The Colorado Sisters, L.A. and Eva Mondragon, Chicana Private Investigators by Juliana Aragon Fatula

Me with amigo and fellow Latin Loco Motion Perform, Manuel Roybal, Sr. and our tour guide in Sicily near Mt. Etna, the tallest active volcano in Europe. I loved touring and performing on the military bases in 1995 between the Gulf War and the war that followed. The best days of my youth were spent flying in cargo planes like the ones transporting the asylum seekers from Afghanistan today. Have a little charity. 

Dear Reader, 

     This summer spun me on my heels, ripped my hair out of my head, threw me on my ass, and kicked me in the gut then punched me in the mouth. I'm not being  hyperbolic; I'm describing how I felt when I faced my son and asked him why he refused to get vaccinated against Covid 19. He said, we're in a civil war in this country. Vaxed and the unvaxed. He shouted his theories. I remained calm and quietly wept. I gave up and accepted his choice. I'm writing this because I need your prayers or whatever voodoo you do do because I'm desperate for a miracle. If my prayers are answered, I'm worrying for no reason; but reality, science, facts, statistics and the fact that we live in a county notorious for not wearing masks or getting vaccinated has validated my fears.  

     So today, I'm going to stand tall and ask all the ancestors to send their healing power and energy to my son and protect him. I'm going to smudge sage and sweetgrass and burn copal and chant and drum in the spirits to surround him with a safety net since he won't do it himself. I'm going to think positive and remain calm and peaceful because there's not a fricking thing I can do. He's an adult. It's his body. 

     As for my healing over this heartache, I write. I'm writing a book review for a writer I greatly admire. I'm working on a speech for an event in September called Latina Voices. They invited me to speak at the ten year anniversary and asked if I'd write a poem about Latina Voices to celebrate the event. So I'm writing a poem and trying something I don't do and rhyming so it's easier to memorize. Ha. I'm also scouring my closets and jewelry drawer for my regalia as a Corn Mother 2022 photo shoot and working on what shoes to wear and how to style my hair. Yikes.

     I have several writing projects in the works, always. I have completed two manuscripts, a memoir of poems called Gathering Momentum. I've also completed my first mystery love story, The Colorado Sisters and the Atlanta Butcher and will be submitting it for possible publication with a Chicano/Latino Press. There are only a few, but it's important to me to be represented by mi gente. 

     The mystery is complete but in my head are two more mysteries involving the Colorado Sisters, L.A. and Eva. They have been described as fascinating characters and the men in their love lives have that certain je ne sais quoi that makes women swoon. Ooh la la. The love scenes steamed up my glasses one night and I had to take a cold shower. The characters are unique, funny, mysterious, and professional. I admit I've fallen in love with the characters I've created and their little world and the Love Shack, the 35 foot Airstream that serves as home base for the P.I. biz. 

     I'm proud of the work and the creativity that went into this manuscript and I'm anxious to write the next one and the next one. If nothing else, my writing and researching, and reading, and submitting keeps my head focused and my eyes on the future instead of the past and the chaos that is the 2020 Global Pandemic and the Civil War that rips families apart. 

Hitting Double Digits

By Lois Winston

My agent called me one day back in 2004. She’d had a conversation with an editor looking for a cozy mystery series with a crafting theme and told the editor she had the perfect author to write such a series. Of course, she meant me with my background as a designer of craft projects for manufacturers, craft book publishers, and magazines. 

 

However, at the time I’d only written romance, romantic suspense, and chick lit. I had never even heard of cozy mysteries that featured crafters. My idea of a cozy mystery was Miss Marple or Jessica Fletcher. However, always up for any challenge, I agreed. Then I rushed over to the library and filled my arms with every crafting cozy they had on the shelves. Who knew there were so many?

 

Thus, was born my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery Series. Unfortunately, the sale to that editor never went through. In the middle of contract negotiations, the publishing house was sold, and the new publisher immediately canceled the cozy mystery line. However, shortly after that setback, my agent sold my chick lit book and a romantic suspense. I really couldn’t complain, except that I’d fallen in love with writing that crafting cozy. I’d found my true author voice and really didn’t want to continue writing romance and romantic suspense.

 

Publishing is all about the right book landing on the right editor’s desk on the right day. It took nearly five years from the time I’d finished Assault with a Deadly Glue Gun, the first book in the series, for the series to sell to another publisher. Now, seventeen years after first carrying all those crafting cozies to the library check-out desk, Stitch, Bake, Die!, the tenth book in the series is up for pre-order.

