John Knoerle - Author Guest Post

Today, I have the great pleasure of welcoming John Knoerle, author of A Pure Double Cross: Book One of the American Spy Trilogy, to Cafe of Dreams! I have to say that I love the cover of this book and think that it sounds very intriguing!

Thank you, Mr. Knoerle, for taking the time to stop by and leave us with a wonderful and delightful Guest Post!

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How I Became a Writer

I grew up knowing that I would go into business, like my father, his father and my mother’s father before me. I harbored no deep-seated yearnings to be a ‘creative artist.’ We were business people, plain and simple.

I permitted myself one artistic passion. I loved music, even though I had no talent for making it. So I collected records. I especially enjoyed classic American blues, from Robert Johnson to Muddy Waters. This led me to hosting a blues program on my campus radio station at the University of California at Santa Barbara.

I was an awful deejay at first - stiff, scared spitless. But I loosed up over time and plugged along till I found myself the Program Director. This was heady stuff for a nineteen-year-old. But I never imagined a career outside the world of business. Until one fateful day in Production Studio B.

I had been a class clown in grammar school and active in the Theatre Guild in high school. Big deal. But all of those creative juices came to a boil when a celebrity graced the humble studios of KCSB. David Ossman, a leading member of the Firesign Theatre, suddenly appeared to record a promo for a local appearance. (For those unfamiliar with Firesign they were a group of four satirists wildly popular with the campus crowd in the 70s.)

Ossman was accompanied by two members of a Santa Barbara comedy troupe, The DeLuxe Radio Theater. I operated the board while they improvised their way through several witty and hilarious thirty second spots.

I was awestruck. Where did they come up with this stuff? It seemed magical to me. When they breezed out about half an hour later I knew what I wanted to do with my life.

I wangled my way into the DeLuxe Brothers, as they were known, a few months later, only to discover that I was expected to contribute material if I wanted to stay. And I DID want to stay.

I had a decent voice, I could do some fun characters. But could I WRITE?

Funny what you find out about yourself when challenged. I COULD write, though it was pure torture. Pen in hand at midnight after a hard day’s work, scribbling sentences then scratching them out, my girlfriend miffed that I wouldn’t come to bed. A two page skit took forever. I remember thinking ‘How do people ever write three hundred page books??’

The same torturous way, as it turns out. Though at sixty years old I no longer write after midnight.

Those wildly improvisational comedians I so envied in Studio B forty years ago weren’t magicians, spinning gold out of straw. They had a world of talent, no question. But they immersed themselves in the work of their predecessors, honed their craft in front of live audiences and generally proved Thomas Edison’s adage that "Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration."

And that’s how they came up with all that magical stuff.

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About the book:

Cleveland, Ohio, 1945. Hal Schroeder returns from a two-year stint behind German lines as an undercover agent for the OSS. The horrors of war have left him bitter and cynical. He is recruited by the FBI to infiltrate a local mob that is pulling bank heists. The feds have concocted a sting operation to capture the head of the gang and they want Hal to execute it. He agrees. But Hal Schroeder is no longer interested in being a hero. Hal Schroeder is interested in a fat payday.

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Excerpt:

People are so depressingly predictable. The guy from the gambling club – the scowling guy with the downsloped mug – he yanked his nickel-plated from his armpit holster when I mentioned I was working for the FBI.The barrel felt warm against my temple. I sniffed and made a face. “Your gun smells like BO.”He cocked the hammer.

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I had my weapon in hand by this time. The one in my right pocket, the .44 Special that Jimmy had given me. I pointed it at the attacker’s head and clicked and clicked and clicked.

Jimmy smiled and swung his pig snout sawed-off in my direction. I said my goodbyes.
The Schooler directed his Beretta at Jimmy’s midsection. “You don’t want to do that Jimmy.”

“Why not?”

Jimmy wore a simian grin that ran up both sides of his face and squeezed his beaked nose down to his chin. He sure looked like he wanted to do it.

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About John Knoerle:

John Knoerle began his creative endeavors in the early 70s as a member of the DeLuxe Radio Theatre, a comedy troupe in Santa Barbara. He went on to work as a reporter for AP Radio in New York, then moved to LA and did stand-up comedy, opening for the likes of Jay Leno and Robin Williams.

Knoerle wrote the screenplay Quiet Fire, which starred Karen Black and Lawrence Hilton Jacobs, and the stage play The He-Man Woman Hater’s Club, an LA Time’s Critic’s Choice. He worked as a staff writer for Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion, and he wrote, voiced and produced hundreds of radio spots as Creative Director of Sound Concepts Inc.

Knoerle moved to Chicago in 1996 with his wife Judie. His first novel, “Crystal Meth Cowboys,” was optioned by Fox TV. His second novel, “The Violin Player,” won the Mayhaven Award for Fiction.

John Knoerle’s new novel, “A Pure Double Cross,” is the first volume of a 1940s spy trilogy featuring former OSS agent Hal Schroeder. The second volume, “A Despicable Profession,” will be published in late 2009.

You can learn more about John Knoerle at http://www.bluesteelpress.com/ .

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Win Prizes!

A PURE DOUBLE CROSS VIRTUAL BLOG TOUR '09 will officially begin on March 2 and end on March 27, '09. You can visit John's blog stops at www.virtualbooktours.wordpress.com in March to find out more about this talented author!

As a special promotion for all our authors, Pump Up Your Book Promotion is giving away a FREE virtual book tour to a published author or a $50 Amazon gift certificate to those not published who comments on our authors' blog stops. More prizes will be announced as they become available.