My First Book
Some years ago in the hotel business, 'Involuntary Termination' was an official term used by Personnel Department Managers to designate the employment status of someone who was fired from their position. It was almost always followed by the statement 'Do Not Rehire.'
This book is a work of fiction. Over the years, I have known some great people in the hotels where I have worked. I've also known a handful who were not so great. That's life, I suppose.
My imagination ran away with me during the many hours of developing the characters and plot for the story. I never knew anyone who was murdered, however I worked in a hotel where it was rumored that there had been a room with a hot tub in the garage used by upper management for salacious sexual encounters after hours.
I have had some of the experiences depicted in the book, but not all of them. I have known people who have had similar experiences. Most of them are still alive, but some have moved on to that big hotel resort in the afterlife. The best of them are guests sitting around the pool with a cocktail. The worst of them are relegated to handling customer complaints for eternity.
I will always love “The Big Easy” and cherish the memories of the people, the culture, and my relatives, many of whom still live there. But I found it to be a hard place to live. People who are from there never leave. Most of the people I knew who went there for work in the hotels eventually moved on but left with strong feelings about the place; some very good, some not so good.
Involuntary Termination is not a book for everyone. Some people will find the book's sexist attitudes about women and sexual identity disturbing by today's standards. But I experienced it when I was there, and I've written about it here. A lot has changed. Maybe a lot still needs to change.
The man on trial is Pablo del Toro, a gang member accused of the kidnap, rape, and aggravated assault of his ex-girlfriend over the Thanksgiving weekend. Rick Claymore gets a summons for jury duty in the city of Chicago and answers the call.
Chosen to serve, the hotel executive eventually becomes the foreman of the twelve-member jury. Pablo is convicted on all charges and sent to prison for twenty years.
Prince, the gang leader, promises his imprisoned soldier that he will get revenge against Maria Alvarez, the woman who brought the charges.
After the trial the hotel executive develops a community outreach program offering jobs to upwardly mobile residents and high school students of the Pilsen neighborhood. As the program evolves Rick searches for and finds Maria, offering her a job at the hotel.
As they formulate a plan to get their revenge the gang makes the connection between Maria and the hotel, putting Rick and his family at risk.
My Second Book
My Third Book
Rick Claymore is promoted to Vice President and General Manager of a new hotel adjacent to a theme park in Orlando. With his wife Georgia and teenage daughter, Grace, they set out for the theme park capital of America. After building a dedicated team of hospitality executives and line staff the hotel opens with great fanfare.
His hospitality career started long ago as a bartender in a New Orleans hotel after he left the Army. Rick showed great potential and was promoted quickly to a management position. Over time he and other members of the hotel staff discovered a criminal enterprise operating within the business and exposed it. After the perpetrators were convicted and sent to jail Rick gradually rose in the ranks of the company, assuming the role of General Manager and moving to Austin and eventually to Chicago.
Rocco Monte, one of the leaders of the criminal enterprise from New Orleans gets an early release from jail after fifteen years and is looking for payback. He formulates a plan to find Rick and make him pay for destroying his life.
Ewell Underwood is a man from Montana filled with hate. He was left alone after his father came out of the closet, took up with man and moved to Portland. Soon after, his mother committed suicide, and his uncle took him in. He was then introduced to the macho world of the Montana militia where white supremacy rules and his indoctrination is solidified.
Trouble puts him at odds with the law and he is nudged into the Army where he learns about explosives and high-powered weapons. But his Army experience sputters due to his problem with authority, and he is discharged. His uncle dies and the bank forecloses on the property leaving Ewell with no place to live and no means of support.
With few prospects in Montana, he moves to Zolfo Springs, Florida and connects with other like-minded individuals from Georgia and Alabama who are also filled with hate.
Ewell and his cronies hatch a plan and attack Jewish synagogues in three southern cities putting them in the sites of a federal task force. Looking for even bigger targets with more widespread publicity, the newly formed southern militia decides to attack a theme park during a “Diversity Days” celebration over the 4th of July holiday.
The main thrust of the attack will be staged from the hotel adjacent to the theme park where Rick Claymore is the General Manager.
