The Cerebral  Writer
  • About
  • Books
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Links

Gregory Delaurentis: LESSONS I LEARNED FROM MY HERO

8/2/2013

16 Comments

 
Today, guest author Gregory Delaurentis is here to discuss his new release, Cover of Darkness, and his use of characterization.  He'll be giving away a $50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble gift certificate at the end of his blog tour, so make sure to enter using the Rafflecopter widget below.
Picture
I don’t happen to have a hero. I don’t usually write about heroes. I usually write about an ensemble cast because I feel that much more can be done with many and not just a few. If I do choose a single hero, I would have a single protagonist, and that they would have a close relationship between each other. It would be an intimate battle between the two that would bring them together in a white hot furnace. That’s how I would use a single hero. Not much to learn from. 

However, I am fascinated by what can be learned from a group of people working towards a common goal. First and foremost is teamwork. Teamwork is a variable that is not present by some autonomic function. Just because you put a group of people together and give them one goal, they will not necessarily work as a team. Most likely egos will rise to the fore, there will be dissention and distrust, power struggles and grabs. Chaos can quickly develop and in the final analysis, there is a failure to achieve the goal. This, fortunately, makes for good writing, but unfortunately makes for poor progress.


The lessons that I’ve learned from my heroes is that there is great value in learning to work as a team, to coordinate and allow each and every individual talent an opportunity to participate. There is also a benefit in aiding those in the team to reach their potential through encouragement and support. All of these lessons can be learned by anyone, and I struggle to apply them in my life. Did not the Bible say that many hands make the load light? 


When I think of crime solving, which is what many of my books are about, I think of how many individual talents come to play in the apprehension of criminals. The skillsets of forensic teams, fingerprinting, ballistic and blood splatter technicians, detectives, police officers, even witnesses and profilers come to bear as a team to find, locate and arrest criminals. Not one of these resources could have solved the crime on their own. They need each other and support each other in the commission of one goal.


That’s a valuable lesson to learn, one that many corporations are intent on teaching their workers, which is the value of teamwork, of working together to get the job done. They invest hundreds of dollars in coaches and events to pull teams together because of the value in this.


It’s this lesson that I strive to take away with me as I not only write, but depend on several outside professionals to bring it all together into a single novel.

Picture
About the novel:


A high profile murder of a Wall Street executive in Westchester pits three people against the criminal underbelly of Manhattan nightlife. The key players are two ex-cops turned private investigators—Kevin Whitehouse, whose sharpest tool is his keen analytical mind, and David Allerton, a former Special Forces operative—and Margaret Alexander, Kevin’s lover. In their search for a killer, they are forced to travel to the edge of sanity and morality, while stumbling onto their own confusing secrets as well. The Cover of Darkness is a gritty noir saga that untangles a web of deceit in the course of tracking down a brutal murderer.


Excerpt:

David stopped pacing, and then started working on a rock embedded in the dirt with the toe of his shoe. “I wonder why MacDonald didn’t say anything in the interview about the cops being present. He should have told us that there were cops in the Midnight for protection—making sure the dealers were selling and not using.”

“Maybe,” Kevin ventured, “he didn’t want to drop a dime on his cop friends. Maybe he was frightened.”

“Maybe. That would have helped us a lot,” David said, his eye caught by a shapely girl on a bike riding nearby. 

Margaret sat up. “That would also explain how the killer got past the gate and simply walked into the house. He could have been flashing a badge.”

“That makes some sense,” Kevin said. “And certainly cops can kill.”

“They make the best assassins, don’t they?” David quipped. 

“So now this is a cop hunt?” Kevin asked.

“I would rather it end here, guys,” Margaret said.

David approached the two and stood over them. “The question is now how to hunt the most dangerous thing in New York. Crossing the thin blue line is not going to be fun or easy.”

“Fun?” Margaret said. “It’s downright dangerous.”

“We can’t go to Ferryman and Reynolds,” Kevin said, nervously running his fingers through his hair, and retrieving his arm from around Margaret as he sat up. “They’ll only go on the defensive. And if the case starts turning in that direction, they’ll only deflect it.”


Picture
About the author:

Gregory Delaurentis spent his adult life roaming from job to job, working for Lockheed in California, various law firms in New York, and financial firms on Wall Street. Throughout this period of time, he was writing—unceasingly—finally producing a large body of work, albeit unrecognized and unpublished . . . until now. Cover of Darkness is the first in a series of upcoming books that include Edge of Darkness, Pale of Darkness and Cries of Darkness. These novels follow the lives of three individuals who do battle bringing criminals to justice, while they struggle to understand the complex relationships that exist among themselves. This intriguing trio has absorbed the attention of Mr. Delaurentis for the past year and a half, so much so he decided to self-publish their stories to bring them to a wider audience.

