I thought I'd said goodbye to these characters, but they started speaking to me again. Now before you put a cray-cray label on me, you have to consider the fact that writers are a strange breed. We stare out of windows or at the ceiling, scribble notes for hours--even talk to ourselves. And we're not delusional or schizophrenic. We're writers! Can I hear an "Amen' fellow authors? (If you still need
proof, my husband and family can attest to the veracity of this too).
While I'm not sharing the title just yet, (you're gonna love it), here is a teaser to the next book in my "When The Fat Ladies Sing" cozy mystery series. Still writing. Having the greatest fun.
Chapter One
Food Fight
Spinning. The room twirled in circles, like an out of
control merry-go-round. The nausea didn’t take long to kick in after that, and
I soon found myself knee-down on the bathroom floor, “driving the porcelain
bus,” as my best friend Sue Jan was fond of saying.
After a few frantic knocks at the door, Hudson burst into
the bathroom, worry in his voice. “Lovita, what’s wrong? I heard—“
But I was too busy tossing my cookies to answer my husband.
Hugging the toilet, I tried to answer, but the contents of my stomach had other
ideas.
“Oh, Honey, you’re sick?” He turned on the faucet and ran
cold water over a clean washcloth. Wringing it out, he waited till I was done,
then handed it to me.
Though my stomach was still doing somersaults, I looked up
at the face I adored and said “Thanks,” forcing my mouth to turn up into a weak
smile.
Clothed in a navy blue suit, I couldn’t help admiring his masculine
jawline, sleek dark hair and intense baby blues locked onto me. Dressed in my
favorite green plaid pajamas and a white robe, no makeup and crazy bed-head
hair, I was certain my complexion emanated it’s own peculiar shade of complementary
green. “You should keep your distance.” I pointed to his suit. “I-I don’t want
your clothes to get all messed up. You’re on your way to work.”
He shook his head. “I don’t care about my suit.”
“But you care about your client. You have to be in court.” I
fought back the rising tide of nausea. “That important case you told me about--”
“Maybe you ate something that didn’t agree with you.” He
snapped his fingers. “We had those grilled peppers and Italian sausages at Sue
Jan and Monroe’s last night. They were a bit too greasy for my liking. I’ll bet
that’s it.“
“Oh no . . .” With the mention of peppers and greasy
sausages, my poor stomach couldn’t hold out another second.
I glanced up as soon as I was able.
His brow furrowed. “Sue Jan’s a good cook, but you’ve been
following a vegetarian diet for a while. Maybe you shocked your body eating
those greasy . . .”
Palm to the sky, I pleaded. “Stop! Honey, please---please
don’t mention that again.”
“Sorry.” He cocked his head to the side. “I hope and pray
you don’t have food poisoning. I’ve had that before on a mission trip and—“
I swiped at my face again with the washcloth. “Hudson.”
He grimaced. “Sorry again. I didn’t mean—I shouldn’t have
mentioned . . .” He turned and ran some cold water at the sink and handed me a
fresh washcloth. “Can I—uh, can I get you an antacid or some water or
something?”
“Hudson.”
“I wonder if you have a temperature?” He opened the medicine
cabinet and peered in. “Where’s the thermometer?”
“No, I don’t think I have a temp. But you need to listen.”
Intent on finding the thermometer, I knew his mind was
focused on the search.
“I’m really sorry I mentioned that food to you. What was I thinking?” He poked through the
contents of the cabinet. “I don’t see the thing. Do you have any idea where it
could be?”
I lifted myself to the edge of the bathtub, sat down and
sighed. “Hudson, I guess this is as good a time as any to tell you.”
He spun around and came to my side. “What is it? What’s
wrong? I should have helped you up. What kind of husband am I?” He knelt down
and pressed the fresh washcloth to my forehead. “Tell me what?”
I touched his cheek. “I don’t have a temperature, silly.
We’re going to have a baby.”
#
Okay, that's it. No more looking. You'll have to wait for the book to come out. Which reminds me, I'd better get back to writing it.
Linda
Kozar is the co-author of Babes With A
Beatitude—Devotions For Smart, Savvy Women of Faith (Hardcover/Ebook,
Howard/Simon & Schuster 2009) and author of Misfortune Cookies
(Print, Barbour Publishing 2008), Misfortune Cookies, A Tisket, A
Casket, and Dead As A Doornail, (“When The Fat Ladies Sing Series,”
eBooks, Spyglass Lane Mysteries, 2012). Strands of Fate released October
2012 (Hardcover/Ebook, Creative Woman Mysteries) and her nonfiction title, Moving
Tales, Adventures in Relocation, released in 2013 (Indie-Published). She
received the ACFW Mentor of the Year Award in 2007, founded and served as
president of Writers On The Storm,
The Woodlands, Texas ACFW chapter for three years. In 2003, she co-founded,
co-directed and later served as Southwest Texas Director of Words For The Journey Christian Writers
Guild.
In addition to writing Linda is
Lead Host of the Gate Beautiful Radio Show, part of the Red River Network on
Blog Talk Radio—interviewing Christian authors from Debut to Bestselling,
airing the 3rd Thursday of every month. She and her husband Michael,
married 24 years, have two lovely daughters, Katie and Lauren and a Rat Terrier
princess named Patches.
Represented
by: Wendy Lawton, Books & Such Literary Agency
Member
of: CAN (Christian Authors Network), RWA (Romance
Writers of American), WHRWA (West Houston Romance Writers of America), ACFW
(American Christian Fiction Writers), Writers On The Storm, The Woodlands,
Texas Chapter of ACFW, Toastmasters (Area 56) The Woodlands, Texas, The Woodlands
Church, The Woodlands, TX.
Linda’s Website: http://www.lindakozar.com
Gate Beautiful Radio Show: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/search?q=gate-beautiful
Babes With A Beatitude: http://www.babeswithabeatitude.blogspot.com
Bookish Desires: http://bookishdesires.blogspot.com
Cozy Mystery Magazine: http://cozymysterymagazine.blogspot.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LindaKozar
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/linda.kozar
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/lindakozar/boards/
Will you ghost write for me? Just kidding - this is sure to be a hit, Linda. Now get back to writing!
ReplyDelete~Nancy Jill Thames
Haha Nancy--You of all writers will never need a ghost writer (unless you're as popular as James Patterson and have your own staff of writers:) Thanks!
ReplyDelete