WeWriWa - The Case of the Wedding Wrecker: Damning Evidence

 

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors, where writers share snippets from their work-in-progress or new release. Thank you all for your comments on last week's post. I was really on a roll last week . . . Until my computer refused to work. I’m typing this on my iPad—one finger at a time. 

I'm sharing snippets from the 4th Alex O'Hara cozy mystery, The Case of the Wedding Wrecker. I've skipped a few paragraphs from the previous post. Alex is still at the police station. Alex finally gets to see Nick . . . in jail.

Snippet:

“How can they even think you killed a man?”

He glanced over my shoulder. I’d forgotten Deputy Jenny hadn’t left. I glared at her. “You don’t have to watch me. I don’t have a sawblade under my gown.” 

“Standard Operating Procedure, babe,” Nick murmured. 

She would follow the rules. The hell with her. I was going to kiss my husband, even if she watched. As best I could, I clasped Nick’s face. The bars between us made it difficult but not impossible. I’d never seen such despair in his dark eyes before. 

And a little more: 

“We’ll get you out,” I promised. “Hans is working on it.”

“Find out who did it. Who set me up.”

“Of course.” I gave him a crooked smile. “The Great Detective is on the case.”

He reached through the bars and hooked a long curl that had fallen forward behind my ear. The tender gesture brought tears to my eyes. 

“You are a terrific detective, Lexie. Use those sleuthing skills to get me out of here.” With his thumb, he wiped my tears away.

“I don’t understand why they charged you.” I sounded shaky. I was shaky. My clasp on him and the bars kept my knees from giving out.

“The evidence is pretty damning.”

“What evidence?” I clung to him to keep from dropping to the floor.

He chucked me under the chin. “Hey, girl. Buck up. You’re stronger than you think.”

I shot him a nasty glance. “How am I supposed to ‘buck up’? You’re under arrest, and I don’t know why.” Because I didn’t want him to worry about me, I straightened and clasped the bars instead of him. “Why did they arrest you?”

“Good girl. Don’t let them win. They had the big three. Means, opportunity, and motive.” He ticked them off on his fingers. “Motive—he threatened you and held Ma hostage. I threatened him.”

“But that was weeks ago.”

“Doesn’t matter. You know the quote about revenge being a dish best served cold? Dan thinks I let it fester then exploded.”

Be sure to check out the other WeWriWa authors. Stay healthy and have a great week.

WeWriWa - Wedding Wrecker: It Doesn't Look Good

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors, where writers share snippets from their work-in-progress or new release. Thank you all for your comments on last week's post. This has been a good writing week. After many, many weeks/months, I'm finally writing again and this story is finally going places. I attribute that to you for your encouragement.

I'm sharing snippets from the 4th Alex O'Hara cozy mystery, The Case of the Wedding Wrecker. I've skipped a few paragraphs from the previous post. Alex is still at the police station. Chief Dan Hoesen has finished questioning her, her dad, and Alex's parents and told them all to go. Alex insists on seeing Nick.

Snippet:

Dan called Jenny. “Take her back to the jail.”

The deputy hurried over to him. “You’re not arresting her, too, are you?”

“Arrest her? Lexie, uh, Alex? What? No.” Dan was more flustered than I’d ever seen him. “What are you—”

Then she smirked. Ah. She tried to make us lighten up. As much as I appreciated her effort, I wasn’t going to lighten up until Nick was out of jail.

The bad thing about writing a lot of dialogue is that the 8-10 sentence limit gets eaten up quickly. Thanks for letting us add a little bit more.

And a little more: 

I followed Jenny down a short corridor and around a corner. She unlocked a door to another short hall, then to the jail itself. Nick sat on the edge of a cot, his head in his hands, defeated. His tuxedo jacket lay on the end of the bed, his tie undone, and the first couple of buttons open at his tanned throat. No cufflinks, but he’d rolled up the sleeves of his once pristine white shirt, revealing his strong forearms. Arms I wanted around me.

“Nick?” I hesitated before rushing to the cell.

Two strides, and he was shoving his arms through the bars. I pressed as close as I could and held him, too.

“Oh, babe.” He caressed my face, misery riding in his. “It doesn’t look good.”