AUTHOR’S DISCLAIMER: These are works of fiction. Name, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

You can find Cover of Darkness at Amazon, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, Sony, and Smashwords.


For more information about Gregory Delaurentis and his books, check out his website, Facebook, Twitter, or his blog.

Don't forget to enter to win your choice of Amazon or B&N gift certificate.  For more entries, follow the rest of his blog tour.  You can find the schedule and links here.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thanks for stopping by!
16 Comments
Eva Millien
8/1/2013 03:14:27 pm

Thanks for sharing the excerpt and the giveaway. Sounds like a great book. evamillien at gmail dot com

Reply
Gregory Delaurentis link
8/1/2013 04:02:59 pm

And thank you Ms. Millien, thanks for coming by a leaving a comment

Reply
Mary Preston
8/1/2013 07:59:57 pm

A very interesting post thank you. A team made up of individuals with different strengths can be very strong.

marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

Reply
Gregory Delaurentis link
8/1/2013 08:48:38 pm

Thank you Ms. Preston and thanks for dropping by.

Reply
Gregory Delaurentis link
8/1/2013 08:52:59 pm

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ms. Lane for hosting my book on her blog and I would also like to thank all who participate by commenting. If you are so inclined I would like to ask: Do you have a hero and why?

Reply
Goddess Fish Promotions link
8/1/2013 09:34:46 pm

Thank you for hosting

Reply
Bobbye
8/1/2013 10:31:51 pm

This is interesting, my hero's are the people in this world who keep the peace and take care of sick people.

Reply
Gregory Delaurentis link
8/2/2013 02:18:32 am

That's an excellent sentiment. They are in fact heroes. Thank you for commenting.

Reply
Rita Wray
8/2/2013 12:32:43 am

I enjoy reading your views, they are very interesting.

Kit3247(at)aol(dot)com

Reply
Gregory Delaurentis link
8/2/2013 02:19:46 am

Thank you Ms. Wray, and thanks for your comments and stopping by.

Reply
Trix
8/2/2013 10:14:31 am

The characters' dynamic is really interesting here!

Reply
Gregory Delaurentis link
8/2/2013 10:40:34 am

Thank you Trix. And thank you for stopping by.

Reply
Karen H in NC
8/22/2013 11:58:26 pm

Sorry for the late post. I’m playing catch-up here so I’m just popping in to say HI and sorry I missed visiting with you on party day! Hope you all had a good time!
kareninnc at gmail dot com

Reply
Gregory Delaurentis link
8/23/2013 12:49:34 am

Hello Karen H, It's nice to have you join in the party. A good time was had by all I hope. Thank you for joining the blog tour and thanks for commenting.

Reply
new york private investigators link
9/17/2013 08:25:25 pm

A good way to learn how to make a private investigation.

Reply
Strippers Pompano Beach link
10/12/2013 01:51:21 pm

Great information and site

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Picture

    Privacy Policy:

    No names or e-mail addresses listed in blog post replies will result in mailing list additions or sharing/sales to other sites via the Cerebral Writer.

    All email addresses, unless added intentionally to the body text of a post or response, will remain hidden from public view.

    Check out the Wiki.Evid's Top 10 Paranormal Mysteries.

    Archives

    November 2018
    October 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    December 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009
    July 2009
    June 2009
    May 2009
    April 2009
    March 2009
    February 2009
    January 2009
    December 2008
    November 2008
    October 2008
    September 2008
    August 2008
    July 2008
    June 2008
    May 2008
    April 2008
    March 2008


    Categories

    All
    Aftermath
    Animals
    Anthologies
    Awards
    Bestseller List
    Bizarro
    Blogging
    Classics
    Contests
    Critical Analysis
    Dystopia
    Edgar Allan Poe
    Editors
    Excerpts
    Film
    Finding Poe
    Flash Fiction
    God
    Grammar
    Guest Blogs
    Horror
    Humanitarians
    Interviews
    Jane The Hippie Vampire
    Language
    Leigh M. Lane
    Literary Fiction
    Lupus
    Marketing
    Movies
    Muses
    Musicians
    My Books
    Myths Of Gods
    My Writing
    My Writing
    Nook
    Novellas
    On Writing
    On Writing
    Opinion
    Other Great Authors
    Paying It Forward
    Pirates
    Poetry
    Racism
    Redrafting
    Revelations
    Reviews
    Rod Serling
    Screenplays
    Self Publishing
    Short Stories
    Speculative Fiction
    Television
    The Hidden Valley
    The Private Sector
    The Twilight Zone
    This Site
    Trailers
    Urban Fantasy
    Vampires
    Weird Western
    Words
    World Mart
    Zombies

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.