Sneak Peek at Sequel to The Shell Keeper!

Hi to all! Yes, I'm hard at work on the sequel to my first book, The Shell Keeper! Sorry, no title yet-these things are harder than you'd think! But the story picks up a few months after the end of the first book, and my gals, though they are no longer all in one place, are still great friends and helping each other through some sometime daunting, sometimes humorous challenges!

I know I'm always anxious to read the next book in any series, and even more so when I know it's still in production! But I wanted to give everyone a little sneak peek...so without further ado, here's the very first scene....

If she closed her eyes, just let go, and didn’t over-think it, Claire could almost imagine she was lying beside a tropical waterfall, its warm waters splashing nearby. In the distance unknown birds called from the tops of what she imagined were palm trees swaying in the gentle trade winds. She could even smell the hyacinth. Yes, if she closed her eyes, she could almost imagine....

“Breathe deep, ladies,” a woman’s voice whispered, “feel prana flow through you, cleansing tension and bringing clarity. In...out...in...out....”

Clarity? Claire thought to herself. Jesus, she could use clarity. In fact, wasn’t that why the hell she was here, she wondered? Hadn’t she been working on deep-sixing the tension and finding friggin’ clarity for the last four months?

“Breathe out negative chi. Release all cares, all thoughts,” the woman continued, in a calm, soothing voice.

Maybe she’d get an iced chai tea afterward, she thought, and then realized she wasn’t supposed to be thinking. “Shut-Up,” she said to herself.

“Claire?” the woman’s voice asked.

“Sorry, talking to myself.”

“Good to know,” she said softly. “Well, ladies, I think we’ve come to the end of today’s class.”

The tropical forest and all its delights suddenly ended. Gone was the waterfall, the birds, the breeze in the palms. Claire opened her eyes and saw Calysta, the yoga teacher, tucking her IPod into a backpack and blowing out the candles; so long, hyacinths.

After a few minutes of stretches to get the circulation back into her now uncrossed legs, Claire rolled up her lime green yoga matt, tucked it into her brightly colored Vera Bradley tote, pulled a lightweight saffron-shaded Patagonia hoodie over her head, flipped free her ponytail, pushing back an errant strand of black hair from her face, and stood, looking at herself in the wall mirror.

Not long ago her thick, dark hair would have hung in an easy, professionally styled wave that grazed the shoulders of a neatly tailored, black DKNY suit. Her fair complexion and dark eyes would have been expertly enhanced with the aide of Mac and Bobbi Brown. An Hermes scarf would have draped elegantly at her neck, a black leather briefcase holding her laptop in one hand, a coach handbag over her shoulder.

“Who the hell are you?” she asked herself.

“What, Claire?” asked another woman, packing up beside her.

“Nothing, sorry, talking to myself again.” Since when do I talk to myself? she thought. She walked out the front door to the yoga studio and stood, looking up at the Bookcliffs of Mt. Garfield’s mesa facade, towering over the Grande River valley, home to Colorado’s wine industry. “Since you moved here,” she whispered to herself.

(photo courtesy worldwidewine.com)

Feeling the Loss of a Friend...

James Horner wrote a wonderful piece for The Field of Dreams called The Place Where Dreams Come True. I love that movie. The music always reminds me of life’s great possibilities and that there is something or someone greater at play in the universe. It’s one of those things I turn to when I need to be reminded that there’s a bigger purpose out there…whether I know what it is or not.

Time and events take and give from the cavernous spaces of the heart that hold our dearest memories. But they can’t rob you of the best of them and a gentleman named Mick will always hold one of those spaces for me. 

Mick was my friend, though I never had the delight to meet him in person. We met as writers on one website and eventually became friends on Facebook. Foolish people say the friendships you make on Facebook aren’t real, but who are they to define friendship. My apologies to those who might think me presumptuous writing about someone I knew so little. I'm sure there's much about him I never knew, still what I did know mattered to me. When I heard last week that he had died I was shocked…and so truly sad, for myself and also for those who loved him. 

