THE TIME PATRIOT: Episode 1 by Kim Megahee - GIVEAWAY * GIVEAWAY * Spotlight & Excerpt & Interview
Excerpt from Chapter Five of THE TIME PATRIOT: EPISODE ONE – HAIL MARY PASS
Before Washington could speak, McKnight and Tyler stepped out of the trees with their sidearms in their hands. The robbers turned to them as McKnight spoke.
“Release him or you’ll answer to us. This gentleman is our companion and under our protection.”
The robbers spread out and raised their rifles.
“Just the two of you, then?” the leader said. “Not very good odds.”
McKnight whistled, and the rest of the team stepped out of the bushes, weapons trained on the robbers. “I won’t ask again. Lay down your weapons if you want to live.”
The bandits laid down their weapons, but the one named Sam drew a knife, leaped toward Washington, and held the blade to his throat.
“I think you are the ones who should lie down your weapons. Else, I’ll slice your benefactor’s throat. Your choice.”
McKnight didn’t blink.
“Hatcher?” he said.
“No shot, sir, I’ll hit the General.”
“Cutty?”
“I have him, sir. Say the word and I’ll blow his head off.”
“Wait, now wait!” David cried out and stepped forward with his hands out.
“Hold, Sam!” he said, and pointed at Washington. “Did you call him General? Who is he?”
Tyler spoke. “That’s General Washington. Did you fight with him during the war?”
Sam stepped away from Washington and dropped his knife.
“I did,” he said. “I’m sorry, sir.”
The other robbers hung their heads.
“We all did, sir,” David said, dropping Washington’s sword. “We wouldn’t have attacked if we’d
known it was you, sir. We’d sooner starve than hurt you.”
Several of the others nodded.
Hatcher bounded over and cut the ropes that bound Washington and Lee to the tree, then went to
secure the horses.
The general shrugged off the rope fragments, rubbed his wrists and, after a long look at Hatcher, he
approached McKnight and Tyler.
“Sirs, I beg you, please release these men. Their primary crime is being hungry, a common plight
in this part of the country. Three of them have already paid with their lives.”
Before they could reply, Washington did a double-take and stared at Tyler’s face.
“Colonel Tyler, isn’t it?” he said. “You look different.”
Tyler glanced at McKnight and winked with a smile.
McKnight could almost read his friend’s mind and sense his humor. “I’m a colonel, too.”
“Yes, General Washington. It’s me. May I present—”
“I know,” Washington said. “Colonel McKnight, I presume?”
McKnight was stunned. “How…?”
Washington looked him up and down.
“You’re not what I expected, sir. I look forward to talking with you, but we have an immediate
situation to resolve. What should we do with these men?”
David spoke up. “General Washington, you have our humblest apologies. We’ll accept and punishment you demand. We deserve it.”
Washington looked at McKnight, who gave a slight nod.
“When we were at war,” Washington said, “I had men flogged for stealing.”
He sighed.
“The war is over, and I’m a businessman now. I’m not inclined to punish these men. What about you, Colonel McKnight?”
“I’ll leave it to you, General. It’s to your discretion.”
Washington nodded and turned back to the robbers. He walked to David and picked up his sword. He looked him in the eye, then stepped back to address all the bandits.
“I am releasing you to go back to your homes. If I learn you are waylaying people on this trail again, I shall raise a force and come looking for you. I won’t be merciful the second time.”
He approached the leader David again. The man stared at the ground. Washington spoke in a low voice.
“Look at me, sir.”
David raised his face to Washington. Tears flowed down his cheeks.
“These men respect you, David,” Washington said. “You have influence over them. I’m counting on you to keep them on a Christian path. Don’t let them stray.”
“I will, sir,” he said. “I swear before God I will.”
“Good. Pick up your weapons and go home. Find a better way to survive if you can. If not, come see me at Mount Vernon. Together, we will find a solution.”
David’s men picked up their long guns and walked back uphill to the trail. Washington turned his back to them and walked back to McKnight and Tyler. McKnight glanced at Wheeler, who nodded and slipped into the brush after the robbers.
Washington looked at Tyler again. He touched Tyler’s hat and said, “May I?”
“Yes, sir,” Tyler said, and Washington reached forward and lifted his hat from his head.
“I’ve known you for twenty years now, Colonel, and the last time I saw you, your hairline was receding. Now your hair is full again and the wrinkles on your face are gone. How is this possible?”
