{"id":241,"date":"2018-11-29T21:20:24","date_gmt":"2018-11-29T21:20:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lexy-price.com\/?p=241"},"modified":"2018-11-29T21:20:24","modified_gmt":"2018-11-29T21:20:24","slug":"your-opinion-please","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lexy-price.com\/index.php\/2018\/11\/29\/your-opinion-please\/","title":{"rendered":"Your opinion please"},"content":{"rendered":"

I spent a lot of time last week reading a new book on story craft. I picked up Save the Cat Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody after some of my favorite Authortubers and Writers on Instagram were talking about how awesome it was. I got to page 58 before I decided it was time to get back to writing. It did get me thinking that the chapter I wrote earlier where April visits the cemetery and unexpectedly meets Natalie while picking up a deaddrop didn’t work as a first chapter. You can read this here<\/a>. You’ll have to scroll down a bit to October 9. It’s a pdf titled Interview <\/strong>rw ch1.pdf.<\/strong> I’ve changed my mind about the main plot as well. If you haven’t heard already, April won’t be a werewolf, Lauren’s disappearance will be the big part of the investigation, Natalie may get out of the cemetery without being summoned, and April learns more about her necromancy magic.<\/p>\n

I’ve changed my mind on the first chapter, again. The only thing is, I think it reads like a cozy mystery. Could you tell me what you think. If I keep this Mrs. Fisher might end up playing a bigger role in the story.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood evening, April,\u201d said my neighbor, Mrs. Sarah Fisher, as she set her recycling in the little green box on the curb. She wore a pair of fuzzy pink slippers and a housecoat over (clothing). She\u2019d celebrated her ninety-third birthday three months ago and was just as spry as a sixty-year-old thanks to her twice-weekly yoga class and a lifelong devotion to ballet. Her husband, Frank, passed away when he was forty-eight. She never remarried although she\u2019s had several boyfriends. Her daughter moved to California years ago and has been trying to get her to move there ever since. Her little chihuahua yipped at me from the door.
\n\u201cGood evening,\u201d I said walking up the street to the five-story brownstone I lived in in Astoria, across the river from Manhattan. I lived in an apartment on the second floor. Mrs. Fisher lived on the first floor.
\n\u201cI made brownies and cookies today. There\u2019s a dozen on a plate beside your door if Shane hasn\u2019t stolen them yet.\u201d Shane Nelson lived across the hall from Mrs. Fisher. He was in his thirties, single, and worked as a nurse at Bellevue.
\n\u201cWonderful, what kind?\u201d
\nShe rolled her eyes and chuckled. \u201cDouble chocolate brownies. You\u2019re favorite.\u201d
\n\u201cAgain? How many times do I have to tell you I like lemon sugar cookies.\u201d The lemon sugar cookies Shane would have left behind. The double chocolate brownies had been stolen many times.
\n\u201cThat\u2019s why I put the brownies besides your door.\u201d
\n\u201cYou\u2019re downright devious, you know that?
\n\u201cI put a little Mary Jane in them,\u201d she sang.
\n\u201cYou didn\u2019t,\u201d I said in mock surprise. She smiled wryly.
\n\u201cWhere did you get it?\u201d I hoped his random drug test wasn\u2019t any time soon.
\n\u201cMy great nephew Jamie. You remember Jamie? He\u2019s a junior over at the Tisch School of Arts. He\u2019s going to be a great movie director someday.\u201d
\n\u201cGood for him,\u201d I said.
\n\u201cAny new interesting cases?\u201d she asked.
\n\u201cNothing lately, but you know I can\u2019t talk about my cases.\u201d I\u2019ve been an investigator for the FBI for the last eight years, before then I was on the S.W.A.T. team for the New York Police Department for ten.
\n\u201cCome on in and eat a brownie. I made extra.\u201d
\n\u201cAre they regular brownies or special brownies?\u201d I frowned knowing if she gave me Shane\u2019s special brownies then she might get more than she bargained for. There are situations, cases that I\u2019ve investigated that sometimes keep me up at night.
\n\u201cNo thanks. I need to go pack. Drew and I are getting out of the city for the weekend.\u201d
\n\u201cAre you going someplace special?\u201d She said special like we were going somewhere that would involve lots of sex.
\n\u201cHe\u2019s taking me to meet his family, somewhere upstate.\u201d
\n\u201cDo you think he\u2019ll propose?\u201d
\n\u201cI honestly have no idea.\u201d
\n\u201cHow long have you been dating?\u201d Oh, that question again.
\n\u201cNine months.\u201d
\n\u201cYou should be married by now.\u201d Not the first time I\u2019ve heard that comment. She tells me this every week during our card game.
\n\u201cGood night, Mrs. Fisher.\u201d
\n\u201cDon\u2019t forget your cookies,\u201d she said. My stomach rumbled. I followed Mrs. Fisher into her tidy little apartment and wished I had time to play cards with her. She would tell me all about what her kids and grandkids were doing, show me pictures they drew for her. She had the normal life I\u2019ve wanted since I was a kid; the normal life I\u2019ll never have. I don\u2019t mind being a witch but did it have to come with ghosts? Why am I dating a werewolf? Why did I go into law enforcement? If I wanted a normal life I should have been married and had children by now.
