Guest Post/Virtual Tour ~ Jean Henry Mead

Jean Henry Mead writes mystery/suspense and historical novels. She’s also an award-winning photojournalist, former news reporter and editor. Her first book was published in 1982, and she now has 14 published, both novels and nonfiction. She writes two mystery series, the Logan & Cafferty mystery novels, and the Hamilton Kids’ mysteries. Her new releases are Murder on the Interstate, which features senior sleuths, and Mystery of Spider Mountain, an autobiographical children’s story.

Dana Logan and Sarah Cafferty are feisty 60-year-olds, a mystery novel buff and private investigator’s widow, who sell their homes in a San Joaquin Valley retirement village to travel the country in a motorhome. Along the way they manage to stumble over dead bodies. In their latest adventure, they discover a beautiful young woman shot to death in her Mercedes convertible. When the killer returns to disable their RV, a woman trucker comes to their rescue. They chase after the killer in the produce truck to get his license number and later discover that the killer is stalking them. 

While investigating the young woman’s death they encounter sulfuric acid spills as well as other terrorist activities. Dana Logan then calls in her journalist daughter to help in the investigation. When they compare notes they discover that Kerrie is also investigating the case for a story she’s writing for her news magazine in Denver. Kerrie later meets a handsome FBI agent who’s on the case and falls in love not long before the three women are kidnapped by terrorists.

Mead did considerable research about homegrown terrorists and those sneaking across the border with Mexican nationals. She also researched chemical spills that take place south of Phoenix, the kidnap capital of the nation where an average five murders are committed every week. She came up with the idea for the novel while driving her 36-foot motorhome along mountainous 1-40 in northern Arizona, the setting of the first murder. Along the way she listened to truckers on their CV radios, so the dialogue is both authentic and humorous.

At the other end of the literary spectrum, her first children’s book, Mystery of Spider Mountain, is autobiographical in that it takes place in Los Angeles, where the author grew up at the foot of a huge hill  she and her four brothers called Spider Mountain. It was inhabited by trapdoor spiders and tarantulas that arrived from Central America on banana boats. At the top of the hill was a mysterious house with four vicious dogs. When the Hamilton kids climbed “Spider Mountain” to investigate, It changed their lives forever. The second novel in the series is the Ghost of Crimson Dawn, which will be released later this year.

About the author ~  

Jean Henry Mead is a mystery/suspense and western historical novelist. She’s also an award-winning photojournalist. One of her fortes is interviewing writers, actors, politicians, artists and ordinary people who have accomplished extraordinary things. She began her writing career as a California news reporter/editor/photographer, first in Central California and later in San Diego. Mead then transferred to Casper, Wyoming, to serve as a staff writer for the statewide newspaper. While there she served as editor of In Wyoming Magazine and two small presses. She also freelanced for other magazines, both domestically and abroad, among them the Denver Post’s Empire Magazine. Her first book was published in 1981. She’s since published thirteen novels and nonfiction books.

She currently writes the Hamilton Kids children’s mystery series as well as the Logan & Cafferty mystery/suspense series. Her latest release in the Logan & Cafferty series is Murder on the Interstate.

Visit Jean at her website

And her blog sites:

Mysterious Writers
Writers of the West:
Murderous Musings
Make Mine Mystery 

Her latest book ~ 

Murder on the Interstate ~ A Logan & Cafferty Mystery

While traveling a northern Arizona highway, Senior Sleuths Dana Logan and Sarah Cafferty watch in horror as a pick up truck chases a Mercedes convertible past their motorhome, ultimately forcing the car off the roadway and into a ravine. Dana applies the brakes and pulls over to offer aid. She discovers the body of a beautiful young woman in the Mercedes when gunshots ring out. Stunned, she and Sarah realize they're the targets! The bullets disable their motorhome and a long-haul driver comes to their rescue, giving them a lift into Flagstaff, where they can arrange for repairs to their RV. The idea of resuming their trip home is back-burnered, however, when the first person they spot at the truckstop is their shooter. Coincidence? Dana thinks not. Quickly, the women scheme to turn the tables on the woman's killer, and the chase is on... Sometimes hunters, sometimes the hunted, Dana and Sarah delve into the shooter s identity and activities. They find more than a few surprises, and soon realize they have stumbled into a plot that not only endangers them, but puts national security in the crosshairs. 

