I just read a post on Facebook saying today is National Book Day. YAY!!  I love books. I didn’t know there was a national day celebrating books, but I’m thrilled to hear it.  Coincidentally, yesterday was National Author Day.  So, this is a very short, short post urging you to buy a book today!  And then read it!

HAVE A GREAT NATIONAL BOOK DAY!

UNTIL NEXT TIME…God Bless & Good Reading!

Normally I try to find interesting things to write about, but today it’s all about ME! I’ve got lots of news to share so here goes.

GOOD NEWS: Last week, I had my second and God willing last Gamma Knife treatment for my brain tumors. It wasn’t easy but it’s over! It can take up to a year for the tumor to die or for complications to arise. I have a choice–sit around  worrying and waiting for complications, specifically becoming deaf or I can move forward and enjoy the life God’s given me. I’m choosing the enjoying life one!

BETTER NEWS:  I’ve recently joined two blogs as a contributor writer. THE BARN DOOR at www.thebarndoor.net is a fun blog all about living in the midwest.  It’s a fun blog about all sorts of things. The second blog is PUTTING ON THE NEW at www.puttingonthenew.com. It has a variety of features including devotions; book reviews; and our daily walk with Jesus. Another blog I participate in iS GEEZER GUYS AND GALS. And yes, it’s all about life and our perspective as we age–in a fun way. And, of course, I still have my devotional blog at www.powerupwithGOD.com I hope you’ll take a moment to check out these other blogs.

BEST NEWS: i received  book contracts for two new books a few days ago. YAY!! REDEMPTION is the third book in my Sisters By Choice series. DEADLY COMMUNICATIONS is the first in a new mystery novella series that features a crime-fighting speech pathologist! And no it’s not based on my life. I may have been a speech pathologist but I’ve never solved or been involved in a criminal investigation.

MORE BEST NEWS: Last but not least. BETRAYED will be releasing in January. It is the second in the Sisters By Choice series. Deception was the first and is about a pair of estranged twin sisters, Without giving the story plot away, BETRAYED features the wife of the bad guy from DECEPTION as she tries to rebuild her life after the betrayal of her husband. My publisher told me it’s her favorite book so far that I’ve written! It’s a good one–I think!

What do you think? Looks spooky, right?

UNTIL NEXT TIME…God Bless & Good Reading!

SPOILER ALERT–This is the final chapter of Chrysalis. If you haven’t read the other chapters you may want to hop over to Categories to read the other chapters first.  I hope you had as much fun reading it as I did writing it. Thanks for taking the time to read it!

CHRYSALIS–CHAPTER 10

Marv aimed the gun at Chryssie.

This was it. Her life would be over before it even started. One more unfulfilled life—one more wormy life. She’d never be a butterfly.

She’d never soar above the ugly stuff.

Maybe, her sister would make it. Please, God, let Misty have a good life.

Marv looked away from her and looked at Stan. “Let her go, Stan. It’s all over. I’m a cop.” His gun shifted slightly. It wasn’t pointed at her but at Stan.

A cop? Marv was a cop? Maybe God had heard her prayer.

Stan squeezed her arms even tighter. She moaned.

“Shut up. I don’t care who you are. You’re going to let me leave or I’m going to kill her.”

“What would be the point in that?” Marv asked. “The building is surrounded and by now your boss has been arrested. His cousin had no problem pointing the finger at him.”

“That’s nice.”  Marv moved the gun to Chryssie’s temple. “If you don’t want her brains splattered all over, you’ll let me out. Now!”

“Not going to happen.” Marv held the gun steady. “Think about it, Stan. As far as I can see, the only thing you’ve done so far is holding her against her will. You haven’t killed anyone. That was Chuck.”

“It wasn’t Chuck. It was his cousin.” Why was she bothering to tell him that? “But it wasn’t me.”

Marv nodded but stayed focus on Stan. “You’ll plead down to some stupid misdemeanor and be out in six months. You shoot her and you’ll never see the light of day again. I’ll make sure of that.”

Stan’s grasp loosened. Not much, but enough for her to know that he was listening to Marv, but then they tightened once again. “You might be telling the truth. But maybe you’re not. I’m counting to three and then I’m going to shoot her unless you let me out of this room. One…”

“OK, you win.” Marv held up his hands in surrender. He stepped backwards out of the room.

“Good, keep moving.” Stan shoved her forward.

Chryssie closed her eyes. So close to freedom, but not close enough. Stan pushed her several more steps. She met Marv’s eyes—something in them told her everything would be all right.

He wasn’t going to let Stan hurt her.

Marv had things other control.

She stepped through the doorway. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw another man. He put a finger to his mouth. In that moment, she knew what she needed to do. Keep Stan focused on her.

She took several quick steps. Stan moved with her.

The policeman stepped out, his gun aimed at Stan’s head.

Marv smiled. “Now, are you going to listen to me and let her go?”

Stan released her arms.

Sobbing, Chryssie sank to her knees.

Marv was beside her. He held her in his arms as she cried. She was aware of movement, but still couldn’t move.  “You’re fine, Chryssie. Everything’s OK.”

“It wasn’t me. I didn’t do it.”

“I know. I know.”

“You’re really a cop?”

