New Author's Interview of Edward C. Patterson by Fiona Mcvie

I really enjoyed giving this in-depth interview to Fiona. Hit the link and read the chat.
Thanks
Ed

FREE: April 21st & 22nd at Amazon Kindle Store: THE SAPPHIRE ASTONISHMENT - A NICK FIRESTONE MYSTERY by Edward C. Patterson

The Sapphire Astonishment — a Nick Firestone Mystery

by Edward C. Patterson

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MC58684

Excerpt:
Night fell on Ashbury Street as surely as the rain. The Painted Lady embraced its tenants (and a guest) and, although they were as dry as the situation permitted, the wind made for a damp companion — a chilled-to-the-bone companion. Garments were shod immediately and draped over towel racks and windowsills. Still, despite the weather’s relentless presence, Nick Firestone and friends managed to install themselves in their hospitable warren for the evening. There had been no further discussion — the race home silently stifled by tender considerations. Nor did the conversation blossom once they were in the loft — John quietly retreated to his room, while Nick slung the backpack on the bedroom chair. Still locked in his soul’s confusion, his heart rose when he saw Amy head for bed — in her nightie. No pajama slumber party this evening. Nick grinned, tried to put his troubles behind him and disrobed to his tighty whities, which were damp. But he knew they’d be gone soon after diving under the sheets.

Lust has a way of erasing, even for a moment, life’s quandary. No matter what brand of sexual indulgence on the mattress, the world flew to a zone devoid of heartaches and fears. That worry’s tidal wave would return after the primal urges were satisfied held no doubt, but at least they would wash up on a different shore — a shared margin where the honeyed waters’ sleek glistening anointed knotted breasts and loitered loins. It was neither love nor a lofty totem. Animalistic, it represented naught but a dash in time unless meant to produce a legacy, which in this case it was not. Still, erasing tension with an indelible memory was as fine a thing as could be imagined and, if it became a blister in the aftermath, could always be renewed on some future beach head.

Also Availble on KindleUnlimited

254 pages

What Readers say:

"The spirit of the Jade Owl Series next generation!!! With our older friends included!!! An amazimg start of a new series featuring Nicky F irestone and his friends." - ellen

"The Pricilla Queen of the Desert type romp over the Golden Gate Bridge in a convertible 1967 Cadillac was priceless." - S. M. Reaves

"This is a terrific way to fill a day! I purchased this book right after finishing the fifth book of The Jade Owl series. I really enjoyed reading about Nick Firestone along with John and Amy Gray in this new mystery series. I'm lookinf forward to reading the next book about Old Friend Cane." - Nancy.

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Book Description
The last time we encountered Nick Firestone (in The People’s Treasure and In the Shadow of Her Hem - Book 4 and 5 of The Jade Owl Legacy) he was a five year old scamp, precocious and filled with the spirit of adventure. Now he’s all grow’d up, as Simone DeFleurry would say, and itching for an occupation worthy of the scratch. It’s 2025 in San Francisco (post-earthquake of 2020) and things have changed for the adventurer as he wakes up to the sparkle of a rare relic – a Chinese hat-pin called The Sapphire Astonishment.

This first Nick Firestone mystery will take you on a wild ride through the city by the bay as young Firestone seeks the provenance of the curious hat-pin and its secrets. Many want this prize, including characters familiar to the readers of The Jade Owl Legacy series, but you won’t need that story to enjoy this one. So, slip into your eShirts and hold on to your gillifrickers for a ride down the hills of San Francisco into the world of the youngest China Hand. Your GlimmerGlasses will never feel the same.

This book is dedicated in Memory of Timothy Mulder — eBook author and pioneer.

Also available on Amazon
Old Friend Cane - the Second Nick Firestone Mystery on the Kindle and KindleUnlimited.

The Sapphire Astonishment — a Nick Firestone Mystery
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MC58684

My Call to Chinese History

 "Within these halls, the relics told their tales and slipped their secrets."

