Impostor Assassin

Chapter 1-4

I SPENT THE WEEKEND with Grandma. She kept herself busy around the home. I would visit her whenever I could almost twice a week. I would do some shopping for her. But, Grandma was not helpless, she loved to do her own cleaning, washing and cooking. The local Church group would visit my grandmother once a week and do some cleaning and cooking for her, especially when she was not well. When grandfather passed away she was in shock for a full week. They were very close and they doted on one another. It was a chance meeting at a country fair, when they met. Grandfather would tell us the long story about how he first spotted his one true love and he rescued her when she was sitting on a large Ferris wheel which suddenly came to an abrupt halt. He was a young man of twenty, tall and strong and he was a hero as he carried the pretty girl down in his arms. Three hours later the Ferris wheel was fixed. Grandmother did not remember much of what happened that day and always said that the whole episode was very fuzzy. But, then again Grandfather was a great storyteller and everyone would be entranced hearing his enthralling stories, every evening and on cold wintry nights.

I was treated to a lot of tasty food. I used this time to go through all Grandfather’s papers, books and manuscripts. I tallied them with the small book I had found with the list, which Grandfather had made.

Grandpa’s writings were on a variety of topics, from notes of his days in the army, to genealogical research notes, to short stories and about ten fully completed manuscripts.

In his lifetime Grandpa received a lot of rejection letters from publishers. Most of the book publishers and literary agents worked for either directly or indirectly with SWAMP the largest publishers in the world. SWAMP was an acronym for Serving the World in All Market Places. When SWAMP was created over half a century ago by the President of the World Council of Commerce it had a positive vision. The largest marketplace in the world SWAMP was now changed into a controlling force which manipulated all sectors of world markets and even controlled over ninety per cent of the professions of the world. The SWAMP Academies and Vocational training Centres were thriving institutions which trained the professionals of the future. SWAMP also received a ten percent of all salaries earned by every person employed in companies owned and controlled by the company.

It was always very difficult to know who worked for SWAMP because almost everyone did directly or indirectly. SWAMP was present everywhere and when someone would do something good in the world, they were always on the look-out for the Harbingers of evil.

The Post Office where I worked was owned and managed by SWAMP. Grandfather Joe was a carpenter and made the most beautiful cabinets. He was not a part of the SWAMP workforce and preferred to stay that way during his life. All his writings and his literary endeavors were rejected repeatedly because independent publishing was not encouraged. When there were writers making loads of money on the SWAMP marketplace, it was because it was made possible by the clever market machinations, metrics and manipulations of SWAMP.

I needed to focus on why I was here sorting papers. I was now more than motivated to continue my work, as Grandma brought me a cup of tea. I loved drinking tea, I had a cup almost every hour a day. I know it is a bit too much, but then I guess it is an addiction, which helped me with my writing and relaxation.

Grandma had a collection of herbal teas which she liked me to taste. Some of the aromas were simply out of this world and some were horrendous.

I had developed an interest in writing and publishing. I worked as a Proof-Reader and Literary Agent part-time for a publishing firm.

The main focus in the world of publishing is on getting more readers for books and ebooks. However, it now needs to shift to encouraging more authors to publish their work, while giving them the support of established publishers. It was my wish to make authors rock stars. It is about time that the work of authors is recognized and that they get rewarded for their writings.

Newsletters and e-newsletters with Book news is filled with articles on the latest bestsellers, book deals, book fairs and appointments at publishing houses. There are a few which also report new publishing trends. What is missing from all these publishing newsletters is the opening of avenues to independent authors.

Independent authors and publishing news is absent from Publishing Newsletters. Will this change in future? Can we only hope that there will be a meeting of minds to make a unified approach to publishing possible?

Most Independent Authors struggle to solve the puzzle of first time authors getting unbelievable book deals with publishing houses. If the world has never heard of an author, who has no readers and no proof of having a marketable book, how is it possible for the author to secure a million dollar book deal?

Does the answer lie with the Literary agents who have a powerful influence with Publishers in order to get the best deals for debut authors?

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THE MANUSCRIPT THAT stood out for me was titled “Captive Heiress” and had to be the one I would publish first. It was the story of a young woman who was kidnapped while on her way to work as a fashion designer. The lady was divorced and she had two young children. After she was kidnapped her captor gave her a drug which erased her memory. The young lady’s captor was shocked to discover that the woman he had abducted was a wealthy heiress. He had married the lady and he kept trying to get the lady’s memory back but it was too late. She never saw her children grow up. Her memory never returned. Her husband c*m captor kept trying different ways to get her to remember who she was but it was too late. An impostor had claimed the fortune and her husband and captor had lost the claim to all the wealth he could have had.