J. Timothy King

(This post is a follow-up to yesterday’s post, “Update on Helena-West Helena Police State: They could be ripping off my book for their press releases.” Catch the whole true story from the beginning, starting here.)
Cited in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Northwest Edition yesterday, also found at ArkansasOnline and other sources:

“Under the old curfew, everyone was subject to some minimal intrusion,” [Mayor James] Valley said. “Now, if people are sitting out in their yard talking, it’s not going to be a big deal. But if they are out drinking or smoking a blunt, that’s going to be a problem.”
Valley and Scott said police officers will continue stopping and questioning people in the saturation zones, just as they did in the first curfew zone. As long as a person has a “legitimate reason” for moving through the saturation zone, Valley said, he’ll be allowed to pass.  Click to continue »

As reported by KARK (channel 4 in Little Rock, the NBC affiliate), Helena-West Helena politicians have come up with an alternate plan, after the ACLU lambasted the mayor for imprisoning citizens—both innocent and guilty—in their own homes since last Thursday.
(I’m actually not clear on whether the whole neighborhood has been under blanket, continual curfew, or whether it’s only part of the neighborhood. What I had read last week led me to understand it was the whole neighborhood. Now, I’m seeing some reports like that of KARK, which says “Second Street and the surrounding blocks.” Others, however, still talk only about the whole neighborhood. Blog posts I’ve been able to find have been no more helpful. But I’ll keep an eye out for an eyewitness with a blog. If you know of a local with a blog posting about this story, please leave a link in the comments!)
The alternative, as KARK reports it, is what I would call the “Can I see your papers?” plan.  Click to continue »

Buried in a Zogby poll about the right of secession—35% of those under age 30 would support their state if it decided to secede from the US!— Buried at the bottom is a separate question, “I believe the United States’ system is broken and cannot be fixed by traditional two-party politics and elections.” 44% of respondents agreed with that statement, that the US political system is broken.
Little wonder, considering the growing dissatisfaction with the political process and the general feeling of helplessness when one looks at the choices we’re given by the ruling elite. Or maybe I’m just projecting.
In any case, I then ran across this tidbit, which I’ll have to work into Abe’s Turn at some point. This is just so Sam Baedes. (Thanks to Chris Brunner from The LRC Blog for posting a link to this story.) As reported by KTHV, the CBS affiliate in Little Rock, AK, Mayor James Valley last Thursday confined everyone who lives in Helena-West Helena (a neighborhood on the Westside of Helena) to their homes, in a non-stop curfew that “could last for days.” (As of now, Monday night, August 11, I’ve been able to find no word that martial law.. er, I mean, the curfew has been lifted.)
The justification? Fighting crime. Yes, you read that right. This dickwad has apparently made everyone, innocent and guilty, a prisoner in his own home, because he wants to curb the actions of a few criminals.
Get these quotes:  Click to continue »

I’m busy at work, finishing up the extra chapters of the first volume of The Conscience of Abe’s Turn. And when that’s done, it’ll take a few weeks to get the first real copies. I’m going to be giving away a limited number of these very first copies. (I don’t know how many yet.)
Here’s the thing: I’m only giving away these free books to people who pre-register by signing up for the “Abe’s Turn Premium Content” email list. This is a low-volume email list that will include announcements of contests and giveaways, new Abe’s Turn products, and links to stories and essays not published on the website.
Also, I ask that if you enter the giveaway (when the time comes) that you be willing to give me a short testimonial. Just a quick, one-line review (positive or negative). Or that you post (and email me the link) a review on your blog, or on a third-party article site, or somewhere else on the Internet. The review can be positive or negative. (“Love me. Hate me. Just please don’t ignore me,” as they say.)
If you don’t know whether you’ll want to enter this giveaway, start by reading why you might hate The Conscience of Abe’s Turn and preview the text of the story online.
To Become Eligible for the Giveaway…
So if you want to be eligible for the upcoming book giveaway—Or even just to find out the details (when the time comes)—use the form below to sign up for the “Abe’s Turn Premium Content” email list:  Click to continue »

Michael Feathers brought this story to my attention. Although I can only speculate as to what his meaning was, I do know what I got out of it. Stories like this are definitely part of the inspiration behind some of the characters in Abe’s Turn.
It seems that U.S. Army recruiters in one recruitment office have been threatening high-school seniors in order to get them to join when they graduate. As reported by KHOU, Houston, TX, here’s how it works:
First, students sign up for the Delayed Entry Program. This is a free-trial program that allows potential recruits to try out the Army without actually enlisting. If they decide they want out—or so they are told—no harm, no foul.
But when they actually do decide they want out, the recruiter tells them they signed a contract to report to basic training—even though they most certainly did not—and tells them they’ll be denied government benefits, arrested, and hauled off to jail, unless they show up at the appointed time.
One victim was even told that if he really wanted out, what he needed to do is to report to basic training, and then to tell the prison chaplain— er, I mean, the base chaplain that he didn’t like it and wanted out. What the recruiter didn’t mention, of course, is that once you report to basic training, then you really are a soldier, and it’s much harder to get out.
These government abuses are endemic to a certain recruiting station. They may not happen across the board. (Or maybe they do. Who knows?) But even if they don’t, that doesn’t soften the tragedy for those victims of the abuse.  Click to continue »

I posted the new, edited & expanded “Advanced Reading Copy” (ARC) version of The Conscience of Abe’s Turn. Click here to preview The Conscience of Abe’s Turn online.
I hope to have actual ARC hardcopies in my hands within a month. And I’m planning a special promotion through which you might be able to get one of them, for free. So stay tuned.
-TimK

