Monday, May 30, 2022

Time


When my dad was retired on disability and after they moved to Fond du Lac, WI to be closer to his doctor, he had a load of time on his hands. He worked feverishly for years as a designing engineer. Sure, there were brief vacations and weekends were off as were holidays, but with no real hobbies or work to do, he had time on his hands. 

Before he got really sick, he rode the bus exploring his new city. I think of that and I can’t help but feel sad. Mom didn’t ride it with him. He was by himself. He and mom were removed from their many friends in West Bend, the town they lived in for my childhood and early adulthood. They didn’t really know anyone. One of my brothers and one of my sisters lived in town, but they had their own lives. Dad didn’t really have anyone.

My brothers, Jack, Jim, and Jeff, are all retired. Jack spends his day with exercise, reading, playing games on his computer, and watching movies. Jim owns an RV park, and the maintenance keeps him busy, along with his wife, daughters, and grandkids. Not sure what Jeff does, as his retirement is more recent. I know there were some home repairs and such. I know his sons and step-daughter live nearby. My brothers seem happy and content. Satisfied. 

For the first time in the last twenty-four years, I am doing nothing this summer. No job to drive off to. No actual work to be done. Don’t have to set the alarm, though I try to get up by seven. 

Of course, I have my writing to do. I look forward to it, but I also don’t want to be too sedentary. I have reading, and I want to catch up on some movies I had wanted to watch. But again, I don’t want to be too sedentary. I want to get in better shape, keep my mind and body alert and active.

I went on a walk this morning for the first time since I had my knee scoped. Felt good, though the temp was hotter than I expected. I’ll have to get out earlier. Walking is something I want and need to do. There is a gym about a mile or two away. They have a deal on memberships, so I might drive over, take a tour and see if that is something I want to do. 

The thing about time . . . 

There is so much, and there is so little. On one hand, you look at the overall number of days in the summer and it seems like a lot. Yet, time is precious, and it cannot, should not, be wasted. Time, like wine or a good dessert, needs to be savored.

But for the first time in twenty-four years, I don’t have much to do. We have a wedding to go to. Traveling to Wisconsin is always fun, and seeing family and some friends again are always good things to do. We have a family vacation to the beach planned. But other than those two bookends, there is unaccounted for time. 

Time.

I’m not going to be like my dad and ride a bus all over the county. I might be a little slower these days, but I’m not disabled. I’m still active, though the pace might be slower. My mind is still sharp. At least I think it is. And again, I have my writing I want to do. Characters to explore and develop, throwing them into mayhem and having them chase down blind alleys. 

There will need to be a balance. I get that. But for the first time, I get to set my pace, my goals, my work, my boundaries. I have time. And time is both a wonderful thing, and a scary thing. It needs to be domesticated and become my friend. Not sure how to go about that, but I’m looking forward to the opportunity, even if I am a bit nervous. I’ll manage. I always seem to. I think. 

Something to think about . . . 

Live Your Life, and Make A Difference!

To My Readers:

I finished the edits on my ninth book, Fan Mail. I will let you know the publication timeline of it as I find out. Meanwhile, below are my other books for your enjoyment.

If you have read one of my books, I would like to ask a favor. If you could go online and write a review or, at the least, give a rating on the book, it would be of great help. Both a review and a rating would be wonderful. The review could be one or two lines. It doesn’t have to be long. Just let others know you read it and hopefully, enjoyed it. Obviously, 4s and 5s are the best. Thanks for this consideration.

Connect with me on Social Media: 
Author Website
www.jrlewisauthor.blog/
Twitter at @jrlewisauthor
Facebook at: 
www.facebook.com/Joseph.Lewis.Author  
Amazon at: 
www.amazon.com/Joseph-Lewis/e/B01FWB9AOI /

Blaze In, Blaze Out: A Literary Titan Gold Book Award Winner! A Reader’s Ready Recommended Read! A BestThriller’s Editor’s Pick!

