Susan Keene Author

Reading gives you wings to fly everywhere and anywhere

The Twisted Mind of Cletus Compton

Posted on Jan 5, 2025 by   2 Comments | Posted in Uncategorized

I promised to give another book away this week. This one is The Twisted Mind of Cletus Compton.

It is so far out of character from the other novels I’ve written, I want to explain where it came from (since evil men with narcissistic personalities don’t usualy occupy my mind).

I live about 30 miles from Springfield, Missouri. The Springfield Cardinals play there. I got the brilliant idea I would go to work at the stadium for a season, get the low down on the inner workings of a semi-pro farm baseball farm team.

A perk, I thought I’d have was the major league Cardinals who were hurt or sent down now and then for numerous reasons.

Building characters is not as easy as it seems. Readers want realistic people in the books they read.

I drove in to Springfield. They hired me and I was tickled to start my new series. It would be about people around the stadium who were murdered. And the players would play prominitly in the stories.

A great disappointment began to manifest itself.

They put me in the gift shop. A good, clean, easy job, I thought.

First they made me wear a polo shirt that would not look good, even on Taylor Swift. I had to have long shorts and wear a belt at all times. Oh yes, and black shoes.

I didn’t see a ballplayed any closer than the field the entire season.

Did I mention we were not allowed to sit down?

I could go on and on, but I think you get the picture.

Anyway, I live 9 1/2 miles from the nearest town. You can’t really say where I live a town. It’s actually only a Quick Stop, post office and discount grocery I pass as I come and leave the farm.

But back to my story.

Every nite once the ballgame was over, the place cleared out as if someone had put a hundred dollar bill on each car. It left us, the lowly employees to fend for ourselves. There were two places to park. In the free lot across the street or in the parking garage at $4.00 a night.

Did I mention the  lot made a good walk through for the homeless who slept in the parking garage.

By the time I got to my car, ( we had to park in the back). It was dark. Then I headed home. Every night I did fine until I got to the three mile road to the little town. One side had no shoulder and went up a grade to the railroad tracks. The only side had maybe 20 feet of trees and brush along the road. Behind them were open fields of hay.

No a street lights or house lights to be seen. I once turned my headlights off to see how dark it was and I saw nothing, only the dash lights in my car.

Every night I had a recurring dream (nightmare, actually). I drove down the road I described. My headlights struck something. I turned my car to see what it was. It was a child chained to a wooden box. Then I would wake up.

I had this dream for two weeks. I told the family, if I have that dream tonight, I am going to get up and write it all down.

It was the night Cletus Compton came to life. He and his twisted mind.

At that time, I wrote in the guest room. My desk faced the closet. The entrance door to my left and two huge windows facing the backyard and field behind it.

I wrote myself into such an unfamiliar genre, I could no longer write the story at night. Yet I couldn’t put the story to bed until I delt with Cletus Compton.

A lot of people like books about bad people. Personally, I didn’t watch Rosemary’s Baby, Psycho, or any movie like them. So maybe I’m a whimp.

The book will be free.Tuesday Jan.7 and Wednesday Jan 8. It will be a kindle edition.

I hope you get one and enjoy it.

Follow the link for your free copy. http://amzn.to/2gSC1nC

 

 

2 Responses to "The Twisted Mind of Cletus Compton"

Comment by Patricia Marie Tierney
January 5, 2025 11:57 pm

A really good book that scared me but couldn’t stop reading.

Comment by Barbara Bettis
January 6, 2025 12:30 am

Susan, I love your story about working at the baseball field. And it was a great idea, too, if it had worked out. Maybe you could just tell the manager what you want to do–heck, you have the credentials with all your books out! He might let you have access to the premises and the team on occasions. Oh, and your inspiration for Cletus? Chilling!!! Thanks for the freebie .

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