Grandmas Goulash

Janet Haskins has always wanted a stained glass window for her foyer. Her dreams of sunlight streaming through a colorful array of flowers ends, when she returns from a trip and sees her husband’s surprise. “Salvaged from an old church. Isn’t it a beauty?” Stretching from the floor to the top of the vaulted ceiling, the window is both overpowering and inappropriate. “We’re atheists, Carl.” “You are.” “Then our marriage has been a lie.” Within weeks, the marriage is over and Carl departs. With barely enough money to pay the mortgage, Janet must live with the window. Worse still, it is a magnet for churchgoers wishing to attend services at the “new church”. Lightning strikes when Janet envisions collection plates overflowing with money and decides to form her own church. What can an atheist minister offer a congregation of believers? What can they teach her about faith and love? Book Blurb Friday  is hosted by Lisa Ricard Claro, who posts a weekly photo ...

This is a wonderful photo. It should have provided inspiration for several stories. Alas, my brain has turned to mush today. So I’ve settled for bad humor and offer my solemn promise that I will never write this book. Hope you get at least a little chuckle out of it. “ Insects are the most reliable indicators of age. ” “ Only a simpleton would disregard other fossils, not to mention chronostratigraphic techniques. ” Their passion for stratification should have united them, but Ima Bughee and Rocky Laehers had never agreed on anything. So when the entomology and geology professors plan a joint fieldtrip for their students, rumors fly. Has passionate disagreement turned to passion? There is no time to ponder the question. Ima disappears shortly after their arrival at the site. Rocky starts to organize a search, but is attacked by a large swarm of strange insects. In an effort to avoid their stings, he runs into the fragile depths of the site. Both Rocky an...

On a September night in 1911, Natalie Saunders tucked her toddler into bed and turned out the light. The next morning, the Milton sky was bathed in an eerie light and Carmen was missing. Despite extensive searches, she was never found. Natalie believed that the strange light was somehow responsible. “When the light returns, so will Carmen.” Twenty-five years later, the strange glow returns to the sky. On that same day, Linda Kaufmann moves to Milton after accepting a teaching position at Milton Elementary. Natalie is sure that Linda is her lost child. Linda believes that Natalie is a grieving mother, desperate to resolve her loss. One hundred years later, Sarah Desmond purchases Natalie’s former home and discovers her hidden diaries. As she reads Natalie’s story, Sarah feels compelled to learn the truth. She expects that it will be difficult. She’s surprised to find that it is dangerous. Book Blurb Friday  is hosted by Lisa Ricard Claro, who posts a we...

Surrounded by incredible beauty, Natalie walked along the shore of a twilight world. Mist rose from the water and swirled around her, obliterating everything. Then she awoke. Natalie’s mother had been an adept fortuneteller, dispensing what customers longed to hear. Natalie had inherited the business. Unlike her mother, she actually saw the future. Each day, she struggled to give hope to desperate people, while seeing lives with dim futures. Then a tall man with haunted eyes sat before her. For the first time, she saw nothing. “I will return in a month”, he told her. “Then you will see.” That night, the dream appeared for the first time. What was it trying to tell her? Suddenly, Natalie wished to know her own future. Who was the stranger? What would happen when he returned? Book Blurb Friday  is hosted by Lisa Ricard Claro, who posts a weekly photo and challenges us to “write a book jacket blurb (150 words or less) so enticing that potential readers...

Greta eyed the cup. It looked delicious, but she knew it was poisoned. The Hornet lurked nearby. A master of disguise, he could be that guy in the wheelchair or the one toting the oxygen canister. The staff spoke of dementia, but she was just bored. Determined to have fun, Greta had invented a world of espionage and cast herself as its heroine. Then terrorists infiltrate the nursing home. Posing as employees, they use the Medicare claims processing system as a backdoor into the national security database. Greta tries to blow the whistle on them, but no one takes her seriously. She enlists the help of cronies, Foster and Clarisse. Armed with blood thinners, sedatives and Fleet enemas, the trio wage their own brand of geriatric warfare. Life is suddenly exciting, but can they stop the terrorists? Book Blurb Friday  is hosted by Lisa Ricard Claro, who posts a weekly photo and challenges us to “write a book jacket blurb (150 words or less) so enticing that ...

Jill’s idea of adventure is targeting and capturing the men of her choice. The skilled huntress spots her next prey while enjoying a tropical vacation. Hank succumbs quickly and she joins the pilot for a helicopter tour of the adjacent islands. The date ends with an electrical malfunction and a plunge into the ocean. The pair wash up on the beach of an uncharted island, where prospects of rescue seem remote. Hank has no intention of playing white knight to Jill’s damsel-in-distress. When Jill refuses to do her share, he tells her “You’re on your own.” He disappears and Jill vows revenge. Can the spoiled socialite survive the elements, the animals and the natives? Will Hank survive her revenge? Book Blurb Friday  is hosted by Lisa Ricard Claro, who posts a weekly photo and challenges us to “write a book jacket blurb (150 words or less) so enticing that potential readers would feel compelled to buy the book.” That’s quite a challenge, but it’s a lot of fu...

You’re too old for a security blanket. We’re going to put it in the dumpster. That ragged stuffed rabbit can go in too. They’re just trash. This case was just plain disgusting. Angie McAllister listened to the victim’s story. “I thought I would die. He tied me up, slapped me and put me in his car. When he stopped, he threw me in that trash-filled dumpster and left.” “Do you remember anything else, Ms. Jenkins?” “He kept calling me ‘Momma’. “ It was an old story. For months, women in Carlton City had told similar tales. None of the victims had seen his face. No one remembered the signature graffiti that graced each dumpster. “You don’t have to be a psychiatrist to know he’s got childhood issues with his mother”, Angie’s boyfriend, Detective Carl Hawkins, remarked. “I still remember being upset when my mother threw out my favorite stuffed bunny.” Book Blurb Friday  is hosted by Lisa Ricard Claro, who posts a weekly photo and challenges us t...