M. Assassin's Heart

Assassin's Heart.......
M.A. Leslie.......

His peering eyes tilted as the unassuming target approached, slightly, he slumped to hide his shadowy figure further into the blackness of the lone alley. He had been trained in the act of killing and knew his target would be a fairly simple matter.



Half of the payment was already in the bank and for an unknown reason an exorbitant amount of money had been paid. However, the target didn’t seem to match the price. He had killed much more dangerous for much less in the past, but he wasn’t going to say no to people who paid generously. Cautiously, he watched from his post and pulled out the tools of his twisted trade.


He knew that the ones with him may pose no extreme threat, but the protective instincts of a mother could be that to recon with. Just like clockwork the baby carrier was taken from the back seat of the car and the pair made their trek to up the concrete path to the apartment.


The time to strike was now, the light was all but gone, and the chances of an outside assault were minimal. Like a well trained predator on revolt, he jumped from the darkness and the smell of fear filled the air like the stench of a skunks spray.


First the man was taken, it wasn’t sexist, just convenient, and he knew who the real threat was. The man gurgled and fell to the ground as his contents poured out around him, posing no future threat. Then the weapon swung and despite the few defensive actions of the victim, she fell lifeless to the ground, in a cross over her dying partner.


Being out in the open was nothing but a constant threat. Taking heed, the assassin stowed his tools and took the handle of the carrier as he turned out into a run. He knew where he was going and that the chance of witnesses was nil. The destination had been set by the men who had bought the fate of the child.


In a smooth steady run, he went his hidden vehicle and with little concern for the child in the seat, he shoved the carrier into the passenger seat and took off to his destination.


Once he was at a reasonable distance from the dangers of the scene, to insure that he would receive payment, he pulled over and took down the mask that was laid over the child. Despite his nature, he slid the cloth down gently and peered into the flame blue eyes of the babe.


With forgiveness, the child caught his eyes and together they locked. A small coo sounded from swaddled package and from nowhere a hand appeared. The assassin reached in and allowed the minuscule fingers to tightly clutch around his finger.


He knew what he had been told and knew what he now felt. While the men with the money told him that the child would need to be destroyed, that he was the coming of the end of man, it just didn’t make sense. The innocence of the child told him otherwise. It was not the child or his bleeding parents that had been the threat. It only took those eyes to convince him, he had made the wrong choice. And, for the first time in his career, he would not be getting the job completely done.

M. Final Draft Finally Considered Final

So just when I thought that the work was ready to be done, it is time to query. Why is it so difficult to write a query? One would think that after writing a whole enormous MS that one page would be easy, but it's not by any means.


Final revisions are complete and the final draft, or until an editor changes it, is ready.  I am ecstatic to have the MS to a point that would consider it done and after reading it, I am really satisfied with it.

Sorry that I haven't been posting for a few weeks, but believe me it was worth it.  Can't wait to get back to blogging and continue the other WIP.

M. Focus

I am sorry that I haven't posted for some time now.  I have been trying my best to come over, read, and comment on your blogs, but I have been really busy.

I have actually been sticking to my New Years resolution and burning through the third revision of the first MS to actually call it complete.  And, so far it has been a success.

Just wanted to keep you up to date and hope to be done soon and can't wait to get back to blogging.

M. Electronic Answers

"Why should I memorize something when I know where to find it?"

Albert Einstein

I had a question today about how irregular one of my son's blood levels is. The doctor gave us the level, but skirted around the question and didn't answer as to how far off it was. So my wife and I like most parents worried and pondered the predicament, but then an idea came to mind.

Check the Internet!

Well we did and after some searching we found the information that we were seeking out.

Anyway, I am sure that you are just saying, so what, right? Well it really made me think, I don't remember not having the Internet. I know that it wasn't around my whole life and I was a teenager when I first used it, but now I can't remember not having it. I really don't know what I would do without it at this point in my life.

So this brings me to my point, do you ever sit back and appreciate the magical wonder that we all use daily? Do you think we will ever end up feeling the same way about EBooks? Really think about it, I am thirty and have watched the Internet revolution come to life in the mainstream, it only took fifteen years to get here.

Would Einstein even have to remember his name in this day and age?

M. The writing block blues

The hardest part of writing isn't the writing.  Originally, I would have trouble getting the story set and then setting aside the time of the day to write.  Nowadays that isn't the problem.  I have been fighting a duel in my mind with an evil little bug called a writer's block.

I don't know if that is what I would call it, but there is a little nudge in my head that makes me less than satisfied with everything that I write and that I have written.  I am not sure if it is from the countless rejections that I have grown accustom to receiving or if it is just my lack of inspiration.

I know that I have stories to tell, but they just don't look right when they splash out onto the pages.

Anyway, believe it or not, I feel better just for writing this and I don't want to sound like it is a huge problem, because it is starting to go away.  What I really want to know is, what do you do to prevent feeling this way and how do you get it to go away?  Are their some mental sit ups that my grey matter can do to get my writing back in shape.

M. Your real life and your real fiction

Today I was doing some reading and editing of the original MS and as I was reading through, I started to think of the characters in it.  There are quite a few, if not all, that resemble the people I know in an uncanny way.  Most of their personalities are similar to the people in my life and the ones around me.  The way they carry themselves and converse with each other is vaguely familiar and for some even the way they look.

I started to think of the Wizard of Oz and Dorothy coming home to her little farm house.  All of the characters in her story had matched with people that were in her real life.  And in one way or another the fictional characters matched the ones in her real world.  Do we all do that when we think of our own fictions?  Do we find a way to incorporate the people around us and influence us when we write our own stories?

M Happy New Year

I just wanted to apologize for being away and not really posting since before Christmas. Anyway, I wanted to wish a happy new year to all and I hope that all of the joy of the fresh start spreads to you and your families.


My resolution for this year is going to be: tighten the screws on my manuscript and query. I have spent the last year writing and learning how to seek out publishing from all of the great publishing, writer's, and agent's blogs out there. Thank you for your support in 2010 and now it will be time to put it to practice in 2011.
Happy New Year!