Snippet of April 14

April consulted with Michael Brightbill again. “Are all six trumpeters available to pull our prank or do I have to find somebody to fill in?”

“All of them thought it was a wonderful idea. They were all paid to pose for Sylvia’s entry video and are happy to do it for free if they can just keep the uniforms and join the party after the guests are all arrived.”

“Do you know if they still have the trumpets?” April asked.
“If Sylvia is storing them someplace, I can hardly ask her. Maybe Heather would remember.”

“I’m sorry but the trumpets were dubbed in by CGI just like the uniforms. Sylvia gave us all a piece of aluminum conduit to hold so we got the arm positions and posture exactly right, but there were never any real trumpets,” Michael told her.

“Oh, wow. Now I have to research trumpets.I’m sure it’s going to be complicated.”

“The pitch of the trumpet depends on its length,” Michael said. “I’d just make them look like the ones in your video and play the fanfare from the recording. They can go through the motions just like lip syncing a song. It’s too much to expect all six of them to actually become proficient at playing them anyway. You’d have some off notes spoiling the scene for sure.”

“OK, that’s easier,” April said, relieved. “Any decent proto shop should be able to print me six light weight shiny horns.”

“And my tipstaff,” Michael added. “That was computer generated too. I was holding a piece of conduit just like the trumpeters. Make it heavy and sturdy so it will sound right. The horns we can fake. Nobody will be able to tell if they are blowing them but I’d never be able to time cracking the staff on the floor exactly.”

“Right.…” April made some notes on her pad. “This is far more complicated than I ever envisioned.”

“Isn’t everything?” Michael asked.

17 Responses to Snippet of April 14

  1. Teresa February 20, 2023 at 6:25 am #

    Can’t wait to read the full book!

  2. Benny Floyd February 21, 2023 at 12:25 pm #

    Always happy to read anything you write. I re-read the April and Family Law series many times and look forward to doing so many times in the future as new books come out. Excellent writing with characters I can care about and want to find out what happens with them.

  3. Cheryl February 21, 2023 at 3:47 pm #

    Cool sounds like a fun book, love this scene

  4. Big Ben February 21, 2023 at 4:35 pm #

    I does look like the way we’re heading … everything fake but rendered so well us stupid meat sacks think it’s all real.

    I remember reading an article years ago about more and more military buglers not actually playing the horn – it basically has a speaker in the bell. The “bugler” holds the horn like they’re playing, but it’s nothing more than a fancy boom box playing a recording.

    The loop becomes inescapable … life imitating art or the other way ‘round? It seems that April admires Sylvia’s doorbell / announcement and wants to recreate it live, then realizes it was mostly a staged-fake production and decides to make her “real” performance nearly as fake.

    The delineation between old school reality and whatever is coming via technology is as fascinating as it is scary.

    Love the snippet and look forward to whatever you put out next!

  5. Anonimous February 21, 2023 at 6:48 pm #

    you are alive!

    • Mac February 21, 2023 at 8:31 pm #

      Working hard at it. Had a colonoscopy today – about 6 months late. Getting caught up on medical stuff.

  6. Nick February 23, 2023 at 6:23 am #

    How is your new place?
    Good neighbours? Better weather?
    Are you in a town or out in the country?
    Hope you don’t have any of them pesky officials bothering you.

    • Mac February 23, 2023 at 9:01 pm #

      We are on the very edge of Winston Salem. Across the creek that runs past our condos is Clemmons, NC. Just about anything we need is within 5 miles. Today the thermometer in my truck said 82. I got a message on my phone about a power outage after an ice storm and high winds. I forgot to remove my city notices from MI. It’s mostly older people in our condos. Very quiet. It’s town but not high density – lots of fields and woods around. I miss a few things but there are new things I like.

  7. Nick February 24, 2023 at 4:05 am #

    Sounds nice.

    On another theme, what do you think of all the woke & cancel culture?
    Seems to me to be a bit like your books political correctness.

    • Mac February 28, 2023 at 2:20 pm #

      All forms of control.

  8. Michael March 1, 2023 at 10:17 pm #

    “Push-for Grand Entry.” from Book 1

    Hah She went from parody to reality!

    Too funny that April, rolled with it. The first time I read the Queen Heather line I thought “how apropos” she had a royal entry as her door bell.

    I’ve been assigned to a really quiet site lately so I am rereading April series, go back and recheck your Amazon edit suggs… I saw Wyoming for Dakota for instance…

    Since I see you have moved to a new state, be aware weather does not always follow rules. I had my car totaled by a tornado, first in that city in 22 years. Make a Hurricane kit and be ready.

    • Mac March 13, 2023 at 10:38 am #

      I’ll search for Wyoming to correct… We are far enough from the coast that I expect to ride out any hurricanes. As a bonus we have a big bluff behind us sheltering our condos on the north east.

  9. Ben March 13, 2023 at 1:37 am #

    Afternoon Mac,
    Do you have plans for the series after you retire?
    Or before then? any tie ins with other authors maybe?

    Jerry Boyd or Laurance Dahners might be a good tie in?
    Not sure how you’d combine the universes if that’s at all possible but I love your series and think they should last forever!
    Ben recently posted..Snippet of April 14My Profile

    • Mac March 13, 2023 at 10:34 am #

      Silly me… I consider myself retired. I don’t set deadlines or pre-sales for myself so it isn’t really a full time stressful job. It’s a hobby that gives me a little extra money that is appreciated. I’m not familiar with Jerry Boyd but since you mentioned him I’ll check him out. I’ve read several of Dahner’s books and enjoyed them. I’m fairly close to Laurance Dahners. We intend to each drive half way to get together for lunch in the next couple months. I don’t see any need to perpetuate my series. I’m unimpressed with a lot of the collaborations between authors I see. I’m even less impressed by series taken over after an author dies by someone with a different ‘voice’. If I’d set deadlines and obligations for myself moving would have been very stressful. I need to be a caregiver to my wife and that can’t be put off to finish a book by a specific date. Things are better now. We have a cleaning lady every Wednesday and relatives nearby helping us. It’s cheaper living here also. I could drop dead tomorrow – one never knows – but I will try to get a few more books out for you before I croak. They will however just be mine. – Mac’

  10. Nick March 17, 2023 at 12:17 pm #

    You must be close to finishing April 14, LauryDahners is working on Donsaii 17!!!!
    If they come out together —- decisions, decisions—-what to read first?

    Idea – 2 of my favourite authors meet for a meal and a chat.
    Near the end of the meal a stranger walks in and sits at their table.
    Both stare at him.
    He says ‘Sorry to bother you, but could you give me some advice’.
    Before they can reply he carries on ‘I have a ship full of alien tech and I need advice on how not to start World War 3’.

    Ideas I can do, write books? No, sorry.

  11. Nick March 28, 2023 at 5:41 am #

    How is the weather where you are.
    After the twisters in mississippi, I thought of you.

    • Mac March 31, 2023 at 10:53 am #

      Nothing near me in NC.

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