Read an excerpt ~ 

Lulled by a lack of traffic and the steady beat of rain, Dana was in danger of nodding off when a convertible roared past, followed by a late model pickup. The heavy downpour obscured her view, but they appeared to be coupled like boxcars. Why were they driving that dangerously close, and why so fast in the rain?
An I-40 highway sign signaled an approaching curve so she clicked off the cruise control and slowed to forty-five. Taillights had vanished and she glanced in both side mirrors. The earlier truck traffic had also disappeared and no headlights were visible in either direction. Darkness was closing in on her.
Sarah groaned from the passenger seat, apparently still asleep. Must be the anchovies. Her friend had insisted on stopping for pizza at a Kingman roadside cafe. Dana groped for the Tums. As she rounded the curve, she noticed two sets of brake lights not far ahead. The motorhome swayed as she stepped into her own brakes and skidded on the pavement. Road signs had warned of animal crossings. The convertible might have swerved to avoid hitting a deer and gone off the mountain road. Dana pulled onto the shoulder as the pickup following the convertible screeched back on the pavement. Why hadn’t the driver stopped to help?
Bolting upright in the passenger seat, Sarah said, “What’s happening?” Her voice was thick with sleep.
“We’re about to find out.”
Headlights angled upward from somewhere off the road, illuminating a huge digger pine. It had to be the convertible. Dana opened her door and climbed down. The steps were slick with rain and she nearly lost her balance. She heard the passenger door slam as she started down the embankment. Chilled and miserably wet, she slipped and landed in a bed of pine needles. Why hadn’t she grabbed the flashlight? Dana glanced up at her friend, who stood shivering on the shoulder. “Sarah,” she yelled, “Call 911 and hurry.”
The smell of gasoline was strong, despite the heavy rain. The convertible had missed several pine trees but a boulder had stopped its forward motion. Both doors were locked. Peering through the driver’s window, she could see nothing more than shattered glass, a dime-sized hole centering the web design. She then heard several backfires and a ping of metal as though the convertible had been struck by a rock. Realizing it was a gunshot, she dropped to her knees in the mud.
Sarah!
Slipping and clawing her way up the slope, she crawled onto the shoulder. A pickup was parked behind the RV. The driver had a nervous foot. A moment later another set of headlights emerged from the curve down the road. Tires squealed as the pickup roared off. As it passed, the RV’s headlights caught a dark red truck, which appeared to be a newer model. When Dana glanced in the passenger window, Sarah was crouched between the seats, the cell phone clutched in her hand. She took her time unlocking the passenger door.
“Are you all right?”
“I’m not sure.” Sarah patted her chest, breathing heavily.
“What happened?”
“He shot up the motorhome.”
“Did he shoot at you?”
“I don’t think he saw me. He only seemed interested in wounding Matilda.”
Dana hated the name Sarah had christened the RV, but that was the least of her worries. Grabbing a flashlight, she climbed back down the steps. A quick inspection revealed inside tires still inflated but the outer ones in the back were flat. She heard an engine shift down and was caught in the glare of headlights. Signaling with her flashlight, she was relieved when the big truck slowed and pulled in behind the motorhome. The driver seemed to be endlessly checking gauges before descending from the cab. Once on the ground, a warm, plump hand gripped hers in greeting.
“The name’s McCurdy,” the husky voice said. ”Everybody calls me Big Ruby.”
At nearly six feet, she was Dana’s height although nearly twice her girth.

