Welcome to this week’s Tuesday Tales. Our word prompt is CUP. I’m continuing with And Justice for All, my Romance/Suspense novel. Enjoy.
“I hope you aren’t going to catch cold.” He sounded like Jac admonishing Liam. “A warm shower and clean clothes will help. There’s a coffeemaker in the room with some tea bags. Make yourself a cup. My mom always swore by a cuppa. I checked on the room when I talked to the manager. Nice guy. Doing his best to be accommodating.” He handed her one of the old-fashioned brass keys. “Unit twelve. It’s the last one at the far end of the parking lot. While you clean up, I’ll go see Lacey. Apparently, she has urgent information for me. Maybe she found something else on that dark website she discovered. I’ll see you in an hour or so. Will that give you enough time?”
She nodded. “That should be plenty.”
“Do you need anything from the vehicle?”
“Yes. I want my purse and my laptop. After I feel human again, I’ll start looking up information on Clayton Moore, the Zondervan family, and Joachim Plume. I’d love to know more about the man with such an unusual name. I’ve seen Joachim used as a surname, but not a first one.”
Harry chuckled. “He probably made it up specifically for his business. Someone looking for a realtor might be attracted to the unusual name. Clay gave his first name a Hispanic pronunciation, but it could easily be French. Jac would know. She has a cousin named Isadore Joachim who has a farm outside Marionville, a commuter village on the outskirts of Ottawa. We took Liam to the sugar bush last spring.” He shook his head. “The kid loved it. I believe the man’s last name, Plume, means feather. He could be Metis—half French, half indigenous. Since I make a point of not discussing any aspect of my work with her, I’ll wait until Gabe gets back. He’s from the St Jean de Beauce region in Quebec. He’ll know.”
She frowned. “I can understand wanting to keep the uglier side of this job to yourself, but it must be awkward keeping everything bottled up inside. Cliff used to bounce ideas off his wife Mary every now and then.” She stopped speaking and looked away.
He stared at her, her words and the sorrow he’d recognized in her eyes, catching him off-guard. His breath caught in his throat. She thought he and Jac were married? How had she gotten that cockamamie idea? He put his arm on her shoulder. “You’ve got this all wrong. Jac isn’t my wife, Maggie. Hell, she twenty years older than I am. She’s Liam’s nanny.”
Unlike the horse on the left, I am thrilled with my new hip. For the most part, I am pain free, except at the end of the day when I’ve overdone the stairs, but that’s just a minor muscle ache reminding me that months of laziness take a toll. It feels good to be getting back to normal or at least closer to normal than I have been in years.
I managed a few 4000 step days last week before the weather turned on us. Now, it’s up and down the hall on my own. Mother Nature definitely needs mood stabilizers. It was warmer at the end of December than it was yesterday–drier, too. Unfortunately, the unseasonably cold, wet weather is due to stick around until the beginning of June. I suppose it could be worse. At least we aren’t worrying about forest fires and tornadoes in my region, and my heart goes out to those who are.
I’m back to work a few hours each day, and my novel And Justice for All is coming along nicely. I hope to have it finished by mid-June. It will be released as part of a box set first, and then by me in August. Watch for the release date here. Once it’s done, I will finish putting a couple more books on Audible, and get Book 2 of Listen to the Stones ready for release. Then, I’ll see what tickles my author fancy. Maybe a holiday book.
So, while I still can’t bend over, I am now resuming some of my normal duties as it were. I make meals–with John’s help, and he cleans up. I straighten my bed, but he makes his, and he still does laundry and loads and empties the dishwasher. I go with him for groceries, but he still has to do all the driving. I’m hoping for permission to resume that activity when I see the doctor in early June. I need a pedicure and a manicure as well as my hair trimmed. Otherwise, all is good.
So, that’s it. Operation a success, and it’s time to get back to normal. Have a wonderful weekend. See you here on Tuesday for the next peek at And Justice for All!
