The Writer's Life 12/1 - Early Christmas

Christmas came early for the floating book shop. Five kind souls donated a total of about 40 books, 10 of them in Russian. My thanks, and also to those who bought, especially the woman who purchased five, three fiction, two non.

Here's an excerpt from my horror screenplay, All Hallows, available at Amazon for a buck.The Knight is one of the nuts who has escaped from an asylum. I always pictured Michael Rispoli, who was in my friend John's acting company, in the part. Film buffs will recognize his face. Here's a pic:

In the role of Ozzie, a retired Sheriff and Korean War vet, I imagined the late Richard Farnsworth, one of those actors who seemed natural and genuine on the big screen:

    Part 31: The highway. The Harley lies wrecked. The Knight is limping severely, toward the pickup. He reaches it and pulls himself inside, howling in pain. Ozzie comes to at the side of the road, in bad shape. He rolls onto all fours and crawls along. His hand grazes the shotgun. He uses it as a crutch and gets to his feet.  He staggers toward a road sign nearby. It reads: "Welcome to Bela, pop. 5000, Home of Hospitality." He leans against it heavily to steady himself. He hears the pickup's engine turn over. The radio is turned on, loud, a disc jockey doing a Zacherle-like Halloween stick. Ozzie has a flashback to Korea of a broadcast encouraging G.I.'s to lay down their arms and join the people's movement. He raises the shotgun, fighting blurred vision. He sprays the vehicle with buckshot that does no damage. It turns slowly and inches along as if searching for prey. Ozzie again struggles to take aim, rifle swaying, and misses entirely. The vehicle veers toward him, picks up speed, radio blaring. The Knight relishes the chase. Ozzie limps into tall grass and throws himself to the ground, clutching the shotgun. He hears the approach of the pickup but does not see it until the last instant. Miraculously, it misses him. He sits up and fires, and again misses. He rolls aside as the truck is turning.  This time he has the drop on the Knight. He waits until the pickup is parallel to him, then springs up and fires. Eyes suddenly clear, he strikes the passenger window, shattering it.  He pumps and fires several more times, knocking out the rear windshield. The pickup rolls to a stop in high brush, engine idling, radio blaring. Ozzie approaches cautiously, shotgun raised. At the wheel, the Knight is playing possum. He spies his prey in what is left of the side mirror, throws the pickup into reverse, and hits the gas. Ozzie fires but is out of shells. He limps aside, past the pickup and out into the road. He has a flashback of artillery shells landing all around him.

Vic's 4th novel: tinyurl.com/bszwlxh

Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3

Vic's Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
Vic's Short Story Collection: http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tiny.cc/0iHLb Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kx3d3uf
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/rP7o9

Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp

Vic's Horror Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3f

Vic's Blog: http://vicfortezza.blogspot.com/

Vic's Web Site: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/