Bai Jiang

Bai Jiang

Creator: Thatcher Robinson

Characters

Bai Jiang

Lee Li

Dan

Jai

Elizabeth

Jade Kwan

Jason Lum

Uncle Tommy Hu

Inspector Kelly

Bai Jiang (pronounced Bi Chang) is 30, a souxun - tracer of lost people. She is also equal to a Chinese triad princess, once the daughter of a Shan Chu, overlord of the Sun Yee On triad in San Francisco’s Chinatown. When her parents were killed, her uncle became the Shan Chu, and raised her. Bai usually wears a black leather jacket with a black tee, black jeans and black trainers. There is a sheath sewn into the sleeve of the jacket for her knife. On occasion she can be seen in fancy clubs, however. She is tall, agile, and beautiful. Wearing a short cocktail dress that showed off her long legs. A draped bodice left one shoulder bare; a black cashmere scarf was around her neck, and black Ferragamo stilettos completed the ensemble. A knife is sheathed on the inside of her thigh.

Lee Li is Bai’s partner in her office on Grant Street. He also acts as her bodyguard and martial arts instructor. He is tall, lean, and muscular, wears tan slacks and blue cashmere sweater; he’s also gay, tongzhi. He drives a 1965 Cadillac De Vile, red with white upholstery.

Inspector Kelly, the local policeman who often interacts with them is a grizzled, fat, and over fifty with hollowed eyes, a pale round face and veined nose resembling a baby squash. He commits suicide in the second novel.

Uncle Tommy Hu is the head of the Sun Yee On triad in Chinatown. He had moved into that position with the death of Bai’s father.  In fact, he was the only father she had ever known. But she also inherited power and money. She owns the building where the Son Yee On headquarters is, as well as other properties.

Jason Lum is Bai‘s ex husband, and the father of her daughter. Though divorced, they are still close, and he would kill for her. In fact, he is the Hung Kwan, the second in line for Shan Chu, after the Fu Shan Chu. He reached his high rank because he is deadly. Bai doesn’t like the ease with which he often kills.

Elizabeth is Jason’s mother, and Bai’s mother-in-law, and takes care of Bai’s daughter when she’s off on a case.

Jade Kwan is Elizabeth’s sister. She married into the Kwan Industries, which is worth in the neighborhood of thirty billion dollars. She wants Bai to marry her son, Howard, and manage the empire after her death.

Dan is Bai’s 13-year old daughter. She’s well trained in martial arts, but has little social training.

Jai is a 15-year old girl who was sold into slavery in the first story, and was Bai’s assignment to locate. Bai rescued her from a prostitution mob, and brought her to live with her and Dan. The two girls get along well, and are learning from each other.

The series is filled with fast-paced action, and deadly danger, as Bai enters mob and gang territory to rescue a missing person, or solve a mystery. There have been two novels so far from Seventh Street Books:

“White Ginger”

“Black Karma”

Jeremiah Cotton

Jeremiah Cotton

Writer: Various Authors

Characters

Jeremiah Cotton (NY Police Officer)

Philippa Decker (Special Agent G-Team)

John D. High (Head of G-Team)

Dilagio (Special Agent G-Team)

Zeerookah (Native American, Coordinates Operations G-Team)

Joe Brandenburg (Cotton’s Patrol Partner)

Sarah (Cotton’s Adopted Mother)

Samantha (Cotton’s Girlfriend)

Rashid (Black Friend)

            18-year old Jeremiah Cotton arrives in New York with his parents to visit his sister who works in the Twin Trade Towers. He’s late getting to her office when terrorists attack the buildings, killing his family along with many other innocent people. He is caught in the rubble as the building collapses, and promises if he is rescued to become a cop to help others. Years later he fulfills that promise and works as a patrolman. He’s working a late shift with his partner one night when he sees a suspicious Chinese girl enter a building with a gun. His partner has left the vehicle, so Cotton follows the girl and finds her murdered inside.

            Special Agent Philippa Decker is with the FBI G-Team, a special unit investigating the serial killing of Asian prostitutes in several States bordering New York. Wearing a cream-colored pant suit with a white cashmere sweater, low cut, she drives a white Carera Porsche, 911 GT3, with a 500 horsepower engine. At first she has Cotton arrested, then finds him a pest when he won’t let the investigation go. After a while she becomes attracted to him, and recognizes his investigative ability.

            The murdered Asian woman was Special Agent Maggie Huang. It was never learned why she was in the building where she died, though she was with the G-Team investigating the serial killer. Her car, a black Dodge Challenger, with a 426 Hemi engine, and 425 horsepower is given to Cotton when he is accepted into the G-Team as a Special Agent under Agent Decker.

            Rashid is the reason Cotton was delayed meeting his family in his sister’s office. The black lad had stolen his wallet, and Cotton chased him to down to recover it. Later, the boy visited him in the hospital when he learned of his injuries, and they became good friends.

