Categotry Archives: writing
104 Submissions in a Year
I’m going for it. I have little control over being accepted. Even if I do my very best work both on my manuscripts and on my queries there is no guarantee I will even be read, let alone offered a contract. I’ve been letting this lack of control hold me back. No more! A while back Shelly Munro said she had a deal with a friend to see who could pile up the most rejections. The one with the most […]
Suzie’s House 113: Leaving on a Jet Plane
Seven pairs of panties, Six bras, one pair if jeans, a denim jacket, two broomstick skirts; was that all the last month of her life amounted to? Christina placed each item in her suitcase with a growing sense of loss. She hadn’t captured either of the O’Connors. If anything, she’d proven she really wasn’t cut out for field work. But she’d also discovered an innate morality she hadn’t realized was important until her job called it into question. Lying, cheating, […]
Suzie’s House 112: Ready
Drew formed a fist, but managed to keep from pounding on his computer’s keyboard. An oath of an unsavory variety slipped out. Luckily, Ben was at school and everyone else was at work. At least, he thought everyone was at work until Vin tsked at him. “You know, you could always let me take a crack at it. I’m every bit as good with a computer as you are.” He leaned against the doorjamb of the dining room where Drew […]
Suzie’s House 111: Meanwhile, Back at the House
Ben came out of court firmly established in his mother’s household, considering his father ended up in jail. Suzie, Ben, and Drew are on their way home now. Miranda slammed into the kitchen at a quarter to five. She had her briefcase under one arm, a box of promo materials under the other, her cell phone in her teeth, and no idea what she was going to cook. Pizza? But Ben had said something about not liking pizza anymore. She […]
Suzie’s House 110: Where the Apple Falls
Dad stood up fast. He had the guilty look to him, the way he swung his head around looking at the floor like he forgot something. The only thing Ben could think was that he’d been the one to cut Mom’s lawyer’s break lines. A cold shiver went down Ben’s back. Until this moment a part of him still believed Dad wouldn’t really hurt him. He wanted to hurt Mom, sure, but to go out of his way to hurt […]
Suzie’s House 109: Realization
What? Case dismissed? Just like that? Rob gestured to his idiot lawyer, who hadn’t done a single useful thing in course of the entire hearing. So far as Rob was concerned, it was good money down the drain. When he did that thing last night to make sure Suzie wouldn’t have a lawyer, he’d assumed that meant she would be defenseless and he would have the advantage. Instead, he had to pay this idiot and still hadn’t accomplished anything. “I […]
Suzie’s House 108: Based on the Evidence
“She doesn’t deserve Ben,” Mr. Hammacker shouted over and over again. “Mr. Hammacker,” Judge Jennifer applied her iciest voice. “It is not a question of who deserves what so much as what is best for the child.” “Well… well…” Mr. Hammacker’s gaze jerked around the room sightlessly. Once he settled on what he wanted to say, he looked quite smug. “It isn’t safe there for Ben.”
Suzie’s House 107: The Case Before Me
Judge Jennifer Armatage steepled her hands before her thoughtfully. She loved her job, despite all the ambiguities. She loved the sense of purpose, the importance of choosing the best path for the salvation of a family or a child. She prided herself on allowing even the youngest child a chance to have his or her say. But how far could she let it go? “Young man, are you saying it is all a conspiracy?” She addressed her question to the […]
Suzie’s House 106: Hearing
“I object!” Ben lurched to his feet next to Suzie. She had to catch his chair to keep it from tipping over. What on Earth did he think he was doing? He glanced around the courtroom, looking painfully unsure of himself. When he spoke again, Suzie almost swallowed her tongue in mortification. “Dad doesn’t want me at all! He’s planning on sending me to Mendota as soon as he gets full custody. I know, because I heard him say it […]
Suzie’s House 105: Breaking Point, The Second
Ben yanked at the knot of his tie and thought about puking. He’d never been so scared of anything as he was of this. He swallowed hard, but that didn’t make it any better. He’d been fine, holding it together, right up until the judge walked into the room.
Suzie’s House 104: Going to Court
“Don’t be nervous.” Until Mom said that, Ben was fine. As soon as she tried to brush the hair out of his eyes and straightened his tie, he knew she was nervous, but he only started to feel like an ax or something was hovering over his head when she told him not to be. Then he thought about the fact she’d made him wear his one and only suit, and pulled him from school.
Suzie’s House 103: Contemplation
Joseph and Sean a red haired, Irish brothers who live on the edge of the law. Near the beginning of Suzie’s House, Joseph shot Vin to keep him from catching Sean in a planned hit-and-run accident. Much later Sean goes into Suzie’s House where Vin lives intending to kill him and the FBI agent Drew. Suzie drops him by whacking him in the head with a cast iron pan. Now Sean had been captured, but Joseph is still at large. […]
Suzie’s House 102: Honestly, Mom
“Ben! Ben, I want to talk to you.” Suzie banged on the door again. She wasn’t sure if she should barge in next or what. He’d never been so slow to call out a welcome before. The door creaked open with the air of a haunted house. Not exactly the welcome she was looking for. She wasn’t about to walk away, so she pushed it the rest of the way open, just in time to see him hop on his […]
Suzie’s House 101: Serious Matters
“I know! I know! Mom, just leave me alone.” Ben grabbed his papers and books off the kitchen table in a huff. Whatever happened to her care free boy? Suzie hesitated for several seconds while she processed this latest shock. Ever since he came back from his father’s house, Ben had been different, and not in a good way. When he lost his temper, she didn’t know how to handle him. It was like giving up an angel and getting […]
Suzie’s House 100: The Reign of Insanity
In the last couple of weeks Ben has really gone through the ringer. “You aren’t really going to do it, are you?” Gene asked Ben, but he already knew, and he wasn’t so sure how he felt about it. English class was almost over, and still the story Ben wrote was in his folder. When was he going to give it to Mrs. D? And what would Mrs. D. do? Whatever she did wasn’t gunna to be pretty, and would […]
