AN EXCERPT FROM 'A PLACE IN THE HEART'

By

JOHN SCHERBER

AN EXCERPT FROM A PLACE IN THE HEART

Here's an excerpt from my Chapter Five book on the expatriate experience, San Miguel de Allende: A Place in the Heart.

His house is built on an uncleared cemetery. His youngest daughter disappeared headfirst through a TV screen sometime back. On sunny summer afternoons rotting corpses bob like apples in his swimming pool. Is it all in his mind? Absolutely, and there’s more where that came from.

         The mind in question is that of Hollywood producer and screenwriter Michael Grais, author of the screenplay for Poltergeist, his first big success. It was followed by Poltergeist II and eight other successful films. The unassuming and ironic Grais confesses to being sometimes too frightened to watch the films made from his own screenplays.

         Jennifer Grais is a healer and former back-up singer for Jackson Browne. Many of her days are spent on the back of her white gelding, Solo, wandering the hilly trails and arroyos outside San Miguel. Connecting with nature is critically important for her.

         The Grais’ escape from Hollywood to San Miguel came by a road somewhat less well-traveled than most. They started by spending a month in India, unaware that going there opened a door that was an exit from their lives in Los Angeles. It didn’t take the entire month for them to realize they couldn’t go back home in any permanent way.

         When it was time to return to the States, says Jennifer, “we were ready to live somewhere else, we were fed up. Michael especially was really burned out in Los Angeles. He just felt like he couldn’t escape Hollywood. Everybody thinks the same there. Even in this beautiful canyon [Topanga], a lot of the people are in the movie business. They’d ask, ‘How far up the hill do you live?’ It was that hierarchical. At first I thought they were really interested in where our house was, but I realized later they only wanted to assess how high up the hill we were.” It was a metaphor for rank in the film community. “There really was no escape from that mindset. It was very isolating.”

         But while the trip to India initially held no suggestion of escape from Los Angeles, it did highlight some things that were missing from their lives. “The experience in India was very mind-expanding,” says Michael. “We were with people from all over the world. I realized how much I missed communicating with people other than those who were talking about the latest film grosses or whatever the constant conversation is in Hollywood, which is only about money.”

         “Or about stars,” adds Jennifer, “what actresses are doing.”

         “Or what Britney Spears is up to,” he adds, “what underpants she’s wearing.”

         “But it was amazing watching him in India. There were park benches and people would just gather around them and there would be somebody from Brazil or Africa. It was so stimulating, and he was so quiet and isolated in Topanga Canyon on the hill. But there he was like the Godfather, entertaining on the park bench, cracking everybody up. When he came home from all that stimulation and camaraderie, that was when it just snapped for him.” A serious look comes over her face; she is seeing it all. Again the turning point moment.

         Michael nods, seeing it too. “And then I said, ‘This is beautiful, but it’s a beautiful cage,’ and I can’t live in it anymore. I said, ‘We’re moving, and I don’t know where.’”

         Jennifer surfed the Internet in search of a place that would restore their lives. “I was looking for a community that would be similar to what he had experienced [in India].”

         She had not found the same lack of community in Los Angeles because she had never sought it in the same way. “I tend to isolate [myself]. As long as I’m in nature and have a few animals and can do some healing work I’m pretty fine. It was nurturing for me. It wasn’t nurturing for Michael, and I wasn’t in the business in the way he’s in it, so I could withdraw.”

          No place in the States seemed right. Every place she looked at was either too far away from an airport, or too isolated in general. “I just couldn’t find any place that seemed easy, was walkable, that would make life better.” Friends had told them about San Miguel, knowing about Jennifer’s love for old buildings and culture. They came down for a week to look at it, and they’ve been in San Miguel ever since, with brief interruptions to rent their Topanga Canyon house and arrange their move. “When we came here, it seemed to answer a lot of those questions,” she says.

         “Every place we looked, no matter where we looked,” says Michael, “and we looked from the east coast to the west coast, [we found that] basically life in the States is the same everywhere. You live in a house, you get in your car, you drive to your office, you get back in your car, you drive back to your house, watch television, go to sleep, get up, and do it again. There’s almost no city that’s different; everything looks the same now.”

         Now they live in a city that is radically different. When he left Hollywood he had either produced or written the screenplay for ten successful films and had done extensive television work as well. Although he has recently offered a workshop in writing for films, Michael has moved away from screenwriting himself to focus on two novels.

         “The longer I’m here, the longer I’m away from that environment, the more comfortable I feel. And the more I realize how mentally enslaving it was being in that environment. It was incredibly limiting, just to be on top, to have a movie in production, to drive the right car, to live in the right house, to be at dinner with the right people, friends with the right people. You’re always working.”