I’d always expected to meet him in person one day. We have mutual friends.  My heart broke, knowing I’d never have that pleasure; never see another one of his silly conversations with squirrels he met in the trees he worked on, never another wise comment or response, never read another one of his insightful and often touching columns or see one of his incredible landscape photos again; never another one, never the next thing.

That’s what the end is like for those of us on this side. We are left to treasure what’s left behind and, from my perspective, my friend left a great deal. He wrote with a spare and often elegant prose about a life lived fully. He roamed the open spaces of the Palmer divide with his camera and dog and took such lovely photos I hoped one day he’d make it possible for us to hang them in our homes.

He built his own home from logs. He climbed the tallest trees-and killed them.  He biked across the country and stopped along the way, recording his adventures in a blog that was funny and perceptive. He saw the things many of us pass by without notice. Mick noticed and he told us what he saw and how it affected him. He had his demons, from too many beers to too many squirrels, but it was clear he had humor and love, and family and friends that added great joy and value to his life.

Today I’m feeling the loss of a friend. I’m listening to Mr. Horner’s music and thinking of what dreams are coming true on the other side for Mick. Maybe I’ll get to meet him there, one day. For now, the Lord got the better of the deal. Farewell...you are dearly missed, my friend. 

(Photo by Michael 'Mick' Rule)

The Shell Keeper/Quote Outtakes: Chapter 8

Woman must come of age by herself. This is the essence of "coming of age"--to learn how to stand alone.

Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh 

Del is sitting in her car in the local ShopCo parking lot. Think of it like Costco. She's working up the nerve to go inside and apply for a job, but when she finally does, every step of the process leaves her more confused and flustered than the last. I have to admit I laughed as I wrote this one...poor Del, she's in it up to her neck, but she keeps going. I'm proud of her!

Finally she takes her job application over to the food area, gets a diet coke and tries to be the most inconspicuous job applicant in history! Unfortunately for her, Gwen see her on her way out from her meeting in the previous chapter and, in the end, it's a good thing she does. Gwen's advice turns the path Del is on and points her in a direction that really will be a part of her positive life changing experience.

The chapter ends with one of my very most favorite scenes. Del stops for cigarettes-her new naughty habit!-and ends up with a lottery ticket and condoms too!! 

One of the reasons I love this chapter is that Del is so brave. Every single step of the way she is operating outside her comfort level, but she operates all the same! Not every choice ends up being the best or even that one that she'd prefer. But she knows she must make a choice and so she does. 

In life, no matter how many friends and family we have, ultimately we must make our own choices, by  ourselves.

(ps... Go Broncos!)

Short and Sweet Review: Open Season by CJ Box

This book is the first in Box's Joe Pickett series. Joe is a Game Warden in Wyoming and he's underpaid, under appreciated, living in a house he doesn't own with his devoted pregnant wife and two little girls. And a dog (who I personally felt needed more character development...but I'm a dog person).

Joe's the right guy for this job-aside from the pay and lack of appreciation he really loves what he does. Unfortunately, the bad guys don't. They are worried that Joe will discover their little secret and blow the possibility of BIG money pouring into the area and their pockets.

I'm not giving away anything here by telling you the secret involves an endangered species-every section starts with a part of the Endangered Species Act. The reader knows what's going on-up to a point-before Joe does, but once he starts figuring it out we are rooting for him before the bad guys get him-or his adorable family!

Downsides? They are there but I chalk them up to this having been Box's first book. I'm hoping others in the series will have benefited from an editor's gentle but firm touch. The segments from the Endangered Species Act are kinda long and I'm thinking many readers brush past the legalize to get on to the story. I'd have shortened those to just the most salient points.

A lot of time is spent early on setting the scene...sometime more than is necessary, and Box has a tendency to over explore Joe's inner turmoils... occasionally repeating points previously made. As a result, the book starts off a little slow-but don't let that stop you. Once the author gets rolling it's a great ride with classic overtones of Honest Cop vs. The System.

I'm betting by the time you come to the end you'll be looking forward to reading  #2 in the series. I know I am.

The Shell Keeper/Quote Outtakes: Chapter 7

I mean to lead a simple life, to chose a simple shell I can carry easily--like a hermit crab. But I do not. I find the my frame of life does not foster simplicity. 

Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Gwen meets with her friend Terrie, the manager of the Green Valley ShopCO (think Costco or Sams Club). Gwen's finance's have led her to seek out someone who can help her pinch a few pennies on supplies for her bakery and Terrie is just the person.

During their meeting we learn a couple of interesting things. The first is that Gwen's reputation as 'nice' was well earned and follows her still. That nice side earned her a personal debt as far as Terrie is concerned, and now Terrie is happy to help Gwen collect it.

We also discover that Terrie has a little inside skinny on Del's ex-husband. It turns out his reputation for fooling around on the side of his marriage may also have been well earned. As a result, Gwen takes Del's claims, and her situation a little more seriously...which will benefit Del in the next chapter!

I felt this quote reminds the reader that even though most of us wish we could live simpler lives, as so often is the case, life is complicated. 

Short and Sweet Review: Fool Me Twice by Robert B. Parker...sorta

Just as with the sad demise of Dick Francis, I grieved not only the loss of a great literary talent,  Robert B. Parker, but the loss of the stories he might have written. But also, as with Dick Francis, someone came along to pick up the gauntlet and carry on. And I'm thrilled he did!

Over the years I've read just about every Spenser novel Parker produced-and that's a considerable amount! Oh yes, that includes those oldies but goodies with bell bottoms and afros! But Spenser, Hawk and Susan are memorable characters and I hope to read the newest installment, The Ranger, written by Ace Atkins, very soon.

First, however, I dove into Michael Brandman's latest take on Parker's Jesse Stone series. Now, to be honest, this is not a series I'd ever read. I'd only seen it on TV via the movies with Tom Selleck. But Selleck co-produced those with Brandman, who also wrote several of the screenplays. It only figured that he'd be the guy to pick up where Parker left off.

A little research has led me to believe that the time lines in the books vs. the movies differ, and I'm finding it odd that Jesse has a cat in the book and a Golden Retriever in the movies. He never seemed like a cat guy to me, though I wished he'd petted that dog more often!

So, let's cut to the chase-did I enjoy Fool Me Twice? A resounding YES! Did Brandman channel Parker well? Pretty close...though I agree with some reviewers that his version is a little more on the soft side, but he's got the staccato dialogue down!

The plot is actually three stories that don't really interconnect, but that's okay. Jesse is the Chief of Police in the small Massachusetts town of Paradise and, as such, it makes sense he's juggling more than one case. So the reader, along with Jesse, tracks the killer of an actress who was starring in a locally filmed Hollywood production, while sorting out fraud at the local water department, while taking a personal interest that intervenes in the wayward path a young local girl's life has taken. All local, all in Chief Stone's sights, and all undertaken in the way only Parker-and now Brandman can write it.

Pretty well done, after all. I still grieve the loss of the master of this sub-genre, but the apprentice lives.

(photo courtesy of Amazon)

The Shell Keeper/Quote Outtakes: Chapter 6

In a growing relationship...the original essence is not lost but merely buried under the impedimenta of life.

A Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh

In chapter 6 the reader gets to know Gwen a little better. For me, she is the center of this book. Everything comes together around Gwen and spirals out, like a shell, from her. (fyi, the next book centers on Claire-who will definitely be a fish out of water in Colorado's wine country!)

Gwen's back-story involves a divorce followed by starting over, with her son, Jeff, in her Blue River bakery. Jeff has left for college and Gwen is struggling with empty nesting, among other things. 

The one thing she doesn't struggle with is her relationship with her husband, Andy; clearly these two are a good match. But we also learn a little more about the impending strike, and the pressures and choices both Gwen and Andy are facing. 

And I can't forget Cammi, a local college student who works part time at Gwen's bakery. Cammi's priorities don't always include arriving for work on time, but she's a good soul. Her ongoing efforts to learn Spanish bring mixed and sometimes silly results. Claire even questions just what kind of class she's taking!

By the end of this chapter the reader understands how accurately Anne's quote defines it. Gwen and Andy have a good relationship, but it's clear their plates are very full of the impedimenta of life.