Joshua
Appearances- Lost in Wildwood, Tina and the Big Bad Wolf
“For all his faults, he always listened. It was the feature that had attracted her most. Joshua could ignore the loud music of the club or the grating noise of great clusters of men huddled in groups at the bar. Even her nakedness had never fazed him. He always met her with the same patient expression, the same crooked smile when she tried to make him laugh.
The same trait repulsed her after they became lovers. Joshua never stopped listening, even when she wanted to be alone, even when she shouted at him, even when they had sex. When she wanted him to lose control, Joshua just stayed quiet, waiting for her to fill the silence, watching her with eyes that blinked no more than a snake's.”
Excerpt from Tina and the Big Bad Wolf
(Photo Courtesy of Petr Novak, Wikipedia)
from Wikimedia Commons
Appearances- Lost in Wildwood, Tina and the Big Bad Wolf
“For all his faults, he always listened. It was the feature that had attracted her most. Joshua could ignore the loud music of the club or the grating noise of great clusters of men huddled in groups at the bar. Even her nakedness had never fazed him. He always met her with the same patient expression, the same crooked smile when she tried to make him laugh.
The same trait repulsed her after they became lovers. Joshua never stopped listening, even when she wanted to be alone, even when she shouted at him, even when they had sex. When she wanted him to lose control, Joshua just stayed quiet, waiting for her to fill the silence, watching her with eyes that blinked no more than a snake's.”
Excerpt from Tina and the Big Bad Wolf
(Photo Courtesy of Petr Novak, Wikipedia)
from Wikimedia Commons
Nick
Appearances- Lost in Wildwood, Jocelyn's War
“'Are you ready for what comes next?' Nick's voice took on a machine gun quality when he got excited. One syllable shot after another before the listener had a chance to duck.
'What do you mean?' Joshua asked. 'Lunch? I feel like pizza.'
'No, asshole,' said Nick. He was gazing out the window like a sea captain surveying some savage, unmapped rock in the middle of a wild sea instead of a row of bland condominiums. 'The Big Time. This job's going to give us a stake.'
'You going to make yourself the president of the new Korean Mafia?' Joshua teased.
'Hey! Fuck all mafias! Ten years from now, kids aren't even going to know what that word means. The old gangs are dying. All the action is going to be run by freelance crews. No more bullshit rules. No more free spaces for guys who didn't earn it. No more trading on who your father was or where you came from.'
'This is a one time job for me, kid,' said Joshua. 'Count me out of the world conquest meetings.'
'I can't promise the world,' Nick said with a smile. 'But a whole life upgrade, for sure. Cool cars. Big-titted girlfriends. Maybe a place in Wildwood.'"
Excerpt from Lost in Wildwood
(Photo Courtesy of Tony Alter)
CCLC
Appearances- Lost in Wildwood, Jocelyn's War
“'Are you ready for what comes next?' Nick's voice took on a machine gun quality when he got excited. One syllable shot after another before the listener had a chance to duck.
'What do you mean?' Joshua asked. 'Lunch? I feel like pizza.'
'No, asshole,' said Nick. He was gazing out the window like a sea captain surveying some savage, unmapped rock in the middle of a wild sea instead of a row of bland condominiums. 'The Big Time. This job's going to give us a stake.'
'You going to make yourself the president of the new Korean Mafia?' Joshua teased.
'Hey! Fuck all mafias! Ten years from now, kids aren't even going to know what that word means. The old gangs are dying. All the action is going to be run by freelance crews. No more bullshit rules. No more free spaces for guys who didn't earn it. No more trading on who your father was or where you came from.'
'This is a one time job for me, kid,' said Joshua. 'Count me out of the world conquest meetings.'
'I can't promise the world,' Nick said with a smile. 'But a whole life upgrade, for sure. Cool cars. Big-titted girlfriends. Maybe a place in Wildwood.'"
Excerpt from Lost in Wildwood
(Photo Courtesy of Tony Alter)
CCLC
Jocelyn
Appearances- Jocelyn's War
“So this is what people see, thought Jocelyn. Inside the mirror there floated a neat little face, so round it was almost a circle. Two dark slits stared over a pair of perfect cheekbones. Jocelyn lifted the edges of her mouth to make the smile that so many people admired. Porcelain teeth pushed effortlessly through her lips, meeting in two even rows so white they practically shone. "Like an angel," people said. She could always tell when that comparison was coming, usually from an older woman who was pinching her flesh.
