Category: Move

The Devil You Know?

7/15/2014

Move, my latest urban fantasy/mystery novel, is on a virtual tour with a giveaway through Fire and Ice Book Tours this week, and I’d like to dedicate this entry to talking about the interesting paradox in the theme of this book.

The protagonist of this book, Ruby Josen, has a problem. She’s worn out of the same old job she’s had for the past eleven years, but she lives in a small town where opportunities are limited. Her family is gone, there is no potential for romantic relationships, few advancement opportunities, and her only friend is her sometimes outlandish/sometimes reclusive next door neighbor. When she’s turned down for the only job promotion available, she slides into despair.

I already hear the one question you asked about halfway through that paragraph: why is Ruby staying in a dead end life in a dead end town with no prospects? It seems obvious that she has no life left there. Ah yes, but that’s the thing, and in the way of an answer, let me turn the question back on you: how willing are you to not only embrace change, but pursue it? I don’t mean things like a new haircut or a new car, things that seem like big decisions until you settle in and see the change was nothing but a drag-and-drop from there to here. I mean huge, life altering changes that take an anvil to everything you know and leave you with a zillion little pieces to pick up and put together into a brand new life that you no longer recognize?

I think you get my point – Ruby’s quandary isn’t unique. It is, in fact, more common than we realize, because people don’t know how comfortable they are in the stagnation of their life ruts until they’re ripped from them and put on unfamiliar ground. They may hate it. There may be things about their life that they absolutely detest and would be willing to anything to change – to a point. And that’s exactly the thing that Ruby faces when she crosses paths with a mysterious stranger that promises that he can take these things away if only she asks, and asks for nothing in return. She faces the question that so many of us face when life gets stale and we feel restless with what is and apprehensive of what could be if only we got up and made a move – which is worse; the devil you know, or the devil you don’t?

Ruby finds out that the devil she knows has sides she’s never seen when the wish granting has catastrophic consequences. Her rut is starting to cave in on her. She realizes that if she spent as much energy taking a chance on a new life as she did clinging to her old one, then things could be a lot better. She learns that change is the path to a better life. She discovers that standing up to the dragon of fear is less fatal than running from it, because you can’t outrun that fire. You have to steal it’s thunder and make it work for you. That’s the only way to win.

I believe that fear controls people more than anything else. It’s basic psychology that all human beings are motivated by one of two things – rewards or consequences – and it seems that people spend more time running from consequences than working towards rewards. We have it all backwards, and it’s a shame, because you can’t build a good life if you’re too busy running from things to lay a foundation for it.

I have first hand experience with major, life altering change. My job was transferred to a different department and let me tell you, a job change IS a life change. I’ve discussed the many facets of this adventure in this blog many times and won’t bore you with a recap, but I will tell you that it was a tough journey. More than a few people thought I absolutely lost my mind for supporting this move. They thought that I, like Ruby, should fight the battle until it ended in blood or a blaze of glory, but I knew it was useless and shortsighted. I and the others working with me saw great potential and benefits now and in the future. Of course, it was harder than I expected. There were times when I wondered if I made a terrible mistake, or if I was a fool to not put up a fight. It isn’t always easy to take the long view and keep the end goal in mind when right now is being a pain in your butt, but it was well worth it. I wouldn’t go back. In fact, it’s a shame this wasn’t done sooner.

You learn during these times, about yourself and others, and one thing that struck me was how scared people are of change. Most people won’t pursue change. They’ll accept it if it’s imposed on them, as I did, but they won’t actively pursue it “just because.” Change is a lot of hard work, and usually three times more than you see from the beginning (I can attest to that too!). Change has a chance of failure – it might not work out the way you expected, or things might be worse. Then again, failure isn’t fatal. But I think the scariest thing is the one that we hesitate to admit to ourselves: change forces us to become a different person, and we don’t know who that person will be. I can say that I’m not the same person I was four years ago, but I feel better about the person I am. This is a theme I deal with in the sequel to Move that I’m working on now – stay tuned for Obsidian in late 2014 to see how all of this has changed, well, everything!

No, Ruby’s dilemma isn’t all that uncommon. In fact, I believe all of us could see a bit of ourselves in her. Stagnation and change are uncomfortable things to work with, and like all beasts, they have a way of spring up when you least expect it.

Feel free to drop in on the blog stops for Move through July 21, and be sure to pick up your own copy. It’s on sale for $1.50 at Smashwords in all ebook formats through August 1 with coupon code WW75A, so add another summer read to your ereader app. If you don’t do Smashwords, it’s available for $2.99 through Amazon and Barnes and Noble as well. And, of course, if you like it, review it! There. That’s my humble, indie-author groveling for feedback.

That’s all today. Take care and enjoy the rest of your week.

Bye!

What's Really Up

6/19/2014

If you’ve been following me on Twitter, you know that I relapsed with my sinus infection from April. I didn’t know that was possible, but the doctor I saw told me that you really have to be diligent about taking care of yourself for up to a month after starting treatment for sinusitis to make sure you don’t relapse. I never knew that. I thought you were golden once the antibiotic was done, but that’s not the case. That would have been good to know two months ago. You learn new stuff all the time.

