LOSING DAVID

I'm pleased to announce the publication of my book LOSING DAVID.

It's available in print and ebook but will be on Amazon only for the next few months before going to Barnes and Noble and the other places.

Yes, I know. There's a big to-do about the argument between Hachette Publishing and Amazon, with big names like Scott Turow and James Patterson calling Amazon the evil empire. Which is surprising, considering how many books Amazon sells for them.

But Amazon and Hatchette are like any other businesses: trying to make a profit. It just so happens the profit this time comes from books. Whatever the outcome, authors won't see an increase in pay. And since Amazon nurtured and supported self-published authors while Hachette and the other big publishers were trying to keep the status quo, I kind of think I'll stick with Amazon.

Anyway, LOSING DAVID is a vintage mystery with strong romantic elements, set on a barrier island.

When his father died in 1946, sixteen-year-old David Harmony should have inherited a fortune. Instead, he vanished at sea.

In 1962, an elderly attorney hires an actor to pretend to be David. He says the man in line to receive the Harmony estate killed David.

The actor suspects the attorney is scheming to claim the estate himself, but agrees to act as bait till he falls for a woman who realizes he’s an imposter. Now she may reveal his identity to the one person she shouldn’t.

David's murderer.

In an era of clacking typewriters and rotary phones, gentlemen tip hats and ladies wear gloves. But evil still hides beneath the most refined exteriors.

FERAL CATS

Turns out the reason the squirrel population isn't so much in this neighborhood is the feral cats. They're gorgeous, all of them, but still wild. I think one we saw prowling through our back (fenced-in) and tiny yard before we made the move was feral.

Seems like there wouldn't be as many birds, but guess they're more observant than the squirrels. I was following my guy out of the neighborhood yesterday morning, he off to his art class and me off to hit yard sales. He braked in front of me and waited. I thought he'd forgotten to tell me something and would get out, but no. He kept sitting there in his car. Then I saw a sleek black cat crouched just to the side as if stalking something. In a moment the cat darted across the street and my guy went on.

I started to go, too, but noticed the cat slinking behind a tree, still stalking. Just as I rounded the tree - one of the huge water oaks we have here - the cat pounced on a squirrel who'd been sitting on the ground. The squirrel tried desperately to get away, leaping in the air and thrashing around, but the cat clung to him determinedly. I was in shock, the car advancing automatically so I never saw what happened. But I'm pretty sure the squirrel got gone.

Awful to witness a murder first thing in the morning. And yes, I know the cat was hungry and this is nature and all that. But still...Right before my eyes?