The rational part of her knew she was lucky to have received this face, but the overall effect had never satisfied. As a girl, she sometimes thought God had given her this nose as a joke, like when the animals on cartoons wore clothes. It was not ugly, but it was not delicate, the way a nose should be. It just lay there, in the center of it all, a gray cloud in a starry sky.
Yet, over the years, Jocelyn had learned even her nose played it's part. Most pretty girls melt into the memory of all the other pretty girls in the world. Her nose stamped her image in people's minds. It made her the owner and operator of her own beauty.
Jocelyn forever marveled how people were drawn to this face. Boys had found her when she was young, but they rarely showed her the empty lust they flung at other girls. They didn't dare take careless chances, always afraid they'd lose that smile. Women, girls, and old men liked this face too. People were nice to Jocelyn who were nice to no one else. They discovered in her a long lost sister, daughter, ghost of a dead lover. Somewhere in those radiant teeth and the inelegant nose, they always seemed to find what they were missing.
Jocelyn wished she could say the same.”
Excerpt from Jocelyn's War
(Photo Courtesy of Paleontour)
CCLC
Appearances- Jocelyn's War
“So this is what people see, thought Jocelyn. Inside the mirror there floated a neat little face, so round it was almost a circle. Two dark slits stared over a pair of perfect cheekbones. Jocelyn lifted the edges of her mouth to make the smile that so many people admired. Porcelain teeth pushed effortlessly through her lips, meeting in two even rows so white they practically shone. "Like an angel," people said. She could always tell when that comparison was coming, usually from an older woman who was pinching her flesh.
The rational part of her knew she was lucky to have received this face, but the overall effect had never satisfied. As a girl, she sometimes thought God had given her this nose as a joke, like when the animals on cartoons wore clothes. It was not ugly, but it was not delicate, the way a nose should be. It just lay there, in the center of it all, a gray cloud in a starry sky.
Yet, over the years, Jocelyn had learned even her nose played it's part. Most pretty girls melt into the memory of all the other pretty girls in the world. Her nose stamped her image in people's minds. It made her the owner and operator of her own beauty.
Jocelyn forever marveled how people were drawn to this face. Boys had found her when she was young, but they rarely showed her the empty lust they flung at other girls. They didn't dare take careless chances, always afraid they'd lose that smile. Women, girls, and old men liked this face too. People were nice to Jocelyn who were nice to no one else. They discovered in her a long lost sister, daughter, ghost of a dead lover. Somewhere in those radiant teeth and the inelegant nose, they always seemed to find what they were missing.
Jocelyn wished she could say the same.”
Excerpt from Jocelyn's War
(Photo Courtesy of Paleontour)
CCLC
Bobby “the Beast”
Appearances- Jocelyn's War, The Tarleton Way
"'Make yourself at home.'
'I will.' The mouth that made the reply was already chewing a respectable portion of bacon. From the doorway, she watched the enormous back as ridges of muscle echoed the motion of the man's jaws. Most of his visible skin was emblazoned with black or red ink designs, pictures, slogans, warnings, stretching from the lower part of his torso to just under the greased porcupine quills that covered his head. A dozen scars cut the flesh in random patterns, jagged valleys bragging about the time, long ago, when they stretched deeper, even to the pulsing red ocean beneath. 'How was your night?'"
Excerpt from Jocelyn's War
(Image Courtesy of Oren neu dag)
from Wikipedia Commons
Appearances- Jocelyn's War, The Tarleton Way
"'Make yourself at home.'
'I will.' The mouth that made the reply was already chewing a respectable portion of bacon. From the doorway, she watched the enormous back as ridges of muscle echoed the motion of the man's jaws. Most of his visible skin was emblazoned with black or red ink designs, pictures, slogans, warnings, stretching from the lower part of his torso to just under the greased porcupine quills that covered his head. A dozen scars cut the flesh in random patterns, jagged valleys bragging about the time, long ago, when they stretched deeper, even to the pulsing red ocean beneath. 'How was your night?'"
Excerpt from Jocelyn's War
(Image Courtesy of Oren neu dag)
from Wikipedia Commons
Marty
Appearances- Lost in Wildwood, The Dead Pond, Jocelyn's War
“Joshua knew the little man even though he had never seen him before. Sitting on a patio chair, sipping lemonade, there was nothing about him that would have pricked Joshua’s suspicions without the gruff escort that delivered him here. His gray and white hair suggested he was somewhere in his seventies. In a golf shirt, khaki pants, and a round, floppy-brimmed hat, the man bore no signs of either official or presumed authority.
'Hello there,' said the man. He gestured for Joshua to sit at the chair across from him at a white, marble table.
