Book Excerpt

I've been asked a lot lately about the relationship between the two main characters in my first book, "Tokens of the Liars" so I thought I would give you a sneak peak at Cat and Sullivan in the sequel, "Never Leave Me Lonely."
Feel free to share your thoughts on the excerpt.

 

"Sullivan was thinking about the other reason he had come to see the Carlyle’s today. He watched as Cat’s eyes followed his lips and wandered over his face as he spoke. Feeling those beautiful eyes on him caused his skin to sing. His breathing felt rushed, his body gangly and awkward. Taking her hand Sullivan took a deep breath and waited for her bright hazel eyes to rest solely on his.

“I need to ask you something,” Sullivan said.

He couldn’t believe he was asking this of her now. What was he thinking? She had already been through so much. Clint Bronson, his detective partner, had tried to talk him out of it, but here he was begging, like a dying man for water. He knew she had the power to crush his heart at her slightest whim."

She's Never Gonna Make It!

Thursday, March 14, 2013...Oklahoma Governor's Mansion, approximately 12:00 p.m.
While on the west lawn of the mansion grounds, preparing to ceremoniously throwing a shovel of soil into the pre-dug hole for the planting of a Chinkapin oak for Arbor Day, Betsy Randolph takes up a strategic position next to the Governor's husband...the First Gentlemen Wade Christensen. Just as Betsy leaned over and dug her gold-colored shovel into the soil...the first of many mini catastrophes began.

"I give up," Betsy Randolph said after her post nasal drip began what some described as a, "leaky faucet" gone awry. "I'll never be hip," Betsy said. "Try as I may, something crazy always happens preventing me from being one of the cool kids!"

Spectators muffled laughs and sympathetic sniffles as Betsy pinched off her runny nose just long enough to toss her shovel filled with soil and scurry away red-faced in search of a tissue and a place to hide.

What, did I cause that?

I've said it before and I'll say it again...I despise stupid, selfish people!

It doesn't matter who you are or what you have or haven't accomplished in life...if you only care about YOU, I don't have any use for you and neither should the rest of the universe.

Take for example the JACK WAGON that pushed a large pile of brush (and who knows what else) into a draw, set it ablaze and left it unattended.

Your careless acts resulted in the death of hundreds of trees, hundreds of dollars of property and caused countless critters to lose their lives and habitats.

To you, Person (I can't bring myself to call you, "sir") I bestow the title of, "ALL-AROUND JACKASS" (no, that's not a curse word...it's in the Bible.)

"ALL-AROUND JACKASS," you have undone in a matter of hours what took us ten years to establish. Your reckless, wanton disregard of the safety of others knows no bounds...so today, I salute you and your unbelievable stupidity. May you sleep well, always know love and live a long, healthy life.

I hereby surrender my vengeance to that of the Creator, knowing full well that His fury far exceeds my own.

p.s.  I've heard He's fond of fire also.

 

 

Full-time gardener

One day, not too far away from now, I'm gonna hang my leather gun belt up for good. I'm gonna stumble around the garden with a coffee cup in one hand and a digging tool in the other. I'm gonna play with flowers all day, every day.





Don't look for me on the highway, I won't be there. I won't have an office, won't drive a fast car, won't wear a slash-proof, bullet-proof vest.

                                                             

I'll have a pollen covered nose, dirty fingernails, muddy boots and a goofy smile on my face.

 

                                                                           

My plan?...to "ooh" over the Oklahoma sunrises.
I'm going to discover new plants, maybe some new trees. I may decide to try my hand at grafting. Who knows, I may actually succeed at vegetable gardening when I retire.

 



One day...not too very far away...I'm gonna be a full-time gardener!







 

I'm nothing like you...

 

It amazes me that some people can cruise through life and never care about anything other than their own immediate needs, wants and desires. We hear on the news everyday how people choose to end their lives or other people's lives...and for what? Because they were betrayed, wronged or victimized?   

There has never been a person, who has ever occupied time or space in this universe that hasn't been wronged or hurt by someone.  

 

I'm so incredibly tired of people blaming others for their bad behavior. If you choose to break the law or break any moral or ethical code, at least be honest about it. You do it because you want to. Nothing more, nothing less. You are all you care about. Don't blame society, the government, your parents, your children or the bully on the playground.

 

*****News Flash*****Every single, solitary time I've ever done anything I shouldn't have...I did it because I was all I cared about at the time...but then again, I'm nothing like you!

 

Betsy

 

 

My Own Strength

Have you ever stopped long enough to consider what we as humans were put on this earth for?

Some never think that we are here for any other reason than for our own pleasure. I'm not one of those people. I hope you aren't either.

If I do nothing more in my time on this planet, I hope to reach just one person...for Jesus.

I don't care what you think of me. Your political opinion(s) won't change history and neither will mine. That one person that hears my story, that hears my heart and turns to the only real thing in my life...that's what matters. That's the only thing that truly does.

I've done a lot of really cool things in my life. I have accomplished so many things that "a girl" couldn't, shouldn't or wouldn't accomplish, but I haven't done a single thing on my own.

There hasn't been one traffic stop in my over 20 years in law enforcement where I was alone. There wasn't one day teaching bayonet training or land navigation to a young, eager US Army Private that I did so in my own strength.

Let me tell you about my own strength...I've hated, lied, cheated, stolen, said and done cruel things to people I should have cared about. Everyday, in my mind, I commit murder, adultery, theft and more. Still impressed with me?

Let me tell you something really impressive...a sinless, holy God loved us whom He had created. He loved us so much that He sent His only son to pay our sin debt.

Jesus is where I draw my strength, my courage. He is my everything. He alone forgives me for all that I've been and all that I will be.

There isn't a single sin that I have ever committed or will ever commit that Jesus didn't know about and pay for by dying on Calvary's cross.

Don't be in awe of Betsy Randolph, Chief Sinner. Be in awe of a sovereign God who uses a jackass to profess his miraculous love and forgiveness.

Betsy

Welcome 2013...here's a resolution for ya...

Happy New Year. Welcome 2013!

I'm mulling over my lengthy resolution list. Like last year, I'm grumbling to resolve to be thinner, more productive and healthier. I should be more resolute in vocalizing my disdain about resolutions.

Why don't we as a society resolve to quit being such pansies?
I miss the days of, "Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me."

Now days you can't say anything that may hurt someone's feelings. Freedom of speech is a thing of the past. Not only can you be sued or held liable, now days, people kill each other for "unkind words."

Please, when I was a kid, mean words and deeds made a person stronger, more resilient, more resolute. If someone was mean to you, you didn't punch, shoot or stab them...you just called them a "jackass" and went on about your business, not waisting an ounce of time or energy on their stupidity. Besides, they have the right to voice their biased opinion about you. Just like you have the right to voice your biased opinion about them.

I think my brother, Brian, was the first one I heard say this other famous phrase, "Everyone has an opinion and just like their butt hole, it usually stinks."


Betsy