Random Busy-ness and A Dangerous Affection Review

Wow! Been pretty dang busy. Recent and to come soon busy-nesses=

*Christmas with the minions
*A new baby in TX plus anniversary trip
*Getting ready to go on a pioneer Trek as Ma Murphy
*A wedding in the family in a month
*Writing on three books at once (FUZZY TUESDAYS TASTE SKY BLUE, NO JOY  FOR THE DEATHLESS, and some EVERLOST)
*Doing debut stuff for LOVE UNDEFINED, an anthology I'm in
*Figuring out how to hike on a lame knee and dr visits for such
*Planning various things for the BSA
*Running self sufficiency meetings
*Cubmaster-ing
*Running this loony bin

I'm certain I've forgotten a ton of extremely important things I'm still supposed to do. Like I should be right this very minute going to the doctor to get him to flesh out my physical form that I didn't take the first time...sigh.

But one thing I'm doing is spreading the word about a book I just finished. It just so happens that Wanda Luce's book cover and mine share a model. We're cover sisters.

I took this book on my trip to Texas and it helped greatly to make the miles and miles of nothingness of West TX more bearable. (East Texas I would gladly move to.) In fact, it was difficult putting it down for bouts of baby kissing and playing with the elder henchmen (and women).

So this is the deal:

Wanda Luce has written a book called A DANGEROUS AFFECTION. At first I thought it was going to be one of those fru-fru bodice-rippers with bare bits on the cover. Boy was I wrong! And happily so. Much more meaty and less cotton candy flossy.

Anne Fitzroy is the daughter of a British Earl and the ambassador to the Austrian court. Nefarious men work a plot in which the ambassador is framed with a spurious grant of bribe money, supposedly to betray the Austrian troops and British spies to the French. When the ambassador discovers the plot, he is assassinated and his daughter, Anne is implicated in the plot as the person most likely to have hidden the plot to save her father. Unless she uncovers the secret plans and casts light on her father's detractors, she could hang or be transported to Australia, or killed by those who wish to save their traitorous hides.

Anne and her sister become the targets of some vicious gossip with the threat of more stringent measures. Anne fears she will face, at the very least, the unkind gossip of the English Ton. She has given up on ever finding a husband, not only because of the blot on her character, but because she's considered a bluestocking and perhaps somewhat of a hoyden. I kind of like how she has the guts to work on her own mystery and brave the odds to discover the truth. She doesn't simply sit around letting men do all the work.

One of her greatest detractors, the Earl of de Rothesay (Nic) has already painted Anne with the name of traitor before they even met. He is convinced she covered for her father's treachery, which resulted in his brother's possible beheading at the hands of the French.

He comes to believe that Anne, at least, has been framed and is being stalked by a murderer who wishes to silence her forever to keep her from exposing the plot to betray Austria to the French. Can Anne enlist this handsome man instead, to clear her father's name?

This book, while it had a few little grains of sand, really intrigued me. For one thing, it was well written. Ms. Luce knows her stuff in relation to the speech, dress, habits, problems of the day, and happenings of the Regency era, enough so as to put the reader directly into Anne's shoes without bogging us down with verbosity.

There are a couple of times where I would have had the characters discuss something earlier, or show more difficulty coming up with the answer to the riddle. It would have been good to flesh out the Villains a bit better, but I felt these things didn't detract from the story. I was so pleasantly pleased that Ms. Luce set some of the action in Austria because so often Regency books never leave the ballrooms and sitting rooms of England. I enjoy a different venue. I like my heroines to actually do something and be loved for something other than their great beauty or flirting prowess. Go Brains!

In this suspenseful tale full of intrigue and romance, Anne has the guts to go out and do her own sleuthing, regardless of the considerable danger to her and her sister. In spite of the abuse she endures at the hands of those who want her family's money and to ruin her father, she pushes on to clear the family name. She convinces one of her greatest detractors that not only is she being truthful, but her father is as well.

I give this book two thumbs and an elbow up

You can buy this book here or here.

And now to get over to the dang Dr before he leaves for the day...sigh. And buy some leather strings among other things. But first...get dressed and eat something.

A Snatch of MARIN AT THE WELL

The year is winding down to NANOWRIMO--National Write a Novel in a Month month--November. Therefore I am getting as much done now as I can before the first of the month.
I have big plans to write MUDLARKS therein. I shall be wallowing in Dickens to my heart's content, as the above book shall be as close to a Dickensian novel as I can make it. I wish I'd already gotten to go over and actually muck around in the Thames mud, (I know. Barking mad.) but not only is that trip not happening until next May or so, but I don't know if we'll get down into London. We'll be up in Ireland--a place I've ALWAYS wanted to go, though not under a bridge near the Thames.