Now that the expanded, edited version of the first 4 episodes of The Conscience of Abe’s Turn is almost ready to be posted…
(And yes, I realize I said it would be done over a month ago. I’ve learned so much from the process, however. The first lesson: Editing your first novel-length work will take 5 times as long as you think it will.)
Whereas: Just about every great story has had those who hated it, frequently with great passion. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Godfather, Firefly and Gilmore Girls, all had and still have their detractors. No great work of fiction or non-fiction has ever failed to piss off a few million people, because every great work must say something. And as soon as you say something, you please the few people who “get” it, and you piss off everybody else.
Therefore: I knew I was onto something special, when I started getting angry emails from people I’d never met, roundly criticizing me for writing something so stupid, so unrealistic as The Conscience of Abe’s Turn.
In the spirit of the great works of literary, film, and television history, you might hate The Conscience of Abe’s Turn if…  Click to continue »

This is the last chapter of the last episode of the first half-season of Abe’s Turn, an extremely difficult chapter for me to write. It’s true what Holly Lisle says about your characters. You need to empathize with them, but do not dare to sympathize with them. I goofed. I allowed myself to sympathize with them.
Read the last chapter of this special episode: The Conscience of Abe’s Turn, Season 1, Episode 4, Chapter 5. And subscribe via RSS or email to keep up to date. (See the “Keep Up to Date” block in the sidebar, with the big, orange logo.)
The book is still coming. It will have revised and expanded chapters, which I’ll also post on the website, as well as bonus extras. The latest schedule for the book is that I’ll have advanced copies somewhere around the middle of May. At that time, I’ll have a contest and give away a number of them.
-TimK  Click to continue »

Previously in Abe’s Turn:

“Let me show you,” he said, “what will happen if I don’t get the right answer.” He folded the belt in half. Holding the ends in one hand and the fold in the other, he pulled his hands rapidly apart, causing the belt to let out a sharp snap.
The interrogator walked up to Clyde and snapped the belt again, this time right in front of her face. The sound rang in her ears, and she blinked, but she immediately returned to staring down her attacker, his face now inches from hers.
He enunciated each word. “What is your name?”

“Do you love him?” Clyde asked.
Mira blushed. “No. That’s silly.”
“But it’s Ike,” Clyde protested.”So? How much can you fall in love during lunch? It wasn’t even a real date.” Mira’s eyes seemed to light up at the thought of a date with Ike.
The next words came out of Clyde’s mouth almost without a thought. “Does he love you?”
Mira’s face froze for a few seconds. Then it fell. The color seemed to drain out of Mira’s cheeks. Then she forced a smile and said, “I don’t know. What does it matter? We can figure that out later.”
“You asked me what I thought you should do. I think you should find out how he really feels about you and how far he’s willing to take this relationship.”

“We have a probable cause hearing tomorrow morning,” Ted said.
“Please just try your best. I don’t want to wait in jail for God knows how long while you get a trial ready. I hate it here.”
“Do you know Nona Williams?”
Anthony stared at the steel bars for several seconds. “Yes, I know Nona. But we’ve kept our relationship a secret.”
“I have a feeling the truth will out.”
“There’s no way to keep it a secret?”
“Not if she’s telling the police about it,” Ted replied.
Read the fourth chapter of this special episode: The Conscience of Abe’s Turn, Season 1, Episode 4, Chapter 4. And subscribe via RSS or email to keep up to date. (See the “Keep Up to Date” block in the sidebar, with the big, orange logo.)  Click to continue »

Previously in Abe’s Turn:

Clyde paused a moment, thought about her sanity, shook her head again at herself, snorted, and turned back toward the living room.
From nowhere, something soft and mildly sweet-smelling hit her in the face. She had run into it, and now she couldn’t get it off her. She gasped for breath, choked, coughed, pushed at the thing. Someone was behind her, pressing himself to her back, smothering her with his hand. She knew she should do… What was it she should do? She couldn’t remember. Even if she were able to remember what she should do, she couldn’t think of it. Or something like that. Her mind was a blurred jumble of thoughts, sounds, and images. Or was the room actually dissolving into chaos? She continued hacking under the thick, empty smell that was suffocating her, struggling against it, ever more desperate, ever weaker.
She didn’t remember what happened next.

“Anthony.” Ted spoke softly. “We have a probable cause hearing tomorrow morning.”
“Okay. Do you know Nona Williams?”
Anthony stared into Ted’s eyes. “We were having an affair.”
This puzzled Ted. “Why have an affair? Neither of you is married. If you want to be together, why not just date?”
“Because she has a boyfriend, Paul Randolph.” Anthony stared at the ceiling for a moment. “Look at me. She’s out of my league.” He looked back at Ted. “I don’t think she wanted to be embarrassed. So we kept it a secret.”“I see. Let’s talk about Tuesday night. I understand that someone raped her and beat her up pretty badly.”
“If what you’re telling me is true, someone attacked Nona after she left you.”
Anthony nodded.
“And she’s covering up for him.”
“I guess so.”
“Do you have any idea who it might be?”
Anthony thought for a minute. “No, I don’t know.”
Read the third chapter of this special episode: The Conscience of Abe’s Turn, Season 1, Episode 4, Chapter 3. And subscribe via RSS or email to keep up to date. (See the “Keep Up to Date” block in the sidebar, with the big, orange logo.)  Click to continue »