“It’s part of a plan, sir,” Tyler said. “It’s what brought us here to this time and place.”
“A plan?” Washington said. “Clearly, there’s more here than I perceive.”
He turned to McKnight.
“So, tell me, Colonel McKnight, what army are you in? What brings you and your men…” He stopped and scanned the faces before him, his eyes resting on Hatcher and Lagunas. “… Your men and women… to these woods?”
“We represent the Army of the United States, sir, and we came here looking for you.”
Washington nodded. “It appears you have found me, Colonel. What can I do for you?”
McKnight laughed. “That we have, sir. We need your help, and if you’ll allow me a few minutes of your time, I’ll explain.”
Washington looked around and spread out his arms.
“I am at your disposal, Colonel. How can I help?”
Kim Took Some Time to answer our questions.
Surprises from my Research into George Washington:
During my research into George Washington, I found out some surprising things—at least I was
surprised. For example, if he lived today, he would be Customer Service’s worst nightmare. He
was a shrewd businessman and was convinced that the British company he dealt with to buy
things (furniture, coaches, fashion, etc) in Europe was cheating him (there’s apparently no
evidence that was true).
Washington took his stewardship over the fortune of his stepchildren very seriously and
questioned every transaction. I suspect he was a pain to do business with. That said, he and his
farm provided products and food for many in the Mount Vernon area and he was generous with
people he trusted. His rye whiskey was in much demand.
During the time period my book covers (February-May, 1787), Washington was recently
retired from the Army and not yet actively involved in government. He was a gentleman farmer
who experimented with innovative and practical ideas to improve his farm’s production and
made life easier for all who depended on him.
He was one of the few members of the colonial gentry to maintain his family’s financial
security throughout his life.
What flipped the switch to make me get serious about writing?
I piddled around with my first book literally for years, writing hard for a couple of days,
then doing nothing for months. I was working in IT consulting and putting in 60+ hour weeks.
My sister Laura invited me to visit her church and I had put it off a couple of times, so I
picked her up on a Sunday morning and we went. The main speaker talked about a secular topic.
He asked, “What are you doing with the time of your life? Are you spending it in front of the TV
or are you doing something significant?”
As we left, I remarked to Laura, “He’s right. I should finish that book.”
On the way home, we stopped in for a coffee at Starbucks. We sat down and I was still
talking about it.
The guy sitting next to me tapped me on the shoulder, apologized for interrupting, and said,
“I’m an author, and if you’re not writing every day on your book, you’re kidding yourself.”
As we left the place, I looked up and said, “Okay, Lord. I got the message.”
Six months later, after writing at least 30 minutes a day, the first draft of TIME LIMITS was
complete.
What’s the worst mistake an aspiring writer makes?
The worst mistake is trying to make a piece perfect before you’ve finished writing it. I fell
victim to this myself.
I’d write a chapter, then edit it in agonizing detail, searching for just the right phrase or just
the right word to get my point across. Believe me, this is a proven productivity killer.
Write the whole piece before you edit any of it. Just get the gist of it down on paper (or in
electrons).
As you go, make a list of things to fix and any new plot ideas you get, but don’t interrupt
your writing to implement them. Then, when you finish your first draft (I call it the ‘vomit
pass’), you can sort out what to change, keep, and/or discard.
Why do this? Consider how it works in a corporate environment. Someone will create a
strawman… a working document that contains the ideas for the piece… Then, the team will
work on it, sorting out the good and the bad ideas, and making the document perfect.
The idea is that it’s much easier to perfect something that already exists than to write it from
scratch.
Adopting this way of writing allows your creativity to flow with much less worry about the
final product. Because you always know that you’ll be coming back to fix it and/or make it.
Kim Megahee is a writer, musician, and retired computer consultant. He has a degree from the University of Georgia in Mathematics Education. His background includes playing in rock bands, teaching high school, and much experience in computer programming, security and consulting.
In his consulting career, Kim worked with large companies on four continents to help increase their software development throughput.
In addition to writing, he enjoys hanging out with his wife, reading, watching scifi movies, boating on Lake Lanier, playing live music, and socializing with friends. Kim lives in Gainesville, Georgia with his soulmate wife Martha and Leo, the brilliant but stubborn red-headed toy poodle.
Website: https://www.authorkimmegahee.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/author.kmega
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interesting topic
ReplyDeleteWould love to do it. Positive.ideas.4youATgmail.com
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