'Hello,' Joshua said humbly. He had heard the man's name a hundred times during the course of his life, mostly in hushed voices out of Gaetan and a few others. His first name was Marcello, but he was always referred to as 'Marty,' and always in a pointed, solemn tone, as if there was not another 'Marty' in the whole world and never could be.
'Do you know who I am?' said Marty.
'Yes,' Joshua said, giving his voice as much authority as he could and still remain respectful.
'Good.' The old man said simply. 'It’s a pain in the ass explaining it to people.'”
Excerpt from Lost in Wildwood
(Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
CCLC
Appearances- Lost in Wildwood, The Dead Pond, Jocelyn's War
“Joshua knew the little man even though he had never seen him before. Sitting on a patio chair, sipping lemonade, there was nothing about him that would have pricked Joshua’s suspicions without the gruff escort that delivered him here. His gray and white hair suggested he was somewhere in his seventies. In a golf shirt, khaki pants, and a round, floppy-brimmed hat, the man bore no signs of either official or presumed authority.
'Hello there,' said the man. He gestured for Joshua to sit at the chair across from him at a white, marble table.
'Hello,' Joshua said humbly. He had heard the man's name a hundred times during the course of his life, mostly in hushed voices out of Gaetan and a few others. His first name was Marcello, but he was always referred to as 'Marty,' and always in a pointed, solemn tone, as if there was not another 'Marty' in the whole world and never could be.
'Do you know who I am?' said Marty.
'Yes,' Joshua said, giving his voice as much authority as he could and still remain respectful.
'Good.' The old man said simply. 'It’s a pain in the ass explaining it to people.'”
Excerpt from Lost in Wildwood
(Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
CCLC
Carlo
Appearances- Lost in Wildwood, Jocelyn's War
“A face like the rock of a dynamited mountain rose from the short blue horizon. Daniel felt the boys on either side of him tense. He knew they were waiting for the new arrival to speak, and he knew they waited for nothing. All was silent as the man climbed out of the car, walked to the front door, limping on the leg that always stiffened in the cold, and pulled a fistful of keys from his pocket.
Someone who didn't know better would have thought the man had not seen them.
Daniel followed, then the rest of the crew at a noticeable distance. The man snatched a barstool to rest his leg and watched the various workers file to their stations. Only Daniel remained in earshot.
'Drink, Dad?'
'No,' came the hoarse growl of Carlo Rinker. 'Why the fuck don't you have a key to this place?'"
Excerpt from Jocelyn's War
(Photo Courtesy of Petteri Sulonen)
CCLC
Appearances- Lost in Wildwood, Jocelyn's War
“A face like the rock of a dynamited mountain rose from the short blue horizon. Daniel felt the boys on either side of him tense. He knew they were waiting for the new arrival to speak, and he knew they waited for nothing. All was silent as the man climbed out of the car, walked to the front door, limping on the leg that always stiffened in the cold, and pulled a fistful of keys from his pocket.
Someone who didn't know better would have thought the man had not seen them.
Daniel followed, then the rest of the crew at a noticeable distance. The man snatched a barstool to rest his leg and watched the various workers file to their stations. Only Daniel remained in earshot.
'Drink, Dad?'
'No,' came the hoarse growl of Carlo Rinker. 'Why the fuck don't you have a key to this place?'"
Excerpt from Jocelyn's War
(Photo Courtesy of Petteri Sulonen)
CCLC
Gaetan
Appearances- Lost in Wildwood, Jocelyn's War
“'Fucking rings,' Gaetan spat as he handled the contents of Joshua’s bag. It had always been Gaetan’s contention that rings, as they could only fit a single finger size, were harder to sell than other types of jewelry. For all Joshua knew it was true, but he suspected it simply because it came from Gaetan. The tall, middle-aged man had been a fence for many years, and Joshua knew he was not above a lie that would let him fleece one of his suppliers a little.
Joshua had no complaints, however. Although he knew many members of his trade who would sell their own swag, he'd never found the energy to learn that side of the business. He did not even have enough knowledge to give Gaetan an argument. Besides, the process of haggling for a better price seemed was to Joshua in a way that breaking into people’s homes was not.
'C’mon, Gate’n,' Joshua said. 'I got somewhere to be.'
