(Revamping the blog. Please excuse the odd headings. Working on it!)

Writing History & Mysteries

When I'm not delving into historical research, I'm planning a character's demise.

The blog of Cindy Amrhein

Historian - Author - Abstractor

Silver Lake, NY at Sunset

Photo by Zach Amrhein

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Saturday, June 29, 2013

Milk Carton Murders 17

Last week Dave confronted his father about Samantha, one of the foster kids who stayed at his house, and how she was one of the three coffins that came out of the creek bank. Dave's dad indicates it is somehow his fault.  Dave asked why she was up in the attic. Well..... I have to leave you guessing on  that conversation. We're getting to the point where I have to be careful not to give too much away in the snippets. 

The conversation below is after the above one when Investigator Pepper Black comes to Dave's house to question his dad, Hal.  Hal blurted some stuff out which I won't tell you. This is immediately after that. 

(Stupid me missed the WWW cutoff, but it's still my FB Sunday Snippet below.)

“So you don’t think I killed those kids?” asked Hal.

“Now I didn’t say that; especially since you just planted the seed. You might very well be my killer. As you can see, I’m blunt too,” said Pepper. “I guess it’s going to depend on what you tell me or don’t tell me.”

“I didn’t kill anyone, Miss Black.”

“Well, you’re going to need to do better than that, Hal.”

“She’s a spunky one, David. I’d like that―if she wasn’t thinking of arresting me.”

***
The link to the other Weekend Writing Warriors is here. You're bound to find something to pique your interest.

The Sunday Snippet writer's on Facebook are here. Between the two there is something for everyone. Thank you for any comments you leave me. Much appreciated!
*** 
BLURB:
When three small coffins are unearthed near the Wiscoy Creek during a routine dredging operation, it’s the last thing DAVE ROBERTSON, of the Lamont Weekly Times, expected. Pinned to the skeleton’s clothing are pictures from milk cartons of missing girls.

Dave is stunned to find that one of the girls is Sally―a foster child his parents had cared for through the Friends of Foster Families (FFF) program. Cold case files reveal the girls disappeared over 20 years ago. Knowing his house was the last place he saw Sally alive, he can’t help but suspect his dad.

How can he write the biggest story of his career if his father turns out to be the killer? If the voice in his head would shut up and let him remember, he might figure it out before he loses his mind and his dad is charged with murder.

Full blurb and snippet recap here.

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Sunday, June 23, 2013

Milk Carton Murders 16


We pretty much continue where we let off in #15. Dave is talking to his father about finding the coffins in Wiscoy Creek of the girls who died 20 years earlier. One of the girls was a foster child in their house (whom they knew as Sally but turns out her real name was Samantha) . Dave covered his ears to try and block his fathers affirmation that it was his fault. The voice in Dave's head subsides when he focuses on his dad's health. No matter what, he was still his father. His dad speaks first below.


“Oh hell, David, how do you expect me to act?  How long have you known one was Sally?”

For the first time since he was a kid, Dave lied to his father. “Just since this morning.”

“How did it happen? Do they know who put them there?”

Dave paused, debating whether to continue, but had no choice now. “I want you to know, I found the files in the attic. I know about the letter, and I also know Sally, I mean Samantha, was up there. Why was she in the attic, Dad?”

***
The link to the other Weekend Writing Warriors is here. You're bound to find something to pique your interest.

The Sunday Snippet writer's on Facebook are here. Between the two there is something for everyone. Thank you for any comments you leave me. Much appreciated!
*** 
BLURB:
When three small coffins are unearthed near the Wiscoy Creek during a routine dredging operation, it’s the last thing DAVE ROBERTSON, of the Lamont Weekly Times, expected. Pinned to the skeleton’s clothing are pictures from milk cartons of missing girls.

