Flashback to old books I've written

      Inside the hotel lobby, a TV hanging on the wall broadcasted a news flash. The desk clerk seemed engrossed by it.

      "Excuse me," Dee interrupted. "I'm checking in."

      "Oh, I'm sorry." The girl was barely in her twenties. "I didn't hear you come in. Did you hear the news?" She pointed to the TV screen. "The president is making a statement soon."

      Dee watched the screen for a moment. She believed that watching the nightly news would help develop her writing skills, give her ideas, and aid in research, but she could never stomach the stories of corruption and violence.

      "His daughter has gone missing. They think she's been kidnapped."

      "Who's that?" Dee berated herself, feeling she had to catch up on current events.

      "Mikayla Andrews, the president's daughter. She's only 27. She was in – shhh." The clerk turned back to the TV and turned up the volume.

      "White House sources say that Mikayla Andrews has not been seen or heard from since arriving in Whitefish Bay, a suburb of Milwaukee, earlier this morning. Two Secret Service agents who were traveling with her reported that they last saw her in her suite at the Marriott hotel. She had been in the room alone, laying down for a nap before dinner. When they returned an hour later, she was no longer in the room."

      "Excuse me." Dee would have found the story not in the least bit interesting other than that Whitefish Bay was less than an hour's drive to the south. "Can I check in?"

      "Oh, I'm sorry, of course." The young woman continued to be mesmerized by the TV.

      "Foul play is not suspected but can still not be ruled out. Sources believe that the disappearance is merely some sort of misunderstanding."

      "Is there someone else who could help me?" Dee tried again to drag the clerk back to her desk.

      "I am so sorry." She finally tore herself away from the TV, her fingers flying over the keyboard as she processed Dee's request.

This isn’t Flashback Friday in the normal sense. Normally, I’d tell you a story from my past, my childhood, but today, and for the next couple of Fridays, I thought I’d flashback to previous books I’d written.

        Today’s excerpt is from a novella, “To Find Justice”, which I published as an E-book only, because it was too short for a paperback. It was the first thing I’d totally self-published on my own to Amazon, and I wanted to practice before turning a full-length novel over to that format.

        I also had thoughts at the time to write two or three more novellas and then publish them all together on paper, but that never happened. Some day yet, maybe.

        The premise is:

Dee Richards, a devoted wife and mother, dreams of writing a mystery novel. When friends loan her the use of their condo for a week, she seizes the opportunity to make her dream a reality. A secretive couple who is also staying at the resort captures her imagination. Will she finish writing her book or will the mystery right next-door change Dee’s life forever? 

I haven’t thought much about it or even looked at it since I released it in March 2020. I just started reading, though, and maybe it’s not half-bad. Maybe you’ll enjoy it as a quick summer read.

Let me know. Have a good weekend, Chris