C.: I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy A Yankee Doodle, do or die A real live nephew of my Uncle Sam Born on the Fourth of July I've got a Yankee Doodle sweetheart She's my Yankee Doodle joy Yankee Doodle came to London Just to ride the ponies I am the Yankee Doodle Boy
d.: Yes, Cal.E. I see that you have figured out one more team, (besides the Astros) that have been to the World Series four time in the twenty-first century. That makes two, but there are three more. Can you name the other three?
(And while Cal.E. is thinking, I need to get back to work. I am trying to come up with a tagline for my series of murder/mystery books.)
C.: Well,…I came up with two. That is as high as I can count, anyway, I suppose it will be up to you and our readers, d.c., to name the other three. What are you working on now?
d.: You did help me come up with a tagline for my nonfiction book, Cal.E. Maybe you can help me come up with a tagline for my murder/mystery series called “The Magruder Mysteries.”
C.: What is it about?
d.: The Magruder Mysteries is a series of five books detailing the life of detective James David Magruder. The first book, “Precision, A Crime of Passion” is available now on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Apple iBook. it can also be ordered at Target stores.
C.: I see. Hmm. Let’s see. Tell me a little about the main character.
d.: James David Magruder is a detective who joined his hometown police force when he was honorably discharged from the U.S. Marine Corps. He worked his way up through the ranks first in the East Bernard Police Force. He then took a temporary job with the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Department. After that, he went to work for the nation's fourth largest city’s police department. He worked his way up from detective third-grade with the Houston, Texas police department to first-grade detective before his retirement.
After retiring from HPD, Jay found that he still must pay child support to two of his three ex-wives. This is because six of his nine children were still under age eighteen. He and his first wife, Alice’s (whom Jay loved dearly) three children are all grown, so he does not need to pay her child support. However, child support for six children adds up quickly, so Jay took a job with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice as the “Head Detective” for that agency. That was, in theory, a promotion from his old job with HPD. However, since Jay worked in Houston’s dangerous Third Ward his whole career, he is accustomed to being on high alert. As a result, he becomes bored at his new job after only six months of working there. So, he asks permission to study cold case files, since he was VERY good at solving them at his old job.
Jay runs across a case in the “Case Unsolved; Investigation Discontinued” box that piques his interest, because he is vaguely familiar with both victims involved in the case. He cannot reason why he feels this case was mislabeled, until the day the first book, “Precision,” starts.
Jay asks for help on social media to solve the case since he is rusty. A very tall young man answers his ad the very same day. He knows every detail of the story, even though its timeline involves more than twenty-five years. THAT is longer than the young man has been alive! Jay wonders how the young man knows the WHOLE story. When he reveals his identity (in the epilogue) Jay feels that he can solve the case. That leads to the second book: Reports from South America and the Legend of the Island of Pishon.
C.: Okay, d.c. Now, what does creating a TAGLINE involve? I have forgotten!
d.: It is a one or two sentences synopsis of a book, or (in this case) a series of books.
C.: How about this, “The Magruder Mysteries is the ‘cat’s meow'' when it comes to romantic murder mystery novels?”
d.: Keep thinking Cal.E. This is a three-hour flight!
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