Writing wise, I’ve turned to promotion lately. The summer gets slow for this, but I have found a few things. I put Move on a summer sale at Smashwords through August 1. Go to https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/286425 and enter Coupon Code WW75A to get it for $1.50. I have a blog tour lined up for mid-July, and it’s also my way of thanking you for putting up with my miscellaneous ramblings while I work on the sequel to that novel. I hope to publish Obsidian by the holidays, so you can load up your phone/tablet apps or ereaders with a new offering for 2015. So get Move now, and now, and get ready for the adventure to continue in late 2014/early 2015.

The outside cat has a name! Rick and I finally found one that met all of our criteria and that we agreed on. The criteria was no Biblical names (because Rick said the girl name selection in the Bible is terrible) and nothing overused (in other words, we didn’t get 7 replies on Twitter that “I named my cat that too!”). The name we settled on is Genevieve. We’re calling her Gen. Now, her mission is to become the master of the woodland realm. In other words, stay back here near the house and out of the road, because if I have to haul her off the side of the road and bury her, I’ll be unhappy.

Before you ask, she’s not an Ollie replacement. She’s just around a lot and it made sense to have a way to identify her, and names are handy like that. She gets the supper scraps we put outside every night, and dry cat food on nights that we eat out. That’s life in the woods. Animals come, animals go, and that’s the circle of life. Rick is allergic to cats and we did encroach on their territory when we built out here, so we try to make their lives a little easier by providing some food here and there.

In other news, everything else is about the same. No news is good news, so I won’t complain. Really, there isn’t much to report since I’ve been sick this week. Oh well, a slow week never killed anyone. Nobody I know anyway.

That’s all today. Take care. Have a happy Friday tomorrow and a wonderful weekend.

Bye!

Where's Your Energy Going?

4/29/2014

One thing about being a writer is that it’s impossible to write something and not learn something about yourself. It starts with your work in progress, and then you start to see it everywhere. This was certainly the case with me last week as I worked on rewrites to Resolution (formerly Rearview Mirror, and that title might change again). As a reminder, this book is the sequel to Move, so I had the former and the present works speaking to me as I worked on this draft. Let me explain.

It actually started not with the draft, but with Rick deciding to stream The Secret through Netflix the night before I started the rewrites. I went in with half my attention on it, and was sucked in pretty quick. It’s not that this was any major revelation, but rather that it was stuff that people have been trying to tell me for the past 4-5 years: if you want to change your life, change your thoughts. I’ve been struggling with that. It’s a journey I wanted to take, and like any journey it’s been a lot of hills and valleys. I’ll do ok, then something will happen to knock me back, and I find myself in the same old thought patterns again. I realized that I started out alright, but I got caught in a cycle of success and defeat that had to end if I really wanted this to work. I don’t want to be a bitter, angry person. I want to be happy, and for the people around me to be encouraged. All this time, I’ve thought that changing your thoughts is hard, but the truth is that it isn’t. It requires more attention, but it’s certainly doable. What really matters is how determined you are.

So I started my rewrites, and I noticed something else. Ruby Josen, the main character in Move and Resolution, had grown and changed a lot between the books (there’s a three and a half year time gap between them) because she changed her focus. In Move, she was focused on what she didn’t want, and everything not only fell apart, but fell into chaos. There were a lot of bad decisions made by all of the characters in the book, and it all stemmed from everybody being so focused on what they didn’t want that they scattered. Forcing things to avoid consequences made more trouble. In Resolution, Ruby is focused on what she does want: she’s built a better life, and she wants to make things from her past right so she can move on and her mistakes from Tanger Falls can’t hold her back or threaten her future. Instead of separation and chaos, we see the characters uniting and organizing to the unified goal of setting things right, no matter what it takes. They were focused on the same goal and worked together in harmony (most of the time) to figure out what was causing this new trouble in Tanger Falls and to resolve it. The past really can come back to haunt you if you don’t tie up all those loose ends correctly. And sometimes we don’t realize that the loose ends are there until they choke us.

You see how this is going. I saw it working in fiction, so naturally I wondered how it would work in reality. Two things happened next: I had my annual physical, where my doctor diagnosed me with a sinus infection and Vitamin D deficiency. Then later that same day, I found a copy of The Secret in book format that Rick bought several months ago. It’s a relatively short book, so I decided that I could squeeze in some time to read it. It basically followed the DVD word for word, but somehow reading it in addition to seeing it really put it in my brain.

I decided to test it. Instead of focusing on being sick, I decided to focus on healing and getting healthy. I knew the antibiotics and Vitamin D booster were working in me, and I decided that I would focus on wellness instead of sickness. Whenever the medicine had me feeling bad, I’d catch my thoughts to change them from “I’m sick” to “I’m healing.” You know what happened? I felt better the next day! It usually takes me 3-4 days to feel better on antibiotics, but I started them on Tuesday and woke up Wednesday morning feeling improvement. I wasn’t 100%, but by Friday, I was hard pressed to even remember that I was sick (in fact, I nearly forgot to take my medicine, until I saw the pill bottles and remembered that healing is a process and I need to do my part to keep the process on track).

I applied it to some other matters I faced, and I found that I was more inspired and less stressed than I normally am, which was a most welcome change. The results weren’t instantaneous, of course – you see that I’m still on the path to improving, but my progress is better, and I feel better mentally than I have in a long time. And yes, there was resistance. There’s always resistance to change. Just because I decided to change my thinking didn’t mean others did, and I noticed people trying to send a lot of negative energy around. Honestly, I’m not sure if there was an increase in popping attitudes, or if I noticed it more because I was making an effort to pay attention to the positive versus negative energy around me.