Welcome back to Tuesday Tales. This is the first Canadian long weekend of summer, and the weather sucks! It was so cold out that I needed my winter coat and gloves to go for my daily walk. Whatever is going on with Mother Nature must be serious. On a side note, my story, And Justice for All, takes place at this exact point in time, only in the story, the weather is hot and sticky like it was last year. What a difference a year makes! Our word prompt this week is MACHINE, but I’m using MACHINERY, a form of the word and I’m a few words over to complete the scene. Sorry about that! Enjoy!
“Damn it, Maggie. You’ve got it all wrong. I’m not using you to bait a trap. I’m trying to protect you,” Harry growled, slamming his fists against the steering wheel. “When I heard that the officer who’d been shot was you … Do you honestly think the RCMP would approve of me using either one of us like that? The government machinery doesn’t work that way, and neither do I. Beside, Morris would never have agreed to it. He called me on it before I left his office. I laid my cards out for him. He did say you wouldn’t be happy being protected, but dammit, I lost you once. It isn’t going to happen again.”
“I’m quite capable of protecting myself, thank you.” She sat up straighter, her green-gold eyes flashing fire. “As for losing me before, you can’t lose what you never really had or even wanted. So, if I’m not here to bait a trap, why am I here?”
Harry sighed. “This is the worst possible time for this discussion.”
“And yet, here we are.”
“Fine. We have eleven dead officers, and two survivors. The only one of those who was where she was supposed to be on the day of the attack was you. I wasn’t supposed to be working with Brent Singh the day we were ambushed. I’d been on vacation. I’d taken Jac and Liam to Disney World. I was in line to take over an investigation into foreign interference in the last election. Peter Malloy was Singh’s new partner. He had a family emergency, so since I was just kicking around, I filled in for him. Before you even ask, Malloy’s Irish Canadian, and no, he doesn’t fit the profile either, but then we’ve never looked into him. I will now. Does he have something in his background we didn’t suspect? As far as I know, he’s a bilingual Roman Catholic, but would that be enough to make him a target?” He hit the steering wheel again. “I’ve been playing catch-up with this since day one. Until today, I never considered that the reason I might be alive was specifically because I wasn’t Malloy. If Malloy was the target, then there was no bounty on me. As a rule, assassins don’t do freebies. The shot made me unable to defend myself, but had he wanted me dead, all it would’ve taken was a twenty-foot walk and a bullet between the eyes. So, let’s assume I’m alive because I’m the ideal, the Anglo-Saxon male Christian police officer who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. What’s your excuse? Why are you still alive?”
“Do you think I haven’t asked myself the same question?”
May 15, 2025. Well, here I am, sitting at my desk, getting back into the swing of things. My hip is pain free, and it’s hard to believe, but I’m walking inside the house without any aids. That’s right. Not even the cane most of the time, although I do hold both rails to go up and down the stairs, and use my wheeled walker for my outdoor walks. I managed 2,893 steps yesterday, and I’m aiming for the full 3,000 today.
One of the side effects of healing is that without the constant pain, I look and feel happier than I have in years. It’s amazing how much constant pain takes out of you, but it has given me a new appreciation for those who suffer in silence with conditions that can’t easily be cured, changed, or controlled. I feel ten years younger.
On another note, I’M SO NOT IN LOVE WITH YOU (All You Need Is Love Book 2) Kindle Edition is live. Last month, I mentioned that I was working on From Paris With Love, and some of you gave me ideas in your posts that ended up in the book. This is an eBook box set for only 99 cents, USD, or free to read on Kindle Unlimited.
ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE But I’m SO not in love with you…
At least that’s what these soon-to-be couples are thinking when they’re first paired up. But little do they know…when the chemistry’s there, there won’t be much choice.
Maybe they’re avoiding love because they’ve been burned in the past, or they’ve decided there’s no room in their life for a significant other-especially if that person is downright annoying, The problem might be simple when opposites attract, and sparks are flying, so they’ve decided a long-term relationship is just too much work.