Check out Jean on the rest of her tour ~ 


May 23^rd
Guest blogging at Lori’s Reading Corner
Guest blogging at Straight from Hel
Book reviewed and guest blogging at Sheila Deeth’s Visit My Refracted Muse
May 24^th
Book reviewed at MysteriesEtc
Book reviewed at Another Draught
May 25^th
Book reviewed at Marilyn’s Musings
Guest blogging at Acme Authors Link
May 26^th
Book reviewed at Reviews by Molly
Book reviewed by June Shaw at Pump Up Your Book!
May 27^th
Guest blogging at Murder By 4
Book reviewed by Earl Staggs at Pump Up Your Book!
TBD:
Guest blogging at Monoblog
Guest blogging at Dog Blog

Guest Post & Give away ~ Mari McCarthy

Journal Writing: Showing Me My Life

When I lost the use of my body's right side to Multiple Sclerosis several years ago, I was advised to learn how to write with my left hand. So I used daily journaling as a way to practice my handwriting.

At the same time, I read The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron, a book about reconnecting with creativity. Part of the discipline that Cameron suggests is the 'Morning Pages:' three handwritten pages of daily stream of consciousness whatever. NO thinking, NO old English class rules.

I wrote and I wrote and I wrote. For weeks and weeks and weeks. And I began to realize, like a child comes to understand language, that this writing could reveal enormous amounts of new information to me, about me and my soul and my opportunities. I began to write poetry for the first time. I started remembering pieces of my childhood. Best of all, I developed a stronger affection for myself.

After a time, I modified my Morning Pages practice, making it more a dialogue and less a data dump. I asked questions: "Where does that feeling come from?" "Who told me that?" "What's the logic behind that fear?"
The writing practice naturally spilled over into my daily life, so that I began to notice answers to my questions not only in my notebook but while doing dishes, walking in the garden, going to the store.

I'm still writing every day, these many years later; still finding huge rewards in the practice. It used to be that when I suffered, I had nowhere to turn. When life was hard or whenever I just had the blues, there was no way to make sense of it.

Journaling gave me a way to deal with hard times or difficult emotions. But here's the amazing thing: eventually journaling also taught me how to go beyond the control my emotions held over me. No longer did I feel at the mercy of my emotions. My attention shifted and I became enthralled with my own creative potential. Through my journal, I started to build my own happiness.

Journaling shows me how my imaginings can become reality, and how my attitude makes all the difference. Journaling leads me like the gentle, patient teacher that it is, towards a far wiser, more hopeful and peaceful me.

Therapeutic Journaling helps us move out of our head with its highly critical over-thinking and return to living in and communicating (on a first name basis) with our body.

My journal is my number one health resource, my primary care provider, working hand-in-hand with me to achieve my goal of Perfect Health.

About the author ~ 

When a Multiple Sclerosis (MS) exacerbation kidnapped my body's right side, I needed some way to teach myself how to write with my left hand. So I started free writing (stream of consciousness) in a journal notebook. I got more than a functioning left hand! What I discovered (and the discoveries continue) was my true Self, buried under the old, negative, hypercritical baggage (I call it crazycrap) I've been carrying around since childhood.


Working daily with My Journal Therapist, I'm curing my spiritual, mental and psychophysical diseases, like Shingles which we healed in less than 3 weeks. And with lots and lots of daily Journaling, we’re making progress in curing my diseases to achieve my goal of Perfect Health!

My self-therapy journaling helps me revise my thoughts and determine what I want to be, do and have in my life. It guides me in adjusting my attitudes, modifying my behavior and creating a happier relationship with myself. And my Journal is teaching me how to write again with my right hand!

Do you want to stop your self-sabotage, make life changes, solve more problems and achieve your goals but are not sure how to get started?  Do you want to stop your self-sabotage, make life changes, solve more problems and achieve your goals but are not sure how to get started?  Let’s meet (no cost, no obligation) and talk about how ‘Journaling for the Health of It’ ™  helps you create a healthy, happy life write now!

Visit Mari's Blog 

Like on Facebook

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Contact Mari

Email Mari ~ Mari AT CreateWriteNow DOT com

 Mari's book ~ 

Peace of Mind and Body 27 Days of Journaling to Health & Happiness: 27 Days of Journaling to Health & Happiness

The Ultimate Journal Writing Therapy Workbook!