Now I already hear many of you scoffing, “Well Sherri, everybody talks about the power of positive thinking, but we live in reality. Life isn’t good all the time.” I know. I’ve had enough crap avalanche on me to get it and never forget it. Life does happen, and it doesn’t care whether you’re good, bad, positive, negative, a hero, a villain, or whatever. Circumstances turn, and sometimes people are so incredibly full of crap that I have to hold my breath around them. But my point is this: it seems that a lot people spend a lot of time and energy focusing on the negative and overlook the positive, and then they wonder why bad things keep coming. What if we decided to be thankful for what we have instead of complaining about what’s wrong? What if we took responsibility instead of blaming others, or circumstances? What if we decided to focus on solutions rather than problems? What if we took positive action instead of running from, ignoring, or making excuses for problems? What if we focused on good and right, instead of bad and wrong? What if we spent more time focusing on our goals and positive outcomes instead of what’s aggravating us and getting in the way? Is it really worth your mental energy to focus on what drags you down rather than what lifts you up? You really do get back what you send out. There’s no other way it can happen. If all you do is look down and see darkness, then that’s what you get. If you lift your gaze to the living future, that’s what you get. It really is that simple.

I know we can’t change reality, but we can change the way we think about it and, subsequently, how we deal with it. We can be ruled by blessing or curses – it all depends on where we choose to focus. It’s not really a secret. It’s all in who chooses to apply it, and how reliably they do it. I can say from my personal experience just over the past week that I’m a lot happier. Sure, there’s resistance. There’s always resistance to change. But I see it working, both in fiction and in reality, and I can’t deny results, large or small.

Maybe you believe this. Maybe you don’t. It’s your faith. It’s your life. It’s your energy. Where are you sending it? To reap good returns, or bad?

That’s all today. Take care, and have a good week.

Bye!

A Novel Idea

3/2/2014

Hi all, I'm here to tell you about an exciting event taking place this week. March 2-8 is Read an Ebook Week, and to celebrate many Smashwords authors are offering deep discounts on their books. I'm participating, and you can join in the fun! Here are my titles enrolled in the offer:

Incursion, a sci-fi novella, is available for free at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/406060 with Coupon Code RW100.

Move, a mystery novel, is available for 50% off at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/286425 with Coupon Code REW50.

Quarantine, a mystery novella, is available for 50% off at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/88323 with Coupon Code REW50.

Feathered Frenzy - A Quick Guide to Adapting Birds into Your Life is available for free at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/280462 with Coupon Code RW100.

Smashwords is having a sitewide promotion with many titles available for discounts of 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% today through midnight Pacific Time on March 8, so swing by www.smashwords.com to check out the great offers. Signing up for an account at Smashwords is easy, and they offer a great variety of books. The best part is, you can get them in any ebook format you wish - even in PDF! So whatever format you prefer, they have it. Their offers frequently have special offers outside of promotions as well, so it's a great site to check out.

No e-reader? No problem! You can download free apps to tablets, smartphones, or even an iPod touch and start reading right away. If you've never tried ebooks, this is a great opportunity to start. I know many people like the "feel" of a real book in their hands - I do too - but ebooks are great in their own way. You don't have to store or carry them around, because they're on devices you usually have with you anyway. They're usually cheaper, and there's a great selection of titles (in fact, most public domain works are available for free, so if you like the classics, you can get them for nothing). And no worrying about availability or making it to the store, because you can click and download in less than a minute in many cases.

I'm not asking you to give up hardbacks and paperbacks. Goodness knows, I like my paperbacks too. I'm just asking you to give ebooks a chance. You might be pleasantly surprised, like I was.

So join in the fun this week by reading an ebook! Who knows? You might have a library built by week's end.

That's all today. Take care and have a great week.

Bye!

Ya'll Want An Excerpt?

1/29/2014

Yea, you want an excerpt! One good thing about 2 snow days is that Rearview Mirror, the sequel to Move, has progressed by 4 chapters over 2 days. Wow! And it's progressing in ways that frankly, surprised even me. I've thrown in some elements that I didn't expect, like developing an interweaving culture of djinn and humans that I never even thought about when I originally started with this in writing Move. It's been a bit of a challenge, because Judeao-Christian culture doesn't believe in djinn. That's actually an Islamic belief, so I've really had to stretch and research to get my head around this. Truth is, I'm amazed at where this is going. But I'm pleased, and excited to see where these new unexpected elements lead.

This is why writing is so much fun. As you write, things unfold that even you don't expect. It really is a world taking on a life of it's own.

Anyway, now I'd like to share a bit of what I've written on my snow days. Here's an excerpt of Chapter 11. It's a high paced chase that ends with a bang - literally! Ruby has just found out that Bryce wasn't the only djinn she was bound to. In fact, she's been bound to three. That's right, that means that two other characters in Move were djinn. *Cue dramatic music here* So now you have more reason to go back and read it again. Who were they? It may be obvious - or not!

So without further ado, here's an except from my latest progress with Rearview Mirror:

Time passed. It might have been a little or a lot. She forgot her watch, and frankly she didn’t care. None of it mattered anymore. She ran through the woods, searching for a place where she could sort out the whirlwind in her mind.

“Ruby, where are you! Come back!”

She was working with Bryce. She called him here to me!

