Round Robin Story

I apologize, it's been a while since I posted. For those of you waiting, here's the next bit of the story:

About six months earlier, his parents had died in a car accident and he'd taken over the ranch at the young age of twenty-five. Emily expected he'd always wanted to ranch, but never had a chance to ask him back then. For the two weeks she'd stayed with Uncle Nate he worked from dawn to dusk and each evening they'd check in with him, a glass of water, and some small talk. From what her Uncle told her he made a pretty good go of that ranch. Luke hadn't taken his eyes off of the ranch six years ago and the way he looked right now, he still worked too hard at it. What time he could spare, he helped Uncle Nate out in his garden.

"Thanks," at the sound of her voice he momentarily froze and each muscle tensed. He then reflexively turned and grabbed for his clothes. As he tried desperately to cover himself he nearly fell over on that near-perfect posterior. She stifled a giggle, "Don't get dressed just for me," and nearly lost the battle, "Uncle Nate just made a pot of coffee, you want a cup?" He stopped and stared at her as he held the pile of wet clothes in front of his manhood. 

"Well I'll be," and he stood up a bit straighter taking his free hand to try and tame his wild main and shield his eyes, "Emmy, is that you?" The last time he'd seen her she'd looked different, way too young. Today she looked, well, all grown up. She wore a simple pair of dark leggings and a sky blue tank top with a hot pink sports bra on underneath. Her entire outfit spoke volumes about her level of fitness and left very little to his imagination making him thankful for the pile of cold, wet cloths. 

"Yes. Good to," she smiled, "see you," and she toasted him with her coffee cup, "again."

"Mind?" and he motioned with his finger for her to turn around. His half-smile and slight blush triggered something deep inside her.

Espionage and Eggs - Part 7

"She meant a lot to you," Jan's tone was soft and gentle.

"It was a senseless car crash on her way in one day that killed her," staring off into space for a moment he continued to talk almost as if it was yesterday, "I tried to make sense of it, but," and he stopped.  Jan had placed her hand over his.  It was more than just a touch.  They both felt the connection even though they hadn't opened their minds.  The warmth spread up from their fingers and made a mental connection that surprised them both.

"I'm sorry," didn't seem to cover it, "you seem to have had to deal with loss way too much lately," she was picking up on the man he had walked in with months ago when they had first made eye contact.  She knew both men had experienced a great loss but could feel the depth of it now.  He looked up and into her eyes and with an intensity she had never experienced, their eyes locked.  It was just a few minutes until the waitress came over with their food and the spell was broken.

"So, tell me how a desert dweller comes to love water," the spell was broken as they pulled their hands apart to eat.  For the next few minutes they both ate and talked not sure of what had just been shared.  It was almost as if they had been reading each other's minds; yet it had been a far more intense experience and definitely nothing either one of them had ever experienced with someone else.  The conversation meandered from her love of water because of a trip to the ocean when she was very young, to his love of climbing and what's now called base jumping as the only thing that had made him feel free.  It wasn't until her phone beeped that they were brought back to reality.

"Damn," she looked at the message on her phone.

"Being called in for an assignment?"  He wanted her to say no, but was pretty sure that wasn't going to happen.  As casually as he could he scooped up a bite of the omelet he had order.

"No, more like being caught playing hooky from one," at that information the fork stopped midway to Ward's mouth.  "Before you say anything more, I fixed it the same way you made sure I would be included in this training."

"Your cover?"  He wanted to be mad, angry.  She had jeopardized a mission and maybe a bunch of people's safety to be with him.  Yes, he wanted to be angry but what he really felt was flattered.

"Still good.  The bodyguard assigned to me for my special trip to the States won't be waking up for a couple more hours and when he does he won't be telling his boss about it," she took this moment to put a bite of food in her mouth.  "Raul will wake up in a seedy hotel, an awful headache, and more than enough proof happily provided by a well paid lady to show how good of a time he had."

"Really," Ward almost laughed.  She had taken a chance, but had set it up brilliantly.  Problem was it had still been a dangerous move.

"Assignment's heating up, I needed a break, and you ship out on diplomatic duty in a week," placing the fork back on her plate she crossed her arms on the table in front of her and stared at him.