“Yeah, I am. I’ve been undercover for the past six months so I could infiltrate Chuck and his criminal organization.”

“So, that Christian stuff was an act?”

“That part was real.” He stood up, helping her up as well. “Time to go.”

“Where to?”

“To the county jail.”

“But I thought you believed me.”

“Unfortunately, I’m not the one in charge. You still need to go to jail. But not to worry, God will work it out.”

****

The old brick building stood in front of her as they stopped. Her eyes blurred as they filled with tears. People were coming and going, not noticing her. Life moved on, in spite of her own personal tragedy.

Chryssie stepped out of the car on her own. No handcuffs. Marv said she wasn’t under arrest, but needed to go in and answer a few questions.

Marv walked up beside her. “Are you OK?”

She nodded. “Let’s just get this over. I need some sleep.”

He smiled. “I’m not sure that will be happening anytime soon. You’re going to be busy for awhile.”

The door opened.

A woman and a child walked out of the country jail. They were holding hands. As they walked closer to Chryssie, the girl dropped the woman’s hand. She started running towards Chryssie her arms outstretched.

Chryssie ran to the girl. “Misty.”

Marv jogged with her. “We put her in protective custody. We didn’t want Chuck able to get her.”

Misty’s arms clasped her around the hips. “I was so scared.”

Chryssie knelt down. “Me too. But you know what I was really afraid of?”

“What?”

“Not seeing you again.”

“Well, that’s not going to happen.” The woman who had held Misty’s hand stood there smiling. “It’s all been worked out. Misty’s going home with you tonight. That is if you still want her.”

With her arms still around her sister, Chryssie looked up. “Of course I want her, but I thought—”

The lady shrugged. “Things change. Marv thought it would be a good idea for the two of you to spend some time together before you start your new job.”

She looked up at Marv. He smiled. “I told you God would work it all out.”

As she stood up, she felt the cocoon of doom and gloom falling away from her. She’d made it.

She was a butterfly.

UNTIL NEXT TIME…God Bless & Good Reading!!

I didn’t choose to become a writer–I was born a writer.

I didn’t write my first word in a novel until I was 40!  You heard me right–40 years old, practically over the hill. But still I believe I was born to write.  For two reasons.

The first is that I love books–always have and always will. The Orthodox Jews have a tradition that if they drop a book, they will pick it up and kiss it–in case the name of God is in that book. I have that same reverence for most books. There may be a few that don’t deserve it, but I’m not here to talk about those.

Probably from kindergarten on, I love to read.  Nothing was more exciting to me than the weekly trip to the library except maybe when I was allowed to buy a book from the Scholastic Reader. Then it was serious business. It was so hard to choose, but eventually I would. When my family would go on fishing or camping trips, I could be found sitting on a rock or in the car and reading. Yes, I read under the covers, in the dark,  and in the car.

So my love of books was the first reason I was born to become a writer but not the only one. Lots of people love books as much as I do and never become a writer.  Though some of them probably would love to write, but don’t know it yet! Just like me.

The second reason is a bit stranger than the first. At least it might be for you, but it never seemed odd  to me. It was simply a part of me. I always created stories even as a young child. Barbie and Ken had quite the life not to mention The Potato Family. But my imagination didn’t stop with my toys that I acted out the stories with.  I called it daydreaming back then, but now I realize I was actually creating stories.

Unfortunately, I was 40 before it occurred to me that my daydreams had a purpose. And that purpose was that they were the stories I should be writing down. My daydreams were the books I was supposed to write!

My first book took me almost a year to write. I didn’t tell anyone I was writing a book because it seemed absurd that little old me could ever become a “real writer.” During that year I got bit my the writing bug. I fell in love with not only creating a story that only I could write, but with writing it in the best possible way.

So if you ask me how I became a writer, I would tell you God created me to be a writer.  I believe that all that reading and imagining were the first steps in me becoming a writer. I don’t think I chose to become a writer. Instead I was born a writer–it simply took me forty years to start putting my stories on paper or should I say on computer!

How about you? What were you born to do?

Until next time….God Bless & Good Reading!

I admit it–I love to watch TV. My husband says I watch too much, but I keep explaining that I’m doing research. HIs response to that is research for what? I believe his paranoia is showing!

So, NCIS tops my favorites list. I enjoy the interaction between the characters, but even more I love the snappy dialogue. Even their small talk has a purpose. As a writer, I can learn from them and I do.

NCIS may be my favorite, but a long list comes after them–Criminal MInds; Rizzoli & Isles; and Covert Affairs to name a few.  I do learn as I watch them, but they’re fun to watch and guess who the bad guy is. However; that’s not what keeps me coming back week after week. I come back because I become attached to the characters and their personal lives.  I worry about Gibbs–he needs someone to share his life with. And what about Tony and Ziva–will they ever realize that they are in love with each other?  And don’t get me started on Abby?

I could keep going but I think you get the point.  And so do I!

Yes, readers want an exciting story with  lots of twists and turns, but they also want characters they like, characters they want to be friends with, characters they care about and worry about.

And just so you know, I am not one-dimensional when it comes to TV–there’s lots of other types of shows I like to watch. So my husband has nothing to worry about–I think!!

Who are your favorite characters on TV shows and why?

Until next time…GOD BLESS & GOOD READING!