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Saturday, February 18, 2023

#WeWriWa - The Case of the Wedding Wrecker: Motive, Means, Opportunity


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. Your encouragement really helps.

I'm sharing snippets from the 4th Alex O'Hara cozy mystery, The Case of the Wedding Wrecker. I'm picking up where we left off last week. Alex is talking to Nick in jail. He tells her why the authorities think he killed Mike Amerson. He had motive. He continues.


Snippet:  

“Then there’s means. My gun was found at the scene.” He snorted. “As if I’d be stupid enough to leave my weapon behind, if I did kill someone.”

“But you always keep your gun locked in your duffle.”

“Not always.”

I didn’t know that. “That means someone broke into our apartment to steal it.”

“Uh huh. You might want to check into that.”

As if I wouldn’t check the logs with our security service.

“And, of course, my fingerprints are on the gun.”

“Anyone else’s?”


And a little more:  
 

“I don’t know.” He gave a sharp glance at Deputy Jenny who was now leaning against a wall. “They won’t tell me. Worse, supposedly I called Amerson and told him to meet me at the cottage where his body was found.”

“What do you mean supposedly?”

“There’s a message on Amerson’s phone. From a burner, but the message appears to be from me. And last, but not least, opportunity—I can’t tell the chief where I was between the time I left Ma’s and when I got to your apartment.”

“Okay. It’s ten minutes from Maria’s. What could you possibly do in ten minutes?”

Nick leaned in close and whispered, “It was more than ten minutes. I left Ma’s at one.”

“Oh, dear God,” I blurted then slapped my hand across my mouth. My turn to whisper. “Two hours? Where were you?”

“I can’t tell you.”


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


Saturday, February 11, 2023

#WeWriWa - The Case of the Wedding Wrecker: Buck Up, Girl


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. Your encouragement really helps.

I'm sharing snippets from the 4th Alex O'Hara cozy mystery, The Case of the Wedding Wrecker. I'm picking up where we left off last week. Alex is talking to Nick in jail.


Snippet:  

“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.”


And a little more:

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.”

“But you didn’t. I know you didn’t.”

 


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


Saturday, February 4, 2023

#WeWriWa - The Case of the Wedding Wrecker: The Great Detective

 


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. Your encouragement really helps.

I'm sharing snippets from the 4th Alex O'Hara cozy mystery, The Case of the Wedding Wrecker. Alex finally gets to see Nick in jail.


Snippet:  

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

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.”

She shrugged. “SOP.”

“What?” I blurted out.

“Standard Operating Procedure, babe,” Nick murmured.

 

And a little more:

Deputy Jenny 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. I ached to help.

“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.


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



Wednesday, February 1, 2023

#IWSG: Book Covers


W
elcome to the Insecure Writer's Support Group. 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 February 1 posting of the IWSG are Jacqui Murray, Ronel Janse van Vuuren, Pat Garcia, and Gwen Gardner!

February 1 question - If you are an Indie author, do you make your own covers or purchase them? If you publish trad, how much input do you have about what goes on your cover?

I've been both indie and trad. My first experience with a traditional publisher's cover was great. It helped that the artist had read the story. With the second publisher, the first cover was awful and presented to me only 4 days before publication. With the support of friends, I asked for a change. What I got was not what I'd envisioned but acceptable.

As an indie author, I've been very lucky to hire terrific cover artists. I love their ideas and their willingness to work with me. Right now, I'm between artists. If anyone would like to recommend someone either here or privately (dmburton72@gmail.com) I'd love to hear.

I hope January was good for you. Until last week, mine was great. Then, my computer had a major problem--one my terrific neighbor and computer guru couldn't fix. From past experience with the same problem, I knew the Geek Squad couldn't fix it either. Now, I'm using my husband's old computer until I can retrieve what's on mine. <deep sigh> 

But before that, I was on a roll with working on my WIP. Yes, I was writing again. I guess my word for 2023, acceptance, is working. I'm doing what I can and accepting what happens. Your supportive comments and those from another group (Weekend Writing Warriors) encouraged me so much I got back into the story, writing between 500 to almost 2k words a day. Then, my computer died. That put the kabosh on writing. Temporarily. I'm not giving up. I'm accepting that my computer needs replacing and, until then, doing what I can.

I hope you have a great 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.