 

Stitch, Bake, Die!

An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery, Book 10

 

With massive debt, a communist mother-in-law, a Shakespeare-quoting parrot, and a photojournalist boyfriend who may or may not be a spy, crafts editor Anastasia Pollack already juggles too much in her life. So she’s not thrilled when her magazine volunteers her to present workshops and judge a needlework contest at the inaugural conference of the NJ chapter of the Stitch and Bake Society, a national organization of retired professional women. At least her best friend and cooking editor Cloris McWerther has also been roped into similar duties for the culinary side of the 3-day event taking place on the grounds of the exclusive Beckwith Chateau Country Club.

 

Marlene Beckwith, wife of the multi-millionaire pharmaceutical magnate and country club owner, is both the chapter president and conference chairperson. The only thing greater than her ego is her sense of entitlement. She hates to lose at anything and fully expects to win both the needlework and baking competitions.

 

When Anastasia and Cloris arrive at the conference, they discover cash bribes in their registration packets. The Society members, few of whom are fans of Marlene, stick up for the accused and instead suggest that Marlene orchestrated the bribes to eliminate her stiffest competition. 

 

The next morning when Marlene is found dead, Anastasia questions whether she really died peacefully in her sleep. After Marlene’s husband immediately has her cremated, Anastasia once again finds herself back in reluctant amateur sleuth mode. 

 

With the help of Cloris, Marlene’s personal assistant Rhetta, and a laptop someone will stop at nothing to find, Anastasia soon unravels evidence of insurance scams, medical fraud, an opioid ring, long-buried family secrets, and too many possible suspects. And that’s before she stumbles over the body of yet another member of the Stitch and Bake Society. 

 

Can Anastasia piece together the various clues before she becomes the killer’s next target?

 

Crafting tips included.

 

Pre-order (available 10/4)

Kindle 

Kobo 

Nook 

Apple Books 

~*~

USA Today and Amazon bestselling and award-winning author Lois Winston writes mystery, romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, children’s chapter books, and nonfiction under her own name and her Emma Carlyle pen name. Kirkus Reviews dubbed her critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” In addition, Lois is a former literary agent and an award-winning craft and needlework designer who often draws much of her source material for both her characters and plots from her experiences in the crafts industry.

 

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The Dog Days of Writing!

By Lynn McPherson

I love my dog. I've had all sorts of pets in the past and dogs are my favorite. Cats aren't far behind (of course!) but there is nothing like a canine companion. Today I'm going to share my top three reasons for having a dog in your mystery.

Sydney, Lynn's adopted rescue dog!

1. A Nose for Trouble!

Dogs have a way of sniffing out trouble. Often in books, a curious dog is a great way to get your character somewhere they shouldn't be--like the scene of a crime. If a dog smells something interesting, they often want to find the source of the scent.

2. Expand Your Character's Social Circle

People from all walks of life have dogs. Maybe your dog has a sweet spot for the fancy poodle up the street--the one owned by the man whose wife mysteriously disappeared last week. What if your dog loves to play with the furry mutt belonging to the ex-con with a story to tell?

3. A Reason to Explore

Nothing gets an owner out for a walk faster than a dog who needs to relieve itself. At least twice a day, a responsible dog owner has its dog out for a wander. Often, dog walks take place in the early hours too--a great time to discover a dead body or see something important through an open window in a lit up room while strolling on a quiet street after dark.

There are so many fun ways to incorporate a dog into a mystery, I've only hit the tip of the iceberg. Dogs are always good judges of characters and an easy way to lighten the mood. The toughest decision might be choosing a breed and a name for your lovable companion.

Do you have a pet in your stories? What's your favorite thing about them?

Lynn McPherson has worked for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, ran a small business, and taught English across the globe. She has travelled the world solo where her daring spirit has led her to jump out of airplanes, dive with sharks, and learn she would never master a surfboard. She now channels her lifelong love of adventure and history into her writing, where she is free to go anywhere, anytime. Her cozy series has three books out: The Girls' Weekend Murder and The Girls Whispered Murder, and The Girls Dressed For Murder.  

[Lynn's Author Site] - [Buy Lynn's Book]

   

Caddyshack revisited by Dru Ann Love

We have pigeons. They can be annoying when they gather. Especially on my balcony railing.