Ward smiled.  Jan had managed to surprise him once again.  Instead of answering her unspoken challenge right away he also crossed his arms on the table and leaned in just a bit.  They had both just proven they could and would bend the rules for the right reasons; he wondered just how far she would go.

"How about you send a message back to Rob that you already have a ride," the smile grew wider and his eyes sparkled, "I'll drive you back and we can spend that time figuring out how many more rules we want to break."

Jan put the last bite of omelet into her mouth savoring the flavor.  He had been right this was a great place to eat.  She was just about to reach for the cup of coffee when her phone chimed.  They both half smiled as she looked at the offending object.  It wasn’t hard to guess who was calling, and if she was completely honest with herself, she had gotten away with this for longer than she had expected.

“Excuse me,” Ward slid out of the booth silently pulling out his wallet at the same time.  He was giving her both time and space to take the call, and wasn’t that sweet.  Something else she could like about him.  Jan watched him walk to the register, and she wasn’t ashamed to admit she was enjoying the view.

“Yes,” she said with a sigh.  Jan wasn’t ready to come back to the real world.

“Are you crazy?”  Rob, her handler or partner, was trying hard not to let the anger seep through but she could tell he was losing by the deep rumble and controlled tones.  He must have sweated through at least two shirts by now.  She almost felt guilty.

“No,” but before she could continue he jumped back into the conversation.  Leaning back against the booth she readied herself for the verbal tongue-lashing she was about to receive, and if she thought about it, deserved.

“Then why in the world are you jeopardizing all the work you’ve put into this operation as well as your personal security?  And let’s not even mention what you might be risking back at the department,” this time he wasn’t hiding the frustration, “I can’t keep you protected from everything you know.”

“I’ve got our assignment covered, and you might say that that big lug of a bodyguard Carlos sent along with me is uncovered,” she could almost hear Rob grind his teeth, “as for the department.  They don’t really care who I sleep with as long as I don’t make any attachments.  This may be a little out of the norm but…”

“There is still the matter of who you are spending your time with.  You don’t realize how much of a player he is?”  Now she could hear the worry in his voice.

“Aren’t we all players in this business?”  Jan heard him suck in air on that one and wished she could take it back just as soon as it left her mouth.

“You know what I mean my girl, and let me tell you he’s been through a number of ‘friends’,” making sure that he stressed the last word, “don’t think you are any different than the rest of them, and by the way you are better than that, or that either of you could be different than who you are or,” and this was where Rob ran out of ands, ors, or buts.  To his credit he didn’t stutter or growl.

“Alright Papa,” Jan couldn’t help but smile now.  Rob may be her partner, and the person who kept an eye on her for the department, but in the end he acted more like her father.  He had been more of a father, and better one, to her than her real father had been.  But when he started into the father mode she would always smile, secretly she liked it, but she couldn’t help but tease him about it. 

“Aghh,” his exasperation was evident, “I know what that means I lose.  You’ve had this set up for a while haven’t you?”

           “Yes and no.  I needed to blow off some of the steam that’s been building up on this assignment.  This sounded like fun, and it was.  I’m now more than ready to go back and take him down,” it was her turn to take a breath and sell the next statement, “And as you stated we can’t make any real commitments so that works out well for the both of us.  We have a little fun and then we both walk away, friends.  At least this time we are with another person who already knows the rules,” she glanced up and noticed that Ward was taking his time at the register.  She really hated this smiling thing that was happening to her, but she couldn’t help but smile when she looked at him.  He smiled right back at her as he slipped the wallet back into his pocket and made small talk with the cashier.

Novel Ideas Part 9

Coming close to the end of this short story. What do you think should happen next?

Days later the number of people left in the program had dwindled.  Ward’s roommate was still in the program, but things were getting harder. They were demanding more from each person. Ward and Bobby drug themselves into the room long after the sun had gone down. Whatever they had been having them do must have been working. Both Bobby and Ward stopped short and turned to for the person that was sitting in the dark in their room.

“Jack?” Ward spoke as Bobby walked over and turned on the light. Jack and worked with them a number of times. He was already a trained agent and had been invaluable with the basics. Over a short period of time he had become a trusted associate and a good friend. Ward could feel that something wasn’t right and it wasn’t just the look on his face or the droop of his shoulders. It also didn’t go unnoticed that Bobby turned and flopped down on his bunk in exhaustion. Jack glanced over at Bobby and then back at Ward.