         One of the first things they discovered about San Miguel was that, while it was a fine place to work, it was not a place that was about working. While the Mexicans are a hard-working people, that virtue is not at the top of their list.

Please visit my website at:

www.sanmiguelallendebooks.com

AN EXCERPT FROM THE DEVILS' WORKSHOP

By

JOHN SCHERBER

AN EXCERPT FROM THE DEVIL’S WORKSHOP

The only question remaining now, in the entire life of Mark Sands, was how long it would take him to hit the sidewalk twenty-seven floors below. Funny how your life could be reduced at the end to a single point, with no dimension but speed. After his first startled shout he almost seemed to be slightly removed from his own plummeting body––perhaps it was a way of not feeling the terror.

         That Sands, at fifty-four, was a realist, partly accounted for his success as a money manager, not that it would save him in this situation. As his body accelerated, he felt his mouth twist into a grimace. The wind clawed his navy pinstriped suit jacket back over his arms, but he didn’t cry out again. As he passed the Jacobsens on the twenty-fourth floor, neither of them looked up from their sofa. Sands’ neatly trimmed silver hair stood up like a halo behind his head, every strand rigid.

         Sands had come back from a long business lunch at 3:30. His wife, Megan, was not at home. After a couple of martinis, he didn’t feel like going back to work, and the stock exchange was already closed. When he paused in the vestibule of his condo, he checked the phone messages and found nothing of interest. Walking into the dining room, he was about to set the mail on the table when he noticed the children, eight of them at least. Shocked, he stopped when he saw another one still emerging from the painting on the wall, one foot reaching outward over his antique buffet. But they weren’t children, they were only small, and it seemed to Mark Sands, rather dirty. It was only a first impression, but he would never have another.

         There was a moment of shocked silence. One tapped the shoulder of another who had not noticed Sands come into the room. Soon they were all watching him in silence, their eyes narrowed, waiting for his next move. Mark Sands felt a sense of horror and insanity rush over him. His hair stood up on the back of his neck. This did not correspond to any reality he knew. Not sure how to react, with the mail still gripped in his hand, he took a step back. The nearest of the small people dipped his hand into his pocket and withdrew it palm upward. He blew across it with a knowing grin. Mark Sands was engulfed in a powdery cloud that glittered in the afternoon sun. What an odd effect, he thought. How could this be a weapon? He lost consciousness and fell face first to the parquet floor.

         He regained consciousness after only two or three minutes, filled with terror and helplessness, but unable to move his limbs. Many tiny grubby hands lifted him over the parapet at the edge of his broad veranda, thrusting against his back, his arms, his buttocks. The fingers on his calves were sticky, lifting his skin as they moved. He knew exactly what they were doing, and he tried to struggle, but his eyes were just clearing and his limbs were still heavy and unresponsive. Then came the sudden shift of his weight on the parapet, and he went over the edge. His sense of horror was not muted by the fading effect of the drug in the powdery cloud he’d breathed.

         Painters were working on ladders on nineteen, and Mark Sands was still accelerating. People on the sidewalk were growing larger, almost like real people now. A man stopped and pointed upward at him. His mouth was open as if he was shouting, but Sands heard no sound but the rushing wind.

         A woman at her desk on the eleventh floor looked up and screamed silently as he passed. Mark Sands’ jacket came free of his arms and drifted away above him at a gentler pace, moving out over the traffic on Fifth Street.

         How had the little people emerged from the painting over his buffet? It was his Rafael Cantú masterpiece, The Last Supper, the prize of his collection. And they were the characters from the painting. He recognized the odd, ragged leather outfits. Had he been murdered by these nightmare versions of Christ and the Apostles? Mark Sands’ fingers clutched wildly at the rushing air as he approached the sidewalk. It flew toward him like something that had been waiting there his entire life.

         His final thought was that he would feel nothing when he hit the pavement. As usual, Mark Sands was right.

See this book on my website at:

http://www.sanmiguelallendebooks.com/devilsworkshop.html

ANGER MANAGEMENT

By

JOHN SCHERBER

ANGER MANAGEMENT

         The entrance of Donald Trump onto the Republican side of the primary season provides an interesting symmetry. With Bernie Sanders, we now have a perceived outsider in a prominent position on both sides. The anger that we saw against the Democratic incumbents in the Congressional election of 2014 has now surfaced on the Republican side as well. Its volume and intensity appear to have swelled. The clear and growing perception is that no one currently in power, or emerging from establishment circles, represents the public interest. If ever there was to be a Sanders moment, this is it.