 

Be sure to check out the other WeWriWa authors. Stay healthy and have a great week.

WeWriWa - Wedding Wrecker: A Clock Watcher?

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors, where writers share snippets from their work-in-progress or new release. Thank you all for your comments on last week's post plus your good wishes for my husband and me.

I'm sharing snippets from the 4th Alex O'Hara cozy mystery, The Case of the Wedding Wrecker. After a deputy arrested Alex's groom, Nick Palzetti, at the altar, the police chief, Dan Hoesen, is still interviews Alex. The lawyer, Hans Bogardus, tries to keep her from giving away too much information and/or shooting off her mouth. The latter is a hard task.

Snippet:

“Did Nick leave the apartment again?" the chief asked. "Before you went to church?”

“Yes.” I groaned. “His mother came over to help me dress. When she found him there, she shooed him back to her house. And before you ask, that was about eight this morning.”

“Eight? Before or after eight?”

“If I knew you were going to ask me exact times, I would’ve looked at a clock when he left.”

And a little more:

“He left before eight-ten because that’s when Dottie arrived, and he was gone by then.” After a severe scolding from his mother for bringing bad luck by seeing me. Maybe there was something to that. Bad luck had certainly found us.

“And the next time you saw him?”

“At the church, when I was waiting to walk down the aisle.” I remembered how happy I was at that moment. Happiness dashed within minutes.

Dan consulted his notes, not that there were a lot of them. I tried to read what he’d written upside down, but his writing was too cramped.

“To reiterate,” he said, “You know for sure Palzetti was in your apartment from eleven forty-five until shortly after midnight. He returned at three—” He glanced up at me. “—oh-five, left again before eight-ten this morning. Is that correct?”

Be sure to check out the other WeWriWa authors. Stay healthy and have a great week.

WeWriWa - Wedding Wrecker: Bad Luck

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors, where writers share snippets from their work-in-progress or new release. 

A new year and new efforts. After an almost five month hiatus, I'm back. Once again, life got in the way of doing what I want to do. Hopefully, I can follow through sharing snippets this year. As I wrote in another blog post, I'll do the best I can and accept when I can't.

I'm sharing snippets from the 4th Alex O'Hara cozy mystery, The Case of the Wedding Wrecker. After a deputy arrested Alex's groom, Nick Palzetti, at the altar, the police chief, Dan Hoesen, interviews the family, starting with Alex. The lawyer, Hans Bogardus, tries to keep her from giving away too much information and/or shooting off her mouth.

Snippet:

The chief cleared his throat. “When did Nick leave the apartment to go to the bachelor party?”

“I don’t know. You’d have to ask—” I stopped remembering Hans’s caution.

“Who should I ask?” Dan slanted a glance at Hans. “She can tell me that.”

When Hans nodded, I said, “Jim, Jim Matthews. And Pop, uh, Frank O’Hara.”

“I know your dad.” Dan's lips curved into a sort-of smile--the first since this mess began--then scribbled a note on his legal pad. “After you got home from your party, when did Palzetti leave?”

And a little more:

“It must have been around midnight, since his mother came up to the apartment and said she’d dismissed the driver. She told Nick he had to drive her home.”

Dan made another note. “What time did he return?”

“Three-oh-five.”

He eyed me with a raised eyebrow. “And you know the exact time because . . .”

“Because he woke me up when he crawled into bed.” Heat flooded my cheeks. “I looked at the clock. His mother said he couldn’t—”

“Alex?”

I ignored Hans’s caution. “I want to explain. His mother said it was bad luck for him to see me on my wedding day. But he came back anyway.”

“And you say he came back at three o’clock.”

“Three-oh-five.”

 

Be sure to check out the other WeWriWa authors. Stay healthy and have a great week.

 

IWSG: My Word for 2023

Happy New Year and welcome to the first meeting of the Insecure Writer's Support Group in 2023. IWSG is the brainchild of Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh.

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! Thanks, Alex, for starting this group and keeping it going. We are rockin' the neurotic writing world!

The awesome co-hosts for the January 4 posting of the IWSG are Jemima Pett, Debs Carey, Kim Lajevardi, Sarah Foster, Natalie Aguirre, and T. Powell Coltrin!