So. In preparation, I've just finished approving the first half of the rewrites for the second printing of SUNRISE OVER SCIPIO today. I also wrote an alternative ending for SUMMERHOUSE, the next book coming out. Later today I'll probably get into THE DAY IT RAINED GLASS if I have edits back. I'm also trying to finish sending out Beta versions of MARIN AT THE WELL.

For your viewing pleasure and because I think you're pretty cool for coming here, Here's a snatch of MARIN ATW. I hope you like it:

I wondered where the rest of the sheep and goats had strayed. I loudly cussed them out until I remembered it was all my fault. I was the shepherd. I should have been paying attention. Now I'd have to fix the problem or I'd cost us loads of money and food and wool for Martha to weave. Then I yelled at myself—something I never did. In my regular life, mistakes I made rarely showed a clear picture of the consequences as this mistake would.

But how could I get that fat ewe back up the cliff? The ledge she stood on was tiny. I could barely stand on the ledge and it didn't look all that stable. I couldn't see anything nearby that would work.

“Why don't you talk to Me, Marin?” I heard in my head.

“Great. Now I'm going insane and hearing voices,” I said to no one in particular. “Must be sleep deprivation and eating who-knows-what.” And then I caught myself and giggled a little hysterically. “No, it's sheep deprivation.”

I thought I heard a mental groan. Or maybe it was my pun-detesting side rearing its ugly head. But the voice was there, quiet but strong like my dad's heavy test fishing line. “You aren't delusional.”

“Said my crazy head. I doubt any really loony person thinks they're insane.”

“Be still and know that I am God.” I felt the power of that statement zip around my body, arcing between my fingers, lifting the hairs on the back of my neck. Power. Real power.

That got me. I would never have said that in my head. So I was hearing God now? Inside my head like it was coming over my headphones? “Why haven't I ever heard Your voice before?”

“You were not listening.”

“How is it any different today?”

“You are ready. Ask Me.”

“Okay. Will You...Thee...whatever...get this stupid sheep up the cliff?”

“It does not work that way.”

“Of course not.” I folded my arms and glared up at the sky. I felt like stomping, but I was afraid the ground would give way and I'd be down there with the dumb sheep.

“What do you really want?”

“I don't know. Help.”

“Study it out in your mind. This is your test.”

“Well if you won't get the sheep up the cliff, would You at least make me strong enough to do it myself? And could You strengthen the ledge so it won't fall away and take us both with it?”

“There is a stick over there.”

I looked around and spotted a broken sapling lying on the ground not far from me. I could have sworn it wasn't there before. I'd have noticed it and added it to my short list of things that probably wouldn't work. What was a stick supposed to do? I couldn't just lean the stick against the wall and hope the sheep could scramble up it.

Every couple of minutes I considered giving up. I mean, why was I putting all this effort into helping one stupid sheep? It's not as if I'd be around to miss it. Plus I was ignoring all the rest of the missing sheep to help this one. But a growing feeling inside me told me this was something I had to do. I'd never really pushed through in my former life. If a job was difficult, I bailed. Clean up dog logs? Bleah! Wash my own clothes? Mom's job. I mean, who wants to ruin her manicure if there are people payed to do the work for you?

This, though, I had to see to the end.

I wanted to ask for an idea, but I figured God had done enough helping, or at least He'd think He had. It was up to me to come up with something. I was still kind of freaked that He talked to me at all. I thought about calling for Joab, but he'd taken off as soon as it looked like I was crazy. He was probably far away by now. Even if he wasn't, he'd mock me for losing all my sheep. So that wasn't going to happen.

I picked up the stick and looked at it, turning it this way and that. I could use it to whack the sheep, but it wouldn't do any good if the sheep couldn't get up the cliff. I could maybe make a halter with my head scarf, fish it down with the stick onto the sheep's neck and haul the thing up, but the old biddy would just strangle. I'd just have to climb down on that ledge and boost her up. Maybe I could put the stick under her hind end and push with it. Hopefully I wouldn't get kicked to death.

I rolled onto my stomach and dangled my legs until they were about a foot from the ledge. There was nothing for it but to jump. Getting back up? Unless the sheep helped me out like I helped it, I'd be out of luck. And believe me, I already knew sheep were total ninnies.

I jumped.

The ledge crumbled alarmingly but most of it held.