         The boyish charm of Donald Trump is more complex. I use the term boyish not to be dismissive, but because he does not appear to be approaching any degree of political maturity. He is a middle finger, up yours kind of candidate whose contempt for the establishment has catapulted him into the lead on the Republican side. He has no discernable program aside from bashing México. He has no government experience, and his leadership skills are of a type that function best in the dictatorial climate of privately held business.

         Politics requires a different kind of leadership, one that can work with people of opposing views, and can get things done in an atmosphere of slender majorities and coalitions. One that understands the uses of compromise. There is presently no sign that Trump could define any of these terms. Still, at present he leads in the polls where a large group of Republican contenders has not yet provided an alternative challenger of similar appeal.

         His support is often that of the naysayer. His slogan is Enough! If raw ego were a qualification, he would be the best choice for the job. His position, after his misogynistic attack on Fox’s Megan Kelly, is eroding among more traditional Republican groups. He has refused to affirm his loyalty to the Republican Party should he not win the nomination, and the possibility grows that he may take his support and run a third party candidacy.

         On the other side, Bernie Sanders does not have the lead in the polls, but his growth is steady and on track to overtake Hillary Clinton sometime in the fall. On the other hand, her ratings in honesty and trustworthiness slide continuously. She seems to not get it as she lies to the crowds, as if her word is as golden as her checkbook.

         I’m sure that this is causing a great deal of discomfort to the moneyed interests who control the Democratic Party behind the populist façade. They know that Sanders is not their friend, while Clinton is their darling. While his socialist program is not likely to get through Congress, Sanders’ presence in the White House could cramp the style of many of the corporate sponsors now in control of government policy.

         As I scan the offerings of my Facebook ‘friends,’ I sense they are about 80% Democrats or liberals. Watching the political posters they put up, I am seeing the usual barrage of anti-Republican material, most of it on the order of the pot calling the kettle black. There is little in favor of Donald Trump. I am seeing almost nothing that is pro-Hillary Clinton, but much that is against her. The huge trend is in favor of Bernie Sanders.

         This is a small sample and in no way scientific, but it suggests the way things are going at this point.

         Sanders has long called himself an Independent, although he caucuses with the Democrats for practical reasons. I don’t think his party allegiance goes that deep. He has committed to support the Democratic nominee. Should it become apparent as his support grows, that the powers that be in the Democratic Party will do whatever it takes to deny him the nomination, which can most likely be done through procedural means, I don’t see why he would stay in the Party despite hos promise, since he is clearly feeling his own momentum. He is a man who believes deeply in his cause. Principled people often choose principle over practicality. His departure would open the way for a clean nomination of Hillary Clinton, but one that promised little chance of victory in November of 2016.

         Should Donald Trump also bolt, then you will have a four-way race. Until then, he will get little support from the Republican establishment, which is no less beholden to special interests, and also dislikes a loose cannon of his magnitude. He is vulnerable on the issue of women, and at bottom, few people know what he stands for, probably including himself. His personal wealth frees him from dependence on the usual Republican contributors. The only clear issue is that he’s against what’s going on in Washington and for Donald Trump. Unfortunately, this will be enough for some people, just as in Ms. Clinton’s case, it will be sufficient for some that she is a woman.

         It is also possible that she could be taken down by some new scandal, particularly if one surfaces that has legal implications. This is by no means impossible, and we can rely on both the agents of the Republicans and of Bernie Sanders to be digging with both hands.

         Let’s look at what can happen in a four-way race where no candidate receives a majority of the vote. The Constitution states that 270 electoral votes (half plus one) are required to win the presidency. If no candidate gets that many, and in a four-way election it’s not likely any of them would, then the presidential part of the election goes to the House. The House will still be controlled by the Republicans, since the new Congress will not be seated until January. The Senate, which will also still be in Republican hands, will decide who the Vice President is, from among the four candidates.

         Thus, Bernie Sanders appears to be the critical player in this event. There is no guarantee he can win as the Democratic nominee, since his leftist views may alienate many of the independent voters he needs to win. Some of the Democrats’ corporate sponsors may actually find themselves preferring the mainstream Republican candidate, especially if it is someone like Jeb Bush, whose family is deeply connected to both big oil and the CIA.

         This promises to be both a chaotic and a fascinating election campaign.

Please visit my website:

www.sanmiguelallendebooks.com

AN INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR

By

JOHN SCHERBER

AN INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR

         I had an opportunity recently to sit down with my old friend Derek Hamilton, who has contributed a few of the sage comments that introduce several of my books. He had prepared some questions about the writing life and where it has taken me up to this point.