Face down those voices in your head that always hold you back!
Finally leave behind the negative beliefs about yourself you've been carrying around since childhood!
Stop overthinking things that just don't matter!
Explore your creativity
Discover your passions
Are there changes you want to make in your life, but you just don't know where to start? Do you want to be happier in your life, but you can't figure out how to change the way you feel? Do you have a hard time identifying your goals, let alone reaching them?!

Personal growth and development is hard work, but this book makes it seem easy.

The Peace of Mind & Body: 27 Days of Journaling to Health and Happiness guide takes you on a step-by-step journey to identify exactly what it is you want -- and how to get there. In just 27 days, you'll find yourself on a clear path to achieving the peace of mind, health and happiness you want for your life. 

Check out Mari's video on how to get started on journaling ~ 

Thanks to the publicist, I have one (1) copy  of Peace of Mind and Body 27 Days of Journaling to Health & Happiness: 27 Days of Journaling to Health & Happiness to give away.

When filling out the form, please select if you would like the paper copy of the book or the e-copy of the book.

GIVEAWAY Rules for entering:

* This contest is open to residents of USA only.

* Please complete the form below - do not leave information in the comments - it will not count.

* One entry per person. Duplicate entries will be deleted.

* The contest will end on June 3rd at 11:59PM EST; 1 winner will be selected and contacted thereafter.

* Once the winners are contacted, they will have 48 hours to respond to my email or another winner will be chosen (make sure to check your spam filters!).

* Book will be shipped directly from the author.

Guest Post/Virtual Tour ~ Kathi Macias

 

Avid Readers, Prolific Writers

Kathi Macias

Though not all children who are avid readers grow up to be prolific writers, there are few such writers who weren’t also lovers of words from an early age. And I am no exception.

I’ve authored/published more than thirty books of my own, plus ghostwritten/edited about 100 others. I’ve also published countless newspaper and magazine articles and stories, devotionals and poems, and I constantly get the question: How in the world do you produce so much on such a regular basis?

Though I give credit to my journalism training and experience, I always go back to my passion for words, which was evident even before I started school. My mom says I was reading the comics when I was three, and my favorite outing throughout my childhood was always a trip to the library. I read voraciously! And if I found myself without something to read, I immediately set out to write my own stories. One such story, which I wrote in the third grade, was turned into a play for the entire PTA—parents, teachers, and students. I was hooked!

I went on to write for the school newspapers and won writing contests throughout junior and senior high school, and even told my boyfriend (now husband) when we were about thirteen or fourteen that I was going to be a writer some day. To be honest, I can’t imagine being anything else.

Of course, the one thing I NEVER wanted to do was public speaking. Surprise! Little did I know that as I ventured out into the publishing world, I would begin to receive speaking invitations. Though I quickly declined, explaining that I did not do public speaking, I soon discovered that my book sales suffered because of it. Hmm… Seemed I had no choice but to get over that common fear of public speaking and just get out there and do it.

Now, amazingly, I enjoy public speaking nearly as much as I do writing, and I do both on a regular basis. But all of it goes back to my love of words and that inborn call to be a communicator. If you have ever sensed that same call—whether to writing or speaking—and you find yourself hesitant to answer, ask yourself if you have an innate love for reading. If the answer is yes, perhaps it’s time to consider the next step.

About Kathi ~ 

Kathi is a multi-award winning writer who has authored nearly 30 books and ghostwritten several others. A former newspaper columnist and string reporter, Kathi has taught creative and business writing in various venues and has been a guest on many radio and television programs. Kathi is a popular speaker at churches, women’s clubs and retreats, and writers’ conferences, and recently won the prestigious 2008 member of the year award from AWSA (Advanced Writers and Speakers Association) at the annual Golden Scrolls award banquet. Kathi “Easy Writer” Macias lives in Homeland, CA, with her husband, Al, where the two of them spend their free time riding their Harley.

Friend Kathi on Facebook

Visit her website

Visit her blog 

Email Kathi ~ ezyrtr AT ca.rr DOT com

Her latest book ~ 

People of the Book (Extreme Devotion)

Farah lives in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with her family, and wants nothing more than to develop a deeper devotion to her Muslim faith. She sees the month of Ramadan as her chance to draw nearer to Allah, and pursues that goal. All goes well until the prophet Isa—Jesus—appears to her in a dream and calls her to Himself. Her brother, Kareem, who has never liked her, seeks to discredit her.

Farah’s cousin, an only child, frequents an online chat. She discovers former Muslims discussing their new belief that Isa is much more than a Muslim prophet—He is actually the Son of G-d. She becomes acquainted with an American girl of Muslim ancestry—now a devout Christian—Sara. Sara has problems of her own due to her brother Emir’s suspicious behavior.

Each finds their faith put to the test. Will they be true to their beliefs? Will G-d protect them, or will they pay the ultimate price for their faith?

 Watch the Trailer ~ 

Read a excerpt ~ 

Prologue
Eighteen-year-old Farah Mohammed Al Otaibi lay bruised and bloody on the floor beside her bed. The image of her soft mattress floated in and out of her consciousness, but she had no strength to drag herself from her current position. Even the slightest movement brought stabs of excruciating pain, so she tried to remember to keep her breathing shallow and her body still.
How long had she been here? Hours, certainly. Days? She couldn’t be sure. Her father and brother had covered the windows with heavy, dark cloth, blocking out any light that might help her keep track of time.
Hunger wasn’t an issue, for who could think of food when the pain was so intense? But thirst? Oh, how she longed for just a sip of cool water! Surely her mother would sneak in soon and bring her some. She had always taken care of her before—
Before…
The memory was back, though she tried desperately to block it out. Impossible. She could never forget that moment in time, for it was the dividing line between the before and after of her life. Before the tragedy that led to her brother’s discovery. Before her father had flown into a rage over what he considered his daughter’s betrayal and treachery. Before they had threatened to kill her in order to preserve the family’s honor. Before her mother had tried to intervene…
Hot tears pricked the back of Farah’s eyelids, as the vision of her mother’s face before—and after—swam in front of her eyes. The pain in her heart at that moment far exceeded anything she felt in her body. Then suddenly, inexplicably, the meaning of her name—Farah, joy and cheerfulness—burst into her consciousness. Despite her agony and sorrow, Farah was unable to hold back the brief burst of laughter that exploded from her aching chest. How absurd that her parents had given her a name that implied happiness, and yet she now wondered if she had ever truly understood or experienced any of it in her not quite nineteen years of life.
But then she had met Isa, and everything—both good and bad—had changed forever….

Other books by Kathi ~ 

 

Red Ink (Extreme Devotion Series, Book 3)

No Greater Love (Extreme Devotion Series: South Africa #1)

More than Conquerors (Extreme Devotion Series: Mexico #2)

Valeria's Cross

Visit Kathi on the rest of her tour ~ 

Thursday, May 19
Interviewed at As the Pages Turn
Friday, May 20
Book reviewed and giveaway at The Book Connection
Monday, May 23
Book reviewed at Book Reviews by Molly
Tuesday, May 24
Interviewed at Literarily Speaking
Wednesday, May 25
Author interviewed at Linda Clare’s Writer’s Tips
Thursday, May 26
Book spotlight and interviewed at Pamela S. Thibodeaux – Blog
Friday, May 27
Book reviewed at Writing for Christ

Guest Post/Virtual Tour ~ Allison Moore

Many people hold on to the expectation of prisoners being restored by some special class, some program, some psych doctor, or group therapy. A professional was to brief through an inmates file and decide what was necessary in order for the offender to be "changed or corrected."


I myself was labeled as a habitual offender with an arrest record dating back to 1988, and was given "the" intervention plan. None. How was I to be committed to prison for 1 1/2 to 7 years, expecting to be rehabilitated without a design for treatment? With Delaware prison systems managing about 8,000 inmates in 12 prisons and facilities, Community Corrections supervising about 17,000 probationers and 535 parolees and a budget of about $200 million dollars a year, you have to ask yourself if what they are doing is working. Better yet, what are they doing? The crime rate in Delaware is 8% above the national average and violent crimes are about 32% higher than other states. The rate of adults under correctional supervision, including prisons, jails, probation, and parole is about 40% higher than the national rate. I believe these statistics are the catalyst for a different approach.


I've asked quite a few about their perspective of criminals, their behavior and the idea of prison as punishment and reform, and what many fail to realize is that the overcrowding prison system itself serves as fuel to the cycle it is created to cease. It is merely a holding place with little hope of being effective standing alone. The life typically hardens inmates who often leave worse than they were when they were first committed. The prison population forces long waiting lists and inapt programs with a quick fix approach to deep rooted problems. There is little focus on core criminal behavior which resides in the criminal mind, no focus on real life skills or the tools to cope with life after confinement.


"Three hots and a cot" is the term for prison, which suggests a lax environment, a place to sleep and three hot meals a day. Although confined, prisoners have little responsibility; they don't wash their own clothes, cook their own meals and they take directions on what to do and when to do it., it is easier to live inside four prison walls than out in the community as a responsible citizen. It is training ground for dependence upon the system, while inside and upon release, that is why so many return. A prisoner released is no different at the end of the sentence without effective solutions during incarceration, pre-release, and post release.

What is needed is a comprehensive approach with more effective methods. The focus should be to put the $200 million where it counts, habilitating the offender. If rehabilitation means to restore formally to former capacity, standing, rank, rights or privileges, than habilitaion is what is needed. Most offenders have never lived a life desired to be restored. Habilitate-to equip, impart an ability, to qualify or entitle. They need vocational training, with job placement. They need employers to forgive them after their time has been served. I'm not sure that "Inmate at Cambridge Springs Correctional Institution" would impress an HR recruiter for any of the "Best Places To Work In America." In other words, they need to be empowered.

About the author ~ 

Allison Tammy Moore’s own rise from being labeled a habitual offender to prominence deems her an expert on personal success. Born to teenage parents and ending up being adopted, Allison lived a life plagued with abuse, addiction and crime. With a criminal history, low self esteem and no one to guide her, Allison went to prison and developed her own method of recovery by redefining success. Through persistence and determination, this ex-offender to extraordinary woman, immediately used her past to fuel her passions, became a published author, speaker and entrepreneur. Allison a certified Compass Life Coach, who combines extensive business skills with a faith based background. Allison has several certifications from her over 10 years involvement in the community. This self published author and entrepreneur teaches others how to balance life as she travels to share her personal story of tragedy to triumph.
Allison is a wife and an adoring mother, of three and is known as an over comer, inspiring all she comes in contact with.

Allison believes, together we can change lives, one woman at a time. Heal the life of a woman you change the direction of her family..change the family, you help the community..help the community you change the city, state and the nation....one woman at a time!!

Let Allison Moore start you on track to achieving your personal and professional success, even if you are starting from scratch. This highly acclaimed life coach raises the bar by teaching others that no matter where you are, or where you have been, you can create an extraordinary life.

Visit Allison's website

Friend Allison on Facebook

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Click HERE if you'd like Allison to speak at your  next event.

Email Allison ~ IwasIam AT allisontmoore DOT com

The book ~ 

I Was I Am: How To Move Beyond Your Past To Create An Extraordinary Life

One of the most difficult things for ex-offenders to accomplish when they are released from prison is finding employment and becoming a productive member of society. For many, the stigma of a criminal record is just too much to overcome. For others, like Allison, it is a matter of viewing obstacles as an opportunity. “I Was I Am…How to Move beyond Your Past to Create an Extraordinary Life” (http://www.allisontmoore.com), a book by motivational speaker, author and ex-inmate Allison Moore, provides an account of her prison experience as the catalyst for change and guidelines for those who struggle with being hindered by their past.

Moore wrote, “I Was I Am…How to Move beyond Your Past to Create an Extraordinary Life” (Allison T Moore Publishing, July 2010, $14.99) not just for individuals with a criminal record or who have been incarcerated, but for those who have past experiences that prevent them from living a full life. The book draws from her experiences in order to educate readers on the reality of the prison sentence, the lack of support systems and the perils of living a life unmanageable. Whether it is a physical prison experience or a prison in mental capacity, she shares her beliefs on how to become free. Her memoir is scheduled to be released on July 20, 2010.

