It Can Happen Anywhere

When we hear about violent crime, we always tend to think it’s something that happens somewhere else, not where we are. It can happen anytime, anywhere. It’s always in some far off place, usually a big city, and the people involved are anonymous. But my long career publishing small town newspapers in the Pacific Northwest and Arizona taught me that this is far from the truth. I have covered horrendous murders and other violent crimes in picturesque little mountain towns, charming fishing villages that look like they came right out of a Norman Rockwell painting, on beaches, in forests, and just about everywhere else you could imagine.

Our little waterfront town here on the Florida Central Coast is pretty mellow for the most part. In the six years we have lived here, I think there have been two murders. One was a domestic dispute, and the other was a drunk outside a bar who shot a young man for leaning against his pickup truck in the parking lot.

But yesterday evening, we had a major incident here, a hostage standoff that resulted in the deaths of three people, including the shooter. The incident happened about seven miles from us right on US Highway 1, a road that we travel several times a week. Always be vigilant, my friends. As I said,  It can happen anytime, anywhere.

Terry finished the first round of editing and proofreading my new John Lee Quarrels book yesterday, and when she was done, she said she liked the story, but the ending seemed a little flat to her. I was glad she said that because I felt the same way and was hoping one of my proofreaders would give me some suggestions, or at least their input about it. So I sat down and wrote another chapter, actually an epilogue, that I think wraps things up pretty well.

Then I sent those last chapters to Judy Rinehimer, my second proofreader, and a few hours later, she had them back to me. I made her changes and then sent them off to Roberta, proofreader three. I hope to have her corrections and suggestions back sometime today.

A long hard job deserves a reward, don’t you think? At least I do, and my reward for wrapping this book was some of Terry’s delicious cheesecake that I showed you a picture of in yesterday’s blog, drizzled with a strawberry topping that she made. Our friends Jesse and Jennifer from across the street came over to share some of it with us, and we all agreed that it was probably the best cheesecake we’ve ever had anywhere in the world. So Terry did a good job, too. I wonder if I can reward her with cheesecake?

And finally, here’s a chuckle to start your day from the collection of funny signs we see in our travels and that our readers share with us.

Thought For The Day – Please be patient. I’m screwing things up as fast as I possibly can.