I’ve tried everything. Shooing them off the balcony. Spritzing them with water. And yet the continue to land on my railing and make a mess. Now they come onto the balcony and walk around leaving a mess there as well. So the battle has begun in earnest.

Repellent ribbons, they worked well until rain caused the ribbons to shrivel up and lose their shine.

Repellent device #1, they did keep the pigeons away, but they made too much noise when it swung against the glass panel

Spinners, they worked fine until mother nature unleashed strong winds and spun my spinners from their pole into the ground below. Later I found remnants of my spinners.

Repellent device #2, same strong winds took these away as well.

Spikes, I took a gamble and bought these spikes. After losing the spinners, I put one strip up and watch a pigeon land on my railing, take a few steps and encountered my spikes and flew away. Victory, but now I have to wait to see what mother nature will do to these spikes before I put the rest down.

Do you have troublesome pests?

Following a Rabbit —T. K. Thorne

 

 

Writer, humanist,
          dog-mom, horse servant and cat-slave,
       Lover of solitude
          and the company of good friends,
        New places, new ideas
           and old wisdom.

 

 

 

 

I follow rabbit trails when I am writing because they often end up in the most unusual and interesting places.

Here are three tidbits I learned writing about an unnamed woman who was married to one of the most famous men on Earth:

*Written on stone, the oldest story known is from the Middle East (Babylon) and predates the Hebrew Bible. The Epic of Gilgamesh tells a tale with many parallels to the story of Noah and the flood. 

A man named Utnapishtim survived a flood that destroy the earth after being warned to build a boat and gather his family and animals because the gods were unhappy with mankind—not because of sin, but because they were too LOUD!  (Love it!) Utnapishtim sent out a dove (the ancient symbol of the Mother Goddess) to try and find dry land.

*The earliest known deity was female!  The role of the feminine in the divine was entwined with early Judaism and keeps reappearing throughout history.

*The explorer John Ballard got money from the U.S. government to hunt for the wreckage of a secret Russian submarine in order to pursue his true desire to find the wreck of the Titanic. He found both. He also discovered the remains of an ancient flooded settlement about two miles into the Black Sea, preserved because of a lack of oxygen in the depths.

Writing Noah's Wife was an adventure (with many rabbit trails) that took four years. I don't regret a minute. The characters are still in my mind and come alive every time someone picks up the book. Despite its controversial challenges to traditional interpretations, it won "Book of the Year" for Historical Fiction and—more importantly to me—readers continue to let me know how much they loved it.

 

Available as print book, e-book, or Audible book. Click on image.

T.K. is a retired police captain who writes Books, which, like this blog, go wherever her interest and imagination take her.  More at TKThorne.com.

 

The Thrill that Inspires

by Barbara Kyle

As the author of historical thrillers and contemporary thrillers, I've enjoyed pushing the boundaries of the genre.

It’s often said that a good thriller is like a roller-coaster ride. That's true enough. The genre is about high stakes, countdowns, and suspense, and every compelling thriller delivers this kind of excitement.

But the most satisfying thrillers deliver more: an exciting story that also explores complex issues and has something important to say about our world. This kind of story takes the reader away from the amusement park and sends them on a voyage: an exhilarating journey into a different way of thinking.

I call it the Inspiring Thriller.

An inspiring thriller takes readers beyond their expectations and gives them an insight they never saw coming. “Insight” literally means seeing the truth through and under the surface of things. It’s the inspiring thriller’s job to challenge readers’ acceptance of society’s status quo.

At its heart, an inspiring thriller is always about confronting power.

 Power-Busters

Charles Dickens knew this when he used his immensely popular novels to hold a mirror up to the horrors that working-class people suffered under unfettered capitalism in nineteenth-century England.

In our time, bestselling author John Grisham has often done the same with his thrillers about the “little guy” up against some form of corporate bully. 

John le Carré’s thrillers train his unflinching focus on the controlling corporate and political powers that corrode our lives.

Denise Mina, a master of crime fiction, reveals the raw wounds that Glasgow’s poor and powerless suffer, while featuring female central characters who are resilient and resourceful.

 Grisham, Le Carré, and Mina use the thriller genre to say what needs to be said.

 What’s It All For?

Christopher Vogler, in his book The Writer’s Journey, says the final step of any hero’s journey is bringing back an “elixir” to heal the rupture that incited the main character’s risky quest. The elixir might be literal: food for the starving tribe. Or it might be abstract: a hard-won wisdom that heals a shattered family. In a big techno-thriller, it might even heal the world.

