Travis Starnes

Family Ties (John Taylor #5) - Chapter 12

They found the car waiting exactly where they told Joe Solomon to leave it. Taylor had half been expecting a black SUV that was the hallmark of official US vehicles everywhere, but instead, he saw a dark blue, older model Volkswagen sedan. Nice enough to not stand out as a noticeable piece of junk, but not so nice as to be noticeable for being a good car. It was, in every way, average.

They stood near a building, looking at it across a mostly empty parking lot. It was near ...

Small Change to Family Ties Chapter 8

There was a small change to Chapter 8 of Family Ties (John Taylor #5) dealing with the location of where Whitaker hid the journal.  This will become important in later chapters.

Title Change

Some of you may have noticed, but I wanted to spell it out to make sure no on got confused.  The title of the 5th John Taylor book has changed and is now Family Ties.

Family Ties (John Taylor #5) - Chapter 11

The sun was still peaking around the edges of the thick motel curtain when Taylor woke up. Turning, he found Whitaker already awake, propped up on one elbow, staring at him.

“I missed this,” she said once he looked up at her.

“Me too.”

She rolled over, draping her body over half of his, her head nestled in the crook of Taylor’s arm.

“Have you talked to Kara since you’ve been here?”

“A couple of times.”

“She’s going to be...

Family Ties (John Taylor #5) - Chapter 10

Taylor forced the bike he and Whitaker were on around a tight turn, leaning the bike almost too much as he tried to keep from bleeding too much speed as they ran from the cyber cafe. His hopes that the siren he’d heard was just a different officer pulling some motorist over were soon dashed as they flashed past a cross street. Taylor caught sight of a different police car whose lights flashed on as soon as they’d crossed its view.

Glancing at the side mirror, Taylor saw the police c...

Family Ties (John Taylor #5) - Chapter 9

The next morning Taylor and Whitaker both seemed to subconsciously need to constantly touch each other. Passing each other in the small motel room, they repeatedly reached to make physical contact. A slight caress of the back or brief hand hold seemed to reinforce they were really together again, even if their underlying problems hadn’t been solved.

Since both of them only had the things they’d been carrying when they went on the run, it didn’t actually take all that much time to ...

Family Ties (John Taylor #5) - Chapter 8

Whitaker dropped her helmet and threw herself at Taylor, her mouth smashing into his. For a long time, they kissed, pouring their worry and love into each other, each clutching the other tightly. Eventually, Whitaker untangled herself from Taylor and stepped back, both stopping to catch their breath.

“What are you doing here?” Whitaker asked.

“What? What do you mean, what am I doing here?” Taylor said, surprised. “You didn’t show up to bail me out?�...

Playing by Ear (Country Roads #1) - Chapter 8

The next day at lunch, I told Rhonda I needed to sit with Hanna and get some help on my homework at lunch, which was partially true. I was starting to really struggle in math, and I’d made a promise I wouldn’t start blowing my school work off. The real reason, though, was I needed to talk to Jordan.

“Didn’t you just ask my sister out on a date?” Jordan said when I sat down across from her. “Why are you over here?”

“Partially, I was hoping I could talk someone into ...

Family Ties (John Taylor #5) - Chapter 7

The trip back to the medical examiners' office seemed to take a lot longer than it had just that morning. Taylor spent the entire time in the back of the cab alternately, fearing Whitaker was gone and denying it could be her.

When he arrived at the offices, he wanted to just push past the receptionist at the front and rush back to find Graf, but the security guard upfront would have probably stopped him. Dealing with that would have been enough of a headache that he o...

Family Ties (John Taylor #5) - Chapter 6

Taylor thought about the name 'Grace Sharp' all the way back to the hotel, trying to place where he’d heard it. By the time he got back, he still hadn’t placed it, but he did remember it had something to do with Whitaker. He couldn’t remember if it was a personal connection, or a work connection. Still, knowing Whitaker, their connection was almost certainly through work. Even after they got together, Whitaker always spent more time working than socializing. Taylor co...