So I wrote in The Jade Owl, a short snippet of an undulating paragraph about the tales historic artifacts tell. And back in 1971, I first heard the cuckoo sing history's sweet song from the podium. First from the leader of the Hungarian Revolution, Bela Kiroly, and then from Mary Giles, a consummate lecturer on Ancient history, a woman who brought the old Roman threadbare jargon to life. Sumerians glowed; and I remember doing a paper on Hathor's mirror, which sat on a velvet drape at the Brooklyn Museum. Within these halls, the relics told their tales and let slip their secrets. Yessum. It was history for me.

And then there was Professor Hyman Kublin, who specialized in Japanese history. Ah! Japan.. The land of The Mikado (not really), but I was hooked forever . . . well not forever. Until Prof Kublin introduced me to a larger well—CHINA. Her blossoming fathomless sea of rich history, relics, lore, customs and immovable presence. I couldn't get enough of her . . . never have . . . never will.

Destiny knocked, and I cared little for the practicality of making a living as a Sinologist. I was still with a company that kept me fed (and would so 'til this day). I had scant notion of the job market or the glut of Sinophiles (unemployed ones). Still, China dominated all, including my writing. Suddenly hundreds of story possibilities came my way. So what did I do? I took a western-style tale and bent it a la Chinese. But it was an important tale. It was called Vagrants Hollow . It was my first mature novel. It concerned a Sung dynasty student and bureaucrat; and the death of his teacher - a murder mystery in 12th Century China. Why not? It had action, obsession and a twist ending (so twisty, it defied logic). Most important, it gave birth to my oldest fictional companion, Li K'ai-men (the scholar-official), whose story I tell. Little did I know then that Li and his ilk (his descendant Little Cricket figures heavily in later work), would burst through several works for the next forty years.

I also scrawled a few Chinese themed short stories, one of whichLaughing Dog reflected my knoledge as a Sinologist. It was sort of the Papago Wedding for the Chinese set. It also figured in the scheme of my writing, the basis for my play (1999) Fishing With Birds and the first sections of my novel (2002) Nan-ya, which has since become the Southern Swallow series (The Academician).

Yes, these were fecund times. I also was writing papers, the real work of the historian. I committed to it. I would walk in the wake of Marco Polo. I would do it, because . . . because the relics told their tales and slipped their secrets. I would tell the world. Finally, a reason for a writing life. And then, after 5 Jade Owl novels and 4 (soon to be 5) Southern Swallow works, Master Wu's Bride was born. Yes, a reason for living . . . to provide a voice to a woman from the past to today's women in this age of #MeToo.

Author Edward C. Patterson Urges Resistance

Well, at 70 I won't see the final crash and burn. But I am resolved to be a voice, a pen, a quill, and this will be my last Hurrah, since I can't repeat my trips in the 60's for Civil Rights, or serving my country in the military again like I did in the late 60's, or march against Nixon and protest at college in the 70's, or go into he field to aid the dying during the AIDS crisis, or march on Washington as I did in the 90's as a Gay activist. The 21st Century gives me only my voice and this wonderful social media extension.

I lived in the business world for how many years? I've been in it and still in it after 52 years. Applying business acumen to government by a bunch of billionaire vultures who probably have not even read the Constitution is not my idea of the vision of the Founding Fathers. Their vision was a WHITE only (even Native Americans were specifically proscribed in the Declaration of Independence) democracy where their special interests were served. We have grown from that narrow definition in the context of a liberally interpreted document. Remember - we are the great experiment, and perhaps the experiment has failed, especially when we managed to let a narcissistic sociopath slip into the executive position.

My dedication to diversity and an America as a beacon of hope for the entire world may be naive and fraught with idealism, but living here is not all beans and potatoes. It's breathing in the many cultures that have changed us. We have had a governmental system which has worked despite of its Byzantine attributes. Tearing it down will not restore us to the vision of the founding fathers, because that vision was myopic. It's the generations between that have made America great.

We evolve. We do not implode.

Thus, with the gifts I have - a voice, a pen, publication, social media - I will continue to inspire, piss-off and otherwise egg on those who can still march, shout, bray and shore up what we have rather than to replace it with a beehive of fascist uniformity. That is what history has taught me - European, Chinese and American History. And here I thought my legacy would be living out my days in quiet reticence. Nope.

"Do not go gentle into that good night."

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