“It’s dangerous out here! Please, Ruby, come back and let’s fix this!”

She played me for five years.

“Ruby, please! I’m trying to help you! That’s all I ever tried to do!”

I don’t know what’s real anymore.

She forged ahead faster, propelled by their chasing voices. No, she wasn’t going back. Not now. She couldn’t believe it. Her whole life, since her mother died, had been a lie. Nothing had been real. It was all smoke and mirrors to make her believe she had a choice, when in fact she was being manipulated by everything around her.

I thought Simone turned on me first, but it turns out that Denise was playing me long before that. My best friend. The one person I trusted the most betrayed me the worst.

Ruby stopped dead in her tracks, not by the voices chasing her, but by her own thoughts.

If Denise called Bryce here to work on me, then how did Simone get tangled up with him?

She leaned against a tree, her mind swirling faster and faster.

Was he already here, or was he playing both sides against the middle?

“Ruby, please come back! It’s dangerous out here!”

Ruby grabbed the tree to steady herself as her heart raced and her breath came in fast gasps. She tried to slow her breathing. She didn’t want them to find her like this. She didn’t want them to find her at all; not now at least!

Which came first – Simone’s mistakes, or my own?

“Actually, it was a little bit of both,” a voice said behind Ruby.

She turned to see the figure of a person behind her, but she couldn’t make it out in the darkness. In fact, the figure itself seemed to be wrapped in black, and just barely formed a person. It reached out a hand.

“You both trusted the wrong people. But come to me, and let’s make it right.”

“Leave her alone!” Ruby heard Oliver shout behind the black form. It turned to face him.

“What do you know of this? You have no part in this matter! Leave us be!”

Oliver pulled a silver amulet out of his pocket and held it up, chanting in a strange tongue. The figure let out a shriek. Ruby trembled against the tree and put her hands against her ears, screaming against the painful whale of the figure as it expanded until it was mere dots exploding against the sky above them. Something fell from the explosion, hitting Ruby on the temple before bouncing on her foot. Oliver rushed forward, grabbing Ruby and pulling her away from the tree.

“Are you alright?” he asked, his hand probing the tender spot on her forehead where she was hit. “Are you hurt?”

“No, I’m fine,” Ruby said.

And then she fainted.

Another Work In Progress Excerpt

1/11/2014

I'm happy to report that getting back to my normal routine this week has also included work on the sequel to Move. Frankly, I have two things driving me crazy right now - the lack of a title, and the fact that I'm stuck on how I'm going to get Macy/Ruby from Scottsdale, Arizona to Tanger Falls, Tennessee! I have the first three chapters written, and I have some ideas of how things will progress once I get her back in Tennessee - it's just a matter that I have this plot gap of how to get her from where she is to where I need for her to be. I'm trying not to fret over it too much. I remember that I didn't have the title for Blurry until half of the rough draft was written, and getting stuck on these "bridge chapters" isn't uncommon either. I'm sure it will work out.

In the meantime, I'd like to share another excerpt from the manuscript. This is actually Chapter 2, where Detective Claire Barnes has remembered everything that was wiped from her memory, and she's trying to explain to her boss why she believes Macy and Ruby are the same person, and they need to find her. Remember that this is a rough draft, and it no doubt needs some sprucing up - but it gives you an idea of where this is going.

Enjoy!

"You can’t be serious,” Captain Frank Nellins said, rubbing his brown eyes. Claire knew how he felt, even before he came walking in her office with his short, grey hair mussed and deepening lines on his face. He had been Captain of the Tanger Falls Police Force for three years, and the Simone Dawkins case had been a thorn in his side the entire time. She felt sorry for him, but not as sorry as she felt for herself.

“Look, I know it’s crazy. All I’m asking is that you give me a chance to check into it.” She spread ran her hands through her own shoulder length brown hair. “Let’s face it, Captain. My testimony is thin. The evidence isn’t as conclusive as we thought, and this might help.”

“Or it might make us look as crazy as Simone.” He poked at the file. “How can this help? You’re basically asking to reopen this investigation with only two weeks to spare chasing a wild goose!”

Claire’s jaw tensed, and she took a deep breath to calm herself. “Sir, Simone never backed down from her story about Ruby Josen. We assumed that she was referring to this Macy Anvil that worked for her for eleven years, but what if she was right? What if Ruby Josen does exist? If she does, she could seal the deal for this case.”

“In what way?” Captain Nellins asked. “In the court of public opinion, Simone Dawkins was responsible for two deaths – one of them a member of our own police force – to hide her affair with the first victim’s boyfriend. The circumstantial evidence against her is overwhelming, and we have physical evidence to back it up.”

“The physical evidence was only good enough to lock her up,” Claire said, her green eyes flaring. “I have to take the stand and explain how a Swiss Army Knife and hair clip with what turned out to be inconclusive DNA evidence linked her to the murders of Millie Banks and Phillip Wesson.”

“It matched her blood type. That’s all we really need.”

“She’s Type A Positive. That’s the most common blood type in the world.”

“It’s enough. That plus her ruby ring and the circumstances that she’s already admitted to will seal the deal.”

“A ruby ring that’s half a size too small, and that her son and ex-husband claimed she never owned.”

Captain Nellins laughed. “That’s right, the ring was planted. This Ruby character planted it on her. Isn’t that her claim?”

