Political Dirty Trick

For some time, I had been contemplating writing a story about a basically good person who is convinced to step over the line. Once over that line, the slope gets slippery. And it only gets slipperier as he or she moves.

I had intended to name the book, The Slippery Slope.

After watching national politics, I thought I might write a story about a political dirty trick. Please note, I was not, and am still not, taking sides. There were questionable activities on all sides. I had, and have, no political agenda in any of my writing. But authors need a background for the stories, and a real one works well if you are not writing fantasy.

Asking the important question for writers (What if?),  what if something went terribly wrong? There was an unexpected outcome.

Eventually, these two ideas came together to form the basis for Political Dirty Trick.

A woman who is a very law-abiding citizen gets talked into participating in a political dirty trick, or a podirt as they call it in the book. And then something goes wrong. She has crossed the line with this podirt. She is on the slippery slope. And it is so much more difficult to hold your ground, your normal behavior, when on a slippery slope.

In keeping with this theme of unexpected things, as I neared completion of the book, I discovered that an author I know was also completing a book and she had titled it, “A Slippery Slope.”  She assured me she would have no problem if I named my book the same.  But after some thought, I decided I would not do that. Rooting around for a title, I eventually came up with Political Dirty Trick.

It is set in Texas politics because all of my Crystal Moore suspense books are set in east Texas. Even when Crystal goes into the jungles of Mexico to rescue two young girls held captive (A Silver Medallion), much of the book takes place in east Texas. I doubt any political dirty tricks are ever employed in Texas politics. But, this is fiction, so I can take those liberties.

Political Dirty Trick will be released May 14, 2018. It is a nice suspense book with no basis in truth. But I believe you will enjoy the colorful characters, the suspense of keeping Crystal alive, and discovering what a dramatic affect this podirt had on a number of lives and an election.

Political Dirty Trick is on NetGalley, a site where readers can get a copy of the book with the expectation they will leave a review on Amazon and/or GoodReads.  NetGalley expects you to be a blogger, librarian, teacher, or what they call a “professional reader.”  That is, someone who will report on books to their readers. If you are interested, here is the link:  https://www.netgalley.com/widget/137928/redeem/f7beb8ab2448a2ffc3585a6b6b346f1fe652d229ebee86c662ca849d1a568266

The Kindle edition of Political Dirty Trick can be pre-ordered now on Amazon at: https://amzn.to/2pIHMqs

Cover decision this week – between:

Please comment on the covers, what you like and do not like.  And, feel free to leave a comment on the danger of stepping on a slippery slope.