DAYTONA DEAD
by
KAREN H. VAUGHAN
INTERVIEW
Where do your ideas come from?
Mostly inside my head daring me to write them or ideas from friends
What is your favorite line from one of your books?
From my w.i.p. DEAD MEN DON’T SWING –Laura: Stella, I know you consider yourself a smart woman but right now you are down to two brain cells and they are limping.
Do you have any favorite characters?
Laura Hamilton-Fitz and Dave Meecham from DAYTONA DEAD
What character from any of your books would you invite out to dinner? Why?
I would like to sit down with Shelley from DEAD COMIC STANDING. She is funny and talented and smart to boot
What are your hopes and dreams for your future in the writing world?
Entertain people with my work and make a bit of money doing it.
How do you define success as an author?
Have people asking you for more stories.
Favorite writing quote?
Not sure I have a favorite quote.
What are you working on now?
Book four of my series is front and center then there are some other romances I am working on.
Book Excerpt from DAYTONA DEAD ~
Prologue --Blood on the Grille
The moon was high and a thousand stars appeared in the Florida sky. The sunset had been glorious, a flaming orange glow with pink undertones.
Lou had taken up photography as a hobby since moving to the Daytona Beach area. Lou, a Canadian, had been lured to the area by a guy on the Dudes seeking Dudes website. Having broken up with his long time love, Richard, he had been itching to leave Toronto behind, along with a broken heart and ten years of bad memories. His marriage to Laura had died on Speaker’s Corner and it was time to leave the crap and the cold behind, in favour of a warmer climate and palm trees. Ironically, Laura, the ex, had written him a glowing letter of reference for his work visa. He had applied via an online job search engine, and told his internet paramour he was heading to Florida to make a go of his career and a new life south of the Mason Dixon Line.
So today after putting in an eight hour shift, he went home and grabbed a shower and changed into beach shorts and a clean T-shirt sporting the slogan Just Grill Me. He had invested in a Digital SLR for taking some great landscape shots to post on Face book. He found that he loved photography and if his life as a chef sputtered, now he had a back-up plan.
Before meeting up with his new guy, Gary, he headed off to the beach to take some shots of the area. While Daytona was not the prettiest beach in Florida, Lou found some of the scenery to be rough, yet photo-worthy. He was leaving the beach when he spotted what looked to be a vintage 1940’s Chevy, black as the abyss. The car looked like something out of a film noir gangster flick. Either way the car was a real beauty. He set up a few shots and started shooting. He didn’t stay long as this was encroaching on a seedier part of town where hookers plied their trade and bums wandered around with liquor bottles and another night of brown bagging their hooch and begging before passing out in an alleyway.
He was on his tenth picture when a gravelly voice yelled out behind him.
“Just what the hell do you think you’re doing, asshole?”
Lou jumped back at the sound and turned around to see the meanest looking S.O.B. he had set eyes on, since his father’s last drinking binge a few years earlier.
This guy looked huge and a tad ornery, even in the moonlight. “Well boy, what’s wrong? Cat got yer tongue? If ya don’t say something soon, I may just beat it out of you."
“Just admiring your car man; it’s a classic.”
The big mean dude seemed to warm some at the compliment but reverted to his menacing stance quickly, “Thanks. She is a beauty isn’t she? How long were you skulking around my car? You didn’t touch her did ya?”
Lou began to sweat. This guy was getting way too intense over a car. He tried backing away but the bigger man was getting in his face about the whole deal. Finally Lou started to run and the guy backed off. Then he heard the engine start and looked behind him. The car was coming right at him!
Holy shit!! What did this asshole want? “It’s just a freaking’ car dude; damn”; Lou was incredulous that this guy was going ape-shit over a set of wheels as nice as they were.
He ducked down an alley, around the corner and thought he was safe. Then he heard it again. He looked to his left and the son of a bitch was still coming for him.
Lou took a deep breath, and promised himself that if he ever got out of this mess he’d start getting in better shape. ‘Dude you’re barely thirty six and you run like an old man.’ The car was catching up to him, it wasn’t stopping either. For whatever reason this shithead wanted him dead! For the life of him, Lou could not figure out what had gone wrong. He felt the bumper hit the back of his legs sending him flying in the air. He came down with a thud on the hood of the car and his head hit the windshield before he rolled off the car, and was dragged under the front wheels of the car. The car backed up and left the body where it lay; somewhere in Lou’s pocket, a cell phone was ringing.
MEET THE AUTHOR
Karen Vaugan is a first-time author who enjoys reading and writing. She is a part of Class 1983 at Applewood Heights Secondary School at Mississauga, ON.
She is married with one daughter, and four stepchildren. She has two cats at home. She has a warped sense of humor and sees the lighter side of things.
Find Karen's books on Amazon.com
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