Whatever it is, if the hero does not bring back something to share, they remain unenlightened, adolescent. They haven’t grown. And therefore, neither can the reader.

In other words, the roller-coaster ride is all you get.

An inspiring thriller may end in tragedy, or it may end with justice prevailing, or maybe a bittersweet blend of both. Whatever the outcome, readers welcome the experience. We need it.

Because it’s not the roller-coaster ride that satisfies the soul. It’s the voyage.

 

______________________________________________________________________

Barbara Kyle is the author of the bestselling Thornleigh Saga series of historical novels and of acclaimed thrillers. Her latest novel of suspense is The Man from Spirit Creek. Over half a million copies of her books have been sold. Barbara has taught hundreds of writers in her online Masterclasses and many have become award-winning authors. Visit Barbara at https://www.barbarakyle.com/ 

 

Libraries

By Saralyn Richard

                                            Rosenberg Library's Fox Room

I’ve always loved libraries. My mother was a regular patron at the turn-of-the-century library and museum in my hometown, Rosenberg Library, and I remember climbing the marble stairs to the third-floor children’s library, where I loaded up on books every two weeks. The high ceilings and cool, papery smell, the hushed sounds of people moving about, the tall wooden card catalogue cabinets with tiny drawers, the thrill of discovering new books—there was no other experience quite like this.

                                                         Howard-Tilton Library, Tulane University

The Rosenberg Library set a high bar, and for a long while, other libraries didn’t come close. When I did my undergraduate studies at Tulane University, I spent a lot of time in the Howard-Tilton Memorial Library. This building was much more modern, and my purpose there was much more prescribed. Instead of wandering among shelves, looking for whatever might appeal to my taste for reading material, I was there to do research. As an English major, that research usually had to do with history, philosophy, literature, or cultural background, mostly nonfiction. I still enjoyed the quiet atmosphere of study, the efficiency of the searching and checkout systems, and the sleek, clean tables and study carrels. I’m proud to say my honors thesis, “A Stylistic Study of John Milton’s Comus,” is part of its circulation, too.

                                            Harper Library, University of Chicago

When I was in graduate school at the University of Chicago, I fell in love with the Harper Library. This lesser-used research facility has been classified as one of the top places in the world to study. I agree whole-heartedly. The building has the appearance and feel of a medieval castle—inside and out, but the seating is super-comfortable, and, for a bibliophile like me, the atmosphere is luxurious.

You may think me odd, but when I travel to different cities, states, countries, or continents, I love to visit their public libraries. I’ve seen scores of libraries that have made deep impressions on me. Some of my favorites are the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., the New York Public Library, and the British Library (where I stood in reverence before the Magna Carta and J.K. Rowling’s first query letter).

My passion for libraries has compelled me to volunteer to support my local library, as well. After many years of living in a different part of the country, I have returned to my hometown, and I am on the board of the Friends of Rosenberg Library, the same institution where my love of libraries began. I publish a semi-annual newsletter, manage a weekly sale of online collections, and work at the annual book sale.

I’m positive that heaven is one big library in the sky. What do you think?

Visiting Beaufort, South Carolina

by Paula Gail Benson

If you’ve seen the movies The Big Chill, The Great Santini, and The Prince of Tides, then you’ve seen parts of Beaufort, South Carolina. Pronounced Beau (rhyming with DEW) -fort rather than the North Carolina Beau (rhyming with SEW) -fort, the city preserves its historic features while offering a thriving community for the arts, education, and military installations (Beaufort Marine Corps Base, Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, and Naval Hospital Beaufort Navy Base).

Tripadvisor

Two weeks ago, while traveling for work, I had the opportunity to stay over in Beaufort and visit with a friend. During the summer, it is hot and humid, but there are plenty of sights to explore inside. We had a delightful lunch at the Lowcountry Produce Market & Café, which offered both indoor dining as well as a variety of products to take home. It’s located next to the library on Carteret Street. As I was going there, I stopped behind a long line of cars. I noticed no one seemed perturbed by the wait. Later I learned that the bridge had been open, allowing vessels to pass. It’s a regular occurrence in Beaufort.

Up the street from Lowcountry Produce is NeverMore Books, now located at 910 Port Republic Street. It provides a warm and welcoming environment for any book lover. As you enter, there is a large collection of books by local authors about Beaufort. I’ll recommend two in particular by a good friend and excellent historian, Alexia Jones Helsley. A Guide to Historic Beaufort, South Carolina (History and Guide) (The History Press 2006) provides both the story of the city as well as suggestions for touring. Wicked Beaufort (The History Press 2011) offers a history of Beaufort’s illicit activities spanning from the 1500s to the 1900s.

