Jay Bechtol Stories 2021

About Jay

After thirty years as a social worker, I've learned one thing, there's always a story. And often more than one. That's how I approach writing, as an opportunity to tell a story.

I'm always surprised at the path the story takes, some are complete within a few words, others take a little longer. Novels, short stories, flash fiction, all can be so compelling.

My stories skew toward uncertainty, toward dropping characters into extraordinary situations, and hoping they find a way out.

If you are interested in my novels, keep scrolling . If you are interested in short stories or flash fiction, please subscribe at the bottom.

I hope you enjoy.

Silas

Complete, seeking representation/publication

Silas is the story of Police Officer Bryan Dreyfus. Convinced that a serial killer from thirty years ago has returned. Hacking and stacking families in Los Angeles. Bryan’s colleagues, the chief, even his wife are certain that he is wrong. Off his game. The memory of killing an innocent man impacting his decisions and theories. His increasingly impossible theories.

The killer taunts Bryan and his team. Leaving clues to mock their incompetence. And as Bryan’s theories grow wilder, those around him worry that he is now just trying to exorcise his own demon.

Bryan can’t argue. Because this time he believes the demon to be real.

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The Great American Coward

Complete, seeking representation/publication

This is the story of Myron Flynn, a self-avowed coward, who discovers that his city is about to be destroyed. He is powerless to stop the impending destruction, incapable of saving himself, and too scared to tell anyone what he knows. Not that anyone would believe his story anyway.

He has spent a lifetime fantasizing about bravery and courage while hiding safely behind his comfortable life of conflict avoidance, isolation, and anonymity. But now the challenge is real. His fear grows and his instincts tell him to run, escape. Anything. Instead, he watches helplessly when buildings begin to disappear, his inaction only accelerating the destruction and he wonders if he can become the hero he secretly desires to be.

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Quimmering Springs

Planned completion, Spring 2021

The little town high in the Sierra is dying. A slow death coming to a place born in the gold rush. Long time resident Jack Kincaid is the only person remaining and is determined not to let that happen. He's loyal to The Springs, where he was born and raised, and ready to protect it against a world that is moving on.
But there are forces working against him. Forces from the secret history of the town hidden beneath the bubbling waters of the hot springs.

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Bad Reads, Inc.

Planned completion, Spring 2021

Carlton Wiley can read people. A skill he has parlayed into an mildly successful party trick while in college. But his heroin use, pending graduation, and apathy about the future have led him to the point where life as a "psychic" is about to be over.
That is until a video of one of his bad reads turns him into an overnight sensation, generating more attention than any of his other psychic reads. He finds himself being drawn deeper into his addiction while the results of his bad reads begin to come true.

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