“Can we,” and he nodded toward the door. Ward was exhausted himself but something was troubling Jack and he couldn’t get it out of his mind. If he was right in how he was reading his mind, a skill that was still so new to him he didn’t want to trust it completely yet, it had something to do with Jack’s progress in this training, and Bobby.

“Yeah, I could use some air myself,” and he turned, summoning up energy he didn’t have, and walked out the door.

Novel Ideas Part 8

It has been so good to get back to the writing.  My mind has been going in all directions and needs a little focus. Hope you enjoy this:

They sat down in a rather plain room. Utilitarian table and chairs were surrounded by gray walls. Not what Ward had expected after the last go round.  Pat sat on one side of the table and pointed to the chair opposite her.  Since there was no reason not to sit, Ward did as he was asked. On the table there was a stack of manila folders each filled with papers. Slowly she picked a folder from the pile and handed it to him without saying a word. It was a test, everything they did here was a test, so he waited with folded arms for instructions.

“I want you to read what is in the file,” she opened it for him.

“That all,” Ward knew it wasn’t.

“For now,” and she smiled, “Yes.”

Three hours later he had read through about four of the files. No words had been spoken. Each time he had finished she had just handed him another folder. Each folder contained a mission or job that had been completed by one of the government agencies that tried to enforce the laws of the land. Some of the jobs had ended with what some would call a happy ending and the perpetrator going to jail. Some, most, were still open case files. All of them had to do with domestic violence and murder.  None of them had been redacted, making the details all the more personal and horrific. When he closed the fourth file Pat finally spoke.

“Well,” and she leaned back in the chair.

“You picked these cases especially for me to read,” and she nodded slightly, “I also know that you have collected all the information you want to know.” When she said nothing Ward continued, “You wanted to know my reactions to these cases especially because of my mother’s death, but as you have seen, although I find these cases horrific, as anyone would, I will not let it affect my judgement or my feelings.”

“Some of our agents are put on cases like these,” she looked him straight in the eyes as she spoke, “We need to know that you can do the job no matter what you read.”

“You’ve been reading my mind from the moment you talked with me in the cafeteria.” He pushed the file back toward her, “I know I can. All I need to know from you right now is whether or not you think I’m good enough to continue in this program of yours?”

Finding Reviewers!

I found this article and thought it might be worth a read for more of us so I reposted it here. It is originally from: Helping Writers Become Authors

15 Places to Find Your Next Beta Reader

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Where can I find a beta reader or critique partner?Without doubt, that’s the secondmost frequent question I receive from writers (right after where do I find a good editor?).

This can be a tough question to answer for the simple reason that a beta reader or critique partner isn’t someone you simply vet and hire, like you would a freelance editor. Rather, this is (ideally) a relationship you build, just as you would build any important friendship.

7 Things to Look for in a Beta Reader

There are several keys to finding the right beta reader (and it is important to find the right one). You want someone who:

1. Enjoys your genre.

2. Understands your intentions for your stories.

3. Likes your stories, in general.

4. Isn’t afraid to tell you what isn’t working.

5. Is an experienced reader and/or writer (both bring important insights to the table).

6. Is reliable and trustworthy.

7. You like–and who likes you in return.

In short, when you’re looking for beta readers, what you’re really looking for is “your kind of people.”

How to Find a Great Beta Reader

Where do you look for these peeps? Local writing groups sometimes offer possibilities. But the Internet is by far your greatest beta reader resource.

Honestly, my best advice is to simply go where writers go (Twitter, Facebook, writing blogs, writing forums) and start making connections. When you find someone who you feel will be a good fit, offer to trade critiques. Eventually, the right person or people will rise to the top (and when they do, make sure you treat them right).

Still, that’s not the kind of answer most writers want. It is, after all, kinda vague–and there’s a lot of time and a little bit of luck involved. So I decided to take this whole game up a notch. I conducted an informal poll (via my daily Writing Question of the Day–#WQOTD–on Facebook and Twitter)

All I Need To Know Is In A Book

The most important things in life are found in books.  

Take a few moments to find them for yourself.

It's All In The Depth

When I think of the difference between the two I see this picture.  What is your favorite book that has been turned into a movie?  

What Makes a Writer

The picture says it all don't you thiink!!  Well no, maybe I just need one more.....