Gregorie Glass Website

My friend, Greg Rawls, displays his beautiful glasswork art at Thibault Gallery. You can view his work at the Gallery through this link or on his website.

Greg with Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors

In addition to his glasswork, Greg designs sets for the Beaufort Theater Company and Beaufort Children’s Theater. Sometimes he also appears in the productions.

Beaufort may best be known as the home of novelist Pat Conroy. The Pat Conroy Literary Center is located downtown and contains memorabilia and offers programs of interests to readers and writers of all ages. Come see the Spanish moss, smell the pluff mud, and be inspired by a man who drew his own inspiration from this charmed city.     

Bringing Home the Gold (or the Silver Falchion)

Bringing Home the Gold (or the Silver Falchion) by Debra H Goldstein

The Olympics produced many discussions from what is the twisties to whether Americans have the wrong mindset in terms of medals. The reality is that we celebrate winning the gold, but don’t have the same excitement for silver or bronze. Who ever saw a bronze medalist on the “Breakfast of Champions” Wheaties box?

 

An August 9, 2012, Scientific American article, “Why Bronze Medalists are Happier Than Silver Medalists,” noted that both silver and bronze medalists focus on what might have been. The silver medalist frets about how close to winning the individual came and consequently is disappointed. The bronze medalist is happier because that winner’s comparison is the person who finished fourth-out of medal contention. The thrill for the bronze medalist is having squeaked through with a medal victory.

 

As a semi-finalist for the 2021 Silver Falchion cozy award for Three Bites Too Many, the third book in

Kensington’s Sarah Blair mystery series about a woman who is more frightened of the kitchen than murder, I am excited. I’d like to win, but I’m honest enough to admit that I’m in good company in the cozy heat. Tina deBellegarde, Kay DiBianca, Bonita Y. McCoy, Lori Robbins, Colleen J. Shogan, Maggie Toussaint, Cathy Tully, Becki Willis, and Lois Winston are all tough and worthy contenders. I’d love to hear the Killer Nashville announcer call out “Debra H. Goldstein,” but I think any of us should consider ourselves gold medalists. Why? Because somewhere and sometime this past year, the books we are nominated for brought readers joy. A medal would be nice, but what’s better than touching other people by giving them a few hours of fun and escape from their daily lives? What do you think?

 

 

Galactic Dreams

 by Bethany Maines

Welcome to a brave new age - the future!  When my co-writers and I agreed to collaborate on Galactic Dreams - a series of sci-fi fairy tale adaptations - we had no idea that the project would stretch into three volumes. Galactic Dreams (from Blue Zephyr Press) is a unique shared universe that I, along with my co-writers, J.M. Phillippe and Karen Harris Tully, developed and set the rules for, and then set our own stories within that universe.  In Volume 3, we've adapted some classic fairy tales: Beauty & the Beast, Hansel & Gretel, and Jack & the Beanstalk.  

As you can imagine, agreeing on rules, let alone deciding what they are can be quite challenging.  Particularly, since sci-fi is not a genre I generally write in.  I enjoy sci-fi. I read a good deal of it when I was a teenager. And don't get me wrong I have plenty of weird ideas, but I'm more in the Flash Gordon style of sci-fi—toss in some jet packs and some fantastic costumes and I'm all set. My more fact-adherent co-writers seem to prefer that gravity not take a vacation without an explanation. (So picky!) However, I have to admit that their insistence on basing my science in... you know... science has been beneficial to my stories. 

In this volume, all of our stories are intertwined through a time traveling villain, which added a whole new level of headache to keeping our stories and science straight. We also decided to do a phased release plan—releasing the individual stories first and then the collection.  My book, The Beast of Arsu, is out now. And the next two installments will be released by September, with the digital collection following shortly thereafter.  As with any group project it's been hard to keep track of all the details.  But despite the very literal headaches, I have enjoyed the challenge of writing in this genre, and I hope other sci-fi fans will enjoy these stories as well.

Galactic Dreams Vol. 3 contains three novels  and each tale is a chapter in a connected tale of villainy, time travel, and the consequences of hate. Journey through these sci-fi fairy tales today!