            With the Twin Trade Towers falling apart, people were trying to get out of the building and to safety. Cotton spots an elderly lady in a wheelchair trapped in an elevator. He pulls her to safety and carries her to the lobby and safety, then returns above to help others when he is also trapped in the rubble. The elderly lady was Sarah, and she became his adopted mother.

            Cotton’s girlfriend, Samantha is never seen, only mentioned. The other Members of G-Team are John D. High, Dilagio, and Zeerookah.

            Joe Brandenburg, Cotton’s patrol partner, is an officer on the take. He’s receiving kickback from Asian prostitutes. Although Cotton doesn’t like it, there’s nothing he can do about it, and remain a cop.

            This was originally a series of Dime Novels, published in Germany, now a remake of the world famous cult series with more than one billion copies sold and appearing now as a bi-weekly, beginning January 31^st, 2014, with a self-contained story in each e-book episode. The stories have just been translated, and released in the US as epub and Kindle versions. Fourteen short novels have been released so far.

“Cotton FBI: The Beginning” by Mario Giordano (#1)

“Cotton FBI: Countdown” by Peter Menningan & Frank Keith (2)

“Cotton FBI: Hidden Shadows” by Jan Gardemann & Sharmila Cohen (#3)

“Cotton FBI: Witness Protection” by Alexander Lohmann & Sharmila Cohen (#4)

“Cotton FBI: The Infection” by Linda Budinger (#5)

“Cotton FBI: Bony Beach” by Peter Menningan (#6)

“Cotton FBI: The Kumo Cartell” by Mara Loua & Sharmila Cohen (#7)

“Cotton FBI: Killer Apps” by Peter Menningan (#8)

“Cotton FBI Deadly Games” by Alfred Bekker & Sharlima Cohen (#9)

“Cotton FBI Project Omega” by Peter Menningan (#10)

“Cotton FBI Death On Order” by Alexander Lohmann (#11)

“Cotton FBI: Survival” by Peter Menningan (#12)

“Cotton: FBI Whistle Blower” by Jurgen Benvenuti (#13)

“Cotton FBI Civil War” by Linda Budinger (#14)

The Protectors

The Protectors

Created by Sheryl Nantus

Characters

Jo Tanis (Surf)

Hunter Dillan (A Guardian)

Harris Limox (Meltdown)

Maybelline Andrews (Mayday)

Peter Boyos (Ani-Man)

Jenny (The Agency’s pre-cog)

Stephen Nyre (Slammer)

Linda (Blockhead)

David Tierney (Bookstore owner)

Jesse (Computer whiz)

Maestro Maniac (Super Villain)

Duke Krasher (Super Villain)

Dominatrix (Super Hero)

Mike (Metal Mike)

Danny Digger (Super Hero)

Ace (Super Hero)

Kol-tak (Chu-kar alien warrior)

Mal-tar (Chu-kar alien warrior leader)

The Agency is looking for people with special powers. Somehow accidents cause these powers to surface in a person, and the Agency is made aware of them through a pro-cog in their service. Jo Tanis is one such woman with super powers. After a brick is thrown against her head, she suddenly finds that she can control magnetic energy, and send these waves out through her hands. Other people have different powers.

The Agency tests each individual for positive and negative potential, then classify them as either super heroes or super villains. Placing an explosive device in their neck to keep them under the Agency’s control, they then enhance their abilities with machinery and gadgets, and put the heroes and villains in fake battles for the television network. The fights are fixed, of course, to draw better ratings. All this changes when alien ships appear over every major city of the world, and one alien comes out of each demanding to fight their local Class A Hero. The aliens are winning, and killing the fake heroes. When the Class B heroes (not quite up to par with the A’s) refuse to fight the aliens and die, The Agency pops their heads off with that device planted in their neck.

Jo Tanis, known as Surf, escapes, and with help from civilian friends they block the detonator in her neck from exploding. She then gathers all the B Heroes and Villains together to fight the alien menace on their own, with their real super powers.

Jo sets up her Hall of Justice in the attic of a bookstore where she worked before becoming a Super Hero, called The Bookworm’s Hideout. The bookstore owner is elderly David Tierney, and she calls one of her young friends, Jesse, to set up a computer network in their operations. Here she gathers Super Heroes and Super Villains to join her fights against the alien invaders, while staying under the radar of The Agency.

The group takes the name of The Protectors at the end of the first novel. There have been three novels in the series so far:

“Blaze of Glory” (#1)

“Heroes Within, Monsters Without” (#2)

“Heroes Lost And Found” (#3)

            

The Kid Turns 74

The Kid Turns 74

Tom Johnson was born at 5 AM, Friday, July 26, 1940, at his grandmother’s home in Seymour, Texas, 74 years ago today. Darn, I feel old. The above picture was taken in 1944 at age 4, 70 years ago. I was cute then, and cute now at 74 (lol). I had medical problems when I was born, and the doctor told my mother I would not live past the age of 20, yet I joined the Army at age 18, and spent twenty years in the military, and I’m still around today. I’m thankful for all my friends, all those that I have known, and those no longer with us. It’s been a good life so far, and I hope I can be around for a few more years yet. Below is one of my many memories as a child. I hope you get a kick out of The Day I Fought Frankenstein.