Dave is stunned to find that one of the girls is Sally―a foster child his parents had cared for through the Friends of Foster Families (FFF) program. Cold case files reveal the girls disappeared over 20 years ago. Knowing his house was the last place he saw Sally alive, he can’t help but suspect his dad.

How can he write the biggest story of his career if his father turns out to be the killer? If the voice in his head would shut up and let him remember, he might figure it out before he loses his mind and his dad is charged with murder.

Full blurb and snippet recap here.

***
The link to the other Weekend Writing Warriors is here. You're bound to find something to pique your interest.

The Sunday Snippet writer's on Facebook are here. Between the two there is something for everyone. Thank you for any comments you leave me. Much appreciated!
*** 
BLURB:
When three small coffins are unearthed near the Wiscoy Creek during a routine dredging operation, it’s the last thing DAVE ROBERTSON, of the Lamont Weekly Times, expected. Pinned to the skeleton’s clothing are pictures from milk cartons of missing girls.

Dave is stunned to find that one of the girls is Sally―a foster child his parents had cared for through the Friends of Foster Families (FFF) program. Cold case files reveal the girls disappeared over 20 years ago. Knowing his house was the last place he saw Sally alive, he can’t help but suspect his dad.

How can he write the biggest story of his career if his father turns out to be the killer? If the voice in his head would shut up and let him remember, he might figure it out before he loses his mind and his dad is charged with murder.

Full blurb and snippet recap here.
- See more at: http://historysleuth.blogspot.com/2013/06/milk-carton-murders-15.html#sthash.3MnJEsnt.dpuf
***
The link to the other Weekend Writing Warriors is here. You're bound to find something to pique your interest.

The Sunday Snippet writer's on Facebook are here. Between the two there is something for everyone. Thank you for any comments you leave me. Much appreciated!
*** 
BLURB:
When three small coffins are unearthed near the Wiscoy Creek during a routine dredging operation, it’s the last thing DAVE ROBERTSON, of the Lamont Weekly Times, expected. Pinned to the skeleton’s clothing are pictures from milk cartons of missing girls.

Dave is stunned to find that one of the girls is Sally―a foster child his parents had cared for through the Friends of Foster Families (FFF) program. Cold case files reveal the girls disappeared over 20 years ago. Knowing his house was the last place he saw Sally alive, he can’t help but suspect his dad.

How can he write the biggest story of his career if his father turns out to be the killer? If the voice in his head would shut up and let him remember, he might figure it out before he loses his mind and his dad is charged with murder.

Full blurb and snippet recap here.
- See more at: http://historysleuth.blogspot.com/2013/06/milk-carton-murders-15.html#sthash.3MnJEsnt.dpuf
***
The link to the other Weekend Writing Warriors is here. You're bound to find something to pique your interest.

The Sunday Snippet writer's on Facebook are here. Between the two there is something for everyone. Thank you for any comments you leave me. Much appreciated!
*** 
BLURB:
When three small coffins are unearthed near the Wiscoy Creek during a routine dredging operation, it’s the last thing DAVE ROBERTSON, of the Lamont Weekly Times, expected. Pinned to the skeleton’s clothing are pictures from milk cartons of missing girls.

Dave is stunned to find that one of the girls is Sally―a foster child his parents had cared for through the Friends of Foster Families (FFF) program. Cold case files reveal the girls disappeared over 20 years ago. Knowing his house was the last place he saw Sally alive, he can’t help but suspect his dad.

How can he write the biggest story of his career if his father turns out to be the killer? If the voice in his head would shut up and let him remember, he might figure it out before he loses his mind and his dad is charged with murder.

Full blurb and snippet recap here.
- See more at: http://historysleuth.blogspot.com/2013/06/milk-carton-murders-15.html#sthash.3MnJEsnt.dpuf
Share:

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Bugs My Nemesis

This post is part of the June Blog Chain at the Absolute Write Forums
The topic is bugs.


There are good bugs, and there are bad bugs that plot to interfere with my carefully planned garden with their evil destructive ways. So I created some rituals myself to DESTROY THEM!

