キャミー・タング著「戌年」連載小説 プロのドッグトレーナーであるマリ・ムトウは、厄年を迎えている。 犬小屋と訓練所の改築をしながら、いつも不服そうにしている家族と同居することになった。母と姉に言わせれば、犬の毛とよだれかけにまみれる仕事は、家族にとって恥ずべきものだという。彼女は元カレを説得し、数ヶ月間犬を預かってもらうことにした。しかし、彼の兄は、数週間前に彼女が誤って車に追突した、怒り狂ったセキュリティ専門家であることが判明する。 アシュウィン・ケイトウは十分な問題を抱えている。叔母が玄関先に現れ、同居を希望している。彼は彼女にすべてを借りているので、断ることができません。母親が家を出て行った後、ネルおばさんはアシュウィンと弟を引き取り、愛のあるキリスト教の家庭で育てた。しかも、弟のダスティもアパートを追い出され、居場所を求めている。しかし、彼は犬を飼っている。そして、その犬の飼い主は誰だと思いますか? しかし、旧友でオアフ島のノースショアでデイスパを経営する私立探偵のエディサ・ゲレロから依頼を受ける。マリの施設で奇妙な破壊行為があり、3年前に失踪したエディサの妹の財布を発見する。エディサはマリが危険な目に遭っているのではと心配する。警備の専門家であるアシュウィンがすでにマリを知っていることを知ったエディサは、忙しい若い女性を密かに監視することを彼に依頼する。 アシュウィンは、活発でのんびりとしたドッグトレーナーに不本意ながら惹かれていく。彼女は、幸せそうな母親を思い出させる。その母親の裏切りによって、彼は人と距離を置くようになったのだ。マリは、アシュウィンの冷たい外見を見抜き、彼が家族に忠実な男であることを認める。彼は、彼女のキャリア選択を批判するだけの母親や姉とは違う。 マリのバラバラな家庭とアシュウィンのバラバラな家庭の中で、過去を隠そうとする人たちから、彼らの周りに危険が迫ってくるようになる。彼らは、影で動く秘密に光を当てることができるのか? 過去に発表されたパートへのリンクはこちら。 *** 第8章 - 恐ろしくも真っ白な不動産書類 『みんな仲良くできないのかな?』 マリは無用に力を込めて箱に本を投げ入れた。最近、なぜ彼女は人生の中で全員と言い争いをしているのだろう?もしかすると、これは本当に悪いアイデア
Captain’s Log, Stardate 08.08.2006
Blog book giveaway:
My Thursday book giveaway is THE SIMPLE LIFE by Wanda Brunstetter.
My Monday book giveaway is MY SO-CALLED LOVE LIFE by Allie Pleiter.
You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on each of those blog posts. On Thursday, I'll draw the winner for THE SIMPLE LIFE and post the title for another book I'm giving away.
"Remember, we all stumble, every one of us. That's why it's a comfort to go hand in hand."
~ Emily Kimbrough ~
Check out Christian Women Online (click on the button above) to see what other women are blogging about this quote!
I have to say that God came through for me in this area. I’m not an extrovert, but He knew I needed sisters in Christ both online and locally in order to continue on this writing career.
I didn’t seek these women out, they found me (with the Holy Spirit prodding them). Some of them are listed in my Blogroll to the right. They have held my hand, prayed for me, picked me up, prayed for me, kicked me in the butt, and prayed for me.
This doesn’t just apply to writers. There are so many women who are alone who don’t need to be. I’m not an extrovert, but God brought sisters in Christ into my life despite that. He can do it for anybody.
He brought exactly the type of women I needed, not the type of women I wanted. I only had to be open to His will for me, His timing, His plans—not my own ideas of the types of friends I wanted in my life.
I see this yearning in the teen girls at church—they want a best friend, a specific type of person, or a certain personality. They have their own secret requirements of what that person should be like, what that person will do for them.
I try to get them to understand that it’s not what that one special person will give to them, but what they can give to others around them. God will make them into a friend for others, and then bring friends and support into their lives.
I think it’s because support is mutual. I tell my teen girls that they can’t have a healthy friendship or relationship if they’re constantly taking, needing, complaining, or wanting. They have to ask God to teach them how to give of themselves, so that the relationship is symbiotic.
Do you know women who need that circle of Christian sisters? Are you one of them? Let’s remember to pray for all of us—that we can listen to God’s prodding in our own lives, and that God will give us a hand to hold for when we stumble.
TMI:
Writing: This brainstorming is the part I love and hate the most. It’s slooooooooooow. But it’s fun. But it’s slooooooooooow.
This is my brainstorming wall—er, closet. Praise God for Post-It notes for visual people like me. I’m currently trying to figure out what happens in my second book, and the synopsis is due . . . about a month from now.
Unlike my previous books, for this one I actually have to make deadline, because I’m getting paid for it (hey, how about that) and people would actually get upset at me if I didn’t turn it in.
