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Ogden Messiah/Synopsis

Currently Seeking Agent or Publisher

On Special Agent Jackson Colston’s first day of vacation --a cold, clear night in the desert --he is beaten by a group of white men and tied to the grill of a pick-up truck.  Against all odds he does not die; he meets a stranger. A gentleman, a professor and a dead shot with a pistol. Their scramble to survive marks the beginning of an ominous journey: two lost souls brought together by chance and plunged into a desperate struggle to bring justice to millions.

Ogden Messiah takes place in Utah’s Canyonlands, a shadowy landscape crowded with mesas, juniper trees, and jackrabbits. Through its dark valleys the duo embark on a journey of self discovery; both with secrets to reveal and pasts to reconcile. During their journey Jackson discovers that the rogue professor is on the verge of embezzling millions of dollars from an I.R.S computer (a bold scam that will counterfeit refund checks and deliver them to blacks for slave reparations.) But time is running out. Pursued by super agent Mathew Fay, Jackson and the stranger’s motivations become increasingly entangled. Jackson, a black man and a federal agent, faces a searing choice: Does he help put the stranger behind bars or does he help execute his plan, bringing on the wrath of the United States government? (During one of their arguments, Jackson tries to convince the stranger that his plan is futile, citing that the government will simple declare the checks null and void. The stranger counters that his actions will incite a national debate –one that is long over due.)

Jackson ultimately decides to assist the stranger, which makes him a co-conspirator. To further complicate matters, it is learned that Professor Jeremiah T. Brown (the stranger) has a brain tumor and is living on borrowed time. 

Meanwhile, Mathew Fey, Western Division Assistant Director at the Seattle F.B.I. Headquarters must break from convention to close in on his prey. Jackson is soon contacted by his boss and is forced to play both sides. Fey insists that he remain undercover and a willing participant until all involved are exposed.

To cover unanticipated seed capital demanded by a slimy bureaucrat conspirer, Jeremiah T. Brown attempts to rob another bank.  The robbery goes haywire. A bank teller is shot, but in the confusion Jackson and the professor escape. The two men are chased into the confusion of a Native American powwow where Mathew Fey is accidentally shot by Captain Riker, who commands the local state troopers. 

           Bewildered, Jackson takes the original disk containing the virus from the dying Fey and travels to Four Corners Monument, where he and the professor prearranged to meet. He finds the professor close to death and assures him that his bold scheme is still on track (Jackson is lying, or at least he thinks he is). In their final conversation Jackson helps Jeremiah find peace and redemption from his troubled past in which he and a group of boys treed and killed a black boy. Swayed by the professor’s dying words (and his own loyalties) Jackson leaves the scene. In the closing chapter he hurries the disk back to Ogden, and with help from a surprising source, feeds the disk into the Internal Revenue Service’s computer, ensuring the professor's planned reparation.

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Global Warming

“Global Warming” is a timely love-story, dressed up as a treaty on climate change. Here’s the pitch: A science teacher/aspiring writer, returns to school for professional development and falls head-over-heels for a “lithe and lovely” 20 year old college student. Both are enrolled in a class which examines the nuances of global warming. They pass notes, flirt and slowly a relationship evolves. But soon, Julian, a hopeless romantic, discovers that Allison is due to marry her high school sweetheart. He risks all to impress her, seduce her, and steal her away --including his job. During a final exam, Julian reads a treaty on the social economics of climate change. (Students are asked by the professor to assume and play the role of a Kyoto treaty constituent and he goes the extra mile by dressing as a Brazilian dictator!) In this scene, between passages of political debate, I’ve woven in a divine poem written centuries ago by Sappho. Allison is moved by his courtship and the real heartache begins.

This story has it all: bikers, twisted fairytales, a sarcastic, Kerouac-loving, cynical friend who can cite Hemmingway passages with a cigarette hanging from his mouth and a beer in one hand and his member in the other. It has foreplay, after-play, easy to understand climate schematics, schoolchildren debating the philosophical underpinnings of Alice in Wonderland, rejection, respite, acceptance and rejection again. It will give women a gritty behind-the-scene look at their would-be seducers.

I use the warming of the planet as a subtle metaphor, symbolizing the intense relationship between Julian and Allison. This story is certainly a romance, but only on the surface. Look closer at this hybrid and you’ll find not only an effective explanation of global warming, but also a deeply philosophical story addressing the fate of a romantic who can’t help but break his own heart.

“Global Warming: A Love Story” is a professionally edited, literary fiction, 52,000 word story that will make women swoon and men laugh. Currently Seeking Agent or Publisher

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