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On the eve of President John F. Kennedy's final trip to Dallas, an irreverent narrator from the Ether begins to reveal the hidden chain of events that history never recorded. Spanning decades and weaving together Hollywood legends, political dynasties, secret affairs, and forgotten tragedies, Coincidence imagines how seemingly unrelated lives become entangled in the most infamous assassination of the twentieth century. From Joseph P. Kennedy and Gloria Swanson to Jackie Kennedy, Mary Pinchot Meyer, and the young Lee Harvey Oswald, every choice, passion, and betrayal sends ripples through time. Behind every headline lies another story, and every story hides a secret long buried. As the strands converge on November 22, 1963, the line between fate and accident begins to blur. Rich in historical detail and provocative speculation, Coincidence asks: was it really coincidence at all?
EXCERPT ONE:
Jackie rarely consulted him about her clothing. Her sense of style, if not her sense of humor, was notorious.
“The pink.”
She seemed surprised. “Why the pink?”
“Texas. All those tired cowgirls raising their brat kids to be Miss America. They adore pink in Texas.”
The First Lady eyed the pink at arm’s length. She shrugged. “Okay. The pink.”
“But the hat,” POTUS said, “could you do without the hat. I hate those things.”
Jackie shook her head.
“I’ll need the hat. Without the bubble top on, my hair would be a mess.”
The president leaned back against the pillows on his rock-hard bed, supine in his boxers and the argyles Bobby had given him which bore the presidential seal. He grinned.
“Remember the times when we would drift down the Potomac, standing by the rail, the wind blowing wildly through your hair, and there on the river in the middle of the city you would sink sexily to your knees…”
“Drop dead, Mr. President.” Words Jackie would soon want back.
The door to Suite 850 opened and George Lapp entered to help The President dress. He nodded at Jackie. He had seen her naked many times and was indifferent to the marital scenario into which he had strolled. Jackie smiled curtly and sidled toward her own room to don the pink Chanel, including its matching hat.
Before she left, the President grinned and said to his valet. “I might need the back brace today, George, had a strenuous night.”
GUEST POST:
Fierce Female Lead Characters...
My latest historical meta-fiction novel orbits around the assassination of President John Kennedy. The lead characters are, alas, male because that is the history of that event. That said...I think Jackie Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe and Sharman Rowe (aka Zelda Fitzgerald) are portrayed as strong, effective women swimming upstream in a male dominated time and place. They hold their own against the blithely sexist man-sphere they inhabit...they're wise to the often silly, and sometimes dangerous, risk taking of the men they bump up against, occasionally between the sheets. They know what they want and fight hard for their own prerogatives and their own place and dignity.
But history is history and their actual life journeys are well known. Even though my novel is a meta-fiction, I did not go Tarantino on the basic historical narrative and create an alternative universe for the ultimate fate of these characters to change from what is common knowledge.
My previous novel..."Bad Consequence...Tales of an Amish Samurai"...stars an extraordinary female protagonist. The story is about an Amish farm girl who is the love-child daughter of a free-spirited Amish girl from Florida and a lovable, but deadly Dexter-like< serial killer who has a pathological hatred of "bullies" and travels around Florida delivering imaginative final reckonings on said bullies. His daughter, who was raised by her uncle in Pennsylvania and is named Bethquinn (Quinn) Clark, is her father's daughter.
At eighteen, Quinn goes forth on her rumspringa (her year of freedom from Amish life) and commits a couple of cold-blooded eliminations of very worthy villains who cross her path. Given her Amish background, local law enforcement has no clue as to identity, but an eagle-eyed recruiter for the NSA recognizes her skill sets and offers her a position within the NSA's very secret "wet-works" unit. Her only requirement is that the job will allow her to punish "bullies, " like her old man.
The novel is episodic in tracing her development from a teenager into the NSA's most lethal and feared assassin. or as she prefers " Samurai." Her code name at the NSA is Bad Consequence, based on her initials of BC. One episode involves her teaming with her dad, off the books, to help her mother and neighbors fend off and permanently punish some rapacious Florida developers.
Along the way, Quinn forms a bond with another female NSA killer, a lacrosse captain at the Naval Academy and the illegitimate child of Ukrainian President Zelinsky who is being stalked by the Russian Wagner Group. She is a wry and, when deserved, sympathetic observer of the human condition. But when her red line is crossed, she is a ruthless and brutal black angel of moral rectitude.
In writing her, my mind cast Scarlett Johanssen in the role of Quinn Clark. She strikes me as a particularly strong, funny female role model...able to switch off her dominant humanity when circumstances require her to do so. For her dialogue, I actually tried to channel the wise, street snark of Lois Lane with the fictional Spenser (Robert Parker) and certain Carl Hiasson female characters. She's a very aware empathetic sociopath who is warm, funny and giving...until she isn't.
To be fair, the villains in my novel are cartoon evil, including Osama bin Laden) so Quinn's relative heroism is easy to paint. I've joked in interviews that my basic narrative arc in much of my fiction is...strong female protagonists, cartoon villains and a happy, almost Hallmark, ending. That was certainly the undercarriage of "Bad Consequence."
AUTHOR BIO & LINK:
Jon Ketzner was born in Cumberland, Maryland in the lovely Appalachian foothills. He grew up in Baltimore then graduated from Towson University with a degree in mathematics and went on to a long career as a consulting actuary. For many years, Jon and his family lived in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania before moving back to Cumberland in 1990.
As a recovering actuary and inspired by the Maryland Writers Association’s “Notable Authors” monthly challenges, Jon decided to try his hand at writing and give his left-brain side a rest. He cites as influences: Henry Fielding, Joseph Heller, Gregory McDonald, and Tim Dorsey.
Goodreads Author Page:
As a recovering actuary and inspired by the Maryland Writers Association’s “Notable Authors” monthly challenges, Jon decided to try his hand at writing and give his left-brain side a rest. He cites as influences: Henry Fielding, Joseph Heller, Gregory McDonald, and Tim Dorsey.
Goodreads Author Page:
GIVEAWAY:
