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They say, "Shit Happens". Clean it up, avoid the piles, buy new shoes, or laugh and write about it.

"NO ONE HEARD HER SCREAM" by Jordan Dane: No One Heard Her Scream
by Jordan Dane

Avon Harper Collins

ISBN: 9780061252785

Becca Montgomery, Detective for the San Antonio Police Department, is reeling from the kidnapping and apparent murder of her sister when she's assigned to the case of an arson that uncovers the body of a murdered young girl.

During the investigation she uncovers facts that may or may not be related to her sister's disappearance. Is it just her grief that keeps drawing correlations or is she on the right path? Have these murders been going on, unchecked, for decades? And is her sister among the pitiful women and young girls who've been enslaved for the lustful and disgusting pleasure of the very rich and terribly depraved?

If she is to get to the truth, her only option is to trust the one person her instincts tell her she should run from. Deeply entrenched in the criminal world, the Latin Lothario, Diego Galvin, is a man with no past, a very secretive present and who may just wipe out her future...or he may be able to help her find the answers to all the truths her heart has longed for.

Jordan has written this story as no one else could. Her enviable writing talents clearly shine through, leaving no one to wonder why her first three books are scheduled to come out as they are, one in each of the months of April, May and June 2008. Nor will any reader find it hard to believe that this author has an incredible career ahead of her.

This reviewer only hopes to be allowed to review each galley in this series!

Stop by my Book Review blog ( http://msqtpi.livejournal.com/ ) today to read my interview with Jordan Dane and to meet her! She'll be hanging out there all day to answer questions and schmooze. If you comment, you'll be entered to win a prize!

Wednesday March 26, 2008 - 11:19am (EDT) Permanent Link | 0 Comments
Quotable, Notable, Quotes: Born and raised elsewhere, I take note of the local language with a little more interest than those who've heard it all their lives. I'm a word lover from way back. Word interplay, rhythms and regional colloquialisms fascinate me.

The first time I stepped on God's soil, here in Elberton, I was baptized by what I've come to know as the, "backhanded compliment."

I met an older gentleman as he was leaving the Quicky Mart and I was entering. He held the door for me, tipped his hat graciously and said, "Well, if you'd had another dollar, you'da been a red head."

I smiled to hide my confusion and stepped inside the store. It wasn't until later that day that I realized he hadn't actually given me a compliment, he'd suggested that not only did I dye my hair, but I was too poor to afford a good dye job.

Now don't get me wrong. This man was not being mean. He wasn't trying to be hurtful at all. He was playing with me. It took me a little longer to figure that one out, but once I got it I learned to really enjoy the game. After all, it is an ingenious usage of words that frequently has several different meanings, both good and bad.

In other words...right up my alley!

Booney's Dad is a master of the game. Even people from surrounding counties know of his skill. The moment someone finds out who I am, a smile will spread across their face. They're dieing to tell me about something Daddy said. If I wait a few minutes I'm sure to be rewarded by a great story and a lung-busting laugh.

Daddy is a bottom line man. Don't bother him with useless facts...just tell him what he wants to know with a simple yes or no and stand back. Give him anything to work with and he'll say something that leaves you looking like a naked retard with tourette's syndrome.

IT'S FREAKING GREAT!

I've learned to sit back very quietly and watch him work.

At the family reunion, one of the nieces was getting on his nerves with her non-stop, non-sense, chattering.

He interrupted her, "Well young lady, I'm glad I got to see you today and I'll be even happier next year. My hearing's getting worse every day, and my eyes are going too." While she stood there with her jaw resting on her chest, he silently walked away.

Booney had twisted his back and Daddy asked him about it. After being told how it happened, Daddy said, "Well boy, you're an old man."

When Daddy, Mama, Booney and I were at the Jokey Lot (a huge community yard sale), Mama noticed him scoping out the females and said, "You sure are getting your eyes full." Without missing a beat he came back with, "Yep, and if I had another eye I'd get it full too."

Daddy once asked Booney what was wrong. "I've got a headache." Daddy said, "If I had a head like that, and it didn't hurt, I'd worry."

At the VFW one night, Daddy came to the aid of a woman who was being snatched around by her husband. She cussed him out and her husband kicked the snot out of him. The next day someone asked if he'd ever do that again. He said, "Nope, I'm gonna ask if he needs any help."

