There's No Mystery On This One. It's War!

First off, I must warn you that I am a little cranky right now.

Why you may ask? Why Cindy? That’s what the C of C.L stands for, in case you wondered. Why are you cranky?

Well keep reading and I’ll tell you.

I’m under invasion by an army that I am convinced is doing it just to tick me off! They are relentless and what they lack in size they more than make up for in sheer numbers.

That’s right, I’m under constant threat of being overrun, by ants.

Insulting Annoying Freeloading Ant

(Molestus Contumeliae Parasitus Formicae)

Oh how I hate them...in my house

Oh don’t tell me I’m overreacting. You try waking up at 5:00 (that’s 5:00 am) and find that the local colony has sent out a scouting party to your kitchen counter top and see how cheerful you are about it.

It's not my favorite way to wake up let me tell you. Besides it’s rude! I didn’t invite the little freeloaders in, and they don’t help with the mortgage so don’t get to come in and be annoying whenever they please!

So I spend all morning getting rid of them, instead of getting ready to go to work, to which I am almost late, and then come home to see there are few stragglers came a callin'. 

I’m glad it wasn’t a full scare invasion. Yet.

That’s right they’ll be back. Me and the ants have done this dance before.

That’s another reason I’m cranky, because what have I been doing for the last hour? Sweeping and mopping my floors. Do you know how often I sweep and mop floors on a weekday unless there is major spillage involved? Not very often. That’s weekend work.

Anyway, ants aren’t supposed to like vinegar, and I clean with vinegar and water (hey, it’s not fatal to humans and it’s cheap and I’m on a budget). However, right now my house smells like a pickling factory. But the ants are gone. For now. But they’ll be back. They always come back.

Fish got to swim. Birds got to fly. Ants have got to be annoying until they die.

What really gets me is I don’t know what they’re after. I keep a clean kitchen folks. I was trained to do so by my mother, who was obsessed with her own war with dirt. I do not leave out dirty dishes or food. Ever! My mother would get special permission from God to come and haunt me if I did. Besides, the ants also invade the bathroom. Why? I don’t have any food in the bathroom!

So it’s back to my theory that they’re doing just because it drives me crazy.

Annoying freeloading ants.

As you have probably guessed by now, I’m not an ant lover. Oh yes, I know, the Lord invented them for a specific purpose. They are nature’s garbage collectors, and are very good at it. Cool. Outside, not in my house! By coming in they are insinuating that I don’t keep a clean house. You see? They’re not only annoying freeloaders, they are insulting annoying freeloaders. Not all that bright either because they totally ignore the fact that if they come into my house they will die. End of story.

Hey, it’s not my fault. If they would just stay outside, where they belong, doing the job God invented them to do we could have signed a peace treaty a long ago.

But no, they exist to annoy me. And you too I bet.

So you see it is the ants’ fault for coming into my house, insulting my housekeeping and defying God’s Will.

Excuse me now while I go check to see if the enemy has called it a night. If not, I have bug spray, and I’m not afraid to use it!

 

Mystery writer C.L. Ragsdale is the author of The Reboot Files a Christian Cozy Mystery Series, and a superhero story called Chasing Lady Midnight. A California native, she loves to "surf" the web to research plot details for her fun, quirky stories. She has a degree in Theatre Arts which greatly influenced her writing style. Working in various fields as a secretary has allowed her to both master her writing skills and acquire valuable technical knowledge which she uses liberally in her plots. Although that is where she got her idea for The Secretary, she is not an evil mastermind. Although some of her former employers might disagree. These days she contents herself with knitting while contemplating her next diabolical plot. Story plot that is.

Current E-Books

THE REBOOT FILES:  The Mystery of Hurtleberry House, The Island of Living Trees, The Harbinger of Retribution, and The Wrong Ghost.
Chasing Lady Midnight  (A Cozy Christian Mystery With Superheroes)

www.shortmysteriesandtalltales.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/CL-Ragsdale219184744858421 

Just In Case I Hadn't Mentioned It...

CHASING LADY MIDNIGHT IS NOW ON SALE!!
 For the Low, Low Price of $2.99
Here are the links (see, I even make it easy for you):

Buy Now at Amazon.com
Buy Now at Barnes and Noble
Buy Now at Kobo
Buy Now at Smashwords

Mystery writer C.L. Ragsdale is the author of The Reboot Files a Christian Cozy Mystery Series, and a superhero story called Chasing Lady Midnight. A California native, she loves to "surf" the web to research plot details for her fun, quirky stories. She has a degree in Theatre Arts which greatly influenced her writing style. Working in various fields as a secretary has allowed her to both master her writing skills and acquire valuable technical knowledge which she uses liberally in her plots. Although that is where she got her idea for The Secretary, she is not an evil mastermind. Although some of her former employers might disagree. These days she contents herself with knitting while contemplating her next diabolical plot. Story plot that is.