\nShe handed me a paper plate with a mountain of cookies covered in cling wrap decorated with Christmas trees. It was only the middle of November and Thanksgiving was a few weeks away.
\n\u201cAre you going to California for Thanksgiving this year?\u201d I asked. Her sister, Anna, lived a few blocks away until she passed away three years ago. Anna\u2019s family still lived there and looked in on her.
\n\u201cAnna\u2019s son and his wife invited me over. I\u2019m making cherry mash and toffee. What about you? Are you going back to Nebraska?\u201d
\n\u201cThey invited me.\u201d
\n\u201cAre you going?\u201d
\n\u201cI don\u2019t know yet.\u201d I sighed.
\n\u201cYou should go. You haven\u2019t been home in years.\u201d
\n\u201cI know.\u201d I lifted an edge of the cling wrap, slipped out a cookie, and put it in my mouth. The cookie was delicious with its sweet, lemon and butter flavor.
\n\u201cHmmm,\u201d I moaned in enjoyment. I wasn\u2019t so worried about everything thanks to the one cookie. \u201cWhat else did you put in these cookies?
\nShe winked and said, \u201cYou should eat dinner first.\u201d
\nI stood up and started for the door. Someone knocked at her door frantically.
\n\u201cAnswer the door would you?\u201d
\nI turned the knob and Shane stood there. He was a bit dazed but had a worried expression on his face.
\n\u201cWhat did you put in those brownies?\u201d he said, then when he realized I wasn\u2019t Mrs. Fisher he looked at the number on the door, around the room, down the hallway, up the stairs and back into Mrs. Fisher\u2019s doorway. He was wearing scrubs and miss matched shoes.
\n\u201cShe put marijuana in them.\u201d
\n\u201cShe what? I\u2019ve got the night shift. I can\u2019t go to work like this.\u201d He giggled.
\n\u201cDo you want me to call in and tell them you\u2019re sick?\u201d
\n\u201cCould you please?\u201d He handed me his phone. \u201cTell them my neighbor gave me food poisoning.\u201d
\n\u201cReally?\u201d
\n\u201cYes.\u201d I rolled my eyes.
\n\u201cCall Lisa,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cCalling Lisa.\u201d His phone said.
\n\u201cHello.\u201d Said a female voice.
\n\u201cHi, Lisa this is Shane\u2019s neighbor April. He\u2019s not feeling well. Mrs. Fisher made brownies today and she made a batch with\u2026\u201d
\n\u201cSay no more.\u201d
\n\u201cShut up.\u201d He hissed at me. Mrs. Fisher snorted from her kitchen doorway.
\n\u201cHe didn\u2019t know they were spiked.\u201d
\n\u201cYeah, right.\u201d
\n\u201cShe thought it would be funny since he\u2019s always taking the brownies she makes for me.\u201d
\n\u201cJust stop!\u201d he pulled the phone out of my hand and stomped across the hallway. She busted out laughing while trying not to spill her coffee.
\n\u201cGood night Mrs. Fisher,\u201d I said, closing the door behind me.
\nMarisol, my tuxedo cat, and Max, the orange tabby, were curled up together on the fuzzy warm wolf throw blanket at the end of the sofa. Both of them purred as I dropped kibble into their food dishes. Max almost looked like Garfield, shaped like an oval while Marisol was long, slender and as sleek as a Siamese kitten.
\nI kicked off my shoes, pulled a frozen dinner from the freezer and poured a glass of cheap Cabernet. I saved the expensive stuff for special occasions.
\nThe timer went off and I opened the microwave to stir the mashed potatoes. Marisol sat down in front of the door and meowed at me. \u201cWhat have you got there?\u201d I asked as I put the tray back into the microwave.
\nI walked over to the door and rubbed her head. She meowed again and stepped away revealing an envelope with my name written on it. I carefully opened the envelope so I wouldn\u2019t smudge any fingerprints. Hand delivered envelopes to my apartment always make me nervous. I was ten seconds away from pulling out my forensics kit when I read the card inside. The note read x
\nIt was written on a three by five-inch index card. Why don\u2019t the bad guys use hotel stationery anymore?
\nWho would know where I lived? That I was interested in Natalie? Why would he send a warning?
\nA thought occurred to me and I checked the writing on both envelopes, the one from the cemetery versus the other with the card. There was no similarity at all in the handwriting. At least that made sense.
\nThe microwave timer beeped. I sat down at the little rectangular table in the kitchen I found at a thrift store. It looked as if it came from the fifties with a Formica top and an aluminum frame. It was perfect for my small apartment. I turned on the TV.
\nI turned the volume down while I thought about the card. Everyone knew that I suspected her fiance killed her. He was the obvious choice for many reasons but I couldn’t figure out why he wanted her dead. Did he catch her and Edwards together in flagrante? Maybe he had some other reason. Why did Edwards kidnap her to begin with?