DH. You’ve just brought out your thirteenth San Miguel mystery, titled Angel Face.  Do you ever get tired of working with this same set of core characters?

SCHERBER. I never do. The combination of Paul Zacher, the artist turned investigator, Cody Williams, the retired homicide detective, and Maya Sanchez, the Mexican girlfriend who has a master’s degree in history has been a winning group all through this series. Each one brings a unique perspective to every case.

DH. What’s the advantage of having the same core group in each book?

SCHERBER: For the reader, it creates that sense of continuity that many readers look for in a mystery series. If you appreciate the dynamic of these three characters, you’re going to want to connect with them again. I’ve never been a fan of short fiction, myself. The bigger the book, the more I enjoy it, if it’s well done. In these books, since the stories link one to the other, it’s like having one huge book, even though they’re written so they can each be read as a complete stand alone mystery. The advantage for me as the writer is that it provides an established insight into how these people think and act. Once I have a plot worked out, it’s a matter of putting a page in the laptop and starting to type. They immediately begin to move around and talk on their own.

DH. Do you ever feel that with this many books in the series you might start to repeat yourself? Or has that already happened?

SCHERBER: That’s an excellent question. I’ve never been a formula writer, and anyone who has read the earlier books realizes that they’re all quite different. They’re driven by the plot. In general, however, they come in two kinds: artifact stories and relationship stories. The artifact books are focused on Mayan ceramics (Twenty Centavos), an ancient Mayan book (The Fifth Codex), an Aztec skull cast from solid gold (Strike Zone), and the Virgin of Guadalupe image (The Theft of the Virgin).

         The others are centered on normal human desires: revenge, greed, hatred, and lust.

DH. I’ve noticed that your villains tend to be less than fully hateful or monstrous, unlike those of some other writers, and your heroes are flawed. Does this reflect some core belief of yours?

SCHERBER. Very much. To me, all black or all white characters are boring. We are all mixed in our behavior. We think of people as good when they behave well more often than they behave badly. Conversely, my villains are capable of many fine things. Often they’re cultured and sophisticated. I suppose that might be a way of hiding them in plain sight. But when they go astray, it often leads to a chain of bad acts in the attempt to cover up the previous ones. Speaking of core beliefs, most humans like to think that actions have no consequences. That often figures into it as well.

DH. You’ve used the same character from the local Judicial Police in most of your books. Is he based on an actual person?

SCHERBER. Quite the contrary. Diego Delgado is a complete fabrication. When I was about to start the first of the mysteries I approached the San Miguel Police and asked if I could talk to them about their procedures and take a look at their facilities, particularly their jail cells. I also wanted to have a contact person inside I could bounce things off now and then. They turned me down flat. At first I was upset, but then I said to myself, hey, this is freedom! I can make it anything that suits my needs. This is why we call it fiction. I put a police office on the second floor of the old Presidencia, where Delgado can look out on the jardín, our main plaza. He’s been a great character for me as a way of expressing some attitudes of Mexicans toward the expat population. There’s always a sense of rivalry between him and Paul Zacher, but over time they’ve learned to help each other out.

DH. Do you have a fourteenth Paul Zacher mystery in the works?

SCHERBER. Of course. It’s titled Uneasy Rider. It’s set in the horse community around San Miguel, and hopefully I’ll be releasing it in the late fall of 2015.

DH. And will there be more in that series down the road?

SCHERBER. Absolutely. Several more are in the works, and the next one is built around shamanism. I’ve given that one the working title of Scorpion Rising.

DH. You’re so prolific!

SCHERBER. I began life as a writer in college, ran off the rails, and ended with a writer’s block that persisted for 37 years. I believe I hold the record, something I’m not proud of. Anyway, when I broke through, there was a lot of material built up behind the dam.

DH. Your three nonfiction books on the expat experience have been quite successful. Do you have any other nonfiction projects in the works?

SCHERBER. I do think about it. I really enjoyed writing them. The next book will focus on subjects I didn’t deal with in the others. For example, the way the American media rants against México and how Americans living here react to that, knowing the truth as they do. I’d like to contrast that with how Canadians and their government and media view México. There would be material on working here, rather than just being retired, and on death and dying here. Working title on that one is From My Side of the Border: The Expat Experience in San Miguel de Allende.

DH. If you weren’t doing all this writing, how would you spend your time?

SCHERBER. I’d be painting pictures, just like my main detective character, Paul Zacher.

Please visit the author’s website at:

www.sanmiguelallendebooks.com