Playing by Ear (Country Roads #1) - Chapter 7

Sunday was more of the same except I got to work earlier to help the brunch crowd, which was half people from town and half people headed south out of the national park on their way back home. Instead of coming in early or staying late, Hanna had us there just in time for me to help prep in the kitchen and for her to prep her section.

By one, the lunch crowd had just about died down, just in time for Willie to show up. The Blue Ridge only had music on Friday and Saturday nights, so Will...

Playing by Ear - Chapters 5-6 Re-write & an Update

First, an update.  I know posts have slowed down a lot.  The quarantine has done a number on my productivity, especially with kids doing school from home.  I'm going to re-arrange my schedule some and try and get in more writing time.  This is to say you should see May get back to a more normal posting schedule.

Second, The re-write of Playing by ear is done and all chapters here have been updated.  Now on to writing new stuff again.

Playing by Ear - Chapters 3 & 4 Re-Write

New versions of chapter 3 and 4 are up (The text on the original posts was edited to the new material).  It should seem largely familiar, but with changes to the timeline and the progression of Hanna & Charlie's friendship.  More changes to the other chapters coming soon.

Family Ties (John Taylor #5) - Chapter 5

Taylor spent several more hours poring over documents with no luck before shutting his computer down. He’d found some general background information, what he really needed wasn’t going to be found in searches. There were two possibilities he could see at the moment for getting more direct information, but both would require help to get.

He decided to call back to the States first. It was still morning back home, but the help he needed would have to be started soon...

Writing Update

I know it's been a bit since the last chapter and I wanted to make sure everyone knew I hadn't ghosted. There is going to be a major rework of Playing by Ear coming up pretty soon.  Normally I outline pretty heavily so this isn't an issue and the only updates are minor, but this time the changes are going to require actual re-writing.  I'll post up when those already posted chapters have updated.

New stuff is still coming though.  A new chapter of the Taylor book is comin...

Playing by Ear (Country Roads #1) - Chapter 6

I liked Saturdays, mostly because mom doesn’t work until the afternoons. Most kids my age would probably try and stay in their rooms, hiding from their parents, and they’d almost certainly find me looking forward to spending time with my mom Saturday mornings weird. They probably also hadn’t grown up traveling the country, or at least the eastern seaboard, with their parents, never stopping in one place.

I’ll admit it made for a strange mother-son relationship, but I was happy a...

Family Ties (John Taylor #5) - Chapter 4

Once Graf’s backup arrived, but before the ambulance that they then called to tend to Graf’s wound, Taylor moved to check out the scene while they dealt with their brother officer. The new arrivals seemed concerned at first that Taylor, a civilian, was wandering around the scene until Graf waved them off. The only thing Taylor understood of their brief conversation was the use of the agency abbreviation FBI, which Taylor took to mean Graf was explaining why Taylor was t...

The Sword of Jupiter (Imperium #1) - Chapter 18

The next morning Ky was in a foul mood, something his lictores  picked up on quickly. Partly it was because he’d started to push  himself too hard. While it was true, he could operate on significantly  less sleep than non-augmented humans, he had pushed this ability too  far. Even with the changes to his system, Ky couldn’t go with only a few  hours of sleep a night indefinitely. While the meeting had run late,  once it was over Ky still had hour...

Family Ties (John Taylor #5) - Chapter 3

 Berlin, Germany

Taylor managed to get a few hours’ sleep on the flight. It wasn't really enough, but it allowed him to beg off when Graf suggested Taylor check into his hotel and get a few hours’ sleep before they started. While Taylor was tired, he was not going to put off the search for Whitaker. He had gotten enough practice going without sleep in the service. He was confident he would make it through, now.

Seeing his urgency, Graf suggested they skip...

The Sword of Jupiter (Imperium #1) - Chapter 17

While the games took up most of the afternoon, Ky’s day was far from  over. The Emperor and his advisors had begun setting up meetings with  some of the people that Ky would need to deal with to enact various  parts of his plans.

This afternoon’s meeting had been set up by  Hortensius, the businessman and blacksmith who ran the large ‘foundries’  in Devnum. Ky had not seen the foundries yet but, from the AI’s data,  what the Romans de...

