Grandmas Goulash

He that spareth his rod hateth his child  … Proverbs 13:24 Reverend Jackson Pruitt had practiced what he preached. Penelope Pruitt carried the physical and emotional scars of learning right from wrong at the hands of a father, who believed that shades of grey were the rationalizations of sinners. Penelope’s nights are spent in a terrifying dream world, where blood provides the only relief in a grey kaleidoscope of charred walls, melting bodies and black holes. When the parsonage burns to the ground, a catatonic Penelope is found nearby, clutching a gasoline can. Charged with arson and the premeditated murder of her father, she is deemed unfit to stand trial and remanded to a psychiatric facility. Clinical psychiatrist, Gloria Amherst, battles with mixed feelings as she helps Penelope unravel the truth that lies between her waking and sleeping worlds. Will their journey set Penelope free or sentence her to death row? Book Blurb Friday  is hosted by Li...

In the ten years since her husband’s untimely death, Elise Fletcher has viewed the world from the safety of her window. After several panicky attempts to venture outside, she accepted her condition and developed a network of online friends and delivery services. Raised in a home where drugs and violence rule, ten-year-old Danny Sterling spends most of his waking hours on the streets. He has learned to survive, but his carefree exterior hides a child that trusts no one. When Danny spots Elise in her window one day, he initiates a conversation. Soon their window talks become a daily routine. Both Elise and Danny long for more. Both are limited by their fears. Based on the real life story of Janie Cauldwell,  Boundaries  captures the paralysis of agoraphobia. And the unlimited power of love. I did a bit of googling on agoraphobia, before writing this blurb. Although agoraphobia is still classified as a panic disorder, new research has indicated that a high percent...

Something smelt bad in Longfin. One thing was certain; it wasn’t fish. Catches had declined for five years and its once thriving fishing industry faced extinction. When the efforts of environmental and marine scientists failed, residents began moving to bluer pastures. Molly Miller-Toona, widow of Captain Charles Toona, thought she knew the answer, but no one listened to the dotty old woman, who stood on the wharf, spouting theories to anyone within herring distance. When Molly becomes terminally eel, she swallows her pride and calls Charlie’s illegitimate daughter, Detective Olive Flounder. Olive listens and enlists cryptozoologist, Alphonsino Berycid, to help save the town. Does a monster lurk beneath Longfin’s blue waters? Does Alphonsino love Olive or does his heart belong to Mora, the seductive barfish at Swampy’s dockside lounge? Is Longfin destined for shortfinity? Don’t miss this slippery tail of mysteries and monsters. Or Molly’s final triumphant sucker...

Lance Duquette is the perpetual male lead of Sharpville’s small town theater productions. Onstage and off, females vie to be his leading lady, seemingly blinded to Lance’s love-them-and-leave-them attitude. Backstage, Jimmy Hopkins helps with props and dreams of capturing the attention of makeup artist and wannabe playwright, Melody Light. Just as romance starts to bloom, Lance focuses his attentions on Melody. Deranged with jealousy, Jimmy threatens to make this play, Lance’s last. When Duquette’s body is discovered backstage before the final performance, all eyes turn towards Jimmy. Only Melody believes that he is innocent. She writes her first play,  Backstage , a reenactment of the events surrounding the crime, in an attempt to exonerate Jimmy Can Melody’s creative ploy save Jimmy? Watch drama unfold backstage, while  Backstage  unfolds on stage, and learn what happens in a chilling and unscripted final act. Book Blurb Friday is hosted by Lisa Ric...

For years, Windy Bay had been home to fishing and boating enthusiasts. Now it harbored a thief. Locals and tourists had been victimized, but none could identify the stealthy perpetrator. When police are stumped, Detective Sam McAllister is summoned. After two months, McAllister’s sterling reputation begins to tarnish. Despite his best efforts, he has found just one common link. All the victims recall the presence of a black dog. The town explodes in laughter, when McAllister points his finger at the canine. Sam renews his efforts, determined to find the person behind the dog. Was it the sultry Melanie Evans? Why would a self-professed dog hater have a stash of Chewy Bonz and Bacon Tidbits? Could it be Ed Jenkins, proprietor of the suddenly-successful hardware store? Follow Sam’s hilarious search, as he chases a bevy of unlikely suspects. And finds himself falling for a dog named Butler. Book Blurb Friday  is hosted by Lisa Ricard Claro, who posts a w...

Book Blurb Friday, hosted by Lisa Ricard Claro of  Writing In The Buff , is just a couple weeks shy of its first birthday. Time has not diminished my enthusiasm for this wonderful meme, and it has provided me with a wealth of story ideas and an abundance of reading pleasure. That pleasure is sometimes accompanied by the frustration of unfinished stories, but I’m far too hooked too give it up. This blurb is dedicated to Lisa, who promotes “the naked truth” in writing. Hope you enjoy it, Lisa. Thanks for a wonderful year of blurbs. Mandy Hawkins was barely twelve, when she caught the eye of a wealthy businessman, who was passing through the small shantytown. Before the day was over, her father was hiding a wad of cash in the plot behind their shack and Mandy was the bride of a fifty-year-old man.   Lisa Auburn is a freelance writer, struggling for recognition. Searching for inspiration, she decides to record her great-grandmother’s story. Man...

Sandy Thomas knew her parents were crazy, when they decided to adopt. Not a baby, but a thirteen-year-old girl, just one year younger than herself. Sandy dislikes everything about mousy Rose, who sleeps hugging a grungy teddy bear. She can’t ride a bike, can’t swim and has never skied. She seems content to stay at home, wearing frilly pink dresses and doing needlework with her mother. Even worse, Sandy suspects that Rose is the daughter her mother always wanted. Rose harbors a secret that even the adoption agency doesn’t know. She prays for safety in the Thomas household, but fears that it won’t last. Both girls dread their first family vacation, but neither foresees the events that leave them stranded without their parents in the dark woods of Black Mountain. Only one knows the identity of the madman who hunts them. Survival will require all their ingenuity. And their cooperation. Book Blurb Friday  is hosted by Lisa Ricard Claro, who posts a weekly photo and c...