Claire sighed. “Before you give me the ‘she could have squeezed it on and it cut her when the firefighters pulled it off her finger in the office fire’ logic, I doubt it. Maybe if it were January, like it is now,” she said, gesturing to the overcast day outside her office window, “but not when we arrested her. It was late May. It was ninety degrees. Her fingers would have been too swollen from the heat to squeeze that ring on, no matter how hard she tried.” She stood and paced. “It’s coming undone, Captain. We need to find something more to tie it together or she’s going to walk. Remember, it’s not a jury here in Tanger Falls that will hear the case. They’re pulling jurors from Nashville because of the extensive media coverage.”

“So you decide to go back over the evidence and interviews we did in the cases for Millie Banks, Phillip Wesson, and the Goodard Graphics office fire to what? Plump up your testimony? And you find this Ruby Josen and decide to follow this lead now? Why?”

“I never let it go. I just stumbled upon a couple of things that reopened it for me.” Claire sat back down and pulled out the case file, removing some papers. “Remember when we had that hacking incident nearly two months ago, when somebody got in our database?”

“How could I forget?” Captain Nellis said, rubbing his head again. “I get a headache just thinking about it. People are still screaming over it.”

“I talked to the consultant from the IT company we called in to investigate it. A nice guy named Oliver. Tall, short blonde hair and green eyes. A real cutie pie, and smart as a whip.”

“And what did cute little Oliver have to say about it?”

Claire blushed, but composed herself quickly. “The only files that were accessed were the files for the Simone Dawkins case. Nothing was taken, but he asked me to help him go through the hard copy backups to make sure nothing was modified in the files. It’s probably the first time anybody’s looked at them since we arrested Simone.” She turned and tapped some keys on her computer. “The first thing I want is for you to listen to the digital recording from the interviews we did at Goodard Graphics the day after the Millie Banks murder.” She hit a few keys and the speakers started playing.

“Please state your name for the record.”

There was a brief pause and then a soft response. “Macy Anvil.”

She hit another key to stop the recording. “Fair enough, according to the recording, we were interviewing Macy Anvil.” She pulled some papers from her desk and turned them to Captain Nellins. “But according to my notes from the same time that recording was taken, look at who I noted.”

Captain Nellins sighed. “Ruby Josen.”

Claire nodded. “I found discrepancies like that throughout all of the files. But here’s what’s most interesting,” she said, pulling a folder off the desk beside her computer and opening it. “These are Phillips notes from the Millie Banks interviews. Look who he mentions in all of his notes.”

Captain Nellins picked up the papers and flipped through them. “Ruby Josen every time.” He laid them down and stared at Claire. “I’m surprised the State Attorney General hasn’t asked about this.”

“She never got it.”

“What?”

Claire gathered up the file. “It was never added to our database. We sent all of the information to the Attorney General’s office digitally. They’ve converted to that new secure online system. In fact, according to all of our records and notes on this case, nobody has even asked for or about Phillips notes on the Millie Banks murder.”

“I wonder why?” Captain Nellins asked.

Claire shrugged. “I think it’s because we assumed Simone was guilty of all of these crimes. We’re trying her for two homicides and arson. But what if she’s right? What if there is more to all of this, and Ruby Josen is the answer?”

“I’ll admit it’s strange,” Captain Nellins said. “So where do we find her?”

Claire smiled. “Oliver might have helped me with that one as well. When he was checking our systems, he noticed that our office made a number of unanswered telephone calls to an out of state number between mid December and as recently as last week. He didn’t know what that was all about, but he’s checking into it.” She pulled some more papers from beside her computer. “But I didn’t feel like waiting. I called the number, but it always rang four times and cut off. No voice mail or anything. I thought that was curious, so I checked with the nationwide cell phone providers and got lucky.” She passed the papers to Captain Nellins. “That phone number is registered to Macy Anvil.”

“Simone’s subordinate that conveniently moved right before her arrest.”

Claire nodded. “I started to wonder. Between this and the discrepancy in our database and written notes, I wonder if Macy Anvil and Ruby Josen are the same person.”

Captain Nellins jumped. “How could that be possible?”

“How can it be possible that half our notes refer to Macy and the other half refer to Ruby?” Claire shrugged. “I don’t know, but with a lack of anything making better sense, it’s the only theory I’m left with that makes even a little bit of sense.” She leaned back in her chair. “That’s why I’m asking for your permission to open this back up, Captain. Please, I know it sounds crazy, but if Simone’s defense team gets ahold of this and we don’t have something better to explain it, then this case could fall apart and the judge could dismiss it without bring any answers or closure to Tanger Falls.”

“That would be bad,” Captain Nellins said. “We were never a big town, and people have been moving out since those crimes happened. They never really got over it.” He sighed. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe this Macy Anvil, or Ruby Josen, or whoever, can shed some light on it.”

“It’s worth trying if she can give us any answers that make better sense than what we’ve got.”

“Fine,” Captain Nellins said sharply. “Track down this Macy Anvil. It’s the one real name we have.”

“I already have, sir,” Claire said.

He nodded approvingly. “Where did you find her?”

“In the Valley of the Sun. She’s in Phoenix, Arizona.”

“Then pack your bags. You’re heading out west tomorrow.” Captain Nellins stood and shook Claire’s hand. “Good job, detective. Go find her. Bring her back here, if you can. See if she can nail this case for us, for once and for all.”

Claire smiled. “I look forward to it, sir.”