Slight delay in the next chapter

I know there's normally a chapter posted by this point.  The next chapter of Imperium required a lot more research than I expected (on banking in the ancient world and renaissance era financial innovation).  There is a new chapter coming soon, I haven't forgotten.  Promise.

Family Ties (John Taylor #5) - Chapter 2

  Taylor made plans with Graf at seven-thirty, for the red-eye flight to Germany. He left the German officer to take care of the details, so Taylor could take care of things before he had to go out of town. While the Germans had agreed to pick up Taylor’s tab for the time he was on loan to them, he had been warned that they had a much lower budget than the FBI when it came to travel. The idea of flying coach all the way to Germany did not sit all that well with Taylor, who had man...

Playing by Ear (Country Roads #1) - Chapter 5

My first week of public school had been somewhat of a mixed bag so far. I’d gotten a job that seemed like it’d be okay, free music lessons and it looked like I might manage to make some friends. On the other hand, I had also managed to make enemies, including a teacher, and I was starting to realize how out of my depth I was in school. I’d never considered myself uneducated and I always thought my mom had done a good job homeschooling me. While I still think she did her best, it was now...

The Sword of Jupiter (Imperium #1) - Chapter 16

Ky came out of his quarters the next morning to find two of the men  from Carus’s detail flanking his door. He still found the concept of men  guarding him around the clock to be strange. Leaders in his time had  guards, of course, but everything was more hands-off. With the kinetic  shielding enhanced clothing, satellite tracking, camera networks, and  AIs monitoring signals traffic, facial recognition, and pattern  recognition, assassinations ten...

Family Ties (John Taylor #5) - Chapter 1

Berlin, Germany

Frieda Wissler sat in her old, comfortable chair, pushed close to the fireplace, a shawl wrapped tight around her shoulders. Although the fall air had only just started to cool, taking on the crisp scent of the changing of seasons, her weathered frame could not take the fall air like it used to. Fall had always been her favorite season, a time to stroll along the Kurfürstendamm free from the heat of summer. Now the dropping temperatur...

The Sword of Jupiter (Imperium #1) - Chapter 15

Ky walked the courtyard the next morning by himself. He was confused  that, during his walk, the one thought that kept returning to him was  that he wished Lucilla was walking with him. They had not arranged to  meet, and, as the Emperor’s daughter, she must have had things she  needed to take care of. Since his disquiet over her absence was not  because he expected her, the feeling was somewhat strange to him.

Considering  the line of thinki...

Playing by Ear (Country Roads #1) - Chapter 4

Mom was stuck working late, as seemed to happen a lot, which meant my  normal night of feeding myself, reading, playing a little guitar, and  getting to bed. The only new thing in this schedule was homework. I  struggled somewhat with my math, still unsure of how to work all of the  problems. Most kids my age would have, at some point, retreated to the  internet to look up the answers. Unfortunately for me, while we had a  computer, albeit a very old...

The Sword of Jupiter (Imperium #1) - Chapter 14

Ky was surprised when Lucilla stood and left the meeting room with him.

“You aren’t going to stay?”

“No.  The only reason I was there was because you asked for my input, but  they would be uncomfortable if I stayed. Honestly, if the emperor  weren’t my father, they wouldn’t have tolerated a woman in that room at  all, at least not at the table as their equal.”

“That doesn’t seem right.”

“That’s how the world work...

Playing by Ear (Country Roads #1) - Chapter 3

I was second-guessing my bravado the next morning as I stood, staring down at the creek. The night before I had pictured vaulting over the creek, my feet skimming across the water. Sticking my crutch into the creek, I realized vaulting was not going to work. If I tried to stick my crutches in the middle of the creek and swing across, my legs would drag ankle-deep through the water.

The only good thing was it had not rained the night before making the ground more solid than yesterday. I ...

Playing by Ear (Country Roads #1) - Chapter 2

It turned out ‘springing’ me from the hospital was a lot more complicated than I had hoped. We waited for the x-rays to come back, which showed I only had bruised ribs, not broken ones. The actual bad news was that I did have a hairline fracture in one of the bones in my foot. Luckily, the fracture was on the top of my foot instead of the bottom. The doctor explained that, since the bone would not get a lot of pressure when I walked, they could just put a boot thing on ...