
Chastity is an anomaly, a misfit in pre-WWII culture as well as in Jim’s life. Her spritely charm and endearing features turn Jim’s world upside down, especially when she reveals his grandfather’s peninsula as the site of her upcoming wedding.
Do good journalists flee when their interviewee is murdered? Do heroes write fiancΓ©s out of another’s story and themselves in? “The End” become the hardest words for Jim to write.
Author's Note: Boy meets Girl. Three is always a crowd.
“Good. Let’s go then. Shale Lake isn’t far. We will take our bicycles. Mine and Dwayne’s, but go to the newspaper first.”
I imagined a bicycle too short for me as she led me to an out-of-the-way place beneath the side balcony…or I hoped it would be too short. Tall and lanky, I envisioned myself towering over her missing fiancΓ©.
“We can lower the seat on Dwayne’s bicycle if you need to.” She eyed me up and down. “You are tall, but he is really tall.”
I tried not to gasp at a seat Dwayne surely had custom made, the post it sat on longer than any I had ever seen. “This should suit me just fine,” I lied. What was this guy? A grandaddy longlegs?
Chastity’s bicycle was the picture of her and her living arrangement—flowers, a large pink basket on the handlebars, its paint job irregular splotches of color. She grinned and rang its bell as I struggled to throw a leg over Dwayne’s seat without toppling over.
Once I’d straddled the middle bar, I stood and pumped the whole way in spite of Chastity’s insistence I sit and coast whenever possible. Rather than admit Dwayne’s legs were longer than mine, I assured her I preferred my upright position. And vowed to myself to add a character no one liked to my next novel. A hoodlum named Stick who wouldn’t live longer than a chapter.

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ReplyDeleteI liked the excerpt.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Rita, it was a fun book to write!
DeleteThe blurb sounds great.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Marcy, and I have to confess that writing a blurb that captured the fun and mystery of this story was a challenge!
DeleteThis looks like a very good book and I look forward to reading it.
ReplyDeleteI hope you enjoy it, Sherry! So far it has been well received.
DeleteCaptivating cover
ReplyDeleteI agree, Nancy. I am so pleased with the graphic artist who managed to capture the story in a cover picture!
DeleteThe book sounds like a wonderful read. Love the cover!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Pippirose (what a cool name!); this is the sort of story you can escape in and with. And the cover says it all!
DeleteThis looks really good. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Michael, for following this tour. I appreciate your comments and feedback!
ReplyDeletelooks like a fun one.
ReplyDelete