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TWO HEARTS’ AMBUSH by Tamara Ferguson, USA Today Bestselling Author: Lara Loughlin is taking a break in her hometown of Crystal Rock before returning on tour as up-and-coming rock star, Lainie Reardon. When wounded warrior Captain Zachary Nash decides to make a move because of their sizzling attraction, she decides to play a long, since he has no idea who she is. But there’s a new threat to the tourism driven community – two women have been assaulted. And then Lara makes a horrific discovery – the serial rapist could have ties to her past. She could very well be the next target…
CAFÉ AU ROMANCE by Kim Hornsby, USA Today Bestselling Author: The last thing Ferry Boat Captain, Sammy Austin needed was the involvement with a man. Especially as she prepared to adopt the baby of her dreams.
HOPING FOR A FAMILY by Mona Risk, New York Times & USA Today Bestselling Author: After being bullied by her college roommates for her weight and naivety, Lisa has built a life as a busy pediatric nurse. When her late roommate’s children are abandoned, she feels compelled to care for them. Witnessing her struggle, the older and reserved Dr. Wade Wolf steps in to support her, challenging both their guarded hearts.
WON’T GET FOOLED AGAIN by Katie O’Sullivan, International Bestselling Author: Holly MacDonald is done with cheating, lying men. Finn Kensington is on his first undercover gig, so everything about him is a lie, except for the sparks that fly when the pair meet. Can he convince her to give him a chance, even if he can’t tell her the truth?
LEO – Loving a Lancaster, Book 1 – by Stacy Eaton: USA Today Bestselling Author: When widow Heather McClain joins a girl’s trip to Lake Tahoe, it gets a little out of hand, but Leo Lancaster manages to come to the rescue. Is Heather ready for romance after three long, lonely years, or will her teens have something to say about that?
UNFORGETTABLE TOUCH by Allyson R. Abbott, International Bestselling Author: Never again! That was Sue’s mantra, and she really meant it after two failed marriages. James thought women were fickle and unreliable…however…
FROM PARIS WITH LOVE – Cocktails for You series – by Susanne Matthews, International Bestselling Author: Paris Galanis’s short story, Captive Hearts, written under a pseudonym, wins a writing contest. What should be a dream come true becomes a nightmare when the town’s most eligible bachelor, and her nemesis, offers a reward to the person who can identify the author.
Have a great week. Looking forward to whatever Mother Nature sends my way and continuing to improve. Who knows, by the end of the summer, I may be managing 5,000 steps a day, and wouldn’t that be incredible?
On a less than pleasant note, I have to report that while I don’t sell a lot of paperbacks, I do sell a few. Unfortunately, Amazon has increased the cost of printing and changed the royalty rates, which means I have had to raise the price of my paperbacks if I want to at least make a buck on them. The more pages in a book, the more it’ll cost. I’m sorry if this affects you, but like the tarrifs which are part of life now, there isn’t anything I can do to change this. E-books and audio booksare your best bets, and I will be working on adding to my audio book selection over the summer. Thanks for understanding. You can check out the status of things here: https://mhsusannematthews.ca/
Welcom to this week’s Tuesday Tales. The weather is cooperating for a change and I’ looking forward to walking outside and sitting in the sun today. Our word prompt this week is WATER. I’m continuing with And Justice for All, my romance suspense. Enjoy!
With sirens blaring and lights flashing, the SUV ate up the highway as it returned to the scene of this morning’s crime. Harry’s focus was on the road ahead, but she doubted he saw anything through those chocolate eyes of his. He was driving on instinct, his mind processing everything that had happened. Here and there, puddles of water dotted the sides of the highway, a reminder that the rain hadn’t ended all that long ago.
“A penny for your thoughts.”
His words made her jump.
She shifted her gaze and examined his chiselled profile. There was no denying that the last eight years had been kind to him. Sure, there was a touch more gray in his hair and his beard, and the character lines at his eyes might be deeper, but he was still a man who could smile despite everything the world had thrown at him. She didn’t doubt he was as physically fit as ever, although, he would have a scar just as she did, a reminder that someone didn’t want either of them to be alive.