What I Learned on My Christmas Break

1/6/2014

It's amazing what you learn about yourself after a couple of weeks off work. I really didn't think much of it until I returned to work today, but it turns out that I learned quite a few things about myself over the past couple of weeks. For example:

1. We can nurse a sick parakeet. Ollie had us worried with that nerve inflammation and groin strain. His mobility is very limited. But somehow, the Lord rose us to it. We got his cage reconfigured, and he's improved a lot in the past couple of weeks. The groin strain seems to be healing - he's gaining strength in his right foot, he's eating better, his energy is increasing, and he's gained 4 grams over the past couple of weeks. Thank you, Lord. Keep him healing. Keep us equipped to help in his healing. And go Ollie!

2. I can write a sequel. And I'm doing it. I always said that writing a sequel wasn't my thing, because my characters couldn't take any more once I was done with them. But the idea for a sequel to my last mystery novel, Move, came to me right before I got off for work, and it's taken off from there. So far, I've written 2 chapters, and it keeps flowing. I'm interested to see where this goes.

3. We can not leave the house for 2-3 days, and it doesn't bother us. Rick and the birds are pretty good company. And it's very nice to be home!

4. There are some silly commercials on TV. As if the Farmer's Only commercial isn't an annoying ear bug, the flying Nissan and the Dr. Pepper one with the bear rowing the guy in the boat is just all kinds of crazy. It seems silly is the way to go.

5. I can read 3 books in 2 weeks. I wondered if that was even possible, because I do good to finish reading a book in a month when I'm at work.

6. It's good to have your afternoons to do chores and errands so you can relax and watch TV at night. So that's how retirees and stay at homes spend their days. Secret revealed.

7. You can get a flu shot and still get the flu. That wasn't a good thing to learn - no more than learning that my thermometer threatens to spontaneously combust if your temperature is over 100 degrees, or that the swab they use to test you must go up your nose until it hits your brain. But I did learn that Tamiflu works, especially if you catch it within the first 24 hours of getting symptoms.

8. We're the cleanest people in the world. We must be, because I can't believe how much trash we took to the dump while we were off. We throw everything away.

9. Getting up early isn't even for the birds. Zack, Chloe, and Ollie didn't wake us up a single time while we off. In fact, they seemed to like sleeping past sunrise. Then again, they have human servants, so why should they worry about getting a worm - especially when they don't eat worms.

10. Working takes a lot of energy. Maybe the flu took more out of me than I realized. Maybe I got lazy. Maybe it's a combination of both, but I was exhausted today! You don't realize how much energy it takes to remain active and alert all day long until you get away from it for a while. Whew!

Well, how about that. It seems there were some things about myself that I didn't know. I guess that's what they mean when they say "live and learn." And amazingly, you can learn as much from a break as you can from work. Now is it useful? We shall see ...

That's all today. Take care, and have a great week.

Bye!

Another Year Bites the Dust

12/31/2013

And I say let it die. The more agonizing it's demise, the better. I know a lot of people had a magnificent year, and for them I'm happy, but for me it was a bag full of crap. I shall escort this year out with my foot, if necessary. Come midnight, it WILL leave.

But before that, let me pause to wish our male sun conure, Zacchaeus (Zack), a very happy birthday! Our little sunshine is 14 today! And before the obligatory "good Lord!" flies, conures can live up to 30 years. So this little ball of energy isn't even middle aged yet, and he doesn't feel (or act) a day over 2. Happy birthday, sunshine! We love you!

Of course, Zack's birthday is New Year's Eve, which is a day people typically think about the year past and resolve on how to do better next year. This is something I've been considering for a while. You know 2013 was a tough year for me if you've been following this blog, and yesterday's Facebook post that the anger and depression circling me has to go is probably no surprise to most of you. But the question remains, how did it get to be this way? And to discover that, I have to take a look in the mirror and consider two things: what did I do wrong to backslide, and what have I done right that I can build on?

I think the cause is simple: there was a lot of change in 2013, and I was overwhelmed by it. I just didn't realize it at the time. I had the attitude that "I've faced worse, so this is nothing," but that wasn't necessarily true. I wasn't honest with myself or with others. Honestly, I was as scared as everybody else by everything shifting around me. I put on a brave face, but perhaps, I should have sat down for a moment and considered that, no matter what I've seen and what I've experienced (whether better or worse), I really wasn't as boldly confident in facing things as I acted. In other words, I underestimated myself. So one lesson learned in 2013: you can slay the dragon, and still die from a wasp sting, so to speak. Facing down bit monsters and getting around huge mountains doesn't guarantee that you've got the smaller stuff whipped. In fact, you may still be reeling from those big battles so much that you don't have as much left in you to face them the way you faced things last time. So there was the pitfall. I was too confident and not honest with myself. lesson learned.

As for the anger and depression thing, well, with change around every corner it's natural to wonder "how's life going to punch me in the stomach today?" but I don't have to accept that. I don't have to be a victim of circumstance, or of other peoples' decisions. I need to get back to slowing down and really looking at things and situations to mine the opportunity out of it. I haven't done that, and because of it I've become fearful and my outlook on the future has been downcast. I don't want to be that way. So I need to get back on track, to thoughtfully act with wisdom and consideration instead of reacting, and I believe that will help my overall outlook. I know you can't help everything that happens to you. In fact, there's a great deal you have no control over. But you can take your time to evaluate things and consider the best course of action. I haven't been doing that, and I need to get back to it. I'm not going to allow life to kick me in the rear anymore. Everybody else has been doing what's best for them, and I have a right to do the same. And so I shall.