'Fuck you,' Gaetan growled from behind his desk. The voice was deep, and command was its customary tone. The older man was twice Joshua’s size, with broad shoulders and a cumbersome gut, yet his presence exuded far past his flesh. Everything in the cramped storage room where they sat seemed to have a layer of Gaetan on it an inch thick. Each lamp, chair, artificial plant, free-standing shelf, boudoir, painting, bed stand, two hundred-year-old crossed sword motif, pen, sled, and silver plate had been somehow tweaked or arranged so that it fit uniquely into the world inhabited by Gaetan. Joshua shifted in his chair a dozen times, but after each circle, he always felt as if he were staring Gaetan in the face. Joshua had known the man all his life, yet the moments of ease he could remember in Gaetan's presence were few.”
Excerpt from Lost in Wildwood
(Photo Courtesy of John5199)
CCLC
Appearances- Lost in Wildwood, Jocelyn's War
“'Fucking rings,' Gaetan spat as he handled the contents of Joshua’s bag. It had always been Gaetan’s contention that rings, as they could only fit a single finger size, were harder to sell than other types of jewelry. For all Joshua knew it was true, but he suspected it simply because it came from Gaetan. The tall, middle-aged man had been a fence for many years, and Joshua knew he was not above a lie that would let him fleece one of his suppliers a little.
Joshua had no complaints, however. Although he knew many members of his trade who would sell their own swag, he'd never found the energy to learn that side of the business. He did not even have enough knowledge to give Gaetan an argument. Besides, the process of haggling for a better price seemed was to Joshua in a way that breaking into people’s homes was not.
'C’mon, Gate’n,' Joshua said. 'I got somewhere to be.'
'Fuck you,' Gaetan growled from behind his desk. The voice was deep, and command was its customary tone. The older man was twice Joshua’s size, with broad shoulders and a cumbersome gut, yet his presence exuded far past his flesh. Everything in the cramped storage room where they sat seemed to have a layer of Gaetan on it an inch thick. Each lamp, chair, artificial plant, free-standing shelf, boudoir, painting, bed stand, two hundred-year-old crossed sword motif, pen, sled, and silver plate had been somehow tweaked or arranged so that it fit uniquely into the world inhabited by Gaetan. Joshua shifted in his chair a dozen times, but after each circle, he always felt as if he were staring Gaetan in the face. Joshua had known the man all his life, yet the moments of ease he could remember in Gaetan's presence were few.”
Excerpt from Lost in Wildwood
(Photo Courtesy of John5199)
CCLC
Tina
Appearances- Lost in Wildwood, The Dead Pond, Tina and the Big Bad Wolf
“'Are those foxes?' Tina asked, warily backing away from the fence.
'Yup,' said Joshua.
'They’re beautiful,' she said, more calmly.
'Yup,' said Joshua. 'So tell me. . . why didn’t you want to dance for me?'
Tina laughed. 'I just hate dancing for strangers. At the club, I have a lot of regulars.'
They could hear the crunching of the dog food in the distance. Sometimes, a piercing eye would flash back at them, reflected in the floodlight glare, or a new whine would come from their sharp maws, reminding the spectators just what it was they were watching.
Gaetan and Marty were chuckling at the foxes, calling them names and shouting encouragement. The noise didn’t seem to bother the hungry beasts, but they never let the four humans out of their field of vision, taking turns eating and watching. Once, all three stopped to stare at Joshua.
'I think they like you,' said Tina.
'I think they’re wondering what I taste like.'
'They must love Marty.'
'They’d love whoever fed them.'
Tina glanced over to make sure Marty was making too much noise to pay her any attention. 'Don’t we all.'”
Except from Lost in Wildwood
(Photo Courtesy of Steve Slater)
CCLC
Appearances- Lost in Wildwood, The Dead Pond, Tina and the Big Bad Wolf
“'Are those foxes?' Tina asked, warily backing away from the fence.
'Yup,' said Joshua.
'They’re beautiful,' she said, more calmly.
'Yup,' said Joshua. 'So tell me. . . why didn’t you want to dance for me?'
Tina laughed. 'I just hate dancing for strangers. At the club, I have a lot of regulars.'
They could hear the crunching of the dog food in the distance. Sometimes, a piercing eye would flash back at them, reflected in the floodlight glare, or a new whine would come from their sharp maws, reminding the spectators just what it was they were watching.
Gaetan and Marty were chuckling at the foxes, calling them names and shouting encouragement. The noise didn’t seem to bother the hungry beasts, but they never let the four humans out of their field of vision, taking turns eating and watching. Once, all three stopped to stare at Joshua.
'I think they like you,' said Tina.
'I think they’re wondering what I taste like.'
'They must love Marty.'
'They’d love whoever fed them.'
Tina glanced over to make sure Marty was making too much noise to pay her any attention. 'Don’t we all.'”
Except from Lost in Wildwood
(Photo Courtesy of Steve Slater)
CCLC