“I doubt my thoughts are worth a penny even if we still had that coin. I was just thinking about how different this day has turned out. When I went into the office this morning, I went through my usual actions, mired in self-pity at finding nothing new, more or less the way I have been for the last few months … and then Lieutenant Morris called me into his office. The next thing I know, I’m gone without even the time to say goodbye to anyone, and here I am now. I can honestly say, this is the very last place I ever expected to be. What happened to me, to Cliff, to you, was horrible, but what happened on that river this morning is a thousand times worse. So the only thing eating at me is this … why am I on this task force, Harry? You have all kinds of experts at your disposal. What do I bring to the team? I’m not a forensic expert, not a techie, and certainly not a body retrieval diver. I’m a small-town cop.”
“Don’t sell yourself short. You’re smart and you’re observant. People confide in you, the way Kelly did. You learned more about one of our victims as a person than I did examining all the evidence. Now that Daniels called with the information about what he found on the island, something we might’ve missed if the weather had persisted, what you learned could make all the difference.”
Thanks to Chill Out books and my wonderful publisher, there’s a new box set available from Amazon.
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NEW!! J.L. Campbell – Falling Together at Last: Mitch Blackson skipped town and broke Olivia Rainford’s heart—now he’s back, and thanks to her meddling grandmother, they’re stuck restoring a family property together. But with old sparks, new sabotage, and zero patience between them, this project might blow up before they finish the porch.
Rachelle Ayala – Where Love Blossoms: Maya Chance came to the Caribbean to recharge her life—not fall for a mysterious heartthrob, dodge his clingy ex, or chase a kleptomaniac monkey named Mango. With a matchmaking innkeeper and island magic in the air, Maya might just find that paradise comes with a side of love, laughter, and a whole lot of monkey business.
Dani Haviland – How Love Grows: Tori knows facts, figures, and every plot twist in her mom’s romance novels—but nothing prepared her for the charming young man tending the cannabis crop at the vineyard where her father worked. With a mind that never forgets and a heart just beginning to open, Tori’s about to discover that the best stories aren’t always found in books.
Cynthia Cooke – All Night Long: Aspiring wedding planner Phoebe Lawson heads to a snowy mountain resort to make connections—not get hauled out of a snowdrift by a Saint Bernard and roped into a fake engagement with his grumpy (but annoyingly handsome) human. In a town where the cocoa’s hot and the feelings come out of nowhere, Phoebe’s no-men rule might just be the first thing to melt.
Susanne Matthews – The Tipsy Pig: Fleeing scandal and an approaching milestone birthday, Sahara Larson seeks peace in the woods—just her, her cat, and zero headlines. But when she collides with a rugged recluse harboring secrets of his own, hiding out turns into a hilarious, heartfelt tug-of-war between privacy and passion.
My book, The Tipsy Pig, acocktail made with bacon, is part of my Cocktails for You series and was written during the pandemic when life was just a little bit different for all of us. When I reread it before submitting it to this anthology, I considered revising it and elimination the references to COVID, but I realized that these are now historical facts. Did our lives change? Yes, but while far too many people died, many of us came out stronger and more resilient than ever.
One of those characters is Sahara Lawson whose life has been changed forever. Some things are harder to put behind you than others, but love and laughter always find a way.
An excerpt from The Tipsy Pig
Childless, divorced, unemployed, and almost forty. A fate worse than death, and yet there wasn’t one damn thing I could do about it. I couldn’t decide which of the dreaded Four Horsemen of my Apocalypse was the worst, although at this moment, the unemployed option stung the most. Not that I really needed to work. I’d lost a fortune, but I wasn’t penniless. It was just that I’d worked at one job or another my entire adult life, dedicating myself to the family business, and now I would have nothing to do. It sucked.
