John T. Cullen has authored over 20 books, including The Generals of October (Simon & Schuster, 2004)—pulse-pounding political-military suspense fiction set in a near-future U.S. Constitutional crisis.
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John T. Cullen also writes screenplays, including one for Nebula Express (adapted from his SF novel) and the violent, darkly glistening, utterly strange tale of a serial killer in Scorpion.
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The Christmas Clock a holiday fantasy for everyone
by John T. Cullen
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1. A Brief Introduction
The hero of our story, during this Christmas Season, was an older gentleman named Mr. Arthur Latchloose. He was quite wealthy, a banker to be precise, and he had one remarkable hobby: collecting rare antiquarian treasures.
Mr. Arthur Latchloose had lived a full and interesting life, earning his college degree in Finance, serving in the Army as an officer, and then making a very successful career in banking. As a young man, he married his high school sweetheart right out of college, before he went off to war. When he returned, luckily in one piece and with a whole bunch of medals, he and Gretchen Latchloose got busy. They had two wonderful children, Eddie and Mary, who brought their parents all the usual happiness and heart-aches. Then, however, things got complicated and didn't go so well. There was a whole lot of heart ache and estrangement, and finally Gretchen passed away.
Arthur Latchloose was never the same after she died. He was a handsome older man, with a full head of white hair and a craggy face, and blue eyes that sparkled when he felt chatty-but that was not very often anymore. The kids moved away and didn't call or write, and Arthur couldn't figure out why.
Thus, Arthur was left alone, owning a drafty old bank building and a bunch of wonderful memories that faded a bit like the old photographs he kept all around his office. Try as he might, he couldn't help becoming a little bitter, and then a bit more bitter, and finally an old grouch. In the end, he kept to himself and puttered about his money and his antiquities. That was where his newest adventure in life began-when he acquired a remarkable grandfather clock originally made at the court of Louis XIV, the Sun King, for an Ottoman Sultan in Istanbul. When the Ottoman Empire became history during World War I, the clock had long since become the property of an Arab prince living near Baghdad, and finally, through some shenanigans, wound up in the possession of one Major Jarlid, late of the U.S. Army, now retired and alas not long for this world.
Jarlid needed money, and he found just the buyer for his priceless antiquity. You guessed it--Arthur Latchloose. Mr. Latchloose, however, had no idea about the danger and the potency of the mechanical wonder he was about to acquire.
Meanwhile, Christmas Season is a special time for writers and readers alike. Stories told during this period require a bit of extra sparkle and shine, a real warm-up that sets the proper mood. The opening chapter, therefore, dear reader, is devoted primarily to getting us in just the right mood. Christmas stories are different in that they hang upon not only the usual story elements-mystery, danger, and a bit of sheer fright, all of which exist within the caverns of this tale-but also hang upon a bit of the old, well, the old blarney if this author may say so. But this isn't just ordinary blarney, as you will soon find out. This story is about the strangest things that ever happened to Arthur Latchloose, and it may turn out to be the same for you.
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If you like what you're reading, please send at least two other avid readers to this website.
—Thank you! …Your grateful author, John T. Cullen.
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Other gripping books by the author:
Copyright © 2005 by John T. Cullen. All Rights Reserved.
John T. Cullen has been a pioneer in digital publishing since 1996. He is listed by digital publishing historian Karen Wiesner as the sixth digital publisher in history, and the second person to publish serialized chapters on line (starting 1996). His web magazine Deep Outside SFFH was the first to be listed along with the professional pulps in Writer's Market (1999) and was at one time the oldest professional SFFH magazine in the world. John T. Cullen continues to explore new ways to adapt the primordial power of storytelling to emerging new digital opportunities as the Third Millennium springs to light.
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A Walk in Ancient Rome John T. Cullen (Simon&Schuster May 2005) innovative, acclaimed walking & teaching tour—explore every corner of the Imperial capital at its zenith almost 2000 years ago; learn its history—smell and taste the very air of Classical Rome.
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= Summer 2008 =
A Walk in Ancient Rome, Second Edition John T. Cullen (Clocktower Books 2008)—New! Many new maps; images from the unique scale model of AndréCaron of Quebec. Read this innovative book, with its acclaimed walking & teaching tour. Explore every corner of the Imperial capital at its zenith almost 2000 years ago; learn its history. Smell and taste the very air of Classical Rome. The new edition is bigger, like an atlas. Some people have carried the 1st edition with them to Rome, and found it greatly enhanced their experience.
Dead Move: Kate Morgan and the Haunting Mystery of Coronado, 2nd Ed. John T. Cullen (Clocktower Books, San Diego, Summer 2008). John T. Cullen has tackled the mystery of the ghost at the Hotel del Coronado. He has assembled a dramatic new theory about how and why she violently died on the back steps of the hotel in 1892. A first-class ghost story and whodunit wrapped in one.
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