Finalist, Pacific Northwest Writers Association Literary Contest **** A suspicious party invitation is stuffed in Nathan's mailbox. Should he fear for his safety, sanity, and Swiss bank accounts? Nathan Tanyon's encounters with a ditzy social climber are hardly by chance. Helena Arntree claims to know far more details than the police about the death of Nathan's wealthy aunt.Nathan insists she has it all wrong, but she manipulates him into some compromising positions that might harm his credibility. He pays her a healthy sum to keep her mouth shut and go away. So she vanishes-at least for awhile.Two years later she invites him to a costume party in honor of her recent marriage to a man she doesn't bother to name. Nathan soon finds out the real reason for the invite. When he contemplates skipping the party, he fears doing so might place him in even greater danger.Can he ever escape this woman? Just how much is Nathan willing to sacrifice to keep Miss Arntree from spinning her fanciful tales?Just what is the ultimate price of silence?
Author
When Barry’s first collection of stories was read aloud by his second grade teacher, the author hid. As the years flew by, he wrote more, hid less (not really), and branched out to Super 8 films and cassette tape recorders. Barry’s audience—consisting solely of friends and family—were both amused and bemused. Since those childhood days, Barry has earned degrees in English and French from the State University of New York College at Brockport, and a Master of Arts in Writing from the Johns Hopkins University. Tinseltown, a Finalist in the 24th Annual Lambda Literary Awards, is Barry’s first novel. His novel The Celestial won the Gold Medal in the 2012 ForeWord Book of the Year Awards and was a Finalist in the 25th Annual Lambda Literary Awards. Reunion, a collection of linked stories, was a Finalist in the 2012 ForeWord Book of the Year Awards. His work has appeared in SNReview, Perspectives, Time Pilot, Liquid Ohio, Nocturnal Lyric, Midnight Times, Gival Press’s ArLiJo, and Polari Journal. His stories, novels and teleplays have won awards, including a 2008 Pushcart Prize nomination; 3rd Place in the 2010 Pacific Northwest Writers Association (PNWA) literary contest and finalist status in the 2006, 2008, 2009, 2012, and 2013 PNWA contests; 3rd Place in the 79th Annual Writer’s Digest Writing Competition and a winning entry in the 2013 WILDSound Screenplay competition. When not embroiled in his own writing, Barry sips wine, nibbles on chocolate, and watches films and TV—both the classic and the cheesy. (Mmm…cheese!) http://barrybrennessel.com/