The anger thing has been resolving itself over the past few months. It's been a journey, and not flattering in places, but I do see now that all that's happened and all people have done has wound out for the best. Things take time to settle and once again, my frustration in the tidal wave of change caused me to slip in discernment here and there. I'm sorry for that and while it might be too late in some circumstances to make things better and to admit to gaining perspective, well, I can say here that I was too hasty in some of my words here and there and I do realize now that it was all for the best. I also realize that discernment is always the way of wisdom. So I brush myself off, get back up, and resolve to learn from those mistakes and to more thoughtfully consider words, actions, and reactions to questions or inquiries in the future. I tried, there were some places where I failed, so I have to face it, learn from it, and move on.

It seems that the key to a better 2014 (and beyond) is to:

Be honest with myself, and

Take time to prayerfully and thoughtfully consider all things, big and small.

Yes, I brought a great deal of this on, but that doesn't mean that I have to stay down. I underestimated myself, my reactions, and my emotions this year. I slipped, thinking that I had defeated bigger things and let smaller things undermine me. Lesson learned. I shall be more prayerful, diligent, and thoughtful from now on. And I don't have to wait for the fireworks to go off at midnight to start it, either. I can do it right now. I've come too far to fail now, and I need to renew my commitment to protecting and building on the blessings I've worked so hard for.

So all in all, that's my resolution for 2014: to do better. It might sound vague when you boil it all down to basics, but it covers a big journey through 2013 and what I hope to take forward from it. And no doubt, that journey will show when I start writing the sequel to Move in the next month or so. In fact, it's a large part of what's inspired me to go back to that story and do more with it. Stay tuned for progress on that one. I'm excited about that journey!

Happy New Year to you. Stay safe, and enjoy it.

Bye!

It's Coming Undone ...

12/15/2013

That's the text that's going to send Ruby Josen back to Tanger Falls, Tennessee, to set things right. Yes folks, you heard me right. I'm going to do it. I'm going to write a sequel to Move in 2014.

If you read my Twitter and Facebook posts on Friday, then you know that I didn't exactly leap for joy at the concept. The idea that I things still weren't right in Tanger Falls came to me while I was making brownies for our Christmas luncheon at work. "No!" I said, while stirring the mix, "let's not go there!" I'm not a big fan of series or sequels. Not unless it's a big sci-fi or fantasy concept that can't be reasonably contained in a single novel. Otherwise, it seems a not too clever ploy to sell more books. Just keep dragging it out to "trap" readers into having to read everything you write. Readers don't like to be tricked. Most of them don't have time for stunts like that. And frankly, I feel that once I'm done with my characters, they can't take anymore and still be somewhat psychologically stable. I put them through it without mercy. But then, Thursday night, here comes more to that story.

I passed it off. I got up Friday and not only was it still there, but things started forming. Ideas and situations to bring things back. And yesterday and today, it's still forming. Things are still coming. Oh crap, we're really gonna do this "here's your next novel" reveal NOW? While I'm promoting Splinter? While Incursion still needs to be finished? Over the holidays? But isn't that the way. It always comes to you when you least expect it. Or at least, when you're bogged down in other writing projects, or life itself, or both. It's never when you have writer's block. It's always when you're up to your eyeballs with busy schedules and other writing projects and promotions - those points when you're a millimeter from losing your mind.

I talked to Rick about it, and he said the ending to Move left just enough to leave it alone, or pick it up. He even said I might have a series here, if I want. I really bristled at that, but there's no denying one thing: yes, we are going to do this now. I'm going back to Tanger Falls in 2014, and it will probably be out sometime in 2015. I'll undoubtedly self-published this one like I did Move because my publishers weren't crazy about the mystery/urban fantasy mix, but that's what it has to be to work.

So back I go. Back to Ruby and Simone and Tanger Falls. Back to researching djinn and figuring out exactly how I'm going to work this. But I will work it. I accept the challenge. I'll do it. And we'll see where it leads us from here.

Three days, folks. It took me three days to go from "hell no" to "ok, I'll write it." Once it started, this one wouldn't stop. Better to accept it than fight it, especially when the brainstorming is happening with or without my consent. But no worries, b

I hope you have a good week and you don't have fictional characters and places driving you crazy like I do. Happy holidays, eh? As if reality isn't insane enough, now I have a world I created myself coming unraveled. Oh, the joys of being a writer.

That's all today.

Bye!

Hello, World

11/21/2013

Hello world, it’s good to see you again. It’s been a crazy week for me, as I anticipated, but by the grace of God, I’m making it. Thankfully, it seems that some mountains are behind me. No doubt, there will be more mountains to move in the future. That’s the nature of life.

First, Splinter was finally released over the weekend, and that was a huge relief. Splinter has been a three and a half year journey full of obstacles and fights unlike any I’ve ever seen in writing and publishing a novel. Not only was it the hardest project I’ve worked on to date, but it seems that everything that could go wrong did throughout the entire process. It led me to question whether this was a right course of action many times, but forging ahead seemed to be the answer at every challenge, and now it’s paid off. I’ve fought two arm injuries, multiple illnesses, family issues, work issues, email and technology issues, even what many would refer to as “spiritual warfare” issues – you name it, I faced it. Thanks be to God, it’s published. I can’t describe the tremendous relief I feel now that the process is complete. I did as much publicity and promotion before the release as I could, but there was still a lot that had to wait until it was published and available for sale, and I’ve been busy taking care of those things this week. It’s hard work; but I’m doing it with joy to finally have it published.