The Beast of Arsu (Beauty & the Beast) - Bethany Maines - When Bella Glass is thrown a 140 years into the future she finds a world she doesn’t recognize and love in Kai Craig, a man fighting against the effects of a bomb that turns him into a rage-filled beast. But someone else has traveled into the past and Bella must choose between preventing a devastating alteration of the timeline and a love she was never meant to have. 
Read Chapter 1 >>> https://bethanymaines.com/galactic-dreams/

A Trail of Stardust (Hansel & Gretel) - J.M. Phillippe - When the Hexx siblings, Rax and Lex, are forced to flee into space by their malevolent step-mother, Hila, they have no idea what is waiting for them and a damaged space craft throws them from the frying pan into the oven. Captured by pirates, Lex and Rax are facing certain death and the only way out is to rely on each other, but what will be waiting for them at home?

Break the Sky (Jack & the Beanstalk) - Karen Harris Tully - When Jakarta "Jak" Moon climbed up the giant elevator that leads to the low-orbiting space station above her irradiated planet, she has one goal—don't die. But when she returns to the ground, she finds herself targeted by the winged-dictator known as the Godmother. Now Jak is on the hook to climb through the clouds and bring back the treasures the Godmother craves or she, and her planet, could face destruction.

Buy Beast of Arsu Now

**

Bethany Updates:

Blue Christmas received a Maincrest Media Award! It was also a finalist in the Book Excellence Awards and an award winning screenplay.

Buy Now: https://books2read.com/BlueChristmas

Learn more: https://bethanymaines.com/romanticsuspense/

The Second Shot Audio Book is now available! 

Buy Now: https://www.audible.com/pd/B093C8MWYH/?source_code=AUDFPWS0223189MWT-BK-ACX0-253261&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_253261_rh_us

The Moonlight & Misadventure Anthology: 20 Tales of Mystery & Suspense, featuring my story Tammy Loves Derek is now available! 

Buy Now: https://books2read.com/Moonlight-Misadventure

**

Bethany Maines is the award-winning author of the Carrie Mae Mysteries, San Juan Islands Mysteries, Shark Santoyo Crime Series, and numerous short stories. When she's not traveling to exotic lands, or kicking some serious butt with her black belt in karate, she can be found chasing her daughter or glued to the computer working on her next novel. You can also catch up with her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and BookBub.

Olympic Skates

Like many sports fans last week, our TV was tuned to the Olympics. Gymnasts, swimmers, divers, track-and-fielders. Such amazing athletes! This year, for the first time, we also watched skateboarding.

Skateboarding may not strike purists an Olympic-worthy sport, but I can understand how the hobby— embraced for decades by renegade spirits of all ages—made it through the international committee that decides such things. Perhaps it went something like this: "Well, we've got snowboarding in winter, so..."

Pixabay

This year's event aired just in time to put the finishing touches on a scene in my next mystery. In researching the sport, I've learned a few bits of language that thrashers (skateboarders) speak—like grind, ollie, and tail-grab five-forty—as they zoom around a skatepark's cradles and bowls.

Here's a peek at that scene: 

He leaped into the bowl, flipped his board with his feet, reconnected to it in mid air, zipped down to the bottom and up another slope, gaining speed as he went. On his last approach to the top, his feet left the board and he went airborne, flipped upside down and still somehow managed to reconnect feet to board and land the trick. Someone shouted, "Rip it up, Skeeter!" The crowd went crazy.

After watching eleven- and twelve-year-old girls compete for an Olympic medal in Tokyo, a different skateboard scene, this one in The Body Next Door, popped into my head. (Five years on, I forgot I'd written it!) Instead of a skatepark, it's set in the parking garage of a high-rise where Samantha Newman watches the forlorn ten-year-old Lizzie Mason struggle to teach herself how to ride her big brother's cast-off board.

That scene led me to remember another one from the book, one that features Krav Maga, which is a perfect sport for the Olympics. Invented by the Israeli military, and adopted by law enforcement organizations around the world, it's a form of hand to hand combat in which you learn to neutralize an assailant (or unruly criminal) as quickly as possible. No weapon needed. In my novel, however, the self defense system dissolves into a silly pillow fight between Samantha and the ever-elusive Carter Chapman. While it could be said that their attraction to one another is of Olympic proportions, we shall save that conversation for another day. 😉

Did you watch the Olympics this year? What's your favorite event?

Gay Yellen writes the award-winning Samantha Newman Mysteries, including The Body Business, The Body Next Door, and the soon to be released Body in the News. She'd love to hear from you here, on Facebook, BookBub, or via her website.