Current E-Books

THE REBOOT FILES:  The Mystery of Hurtleberry House, The Island of Living Trees, The Harbinger of Retribution, and The Wrong Ghost.

www.shortmysteriesandtalltales.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/CL-Ragsdale219184744858421

Christmas, Sisters and Buttermilk Fudge

There is something I need to explain about my short story for A Cup of Cozy, which I entitled The Christmas Candy Mystery. The story is about three sisters playing detective in effort to find out how to make their mother’s Buttermilk Fudge three days before Christmas. (Recipe included).

Now I think it’s a fun story, and just to be clear I do have two older sisters. I also have an older brother and a younger sister, but they’re not in this story.  The reason I used my two older sisters is because we are very close in age, so when we were younger we tended to do everything together. As far as everyone else concerned, we didn’t have first names, we were The Ragsdale Girls.

However, in spite of any similarities this story is totally fiction.

Sort of.

I do want to be clear there is no hidden agenda to get back at them. All in all they were pretty nice to me when we were growing up. I needed a story for A Cup of Cozy. Three sisters fit the bill as funny sleuths. My sisters were in good mood when I asked them if it would be okay to base characters on them. So you see it’s really their fault.

Still, I should explain a small detail.

Writers tend to exaggerate a little. Okay a lot.

To protect my sisters’ identities (and my life and limb), I’ll use the names I made up for them in the story.

Ellie is not that bossy. Not that she’ll admit to.

Missy is not that intimidating. She made me say that (not really).

Finally, Lucy (aka me) is really not that creative or zany. Okay not that zany anyway.

Also, I was not always getting us into trouble. We all took our turns at it.

And yes, I’m exaggerating again. What I can say? It’s a sickness.

However, some of it is true. Like when we sit together. Ellie was always to the left of me. Missy was to the right. I was always in the middle. In the back seat of the car, when we sat on the couch, were on the floor, kitchen table, at a restaurant. That was the order. The funny thing is that we still do that, and not on purpose. I have pictures.

You just don’t unlearn some things. I guess.

Anyway, they were really good sports and I love them both a lot.

Enjoy the book.

Mystery writer C.L. Ragsdale is the author of The Reboot Files a Christian Cozy Mystery Series, and a superhero story called Chasing Lady Midnight. A California native, she loves to "surf" the web to research plot details for her fun, quirky stories. She has a degree in Theatre Arts which greatly influenced her writing style. Working in various fields as a secretary has allowed her to both master her writing skills and acquire valuable technical knowledge which she uses liberally in her plots. Although that is where she got her idea for The Secretary, she is not an evil mastermind. Although some of her former employers might disagree. These days she contents herself with knitting while contemplating her next diabolical plot. Story plot that is.

Current E-Books

THE REBOOT FILES:  The Mystery of Hurtleberry House, The Island of Living Trees, The Harbinger of Retribution, and The Wrong Ghost.

www.shortmysteriesandtalltales.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/CL-Ragsdale219184744858421

I Can See the End in Sight!

Hi Everyone

This is going to be a quick post, because I’m trying to get Chasing Lady Midnight done! That’s right just a few more tweaks and she’ll be released. Can’t believe it? Neither can I. I know I said early November, but I also said Fall and until November is done I’m still on schedule. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it. Seriously I should be ready in another week. I’ll announce when it’s uploaded with the publishers and done!

 Although the book came together fairly easily I did have a slight bump in the road where my graphic designer (the diabolical Jessie Ruiz) made me take a large deviation from what I originally planned. But he has redeemed himself by making the story better.

Also Jessie is on board for my final book in The Reboot Files Series about The Woolly Weegie and the fate of The Secretary’s diabolical plan revealed in The Great Scarecrow Invasion. Originally I was going to entitle it “What is a Woolly Weegie?” but Jessie gave me another idea and now I’m rethinking.

The man is a menace!

Hope you all enjoy “A Cup of Cozy”.

Anyway, it’s back to the computer to get these superheroes Up, Up and Away!

Mystery writer C.L. Ragsdale is the author of The Reboot Files a Christian Cozy Mystery Series, and a superhero story called Chasing Lady Midnight. A California native, she loves to "surf" the web to research plot details for her fun, quirky stories. She has a degree in Theatre Arts which greatly influenced her writing style. Working in various fields as a secretary has allowed her to both master her writing skills and acquire valuable technical knowledge which she uses liberally in her plots. Although that is where she got her idea for The Secretary, she is not an evil mastermind. Although some of her former employers might disagree. These days she contents herself with knitting while contemplating her next diabolical plot. Story plot that is.

Current E-Books

THE REBOOT FILES:  The Mystery of Hurtleberry House, The Island of Living Trees, The Harbinger of Retribution, and The Wrong Ghost.

www.shortmysteriesandtalltales.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/CL-Ragsdale219184744858421