\nI’d been going on for years that I believed we put the wrong man behind bars. My current partner Kris just shrugs his shoulders and walks away mumbling about me being a broken record. My partner during the investigation, Abel Logan tells me to let it go. Why did Chief Richmond give up the case so quickly after they found her body? Why does everyone want nothing to do with getting to the truth? Who sent me the \u2018original\u2019 incident report with the alternate information about what Detective Thompson found? Why now, three years after her death?
\nThere were so many questions I had no answers for.
\nMy phone rang.
\n\u201cHello.\u201d
\n\u201cHey, kid,\u201d Logan said. Well, crap. Abel Logan always gave me bad new with hey kid.
\n\u201cWhat is it?\u201d
\n\u201cI\u2019m sorry to kill your weekend but we have a missing Jersey woman last seen in SOHO. How soon can you get here?\u201d
\n\u201cWhy can\u2019t Howard and Gabe take this one?\u201d
\n\u201cGabe\u2019s wife is in labor and Howard is on a plane to Cabo for a family reunion. And I want you on this case.\u201d
\n\u201cWhy?\u201d This happens when I have a history with either the victim or the suspect like a previous case.
\n\u201cI\u2019ll explain when you get here. Call Kris would you?\u201d
\n\u201cYes, sir.\u201d
\nI sent Kris a text message.
\nI turned up the TV wanting to forget about everything for a moment. On the screen was a police sketch that caught my attention. I\u2019d only stared at that face for months while Logan and I investigated Natalie Maguire’s murder. It was Ethan Griffith\u2019s face. \u201cHow do they not recognize him?\u201d I asked. The cats meowed at me.
\n\u201cThe police are looking for the identity of this man,\u201d news anchor Jennifer Reed said. \u201cThey have reason to believe this man may know something regarding the disappearance of Lauren Elizabeth Regan.\u201d A picture of Ms. Regan appeared on the screen. She looked like a brunette version of Natalie Maguire.
\nMy phone rang. I checked the caller ID.
\n\u201cDrew,\u201d I smiled.
\n\u201cHey beautiful. Are you still going with me tomorrow?\u201d Drew and I met at the animal shelter the day I found Max. Well, Max chose me. I was browsing through the cat cages admiring all the beautiful tabbies, the black shorthairs and tortoise shells when a ginger tabby started flirting with me. I really wasn\u2019t interested in finding Marisol a friend.
\n\u201cI think we\u2019ve found a match.\u201d A male voice said with a hint of a laugh. I turned to see a man with a long-haired calico in his arms rubbing her face against his chin. He wore a burgundy polo shirt with a name tag that read Drew Avery. He was nice looking with short curly blond hair, a generous smile, and a wrestler’s body; short, lean and muscular. He’s only an inch or two under six feet but I didn\u2019t mind. Dad and Uncle Joe were well over six feet tall and I still felt like a dwarf around them even though I tower over most women.
\n\u201cI already have a cat.\u201d
\n\u201cThen you need two.\u201d He smiled. I held back a sigh. No, not a swooning sigh although he might have taken it that way. It was more of an exasperated sigh.
\n\u201cThen two becomes eight and eight becomes thirty and my landlord throws me out and they all end up back here.\u201d
\n\u201cHe\u2019s already neutered,\u201d he tempted in a sing-song voice.
\nI rolled my eyes. \u201cYou\u2019re really not helping.\u201d
\n\u201cI thought I was.\u201d
\nI signed the adoption forms for Max and accepted a dinner date with Drew for Friday night.
\n\u201cThat\u2019s tomorrow?\u201d We\u2019d planned for me to meet his \u2018family\u2019 at their estate in upstate New York near the town of Belfort. Drew was born and raised in the Portland, Oregon area. He was bitten by a werewolf when he was twenty-three while living near Portland and wandered for a while until he settled in New York. He still visits his first family every year for Christmas. The family here are his pack. The alpha\u2019s name is Noah something. He doesn\u2019t come into the city much and I\u2019ve never met him.
\n\u201cApril.\u201d His voice was frustrated with a hint of sadness.
\n\u201cI\u2019m sorry. Something has come up.\u201d Two days outside of the city had an enormous appeal but I was stuck with a new case. Was it Lauren Regan I was investigating?
\n\u201cI guess that\u2019s what you get when you\u2019re dating an investigator.\u201d
\nI didn\u2019t know what else to say. We were silent for what seemed like forever until he hung up.
\nI finished eating my frozen dinner while thinking about how much Natalie and Lauren looked alike. Was Lyle Harrison really Ethan Griffith? It’s not uncommon for vampires to change their names when it suits them.
\nI laced up my shoes, slipped on my coat and gloves, grabbed my keys, phone and wallet and walked out the door locking it behind me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I spent a lot of time last week reading a new book on story craft. I picked up Save the Cat Writes a Novel by…<\/p>\n

Continue readingYour opinion please<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lexy-price.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lexy-price.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lexy-price.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lexy-price.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lexy-price.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lexy-price.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":242,"href":"https:\/\/lexy-price.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241\/revisions\/242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lexy-price.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lexy-price.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lexy-price.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}