Don’t forget that I’m extending 2 special offers to readers to celebrate this release through the month of November. Quarantine is being offered for free, and Move is being offered for 50% off (that’s $1.50) through midnight on November 30th. You will need to enter Coupon Code BP43X for Quarantine, and Coupon Code QN64T for Move. I also have a prequel short story posted titled “Fractured” on ReadWave, if you want a sneak peek at it. It’s only 800 words, and you can read it in less than 5 minutes.

Second, I had a 2 day meeting on Monday and Tuesday. Plus, they completed renovations in our office area over the weekend, so my office was a disaster until I got out of the meeting and had a chance to unpack (I’m not mentioning the 2 day pile of work waiting on me on top of that). Again, thanks be to God, we made it through that too. Like Splinter, it wasn’t without obstacles. Everything that could go wrong did on Monday, and I was so exhausted by the time that I got home that I literally couldn’t think straight. Tuesday went better, and I’ve made good progress since then. Thankfully, all of our staff vacancies are filled now, so things are shifting back to their proper order. Let’s pray it sticks this time. I’ve petitioned some prayer power in this area, and it seems to be working.

Third, Ollie is still struggling with that nerve inflammation in his leg. Rick and I are concerned, but it seems that the final answer on that is to wait it out, because there’s no quick fix or cure for this. The vet said it’s a result of the kidney infection he had last month, and nerve inflammation takes a long time to go down. He’s afraid to medicate Ollie any more because he’s so small, and it might have a detrimental effect. I feel so sorry for the little fellow. It’s hard because he has good days and bad days, and with this shifting weather (hot, cold, rain, hot again, cold again, windy, rain again), it’s not helping his healing, and we want to help him. We’ve tried everything we can, and being patient is hard when you can tell the little fellow is in pain. Ollie is still eating well, and playing as best as he can (although not as much as he used to since his foot is hurt).

I guess one thing that raised alarms for me is that my brother found one of his cats, Macy, dead yesterday morning. Macy had an upper respiratory infection a couple of months ago, but it cleared up and there was no indication that anything was wrong. I feel bad for Stephen and Nicole, because when you don’t have kids, your worst fears are something happening to your parents, your siblings, or your pets. I still remember how awful it was to lose the parakeets I had before my current “flock,” and that was in 1996. You don’t forget that. I have to admit that, given Ollie’s situation, this bothered me a lot. People keep assuring me that Ollie will recover because he’s been fully diagnosed for all possibilities, but things like this tend to push your “freak out” buttons. Stephen and Nicole thought Macy was fine, and she woke up dead yesterday (not putting it gracefully, I know). I feel bad for them, and I’m trying to pray away my own anxieties over Ollie now.

Fourth, our church finally has a new pastor under consideration. We’re voting on extending a call Sunday. All we have is basic information on them. No name – I guess they don’t want the younger members of the congregations to Google him and to vote based solely on qualifications. So there’s another transition stage coming to a close, we hope. It’s been over a year and a half since our pastor and associate pastor left, so this has been a longer transition than we expected. It seems that’s the name of the game these days – transitions lasting longer than usual. Problems, obstacles, etc etc etc.

I’m optimistic that things will settle down into a good place. So positive, in fact, that I rejoined the Information Technology Committee again. I liked being more involved with the church, and I’ve missed not being on a committee this year. Now seems like a good time since my job is settling back to normal, Splinter is published, and we have a new pastor coming in that doesn’t have any preconceived notions or expectations of me or Rick. I’m not officially back “on” the committee until January, but that’s ok. It will be good to be back, and I believe the IT committee is of a magnitude that will fit into my life. I guess rejoining that committee would be a fifth thing that’s happened this week.

Sixth, Dad’s birthday is tomorrow! I hope he has a great day. We’re doing an “official” celebration on Thanksgiving since he and Mom are planning a day trip to Charleston tomorrow, but I did see them for lunch today and gave him his presents. It’s supposed to be a nice day tomorrow, and I hope they enjoy it. Happy birthday, Dad!

So yes, it’s been a crazy-busy week, but all for good because things are more or less settling and I’m seeing the fruits of my labors. I pray that the tide is turning. (Again, I’ve petitioned additional prayer power on this and it thankfully seems to be working so far). The relief I’ve felt over the progress of this week’s hard work has actually had me feeling almost human again, for the first time in nearly a year. I won’t lie – these past 12 months have been tough. Not as tough as the major transitions of 2010, but still tough and challenging in ways that tested and stretched me beyond what I believed to be my own capacity. It seemed awfully soon to have to face it too, after just settling in from so much before. But again, by the grace of God, I’m still standing. We all are. And that alone shows His hand on us to help and guide everybody affected by all of this transition and change this past year. We survived. We’re moving forward. We’re thriving. Thanks be to God.

Yes, I’m relieved. More relieved that I have been in a long time. As I say in the closing line of Splinter, it’s a good day to be alive.

That’s all today. Have a Happy Friday tomorrow and a great weekend.

Bye!

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