Writers Tricks of the Trade VOLUME 10 ISSUE 1 | Page 6

M ORGAN ’ S C ORNER
M ORGAN S T . J AMES , E DITOR
I
t is a new year, and many people are not sorry to see 2019 in the
rear view mirror. Let us just say it was a “most unusual” year, filled
with unexpected twists and turns like a suspense novel featuring
surprises around every corner. Some good, and some not very good. With the ushering in of 2020
no one knows how it will play out, so we will keep turning the pages and hope for the best.
W HY I USED THE PHRASE “ MOST UNUSUAL .”
Fun story. Back in another life when I was an
interior designer, my design partner and I
had a client who could be very charming if he
wanted something, but was a pushy Boston
publisher. He and his actress wife lived on an
estate complete with a live-in housekeeper
and a gardener to tend the extensive rose
gardens.
Anyway, this couple traveled a great deal and
when they were not there we dealt with the
housekeeper
while in the process of
completing the design of their interior. (I
used her profile in my novel Betrayed ) Iola
was a lovely, seemingly very respectful
woman. She actually came with the property
when they bought it. Whenever her employer
would do or say something insulting or
inappropriate, her comment would always be,
“He’s a most unusual gentleman, that Mr.
Hughes.” We thought it was a compliment.
That is, until the day we had to make a
delivery while they were out of the country.
By mistake my partner turned too sharply
going around the circular driveway, creating
deep tire tracks on the grass the driveway
bordered.
W INTER 2020
“How am I going to explain this to them? Can
the gardener fix it before they return?” my
partner moaned to the housekeeper who had
apparently taken advantage of their absence
and treated herself to some drinks. We had
never seen her like that before.
“Oh,” she said, with the hint of a slur. “He
won’t mind because he’s a most unusual
gentleman, that Mr. Hughes.” She paused for a
moment, a wicked smile lit her face and she
added, “That asshole.” From then on, we
knew “most unusual” was not a compliment
but a code. Codes can be an interesting device
when writing fiction. Something that appears
to be positive on the surface, but is anything
but positive.
W HAT IS AHEAD IN THE COMING YEAR ?
As always the quarterly issues, beginning
with this one, will be filled with informative
articles, short stories, conference listings,
industry news and more. If you wish to
submit an article or a suggestion for
something you would like to see, just refer to
the guidelines at the beginning of this issue.
I want to take this opportunity to thank
the writers who have become part of the
Writers’ Tricks of the Trade family. Their
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W RITERS ’ T RICKS OF THE T RADE