“Tie your veil around the ewe's neck and don't let go of the end when she climbs out.” I heard those words as clear as tap water. So I did that. Maneuvering on the ledge was as hard as trying to share a bathroom with my little sister. Finally I managed to straddle the sheep and angle the stick under its rear and rest it on my bent knees. Talk about heavy! This one must have been grazing on lead. I pushed with all my might and felt it's legs scrabbling against the cliff side, knocking dirt and pebbles bouncing past me, reminding me how far it was to the bottom.

My whole body shook with effort, sweat slicking my hands and trickling down my back. At the extreme end of my strength, I gasped, “Some help here, please?”

Suddenly I felt strength flow into my body. I was able to bench press that fat old biddy the last bit up the wall until she could get purchase with her hooves. She lunged up and stood there like someone had carefully trained her, waiting for me to haul myself up using my delicate veil. Amazingly nothing tore. Inch by inch I staggered up the wall until I fell stomach-first at the sheep's feet, gasping for air, my muscles twanging guitar strings.

When I could, I sat up and looked that sheep in the face. She stood there placidly chewing her version of gum with a vacant look in her eye. I had a new yardstick for stupid. “Thanks and no thanks. I'm going to call you Ethel because it's the worst name I can think of, you fat tub of lard.” I felt a presence waiting. “Oh! And thank You, God.”

“You're welcome.”

© 2016 by H. Linn Murphy

Leave me a comment sometime...:o)

Excuses

Well. Here comes the litany of excuses for my inattentiveness here. You might as well sit back and have the popcorn ready to hand.

It's summertime--the slack season when I get much less written. My teenagers are home making noise and needing the stiff end of my boot to do anything beyond watching movies and playing video games. For some strange reason, several wasp's nests are daunting enough to them that they feel unable to spend any more than about 2 1/2 minutes cleaning the shed.

So I've been doing battle with said nests with some kitchen tongs and a flyswatter. To date I've stomped two nests and am needing to find the Mother Ship. The busy little stingers try to inhabit all my bird houses too. Stinky wasps. At any rate, I am hoping my example of fearless persistence has been enough to shake the offspring from their torpor.

Right.

Less amusing: on the day of my daughter's promotion, my eldest son's arm began to turn purple. It would have been a lovely color if it hadn't been so alarming. I immediately thought of blood clot but couldn't imagine a person so young getting one. So I had him moving it around and massaging it to no avail. After the promotion I called my hubby who turned out to be on his way home anyway. Lon took Perry in and it did indeed turn out that he had a blood clot in his shoulder.

So while I went to my second son's high school graduation, Lon sat in the ER with Perry. Two days later Perry got out and is now on blood thinners. The strange thing is that I wasn't worried. I know the Lord has a plan and this may have been His way of giving Perry a little honorable reprieve before Perry's mission for our church. Now he needs to go get another job to help pay for it all.

Hunter graduated from high school. His grades weren't stellar but he was quite busy with many good things ie. 3 choirs, several plays, a musical, swim team, and finishing his Eagle project. That last month was chuck full of concerts, awards nights, and parties. I'm so glad he wasn't out getting drunk or stoned or laid. He's a fantastic boy with loads of talent.

Courtney and Jessa play cello and violin in the Tucson Jr. strings and their school orchestras, meaning they had 4 performances. Barret plays tenor sax and he shared one of Jessa's performances. Plus there were rehearsals to take them to. The lovely thing is listening to all that good music. They're finally getting out of the lower symphonias which are much less pleasant to listen to.

Jessa had her Nat'l. Jr. Honor Society awards assembly too. She worked quite hard this year and got wonderful grades. We're so proud of her. It definitely makes up for the many times she brained the boys with their toy trucks. Who'd have thunk it?

We spent hours and hours helping Hunter work on his Eagle Project. He made gates and a fence for Colossal Cave Nat'l. Monument (at least I think it's a monument). I'm so glad that project is done as it is over ten miles away. There were several set-backs and hitches but we were blessed with kind donors and a great amount of help (you reap what you sow). Now he can say to his grandkids, "Look! I built that fence and those gates! (If, that is, they don't get wrecked by having kids swing on them.)

Last but not the least of my excuses, I have been trying to be a good example by not using the computer so much so we can save money. Since it's harder for me to write when my children are awake, I've been spending more time on my manuscripts in the morning and less time here. I have two MS in Beta testing as I write this.

That, my friends, is the whiny set of reasons why my posts have been sparse of late. I shall endeavor to do better. It doesn't look like things will let up any time soon. I know I've forgotten things too. I was supposed to go to cub camp in there somewhere but nobody let me know when, so I think I missed it. Bad dog, no biscuit.

Life is a roller coaster. Sometimes you barf over the side and hope it doesn't hit you on the loop-the-loop. Wheeeeeeee!