).
Good luck with the alphabet challenge and with revising your manuscript!