Before I’d reluctantly assumed the position of CEO for Larson Pork Enterprises, I’d worked my way up from graphic design to head of the marketing department, constantly searching for ways to keep up with the competition in this dog eat dog—or rather pig eat pig—world, forced to work long hours to try and hang on to our market share, especially once COVID 19 hit, creating havoc in the meat processing plants which led to shortages. Finding ways to stay competitive without raising prices or cutting employees had been a delicate balancing act, but then the virus had hit too close to home, and everything had changed.
Sadly, after only nine months in the big chair, I was forced to sell the pork processing company that had been in my family since 1890 when Toronto had been known as Hogtown. No more bringing home the bacon. Not exactly a banner line for the resumé or a plus at a job interview. I could picture the scene now.
So, Ms. Martin, I see you’re applying for the position of CEO. I can see you have experience in the field, but tell me, why did you leave your last job?
I sold the company to an international competitor after I fired myself on the grounds that I’m an idiot who didn’t have enough commonsense to realize my ex-husband was robbing me and my company blind.
I see, and would you consider that a strength or a weakness?
I groaned. It would probably be even worse than that.
I sat behind my great-great-grandfather’s ebony desk one last time, staring down at the Moroccan leather blotter. I ran my fingers over the S M L I’d carved into the material a lifetime ago, and sighed. I wasn’t ready for this, not now, not ever. I reached for the cooling cup of coffee I’d picked up from the Java Shack on my way to the office.
According to my best friend Miranda who’d dropped by before going to court this morning, I was giving an Oscar-winning performance as a corpse, even though I’d narrowly escaped being one. It was all a matter of perspective. As she put it, with a little effort I could probably land a walk-on in the filming of the next zombie apocalypse movie. She was exaggerating, but sadly there was too much truth there to ignore.
I’d always been slender, but following weeks in the hospital, the black pantsuit and shell I wore under it hung from my emaciated frame, the only color other than the waxy pallor of my skin coming from my grandmother’s pearls, a fitting costume for a corporate funeral. Saying goodbye to the company and the only jobs I’d ever known was so much harder than I’d expected.
“What the hell are you going to do now, Sahara?”
My voice echoed in the office devoid of family paintings, books, and the soft-surfaced furnishings I’d opted to keep, bouncing off the Lavish Lavinia Larson pig statuette.
A single tear trickled down under the frame of my dark, tortoise-shell glasses. I swiped at it. I would not cry—not now, not ever again. As Dad had always said, tears were for sissies, and while I might be a lot of things—naïve, anxious, and disheartened, despite being a girl, I wasn’t a wimp. I was a survivor.
Grab your copy of Unforgettable and Absolutely Fabulous Love, Lies, and Laughs (The Unforgettables Book 14) today! https://mybook.to/UAFLLL
May 8, 2025. On April 24, I went under the knife and had my right hip replaced. Was I worried? Yes, that would be an understatement, but none of my fears came true. I sailed through the surgery and this morning, I took my first completely unassisted shower. My hip is an interesting mix of every color under the rainbow except red, and there is no external sign nor any internal pain to indicate infection.
I can go up and down stairs with ease and best of all, while there is a little surgical discomfort, there is no pain. I’ve gone from using a four-point walker to the cane I used before surgery inside the house and a wheeled walker for my longer walks outside. I am working up to walking 30 minutes a day. As I get stronger, I will increased that. I am optimistic. Yesterday, I recorded an impressive 1750 steps. It may not seem like a lot to you, but to me, it’s a step closer to my old 10,000 steps a day, something that I’ve been unable to do for the last three years.
The best part is that now that I no longer need pain medication, I can focus, and while I have to move every hour, I’m writing again. So, to everyone who followed my blog last month, thank you. A word of advice. If you are suffering from arthritis in your hips or knees, get looked after sooner rather than later. I’m lucky in that my country offers free universal health care and that the surgery, hospital stay, medical tests, and x-rays have cost us nothing. My quality of life has improved immeasurably. I look forward to traveling again come the summer, fall, and next winter!
