by P A Duncan
I studied his life like an historian. The distant but dutiful father, the erratic mother, the small-town upbringing imbued with unintentional, and occasionally intentional, bigotry were all familiar to me. In the turbulent 1970s, I could have been him and had been tempted. Why did I choose a path of public service and why did he choose to try to tear it all down?
I have my theory about McVeigh, but I can’t prove it. I hope, however, in this series I’ve shown how manipulative people with a specific agenda can turn an all-American boy into a monster.
Because I knew so many people from Oklahoma City through my work, I truly feel for their loss. But I’m a humanist. I also feel for the victims of Waco (government and civilian) and for McVeigh’s family, most of whom were more bewildered than anyone about what he did.
The pain of the victims and survivors in Oklahoma City has remained so strong; it has consumed them and rendered them unhappy and unsatisfied with how McVeigh died. He didn’t suffer, as they had. How incredibly sad victims of a horrific crime wanted and needed someone else to suffer for them to be made whole.
Even sadder is the fact McVeigh’s death made no one whole, except, perhaps, him.
Staunton, Virginia
April 19, 2020
Acknowledgements
There are too many people to acknowledge for this series, even though I’ve tried to list them all before: friends and family who saw me through twenty-two years of writing and rewriting, researching and rewriting, editing and more rewriting; who listened and never judged the subject matter. (Okay, a few of you did but not enough to stop me.)
I am beyond grateful to the people who have read A Perfect Hatred (the three books so far) and left reviews or sent me messages of support. And they’ve been 99% supportive. Only one or two have objected to the politics therein, i.e., I showed the dark side of conservatism only.
Well, A Perfect Hatred isn’t about the dark side of liberalism—whatever that is.
Thank you to the four amazing artists who created the cover artwork for the books: End Times, R.L. Sather (www.SelfPubBookCovers.com/RLSather); Bad Company, Patricia Keller (www.SelfPubBookCovers.com/PatriciaKellerPKA); Descending Spiral, Mary Wickison (www.SelfPubBookCovers.com/Mary60); and finally, but certainly not least, Collateral Damage, Jacqueline Abromeit (www.SelfPubBookCovers.com/goodCoverDesign).
In each case, the cover graphic was perfect and evocative.
I’d especially like to acknowledge Vickie Hopwood, a loyal fan, who’s read almost all of my books and who wants me to write faster. People like Vickie keep me writing.
Thank you, as well, to Carol James Marshall, who created incredible graphics for me to use in marketing A Perfect Hatred. She “sees” things I don’t and makes marketing less onerous.
Again, my writer groups, The Author Transformation Alliance, SWAG Writers, Shenandoah Valley Writers, and Sprints and Spirits, have made all the difference with their encouragement, support, and caring. Without them, I’d have been doing this in a void.
Allison K. Garcia and Jenny Coughlin, I know I’ve thanked you before, but I cannot thank you enough for all the work you’ve done with me on these four books.
And last, but never least, my inestimable editor, Mary Ellen Jones. I may have bristled at some suggestions, but when you said to add scenes, when you said certain words were unnecessary, you were right. You make my books better. You make me a better writer. Again, a mere “thank you” is so inadequate, but go raibh maith agat.
About the Author
P. A. Duncan is a retired bureaucrat but one with an overactive imagination—or so she’s been told since she wrote her first stories using her weekly spelling words list. She graduated from Fauquier High School in Warrenton, Virginia, despite having her notebook confiscated for writing fan fiction in English class, and then from Madison College (now James Madison University) with degrees in history and political science. That’s why history and politics find their way into her writing.
Her fiction has appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies and has won or placed in numerous contests. She is particularly proud of two short stories: “Reset,” which won the Virginia Writers Club 2016 Golden Nib Award for Best Fiction, and “A Visit from Grandfather Frost,” which won first place in fiction in a contest for the anthology, Skyline 2019. Her debut novel, A War of Deception, received the New Apple Literary Award for Excellence in Independent Publishing as a featured selection in Historical Fiction.
She is President Emeritus of the Virginia Writers Club, one of the oldest writers groups in the country. She lives and writes in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, where she also cheers on the New York Yankees, watches NASCAR, and spoils grandchildren.
Author’s Social Media
Follow me here:
Amazon Author Page: amazon.com/author/phyllisduncan
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/p-a-duncan
Facebook Author Page: www.facebook.com/unspywriter
Facebook Readers Group: http://bit.ly/RealSpies
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/GRPADuncan
Instagram: www.instagram.com/paduncan1
Newsletter Sign-up: http://bit.ly/SecretBriefings
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/paduncan01
Twitter: www.twitter.com/unspywriter
Website/Blog: www.unexpectedpaths.com
Also by P. A. Duncan
Short Story Collections
Blood Vengeance, 2012
Spy Flash, 2012
The Better Spy, 2015
Spy Flash II, 2016
Short Story Singles/Reader Magnets
“A Visit from Grandfather Frost,” 2017; appearing in the Skyline 2019 Anthology
“The Broader Concerns of All Humanity,” 2018; tie-in for
A Perfect Hatred: End Times
“What You Have to Do,” 2018; tie-in for A Perfect Hatred: Bad Company
“A Case of Mistaken Identity,” 2019; tie-in for
A Perfect Hatred: Descending Spiral
“Settling Scores,” 2019; tie-in for A Perfect Hatred: Collateral Damage
Novelettes
A Face in the Crowd, 2017; mini-sequel to A War of Deception
Novellas
The Yellow Scarf, 2015
My Noble Enemy, 2015
A Change for the Better, 2020
Novels
A War of Deception, 2017
A Perfect Hatred: End Times, 2018
A Perfect Hatred: Bad Company, 2018
A Perfect Hatred: Descending Spiral, 2019
A Perfect Hatred: Collateral Damage, 2020
Self-Inflicted Wounds: The Balkan Trilogy, coming fall 2020
Discussion Questions for
A PERFECT HATRED
If your book club has read or is going to read the series, A Perfect Hatred, you can find discussion questions for each book and for the series here:
https//unexpectedpaths.com/discussion-questions-for-a-perfect-hatred
Don’t Forget the Review
Independent authors need constructive reviews. Please, if you’ve enjoyed A Perfect Hatred: Collateral Damage or the series A Perfect Hatred or any of my other published work, leave an honest review on Amazon, Goodreads, or BookBub.
You can help me be a better writer.
Thank you,