Allison Tammy Moore’s own rise from being labeled a habitual offender to prominence deems her an expert on personal success. Allison went to prison and developed her own method of recovery by redefining success. Through persistence and determination, this ex-offender to extraordinary woman, immediately used her past to fuel her passions, became a published author, speaker and entrepreneur. She is dedicated to help educate people to new levels of involvement in the lives of ex-inmates, victims, and their families “I decided to share my experiences in the hope that my book will help readers remove the limitations to being successful” she says.

Read an excerpt ~ 

Chapter 10

“I can work for the Lord in or out of prison.”
Charles W. Colson
I AM Overpowered
by numbness throughout my entire body. Barely standing, I felt as though my legs would give out at any moment. My eyes were drawn to people who were moving like actors in an old fashioned silent movie. Their lips were moving but eerie silence was all that came out. A tug on my arm brought me partially out of my fog. The cold metal chilled my wrists and my feet shuffled along with a constant clicking sound that led me out of the courtroom.
Just a few hours earlier I had strutted in with confidence. Now I was being led away not so sure of myself. Now darkness and clouds of gloom surrounded me and surrounded everything in that courthouse. I should have sensed it. You know the way it smells just before a mid-summer rainstorm, how every one of your senses knows the storm is coming. Then the winds begin to blow strong and the thunder begins to roll. Well, I missed all the signs of the turbulence about to disrupt my life, and then, without delay, the roof cracked wide open right inside the Chester County Courthouse. I nodded slightly at my attorney. I knew what he was thinking. In his professional opinion, the plea offered to me for a 12-36 month was better than good. I should have accepted it when I had the chance. I gazed in disbelief at my pastor. I knew what he was thinking. In his professional opinion, the suggestion to contest the pre-sentence investigation may have been an opportunity to catch the prosecution off guard. I was confused.
I asked myself, “What did just happen?” I had no answer. Faith-the substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things not yet seen. Over and over a voice echoed in my head. Faith was what I had done; at least that is what I thought. Practice makes perfect right? I confessed and believed, prayed and stood. Faith told me that my parking spot right out front was only available because Faith was giving me easy access to quickly leave the High Street court and have my Trailblazer on Route 202 in 2.5 seconds. Then this would be all over. Faith said to refuse to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Faith assured me that those who trust in the Lord will never be put to shame, but in that horrible moment, I managed to find the irony of that statement funny. Shame is what was crushing me. Faith was dead wrong. My kids expected me to be waiting for them when they got in from school. My new boyfriend was at work expecting a text from me once I got out. USAir was expecting me to check in at curbside in approximately 24 hours, and a group of anxious trainees were expecting me, one of the companies top producing managers, to arrive for a week long training designed to increase sales at their Raleigh Durham location. Rent was due in 9 days and for once in my life it was going to be on time. The $5000 increase could not have come at a better time. What about my friends? All the people I had to call and share my miracle with?
A series of events occurring over the past year, since my offense, altered my life’s direction. Didn’t that count for anything? The voice in my head got louder and more dominant. “It’s too late……it didn’t work!” My faith was shattered immediately. Without it, where was I going? I thought I was going home. I wasn’t. Where I was, was in the basement if the courthouse, where my heels clicked distinctly against the cement floor. Cold, damp and stuffy best described the atmosphere. By this time my crisply pressed white blouse was wrinkled and stained with MAC. It was hard to wipe tears with handcuffs on. Placed in a holding cell, I curled up on the little wooden bench and stared at all the carvings. I can remember thinking….”why would anyone want people in lock up to know TAE WUZ HERE?” I could hear conversations outside the steel doors but I was unable to see through the tinted two way glass. No longer able to contain my cry to my eyes, I allowed my sniffles and whimper to convert to a full breakdown. “Why didn’t it work?” If faith was here I would probably need to be restrained to prevent myself from choking her to death.