Blurb
On the eve of President John F. Kennedy's final trip to Dallas, an irreverent narrator from the Ether begins to reveal the hidden chain of events that history never recorded. Spanning decades and weaving together Hollywood legends, political dynasties, secret affairs, and forgotten tragedies, Coincidence imagines how seemingly unrelated lives become entangled in the most infamous assassination of the twentieth century. From Joseph P. Kennedy and Gloria Swanson to Jackie Kennedy, Mary Pinchot Meyer, and the young Lee Harvey Oswald, every choice, passion, and betrayal sends ripples through time. Behind every headline lies another story, and every story hides a secret long buried. As the strands converge on November 22, 1963, the line between fate and accident begins to blur. Rich in historical detail and provocative speculation, Coincidence asks: was it really coincidence at all?
A quick conversation with the author
Lisabet Sarai: How do you handle the fact that modern readers are probably unfamiliar with many historical personages you have cast in your historical or alt-historical fiction?
Jon Ketzner: Well, first, I think part of the fun of reading historical fiction is deducing which characters and events are actually historically verifiable and which are fictional supplements added by the author to sex up the narrative. In Coincidence, I have characters who are historical well-knowns, especially to Baby Boomers and the huge crowd of Kennedy assassination obsessives, conspiracists, and groupies. I also have characters who are fictional stand-ins for real folks or composites of real folks. For example, Billy and Sharman are pretty obviously stand-ins for F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. Then there is an army of fictional characters whose story arcs weave in and through the historical record. Many of these characters have names the same or similar to friends and relatives of mine. These people are so thrilled to be included they often buy multiple copies of the book and give them out as gifts, having signed the pages where they appear.
Do I sweat the fact that many modern readers have no clue who the Fitzgeralds were or the breathtakingly fascinating Mary Pinchot Meyer? Not really. First anyone with an I-phone can quickly get a tidy Google bio of the real characters. AI does much of the heavy lifting now in tracking down the bios and anecdotes about these people. Reading an historical novel probably implies that the reader has a high sense of curiosity about the individuals and events covered by the fictional take on real history. If I can whet their appetites for doing some off-line research about people they stumble upon in my story then I make no apology for that. I certainly operate that way in my consumption of historical fiction. The challenge, of course, is to make these long dead folks so compelling that a reader will want to learn more about them. As a writer I generally only want to cast historical figures who were demonstrably interesting or have the potential to be plausibly written that way.
I trust the intelligence and curiosity of my readers to not make me slog down the story narrative with asides and tortured, unnatural dialogue putting meat on the bones of historical characters. I hope the actions assigned by my storytelling will adequately reveal their real selves without tired expository paragraphs adding to the novel's word count. These are readers of historical fiction...amateur historians essentially...not readers of fantasies or bodice busting romances...they'll do the necessary heavy lifting to educate themselves about interesting but previously unknown historical characters. My job is to tweak their curiosity through my dialogue and atmosphere.
Jackie rarely consulted him about her clothing. Her sense of style, if not her sense of humor, was notorious.
“The pink.”
She seemed surprised. “Why the pink?”
“Texas. All those tired cowgirls raising their brat kids to be Miss America. They adore pink in Texas.”
The First Lady eyed the pink at arm’s length. She shrugged. “Okay. The pink.”
“But the hat,” POTUS said, “could you do without the hat. I hate those things.”
Jackie shook her head.
“I’ll need the hat. Without the bubble top on, my hair would be a mess.”
The president leaned back against the pillows on his rock-hard bed, supine in his boxers and the argyles Bobby had given him which bore the presidential seal. He grinned.
“Remember the times when we would drift down the Potomac, standing by the rail, the wind blowing wildly through your hair, and there on the river in the middle of the city you would sink sexily to your knees…”
“Drop dead, Mr. President.” Words Jackie would soon want back.
The door to Suite 850 opened and George Lapp entered to help The President dress. He nodded at Jackie. He had seen her naked many times and was indifferent to the marital scenario into which he had strolled. Jackie smiled curtly and sidled toward her own room to don the pink Chanel, including its matching hat.
Before she left, the President grinned and said to his valet. “I might need the back brace today, George, had a strenuous night.”
About the Author
Jon Ketzner was born in Cumberland, Maryland in the lovely Appalachian foothills. He grew up in Baltimore then graduated from Towson University with a degree in mathematics and went on to a long career as a consulting actuary. For many years, Jon and his family lived in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania before moving back to Cumberland in 1990.
As a recovering actuary and inspired by the Maryland Writers Association’s “Notable Authors” monthly challenges, Jon decided to try his hand at writing and give his left-brain side a rest. He cites as influences: Henry Fielding, Joseph Heller, Gregory McDonald, and Tim Dorsey.
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/34506564.Jon_Ketzner
Jon Ketzner will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner.