Being from an older generation, we worried that he may have a problem when one of his granddaughters married a black man. All he had to say was, "Hell, I don't have to sleep with him, why should I care? It's the twenty-first century. People should just grow up."

There's a lot of wisdom in them there words.

Thursday September 13, 2007 - 02:50pm (EDT) Permanent Link | 0 Comments
Paradox: Main Entry: par·a·dox
Pronunciation: 'per-&-"däks, 'pa-r&-
Function: noun
Etymology: Latin paradoxum, from Greek paradoxon, from neuter of paradoxos contrary to expectation, from para- + dokein to think, seem -- more at DECENT
1 : a tenet contrary to received opinion
2 a : a statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is perhaps true b : a self-contradictory statement that at first seems true c : an argument that apparently derives self-contradictory conclusions by valid deduction from acceptable premises
3 : one (as a person, situation, or action) having seemingly contradictory qualities or phases

Today, as I put in my twenty minutes on the Gazelle, watching the Paula Deen show, I realized I frequently invoke some or many of the above definitions.

I'm a Paradox in the flesh...a large pair of dock-ers...okay, extra large.

Who else would exercise to the "golden baked goodies?"

I almost dropped my cigarette when I realized what I was doing.

Normal people work out to one of Tony Little's DVDs --I got four of them with the Gazelle. Not me. Show me the honey!

Maybe I'd have enjoyed the program more if I'd carefully taken notes to be used at "some later date," but I have priorities...and that super sized Cup-O-Noodles to work off these thighs. You know, the one I ate watching Rachael Ray.

I'm sure Paula would understand; I just hope Rachael never hears about it.

Thursday September 13, 2007 - 02:48pm (EDT) Permanent Link | 0 Comments
Oh My God!: No joking here. I just witnessed the death of a star!

As is my norm, when stuck for a story topic, I was sitting on my deck, trying to come up with a good "O" blog, staring at the sky and listening to the crickets chirp.

The stars are especially bright here tonight. So I was enjoying their sparkle, wishing I knew more about the constellations and running every possible "O" idea through my mind.

When suddenly, a star appeared where I hadn't noticed one before. It got brighter and brighter, until it seemed to be the brightest star in the sky.

Then it vanished.

Gone.

Poof.

Presumably, turned into a black hole.

I almost choked. Should I be scared? No...it wasn't that bright, I reason. It can't have been close enough to pull the Earth in, at least not immediately.

I sat there staring at the newly darkened area of sky for a while, trying to convince myself that I had imagined it somehow.

It didn't work.

I know what I saw.

God killed a star to give me an "O" topic!

Sunday July 22, 2007 - 12:51pm (EDT) Permanent Link | 3 Comments
N-vasion Of The Gnats: Yes, I know that's a stretch, but it's my blog and I'll write what I want to. Looks like a good "N" topic to me.

I know how it started. Last week I found a spoiled potato in the bin. There were three pitiful little tubers in there at the time. The two "good" ones were growing legs to escape on, so I threw them all away.

I don't need an infestation of small flies.

But I got one anyway.

Gnats, gnats, everywhere.

Last night, I went to swig some coffee and found floaters in my mug. Makes me wonder how many got by without my notice. Nauseating thought. I'm now covering coffee cups with Tupperware lids.

Where could they be breeding? I honestly have no idea. Our trailer is much cleaner now than normal, even the kitchen floor has been mopped...really.

I even pulled the refrigerator tray out to inspect for a good place for gnats to make whoopee. You know...tiny gnat motels with teensy little heart shaped beds covered in garish red coverlets and some kind of disgusting goo.

Nothing. It was not exactly clean, but definitely dry. Not a good place for gnats to reproduce.

Hmmm They are concentrating around the sink. So I pulled everything off the counters and washed everything down before putting it all back. Still no teensy little heart shaped beds.

My kitchen is on the small side here. Our garbage went out when the first gnat was spotted...along with the potatoes they were feeding, and breeding, on at the time.

I can't think of anywhere else to look. And it's driving me nuts.

Gnats, gnats everywhere. Where could they be they coming from?

Monday July 16, 2007 - 01:28pm (EDT) Permanent Link | 0 Comments