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 08.22.2006
Blog book giveaway:
My Thursday book giveaway is MURDER, MAYHEM, AND A FINE MAN by Claudia Mair Burney.
My Monday book giveaway is EMILY EVER AFTER by Anne Dayton and May Vanderbilt.
You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on each of those blog posts. On Thursday, I'll draw the winner for MURDER, MAYHEM, AND A FINE MAN and post the title for another book I'm giving away.
Check out Christian Women Online (click on the button above) to see what other women are blogging about this quote!
"Salt, when dissolved in water, may disappear, but it does not cease to exist. We can be sure of its presence by tasting the water. Likewise, the indwelling Christ, though unseen, will be made evident to others from the love which He imparts to us."
~Sadhu Sundar Singh~
I loooooooooove salt. Love it, love it, love it. I crave it especially during those times of the month, and then I bloat out like a blowfish.
When I was single, I didn't crave Jesus the way I craved salt. And I knew that was wrong, I knew I needed to reorient myself.
Singleness was hard for me. I struggled a lot. Thank God He gave me my discipler at church to help keep me sane and remind me to at least try to focus on Christ rather than on my desire to no longer be alone.
Now I have my husband, but I still have a heart for single women. My singleness was a hard time for me, and not every woman can have an older woman discipler to help her along.
So I write books aimed at that single woman. And yes, they're fiction. They're romances. They're funny, breezy, fluffy, and entertaining, because that's what I like to read. I'm not a terribly deep person.
But I'm also praying that the love Jesus gave to me when I was struggling and crying and alone will come through in these funny, breezy, fluffy words. That Jesus' love will salt the entertainment of my novels--just like salt on hot French fries! Yum!--so that a single woman will finish my book with a satisfied smile, and feel a little less alone because she has a little more of Jesus in her heart at that moment.
So on the surface, my books are beach reads. But Jesus is in me like that salt, and I'm praying His message comes through the fun, sun, and fluff to strike a deeper chord in my readers.
Okay, now I want French fries!
TMI:
Diet: I exercised yesterday! Of course I also was trying to "burn the butter" (quite literally) from the shortbread I made Sunday night! Doh! Does it count that the shortbread has oatmeal in it???
Writing: I am SO lucky! My friend Jane (whose hubby is a fantastic wedding videographer) is going to take my promo pictures! She and I are trading services--she's going to use her HOT new digital camera for my pics and I'm looking over her proposal.
So all you--us!--poor writers, we should think more about what we can trade for each other.
Take card-making. Say you're terrific at it. Say I (or somebody else) need thank you cards to send to editors/agents from appointments at conferences which are personalized for my brand (I said the b-word). You offer 10 cards made to my specifications in exchange for a crit. Voila! We have traded services and spent minimal money.
I wonder if I should start a trading services section in the ACFW forum?
Blog book giveaway:
My Thursday book giveaway is MURDER, MAYHEM, AND A FINE MAN by Claudia Mair Burney.
My Monday book giveaway is EMILY EVER AFTER by Anne Dayton and May Vanderbilt.
You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on each of those blog posts. On Thursday, I'll draw the winner for MURDER, MAYHEM, AND A FINE MAN and post the title for another book I'm giving away.
Check out Christian Women Online (click on the button above) to see what other women are blogging about this quote!
"Salt, when dissolved in water, may disappear, but it does not cease to exist. We can be sure of its presence by tasting the water. Likewise, the indwelling Christ, though unseen, will be made evident to others from the love which He imparts to us."
~Sadhu Sundar Singh~
I loooooooooove salt. Love it, love it, love it. I crave it especially during those times of the month, and then I bloat out like a blowfish.
When I was single, I didn't crave Jesus the way I craved salt. And I knew that was wrong, I knew I needed to reorient myself.
Singleness was hard for me. I struggled a lot. Thank God He gave me my discipler at church to help keep me sane and remind me to at least try to focus on Christ rather than on my desire to no longer be alone.
Now I have my husband, but I still have a heart for single women. My singleness was a hard time for me, and not every woman can have an older woman discipler to help her along.
So I write books aimed at that single woman. And yes, they're fiction. They're romances. They're funny, breezy, fluffy, and entertaining, because that's what I like to read. I'm not a terribly deep person.
But I'm also praying that the love Jesus gave to me when I was struggling and crying and alone will come through in these funny, breezy, fluffy words. That Jesus' love will salt the entertainment of my novels--just like salt on hot French fries! Yum!--so that a single woman will finish my book with a satisfied smile, and feel a little less alone because she has a little more of Jesus in her heart at that moment.
So on the surface, my books are beach reads. But Jesus is in me like that salt, and I'm praying His message comes through the fun, sun, and fluff to strike a deeper chord in my readers.
Okay, now I want French fries!
TMI:
Diet: I exercised yesterday! Of course I also was trying to "burn the butter" (quite literally) from the shortbread I made Sunday night! Doh! Does it count that the shortbread has oatmeal in it???
Writing: I am SO lucky! My friend Jane (whose hubby is a fantastic wedding videographer) is going to take my promo pictures! She and I are trading services--she's going to use her HOT new digital camera for my pics and I'm looking over her proposal.
So all you--us!--poor writers, we should think more about what we can trade for each other.
Take card-making. Say you're terrific at it. Say I (or somebody else) need thank you cards to send to editors/agents from appointments at conferences which are personalized for my brand (I said the b-word). You offer 10 cards made to my specifications in exchange for a crit. Voila! We have traded services and spent minimal money.
I wonder if I should start a trading services section in the ACFW forum?
Comments
Write on!
Warmly,
Ann Voskamp
(I specialized in working with children)
I can't tell you how much "beach reads" met a need for rest and distraction and refreshment.
Keep writing- ;) There's someone waiting for their "fry- order";)
btw, I'm a barter & trade girl too!
I used sea salt in an unusual way last night...to soak my nose! Yep, I did it. I'm officially not part of the status quo of the CBA. My nose is pierced. Tag, you're it.
I agree with amydeanne about the thread of hope in lighter reads. It seems to me that when you can still laugh you tend to think "How bad can things be?" Great post. Thanks for sharing.
I must tell you....on a bad day there is NOTHING like a little salt!!:) thanks for the words...
Yeah, singleness can be hard but I guess over the years I've discovered through others that marriage also has a lot of problems. Maybe it was God's provision for me not to get married so that I wouldn't have someone to run out on me when the going got as bad as the pain.
But a great blog, Camy. And yes, we are to be the salt of the earth and that will still be there in any book written in and for his glory.
I am craving chips now and gotta go get some.