The Kid Today

The Day I Fought – Frankenstein!

           

It’s odd how something insignificant can force your mind to wander into the past on occasion. Recently, while taking my wife to the hospital in Wichita Falls in preparation for surgery, a loud voice drew my attention to a gentleman my age in a wheelchair. He was instructing a person where to wheel him. The man’s voice, and his features triggered something in my brain, and I was again on the San Jacinto elementary school grounds.

Our memories of childhood often reflect on some of the more frightening moments of our life. Though we try to recall the good times, like our first date, first kiss, or even that first bicycle or Red Rider BB Gun. At times other things are brought to mind that may not be all that pleasant. My childhood was filled with many such unpleasant memories.

I attended San Jacinto elementary school in Wichita Falls between 1947 and 1953; sometime around 1951, when I was about eleven, we had a boy in school that was much taller than the rest of us. Being bigger, he tended to be a bully, and pushed the rest of us around on the playground. So we knew to stay out of his way. This kid always acted like he was the Frankenstein monster, walking stiff-legged, with his arms outstretched as if to grab one of us. He took pleasure in seeing us scatter. One day he even stuck something that looked like bolts on both sides of his neck! He was his own Frankenstein monster.

I had a good friend I’d known about four years, since we moved to Wichita Falls. He was a little bit fat, and maybe somewhat awkward, but he was my buddy. It all started at recess one day, when something happened – I don’t know what – but suddenly the kid we called Frankenstein jumped on my pal and was hitting him. Sometimes I do things without thinking. I jumped on the monster!

We had just started swinging when the bell rang, calling an end to recess. We headed for the school building. Frankenstein threatened, “I’ll see you after school!”

I said something like, “Good!”

Unfortunately, I had the rest of the day to think about what this monster was going to do to me after school. It wasn’t a good thought. He would look at me from across the classroom, and snarl.

Time cannot be halted, however, and eventually the bell ending the day finally sounded, and I knew it was time for me to die. Frankenstein was going to kill me. But instead of running home like a sane person, I stopped outside the door and waited for the inevitable. Maybe I had a slim chance, I thought. My heavyset pal was nowhere to be seen, he was smart and got away from school quickly. He wasn’t about to wait around for the monster to tear me from limb to limb, and then start on him!

Well, I waited, and I waited. Just about all of the kids had left the building, and was headed home, only a few stragglers remained. The longer I waited the braver I got. Frankenstein is scared of me! I thought. Well, it was worth thinking anyway.  Just as I was sure the last kid had left the building, a boy came out who remembered about the fight.

“Hey, Frankenstein is waiting for you on the north side of the building!” he yells. “I’ll go get him!”

The north side of the building! Of course, the San Jacinto school building was built in a square, with four sides, four exits! While I had been waiting on the west side, the monster was waiting for me on the north side of the building.

Thankfully, I didn’t have much time to think about my predicament. In no time at all, Frankenstein came running around the building anxious to dismember me. I don’t know who threw the first punch, but we were quickly swinging meaningful headshots; we weren’t skilled fighters, as you can imagine. But I was giving as good as I was getting, and the monster was starting to cry. Maybe I was too. But we kept on throwing those headshots with hard knuckles, and neither of us had gone down.

Suddenly, someone yelled, “The principal is coming.” That ended the fight. Everyone scattered, included Frankenstein. I raced for home also.

I don’t remember if I worried about the monster that night, or not. But the next day school was normal. Frankenstein didn’t approach me. In fact, he never bothered my buddy or me again. Like all bullies, once someone stands up to them, they become less aggressive. But it wasn’t bravery on my part believe me. I had merely acted instinctively, without thinking. If I had had a second to stop and think, I would never have jumped on the Frankenstein monster that day!

There is something of an addendum to this story. In 5^th Grade art class one day, our teacher gave us an afternoon assignment. Each of us was to draw a self-portrait of what we wanted to be as an adult. After we finished, she picked up the drawings and glanced through them, and then selected mine and Frankenstein’s to hold up in front of the class. I had drawn a sheriff with a badge on his chest, and Frankenstein had drawn jail bars with him looking out. What she said kind of chilled me. She said, “What you have seen in these drawing is what you will become.”

I didn’t become a sheriff, though I did become a cop for twenty years. I wonder if Frankenstein ended up behind bars? I don’t remember his name, except for what we called him, nor did I ever see him again after leaving San Jacinto school. There were other fights, some even more violent than the day I fought Frankenstein, but few that I remember as vividly.

Was the old man in the wheelchair my Frankenstein monster? I don’t know. I would have felt foolish going up and asking him. From the wheelchair, he posed no threat today, if he was. I’m sure he would have had many fights over the years, so our little encounter at age eleven would not have been something he was likely to recall. I merely watched him a while and remembered other times in my childhood with fonder memories.