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 10.13.2006
Blog book giveaway:
To enter, go to the blog links below and post a comment there.
My Monday book giveaway is Thanks for the Mammogram! AND Reconstructing Natalie, both by Laura Jensen Walker.
My Thursday book giveaway is Hot Flashes and Cold Cream by Diann Hunt.
You can still enter both giveaways. On Monday, I'll draw the winners for the Laura Jensen Walker books and post the title for another book I'm giving away.
Pick my title! I’m still holding a poll for the title of my book! Go to this blog post to cast your vote!
Heroes: I’m a TV junkie, I admit it. I’m hooked on the new series called Heroes. (It’s like X-Men, but before they realized their powers and came together to become the X-Men. And without the funky costumes.)
Okay, regardless of the X-Men type storyline, one of the heroines—a high school girl—is talking to a boy she likes, the quarterback of the football team.
He’s sweet-talking her and being very flattering.
She says he doesn’t really know her very well.
He goes into this romantic spiel about how he notices she draws unicorns in the margins of her notes in class, etc.
Now here I pause the TiVo and turn to Captain Caffeine.
Skeptical Asian wife: “That’s so un-guy-like! How realistic is it for a typical guy to say something eloquent and romantic like that?”
Captain Caffeine: “It sounds romantic because he’s the quarterback of the football team.”
Confused Asian wife: “What do you mean?”
Captain Caffeine: “If he were a computer geek, he would sound like a stalker.”
Captain Caffeine has a point, methinks.
So weigh in, peeps. Are your husbands romantic? Would they say Hollywood-worthy lines just off the cuff?
If you’re single, do you dream of Shakespearean poetry romancing you? Or would you rather he shut up and buy you a new novel?
TMI:
Writing: I posted another agent post at my Story Sensei blog today.
Revisions still going. (And going, and going, and going . . .) Please continue to pray for me, that I can get them done quickly.
Blog book giveaway:
To enter, go to the blog links below and post a comment there.
My Monday book giveaway is Thanks for the Mammogram! AND Reconstructing Natalie, both by Laura Jensen Walker.
My Thursday book giveaway is Hot Flashes and Cold Cream by Diann Hunt.
You can still enter both giveaways. On Monday, I'll draw the winners for the Laura Jensen Walker books and post the title for another book I'm giving away.
Pick my title! I’m still holding a poll for the title of my book! Go to this blog post to cast your vote!
Heroes: I’m a TV junkie, I admit it. I’m hooked on the new series called Heroes. (It’s like X-Men, but before they realized their powers and came together to become the X-Men. And without the funky costumes.)
Okay, regardless of the X-Men type storyline, one of the heroines—a high school girl—is talking to a boy she likes, the quarterback of the football team.
He’s sweet-talking her and being very flattering.
She says he doesn’t really know her very well.
He goes into this romantic spiel about how he notices she draws unicorns in the margins of her notes in class, etc.
Now here I pause the TiVo and turn to Captain Caffeine.
Skeptical Asian wife: “That’s so un-guy-like! How realistic is it for a typical guy to say something eloquent and romantic like that?”
Captain Caffeine: “It sounds romantic because he’s the quarterback of the football team.”
Confused Asian wife: “What do you mean?”
Captain Caffeine: “If he were a computer geek, he would sound like a stalker.”
Captain Caffeine has a point, methinks.
So weigh in, peeps. Are your husbands romantic? Would they say Hollywood-worthy lines just off the cuff?
If you’re single, do you dream of Shakespearean poetry romancing you? Or would you rather he shut up and buy you a new novel?
TMI:
Writing: I posted another agent post at my Story Sensei blog today.
Revisions still going. (And going, and going, and going . . .) Please continue to pray for me, that I can get them done quickly.
Comments
Girl, I'm praying for you and those dirty, rotten revisions! Holler if you need to vent over them!
Oh, glad you like "Heroes" - my cousin plays "Peter" (the young guy who thinks he can fly but kept dropping face first in the sandbox this past week!).
As for sweet talk, it doesn't really impress me. While it might be nice every once in a while, I'd rather a guy show me he cares with his actions.
I consider myself romantic. I write poetry for my wife on my blog, for example. I prefer the metaphysical poets like John Donne, though, so I try to use startling imagery and disconcerting metaphors. I don't know if I would call "gecko toes" romantic exactly.
My wife would say, "Sure my husband is romantic, and he likes poetry. But that just means he sits on the couch with a bag of chips reading poetry instead of watching football."
True. True.
And I agree with Captain Caffeine, if it was a computer geek instead of a football player a lot of people would think it was creepy instead of romantic. So sad, but true.
Today, dh's idea of being romantic is saying, "Do you wanna?" Okay TMI, but he's military I'll cut him some slack.
To me, the most romantic part of my hubby is seeing him with our kids. He could write me poetry and buy all the flowers in the world, but nothing gels my legs more than watching him be a dad.
Okay, teary-eye moment!
Men are good at romantic actions. If I want to hear romantic words, I rent a movie.
That Man can be romantic when he wants to be, but usually when I'm about ready to up his life insurance policy again. ;)
For me, romantic words don't mean a lot unless they're backed up with actions.