New Story

I'm working on a new story, tentatively titled Disaster at 410 South Elm. It's about Drew Harper who (merely hoping to keep her out of trouble) goes with his sister to a house where her husband’s mistress just might live. But when he meets the supposed marriage-wrecker, Mia, he falls for her himself. Here are the first few lines.

He’d never tried to stop anyone from committing murder before. It was
definitely a nerve wracking business, Drew Harper realized as he sat tense in
the passenger seat of his sister’s six-year old Honda Civic while she blew a
four-way stop and careened around a corner, making the tires screech in protest.

He yelped out a curse and clutched the seatbelt strapped over his
chest. “What the hell?” he demanded.

“I told you not to come,” she growled, her murderous glare fixed
steadily ahead.

“Well, what do you expect me to do,” he retorted. “When I find you
storming out the door with a gun in your hand and muttering something about
killing a cheating bitch?”

The idea came to me after receiving a rejection letter from a publisher, telling me I needed to make my stories more realistic. So, while I was picking up a yard full of fallen limbs, I thought, "What's happening in my own life that's in any way interesting?" I came up with nothing... very typical. Still needing a realistic but engaging plotline, I moved on to other people in my life and hit a major jack pot when I thought of my husband's brother.

Though he's going through a divorce now, at the time, my brother-in-law was still trying to keep his marriage afloat until one evening, he received a cryptic phone message from a woman he didn't know, telling him if he really wanted to know what his wife was doing, he'd come to this bar in a town that was, like, five hours away, and he'd find out the truth for himself. So, my brother-in-law hops in his truck, and goes to find out. Long story short, he didn't find his wife that night. But the next evening, I found myself playing lookout girl as my husband helped load our car with stuff Brother-in-law didn't want his wife taking in case things went south.

And thus came my idea for Disaster at 410 South Elm. I've had more than one sibling go through a messy divorce. So, I can relate to Drew Harper's plight a little too clearly. So far, I've breezed through the first chapter. But now, the story's getting tricky. It's going to be a challenge.

Special Guest Blogger

I got my name in Romancing the Blog! It was so exciting to see Linda Kage listed right there under the authors blog column.

Felt like I was a real writer or something. So, check it out. Last week, I read an agent's blog about how we should make mistakes. Her point was to get out there and do something and don't be so worried about doing it wrong. If you make a mistake, it's okay because at least you tried. The whole article made me feel better because I'd been there before and already plowed through my share of mistakes. But I think it's about time I do something right. So, I've gotten myself a critique partner, and it's not just my sister this time (who has to at least act like she loves my work or I'll disown her). And now I wish I could've had this partner ten years ago. I'm quickly learning that no matter how polished I think something is, it can always be better. Why settle for okay when you can be great, huh?

When I first started writing, I had no interest in joining writing or critique groups. I thought I could do it all on my own. I didn't need to enter contests or go to conferences. My outstanding stories would get me all the publishers I wanted, right? Wrong. When I realized I needed more help and actually wanted to get it, I thought I'd be too shy to join all these programs. But once again, I was wrong. A lot can be done over the internet and you never even have to speak to another person. And they really are worth your while. So, I suggest anyone interested in pursuing writing should definitely look into writing groups in their area and in their genre. It really does make things easier... so easy, in fact, it kind of feels like you're using a cheat sheet.

Death is Expensive

Since my husband has a small family on his mother's side, we all went to arrange his grandmother's funeral together. And let me tell you, none of it was cheap. After selecting a mid-range casket and a plain vault, the total rang up to nearly ten grand... and that was a simple no-bells-or-whistles funeral. We even opted out of getting the family car to ride in. There were no complimentary benefits at all. Sorry, no mints on these pillows. Digging the grave cost as well as getting the death date engraved on the tombstone (Thank God Grandma already had the actual tombstone and her name as well a plot ready). We even had to pay for a copy of the death certificate. The funeral home was very helpful, sure. They took care of a lot of necessities, like making sure the graveyard owners were contacted and the obituary got in the paper. But they certainly got compensated for it. A neighbor of ours is still paying for her husband's funeral from three years ago.

Yeah, I'm thinking life insuranse is a real good idea right about now. But as I walked around that room full of caskets for sale with price tags sitting on them, I couldn't help but wonder how much worse it'd be to go through this for someone who wasn't ninety-one years old or someone whose death you totally weren't prepared for. I've written stories about family members of my main characters dying and I realized they had to experience this ordeal too. Dealing with the loss of a loved one is hard enough but adding a financial strain on top of it is even worse. I don't think I'll ever be able to write about a character’s loved one dying without remembering what a person has to go through to bury them.