See this bug here?



It is the dreaded Japanese Beetle. It’s a ninja bug. It sneaks in stealth like and hides on the underside of leaves.  You can wake the next morning with your gang of plants decimated, munched down so nothing is left but limbs and veins.

Oh, you can try to set a trap, but it won’t work. You’ll just encourage more to come to their aide. You must kill them! Torch them! Obliterate them if you want them gone. I inspect every under leaf as soon as I spot them. I use my handy tweezers, put them in a cup of gasoline—and light it. MWAH-HA-HA! 


Then there is the elusive, hard to catch, Cabbage White Butterfly.


She looks harmless as she gracefully flutters from plant to plant. But don’t let her fool you. She’s a liar, not a butterfly at all but a lowly moth. Her little children are spawns of Hell. The tiny adorable little green caterpillars lie unmoving like a chameleon in the center vein of a vegetable leaf eating its way through to the next stage of its life-- they hide in the cabbage, they blend into the broccoli head, and sometimes you don’t spot them until they are COOKED ALIVE!


I can’t forget my nemesis the Squash Vine Borer.



It lives up to its name and does exactly that. It looks like a colorful fly. They laugh at me as I chase them with my net, but this year—this year will be different. Pantyhose will encase my zucchini stalks down below the soil, tin foil on their tender limbs.

My defense is against its children who will munch their way up from the base through the squash vines until they wither and die. If you’re lucky you can spot an ill vine, slit it with a knife, and with your tweezers pull out the gooey, writhing, grub-thing. Then put them in a cup with gasoline—and BURN THEM!


HA! Oh bugs in disguise, you will find no rest for your offspring here! For I shall protect the fruits of my labor! 

Below are some pics of last year’s recycle bin garden.




You can read the other bloggers posts on bugs below.
Participants and posts:
orion_mk3 - http://nonexistentbooks.wordpress.com (link to post)
Diem_Allen - http://mindovermistakes.blogspot.com (link to post)
Ralph Pines - http://ralfast.wordpress.com (link to post)
articshark - http://www.drslaten.com/blog (link to post)
Lady Cat - http://randomwriterlythoughts.blogspot.ca (link to post)
U2Girl - http://ancatdubh.org (link to post)
MsLaylaCakes - http://www.taraquan.com/ (link to post)
SuzanneSeese - http://www.viewofsue.blogspot.com/ (link to post)
robynmackenzie - http://iwanttobeawesomewhenigrowup.com/ (link to post)
Sunwords - http://susannedoering.wordpress.com/ (link to post)
Angyl78 - http://jelyzabeth.wordpress.com/ (link to post)
susanielson - http://somesemblancethereof.blogspot.com/ (link to post)
HistorySleuth - http://historysleuth.blogspot.com (link to post)
SRHowen - http://srhowen1.blogspot.com/ (link to post)
xcomplex - http://arielemerald.blogspot.com/ (link to post)
milkweed - http://www.thistlequill.blogspot.com/ (link to post)
***
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Cindy's bookshelf: read

Waiting for Harvey
4 of 5 stars
Alone, in a cabin in the woods, with a ghost. Who could ask for more in a ghost story? Harvey starts right out with a hint of foreboding in a conversation between brothers John and Erik. Already my curiosity is roused as to what happened...
tagged: books-i-read-to-me
James Potter and the Curse of the Gate Keeper
3 of 5 stars
I randomly downloaded this on my iPad when I hit the wrong button being a bumble fingers, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I've never read fanfic before. It was pretty good. But like many other people, it still can't compare to J. K. Row...
CHIMERAS
5 of 5 stars
I beta read a few chapters of a different book by this author (one that isn't out yet) so when this one was out I had to read it as it was the same character in the one a betaed a bit of--the character of Track. I have a fondness for thi...
tagged: books-i-read-to-me

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