First, apologies for November and December. I fell down on the job. On November 1st (IWSG Day), my husband went into the hospital for 8 days with RSV, V-tach (very rapid heartbeat), and acute bronchitis. Meanwhile I was sick with (my guess) RSV, since our grandsons shared it with us. Thank goodness for our adult children who took their dad to the ER, visited him every day, and kept me informed. I owe a special apology to Alex because I was supposed to be cohost in November. I'm sorry I let you down. In December, I just plain forgot. Shame on me.

Enough chest beating and mea culpas, on to 2023. It has to be better than last year.

January 4 question - Do you have a word of the year?

Every January, I plan what I want to accomplish for the year in my writing career. Aren't we supposed to make a biz plan? A 10-year, 5-year, 1-year plan? Not this year. While a good business practice, a plan doesn't allow for "life's" intrusions. Sometimes, you can't control the things that happen around you. I have to keep repeating the Serenity Prayer and learn to accept the things over which I have no control. 

Acceptance is my word for 2023.

What's yours? I can't wait to visit to see what word you choose.

Click here to find others on the Insecure Writers Support Group Blog Hop. Or go to IWSG on Facebook to see who’s blogging today.

 

#IWSG: To NaNo Or Not to NaNo

 

Happy Insecure Writer's Support Group Day. IWSG is the brainchild of Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh.

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! Thanks, Alex, for starting this group and keeping it going. We are rockin' the neurotic writing world!

Lucky me, I'm joining the awesome co-hosts for the November 2 posting of the IWSG: Diedre Knight, Douglas Thomas Greening, Nick Wilford,.

November 2's optional question - November is National Novel Writing Month. Have you ever participated? If not, why not?

I say this every November: I admire everyone who does NaNo. It's a fantastic way to write a book. I've never participated. Too much going on in November--birthdays, anniversaries, and Thanksgiving. Plus finish Christmas shopping. 

Another reason--probably the most important one--is that I can't go forward until I fix what I've written. I write, go back and fix/rewrite, write more, go back and fix/rewrite, rinse and repeat. It's how I write. So, knowing myself, I figure I'd defeat the purpose of NaNo. But those of you who want to go for it, do it. A lot of people swear by it.

As I said above, I'm one of the co-hosts this month. It will take me a while to get to those on my list but I will, eventually. I've got the GI bug that's going around plus my husband is in the hospital (again). My kids are wonderful picking up the slack and watching out for their dad.

Hope you have a good writing month.

Click here to find others on the Insecure Writers Support Group Blog Hop. Or go to IWSG on Facebook to see who’s blogging today.

#IWSG: Favorite Genre

Happy Insecure Writer's Support Group Day. IWSG is the brainchild of Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh.

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! Thanks, Alex, for starting this group and keeping it going. We are rockin' the neurotic writing world!

The awesome co-hosts for the October 5 posting of the IWSG are Tonja Drecker, Victoria Marie Lees, Mary Aalgaard, and Sandra Cox!

This month's question: What do you consider the best characteristics of your favorite genre?

My favorite genre is science fiction romance. When I say that to those who don't know me well, I get strange looks. Science fiction? I answer "yes!" with all the enthusiasm of a true fanatic. Romance is a bonus. Even better, the two have one big thing in common--hope. Hope for the future. With science fiction, the possibilities are endless. Traveling to the moon? Been there, done that. And beyond? Why not? Habitats on planets in our solar system? Sure. Finding Goldilocks planets (where everything is just right for humans) can't be far behind. Building our own worlds, creating our own rules? What's not to like about that?

So many things we thought were fiction back in the 1950s and 1960s are here, now. Many people who work for NASA say it was science fiction (esp. movies like Star Wars and a television shows like Star Trek) that made them see possibilities and gave them the desire to try to accomplish them. 

As I mentioned, adding romance to science fiction is a lagniappe--something extra, an unexpected benefit. Many readers enjoy relationship stories. Watching two people fall in love and create a family gives proof that humanity will continue. That we have a future. 

Whether that future is here on Earth or on a planet far, far away, it doesn't matter. What does matter is that life will continue. We have a future.

Click here to find others on the Insecure Writers Support Group Blog Hop. Or go to IWSG on Facebook to see who’s blogging today.