“Spreading your wings in a perplexing world”
March, 2021                                James P. Hurd    

Please forward or share this E-zine with anyone. Thank you.

Contents

• New story: Jeff Landry: Serial Killer
• Puzzler of the month
• Writer’s Corner

*********************

 New story: Jeff Landry: Serial Killer

One of my most interesting students was Jeff Landry. He was the one who threatened to kill me. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

I was teaching anthropological theory at Bethel University—10 students, all in their early twenties. All except Jeff Landry who was in his early thirties.

The first day Jeff walked in, he took a seat in the back and slouched down in his chair with his motorcycle-booted feet splayed out in front of him. Hands in the pockets of his leather jacket. Black, disheveled hair hanging down over dark glasses. Looked as if he was running security for the mafia. Like a person whose anger boiled just below the surface. Intimidation behind dark glasses. . . . To read more, click here:   https://jimhurd.com/2021/03/23/jeff-landry-serial-killer/

(*Please leave a comment on the website. Thanks.)

New puzzler for March:

A chicken and a half can lay an egg and a half in a day and a half. 

The question is very simple: How long will it take two chickens to lay thirty-two eggs?

Answer to February’s Puzzler:

Recall you had a series of numbers:

Two, nine, seven, nine, 12—That series of numbers represents the number seven.

Three, five, zero—That group of numbers equals two.

So how would you write the number 10? That’s the question.

———————————————-

Bill, Eldon, and Sam all submitted very creative answers! (Some of them were correct. 😊)

All we’re doing is substituting each of the numbers—the 2, 9, 7, 9, 12—for the letters of the word “seven.” So above, 2 equals s, 9 equals e, 7 equals v, and so forth.

In the second set, 3, 5, 0 equals “t, w, o.”

So “ten” would be: t=3, e=9, and n=12, giving 3, 9, 12.

Buy James Hurd’s Wingspread: A Memoir of Faith and Flying.  

How childhood (Fundamentalist) faith led to mission bush-piloting in South America—and Barbara. Buy it here:  https://jimhurd.com/home/  (or order it at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, etc.) 

See pics here related to Wingspread: Of Faith and Flying: http://www.pinterest.com/hurd1149/wingspread-of-faith-and-flying/

Follow “james hurd” on Facebook, or “@hurdjp” on Twitter

Writers’ Corner

Word of the Month: Denouement:

This is the outcome; how things worked out. In Sherlock Holmes, for example, we learn who the bad guy was, what happened to the characters, and the motive of the crime—this is the denouement.

Tip of the month: Not only should your novel have a plot arc; every chapter should have a plot arc—rising tension, crisis, denouement. Readers want something to happen, something about to happen, tension that drive the story forward.

You’re right: the world is really a scary place!  Just look at these headlines:

• Juvenile Court to Try Shooting Defendant
  (See if that works any better than a fair trial!)  

• War Dims Hope for Peace
  (I can see where it might have that effect!)
   
• If Strike Isn’t Settled Quickly, It May Last Awhile  
  (Ya think?)  

• Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures  
  (Who would have thought!) 

• Enfield ( London ) Couple Slain;  Police Suspect Homicide  
  (They may be on to something!)  

•   Red Tape Holds Up New Bridges 
  (You mean there’s something stronger than duct tape?)

• Man Struck By Lightning:  Faces Battery Charge
  (Ouch!)
  
• New Study of Obesity Looks for Larger Test Group
  (Weren’t they fat enough?)  

• Kids Make Nutritious Snacks  
  (Do they taste like chicken?)
  
• Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half  
  (Chainsaw Massacre all over again!)

Watch for my upcoming novel: East Into Unbelief (provisional title)

Sean loses his father, his best girlfriend, his life dream, and finally, his faith. But how can he be a good atheist, especially when he’s stuck at Torrey Bible Institute? He can’t see it, but grace is coming. . . .

Subscribe free to this Ezine   Click here https://jimhurd.com/home/  to subscribe to this WINGSPREAD ezine, sent direct to your email inbox, every month. You will receive a free article for subscribing. Please share this URL with interested friends, “like” it on Facebook, retweet on Twitter, etc.

If you wish to unsubscribe from this Wingspread Ezine, send an email to hurd@usfamily.net and put in the subject line: “unsubscribe.” (I won’t feel bad, promise!) Thanks.