This “performing under pressure” gig is not pleasant, but I can’t complain too much because I’m under contract for a change. I’m no longer a poor, starving artist—I’m just poor.
Would I be doing anything else? Nope. But my brain is tying itself in knots as I stare at that wall—er, closet.
Diet: Still doing Denise Austin, although yesterday I ate relatively well—salad for lunch, lots of veggies for dinner even if I did eat a larger portion of fish in Szechwan hot sauce than I should have. But it was fish! Fish is good, right? Omega fats and all that? Never mind that it was fish drowning in spicy saucy yummy goodness . . .
Blog book giveaway:
My Thursday book giveaway is THE SIMPLE LIFE by Wanda Brunstetter.
My Monday book giveaway is MY SO-CALLED LOVE LIFE by Allie Pleiter.
You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on each of those blog posts. On Thursday, I'll draw the winner for THE SIMPLE LIFE and post the title for another book I'm giving away.
"Remember, we all stumble, every one of us. That's why it's a comfort to go hand in hand."
~ Emily Kimbrough ~
Check out Christian Women Online (click on the button above) to see what other women are blogging about this quote!
I have to say that God came through for me in this area. I’m not an extrovert, but He knew I needed sisters in Christ both online and locally in order to continue on this writing career.
I didn’t seek these women out, they found me (with the Holy Spirit prodding them). Some of them are listed in my Blogroll to the right. They have held my hand, prayed for me, picked me up, prayed for me, kicked me in the butt, and prayed for me.
This doesn’t just apply to writers. There are so many women who are alone who don’t need to be. I’m not an extrovert, but God brought sisters in Christ into my life despite that. He can do it for anybody.
He brought exactly the type of women I needed, not the type of women I wanted. I only had to be open to His will for me, His timing, His plans—not my own ideas of the types of friends I wanted in my life.
I see this yearning in the teen girls at church—they want a best friend, a specific type of person, or a certain personality. They have their own secret requirements of what that person should be like, what that person will do for them.
I try to get them to understand that it’s not what that one special person will give to them, but what they can give to others around them. God will make them into a friend for others, and then bring friends and support into their lives.
I think it’s because support is mutual. I tell my teen girls that they can’t have a healthy friendship or relationship if they’re constantly taking, needing, complaining, or wanting. They have to ask God to teach them how to give of themselves, so that the relationship is symbiotic.
Do you know women who need that circle of Christian sisters? Are you one of them? Let’s remember to pray for all of us—that we can listen to God’s prodding in our own lives, and that God will give us a hand to hold for when we stumble.
TMI:
This is my brainstorming wall—er, closet. Praise God for Post-It notes for visual people like me. I’m currently trying to figure out what happens in my second book, and the synopsis is due . . . about a month from now.
Unlike my previous books, for this one I actually have to make deadline, because I’m getting paid for it (hey, how about that) and people would actually get upset at me if I didn’t turn it in.
This “performing under pressure” gig is not pleasant, but I can’t complain too much because I’m under contract for a change. I’m no longer a poor, starving artist—I’m just poor.
Would I be doing anything else? Nope. But my brain is tying itself in knots as I stare at that wall—er, closet.
Diet: Still doing Denise Austin, although yesterday I ate relatively well—salad for lunch, lots of veggies for dinner even if I did eat a larger portion of fish in Szechwan hot sauce than I should have. But it was fish! Fish is good, right? Omega fats and all that? Never mind that it was fish drowning in spicy saucy yummy goodness . . .
Comments
Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Oh I love that quote, soooo true. But I praise God for it!!
: )
I love your writing wall!! What a great idea!
Thanks for your amazing words!
and I love the writing wall!
I long for the day when I will be under a REAL deadline, not just one imposed by myself! I think I'd probably be stressed, but it would mean that someone was actually paying me to write! How cool would that be! My books published by Wings Press don't really pay me enough to count, but at least I have a couple of books out there somewhere! However, to be published by the "big boys"...That's my dream! Keep going.
I have a very good friend who's stuck with me through thick and thin but she lives in Germany and I live in Canada. She's also not on the same wavelength regarding the Christian life, nor are most of my other long-time friends.
Just got another bit of a blow. I had hoped to go to a shower about 100 miles from here on Sunday with my sister-in-law and my nieces. Turns out the whole family is headed in another direction entirely. All the other people going from my area have other agendas like going earlier and staying longer. You have to do that sort of thing in order to make the money you spend on gas worthwhile.
Since I have no car, I'm trying to figure out how to get away from here for a while where I'm all by my lonesome--except for my very best friend, Jesus, who never fails me.
So I totally empathize with you, reverberate58. I too feel alone despite a visit from friends yesterday. But they live almost 200 miles away and I hadn't seen them since my mother's memorial service almost 3 years ago.
Missy