Wishing you all a wonderful spring. It looks like Old Man Winter has finally left the building here in the Northern Hemisphere.
I wasn’t sure that I would be able to post this month, but the surgery went well and I ma quite mobile, far more than I was before the surgery. Not a bionic hip,but a titanium one that will probably outlast me.
May 7 question – Some common fears writers share are rejection, failure, success, and lack of talent or ability. What are your greatest fears as a writer? How do you manage them?
My greatest fear is failure. Not failure to finish the book I’m writing, but failure to write something worth the time it takes someone to read it. That whatever I write is just junk. I suppose that is essentially a fear that I lack the talent it takes to be an author and won’t entertain or touch the reader in any way.
How do I cope with it? I suppose by reminding myself that I will never be able to please all the people all the time, but if I don’t try, I will fail, because as Wayne Gretzky said, you miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take. So, I’ll keep taking my shots and hope for the best.
Welcome to May and this week’s Tuesday Tales. Our word prompt is MAROON. I’m continuing with And Justice for All.
“Damn shame.” Kelly’s voice made her jump. “Sally’s the one in the maroon dress. She and Pat celebrated their eighth wedding anniversary last month. I’ve never seen two people fight so hard to be a family. Sally’s father is the head of some off the rails Christian sect. They’ve got property in the country somewhere, but live completely off the grid … no electricity, no medical treatment, and no modern social beliefs. They grow or make everything they need. Someone said they were allied with some similar denominations in the US. I asked Pat about it once. She said he’d been trying off and on to have his daughter declared mentally unsound so that he could take her kids away from her. As far as I’ve heard, none of the courts would entertain his motions since he isn’t exactly a straight shooter in the eyes of the law. We were out there last fall when a man accused him of kidnapping his missing teenaged daughter, but if he did, we didn’t find any sign of her and believe me, we searched. Pat went through everything.”
“So, Pat had enemies.”
“Only that wing nut. He’s probably going to come for Sally and the others now. I don’t know how she’s going to be able to stand up to him on her own. We’ll protect her, but Pat was her anchor. She and Sally were going home to Kenora. They were finally getting away from the old bastard. She’d found them a nice home on the Reserve. Pat was part Ojibwa. I guess that goes all to rat-shit now, too. Not sure Sally will be allowed to live on the Reserve.”
A woman police officer, a visible minority at that, with a powerful zealot as an enemy. The conversation she’d overheard and what Kelly said about an anniversary struck her.
“Pat and Sally were a married couple? Is that right?”
Was that another reason why she’d been targeted?
“Yeah.” He cocked his head. “And one of the happily married kind at that. Sally worked as a 9 1 1 dispatcher. She probably took that call this morning.” He frowned. “We’ve all heard the rumors, Detective. Do you think her being gay had anything to do with what happened out there this morning?”
May 3, 2025. Well, what a month this has been. So much has happened, some to do with the blog challenge, and that has been 100 percent amazing. Last year, I made new friends, this year I did as well, and I hope to keep many of them as I did in the past. My general theme of writing about whatever moved me went well, even when my surgery date was announced and I had to pre-plan the last week of blogs. I enjoyed looking at the alphabet through other eyes, learning new thingsI was able to incorporate in the book I was working on, a book that is finished now. To those who inspired me, thank you.
There is no denying the huge boost of confidence I received from everyone concerning my surgery itself. Nine days later, while I may still have a long way to go in terms of my recovery, I’m feeling hopeful. The pain is significantly reduced although I did have a couple of blah days. Getting help to get my hair washed as well as my body seriously impacted my happy center. As the person who always did everything for everyone else, being helpless is soul-destroying. I have a long way to go before I’m self-sufficient again, but at least I know that the light at the end on the tunnel isn’t an oncoming train, and best of all, the pain I’ve struggled with for over a year is gone.
Now, it’s time to say farewell for another year. Wishing you all a wonderful remainder of 2025. I’ll be back, better than ever, in April 2026. Until then,
Living the Dream 