Stu Jenks' Fezziwig Press

"A cautionary note from the author..."

Yippee-ki-yay, buckaroos.

Victor Mothershead: U.S. Secret Service is now for sale, both as a handbound book-book and as an e-book. E-books are at the low, low price of $2.99, at Apple's ibook store and on the Amazon Kindle (just search 'Stu Jenks' in those stores and you'll find me.) The hardbound editions can be bought locally at Tucson Touch Therapies and through my online store at https://squareup.com/store/fezziwig-press/.

Below is the introduction/cautionary note to the readers of Victor Mothershead: U.S. Secret Service. My previous Step Zero novels have produced, how can I say it, some interesting and unexpected emails. ("Stu Jenks, you suck."). This intro was written to help quell some of nastier emails, if that's at all possible in the digital online wasteland of people with personality disorders. But I try.

Enjoy this little excerpt and buy my books if you are a reading-kind-of-person. And if you want to simply support my creative work in general, just click on this link and go to the bottom of the webpage, and you can donate $5 or more to the cause.

And if you steal the ebook online, by striping out the code and putting it on a pier to pier site, to hell with you. I ain't going to pray against you, but I ain't going to pray very hard for you either.

Bottom Line? The new novel is out, and I'd like you to buy.

Thanks guys.

Love y'all,

Stu.

A Cautionary Note From The Author:

You hold in your hot little hands, either as an e-book or as a real-live-book-book, the fourth installment in my Step Zero series, but I believe some polite warnings to readers are needed here, given questions and concerns I have received in the past.

This is a stand alone novel but if you haven’t read Step Zero, the first book, or Air & Gravity, the second book, some of the plot twists, suspense reveals and arch conclusions here may spoil some of your enjoyment of those two previous books, if and when you read them. (Balthazar and Zeeba, the third book in the series, is a Christmas novel with its own individual side arch, which will not be affected by reading Victor Mothershead.)

Victor Mothershead: U.S. Secret Service is a hard R rated book as are Step Zero and Air & Gravity. There is a ton of cussing and a bit of sex in this book. Victor himself is a polite, soft spoken man who rarely speaks profanity but in the Step Zero world of 2079, particularly in the American Southwest, folks cuss like sailors on drunken leave and have sex like they will never ever screw again. It’s just how my characters roll. So if foul language and hot sex upset you, thanks for buying this book but you might want to give it to your college nephew to read. (Regarding the age appropriateness of this book, 17 years old and above seems about right. Use your best judgment. You know your kids.)

Many of my characters in the Step Zero universe believe in a spiritual force called God-Goddess-All-There-Is or GGATI. It’s a made up higher power by me, not affiliated with Wiccan or Pagan faiths (Not that there is anything wrong with those.) I was simply trying to expand the spirituality and religiosity of 2079 to include a specific feminine side as well as the masculine and universal aspects.

The politics of many of these characters is progressive and in some cases, specifically Democratic. The Presidents mentions in the Step Zero series are all Democrats. If you are a Republican or an Independent, and don’t agree with some of the policies mentions in this book, relax. It’s OK. This is speculative fiction. It’s the United States in the year 2079. I’ve just made this stuff up. Sasha Obama of course is a real young women today, but President Sasha Obama Fulbright and Vice President Florence Biden are completely made up people. You don’t have to agree with the politics here to enjoy this read. The characters are fun, the story I think is strong, and did I mention there is sex in this book?

Lastly, 12 Step fellowships play a major role in many of the characters’ lives in Victor Mothershead, U.S. Secret Service; one, a real program, Alcoholics Anonymous, the other, a fictional one, Mormon Tea Anonymous. None of the characters here represent any living or dead members of Alcoholic Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Cocaine Anonymous, Al-Anon or any other 12 Step groups. That being said, I have talked with many clean and sober members of these fellowships over the years and I have attended a few 12 Step meetings myself, but I will neither confirm nor deny if I personally belong to those groups. There are by-laws regarding anonymity of members speaking publicly. The problem is, if you thought I was in A.A., or C.A., or N.A., and you hated this book or disliked me personally or think in any way I poorly represent a particular recovery program, you might feel reticent to seek help from those 12 Step programs if you ever needed it. They tell me these by-laws or ‘Traditions’ are there to protect the fellowships from its own members’ mistakes, yet recovering people want very much to be available and to help everyone, regardless of gender, race, color, creed, economic situation, and political leaning. Bottom line is no one in this book is any one person in A.A., but the views of some of the characters do reflect the beliefs of some members of those Fellowships.

I truly hope you enjoy this book. I’ve enjoyed making it for you.

Keep your lamp trimmed and burning, and as President Fulbright often said: “Be nice.”

Stu Jenks
Spring, 2016
Studio BR-549
Tucson, Arizona

All photographs by Stu Jenks. Book design and layout by Gail Cross of Desert Isle Designs, Mesa, Arizona.

 

My phone conversation with the NRA

"Michael's Gun" (c) 2013 Stu Jenks (From the book Step Zero.)

The NRA just called to survey me on my views on the recent gun legislation.

"Are you sure you want to talk to me," I said, "for I'm a Southern Liberal Democrat who owns a pistol."

"Yes, we would," said the lobbyist.

He got an ear full.

From high capacity magazines to background checks to mental health issues to how money is power in Washington.

I think my favorite line of the conversation was "Senator Jeff Flake is a friend of Gabby's, but he voted against the bill. Makes me wonder how much money he gets from the NRA that made him vote that way."

Another fine line, if I do say so myself was, "If Jared Lochner had regular sized magazines, more that 1/2 of those people at the Safeway that day would have never been shot." 

I was firm but fair with the lobbyist, didn't say the word fuck once. And he was polite with me to his credit. But money is power in Washington, D.C., and everywhere else on the planet.