Eiselmann and O’Connor thought the conviction of Dmitry Andruko, the head of a Ukrainian crime family, meant the end. It was only the beginning. They forgot that revenge knows no boundaries, vindictiveness knows no restraints, and ruthlessness never worries about collateral damage. Andruko hired contract killers to go after and kill O’Connor and Eiselmann. The killers can be anyone and be anywhere. They can strike at any time. They care nothing of collateral damage. Andruko believes a target is a target, and in the end, the target must die. https://amzn.to/34lNllP

Betrayed: A PenCraft 1st Place Winner for Thriller-Fiction! A Maxy Award Runner-Up for Mystery/Suspense! A Literary Titan Silver Book Award Winner! A Reader’s Ready Recommended Read Award Winner! A Reader’s Favorite Honorable Mention Award Winner for Fiction-Crime-Mystery!

Betrayed is Now Available in Audio Book, Kindle and Paperback! https://amzn.to/3AfUUpS

A late-night phone call, a missing kid, a murdered family, but no one is talking. A promise is made and kept, but it could mean the death of a fifteen-year-old boy. Greed can be all-consuming, and seeing is not believing. No one can be trusted, and the hunters become the hunted. https://amzn.to/2EKHudx

Spiral Into Darkness: Named a Recommended Read in the Author Shout Reader Awards!
He blends in. He is successful, intelligent, and methodical. So far, he has murdered eight people. There is no discernible pattern. There are no clues. There are no leads. The only thing the FBI and local police have to go on is the method of death: two bullets to the face- gruesome and meant to send a message. But it’s difficult to understand any message coming from a dark and damaged mind. Two adopted boys, struggling in their own world, do not know they are the next targets. Neither does their family. And neither does local law enforcement. https://amzn.to/2RBWvTm

Caught in a Web: A PenCraft Literary Award Winner! Named “One of the Best Thrillers of 2018!” by BestThrillers.com 

Caught in a Web is also available in Audio Book, Kindle and Paperback! http://bit.ly/2WO3kka

They found the bodies of high school and middle school kids dead from an overdose of heroin and fentanyl. A violent gang, MS-13, controls the drug trade along the I-94 and I-43 corridors. They send Ricardo Fuentes to find out who is cutting in on their business, shut it down and teach them a lesson. But he has an ulterior motive: find and kill a fifteen-year-old boy, George Tokay. Detectives Jamie Graff, Pat O’Connor and Paul Eiselmann race to find the source of the drugs, shut down the ring, and find Fuentes before he kills anyone else. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CKF7696  
 
The Lives Trilogy Prequel, Taking Lives:
FBI Agent Pete Kelliher and his partner search for the clues behind the bodies of six boys left in various and remote parts of the country. Even though they live in separate parts of the country, the lives of Kelliher, 11-year-old Brett McGovern, and 11-year-old George Tokay are separate pieces of a puzzle. The two boys become interwoven with the same thread Kelliher holds in his hand. The three of them are on a collision course and when that happens, their futures grow dark as each search for a way out. https://amzn.to/34nXBH5
 
Book One, Stolen Lives: Editor’s Pick by BestThrillers! Literary Titan Gold Book Award Winner! A Crime Thriller finalist in the 2021 Best Thriller Book Awards!
Two thirteen-year-old boys are abducted off a safe suburban street. Kelliher and his team of FBI agents have 24 hours to find them or they will end up like the other kids they found- dead! They have no leads, no clues, and nothing to go on. To make the investigation that much tougher, Kelliher suspects that one of his team members might be involved. https://amzn.to/3oMo4qZ  
 
Book Two of the Lives Trilogy, Shattered Lives:
The boys are home, but now they have to fit back in with their families and friends. Their parents and the FBI thought the boys were safe. They were until people began dying. Now the hunt is on for six dangerous and desperate men who vow revenge. With no leads and nothing to go on, the FBI can only sit back and wait. A dangerous game that threatens not only the boys, but their families. https://amzn.to/2RAYIk2 
 
Book Three of the Lives Trilogy, Splintered Lives:
Three dangerous men with nothing to lose offer a handsome reward to anyone willing to kill fourteen-year-old Brett McGovern. He does not know that he, his younger brother, and a friend are targets. More than anyone, these three men vow to kill George, whom they blame for forcing them to run and hide. A fun vacation turns into a nightmare and ends where it started, back on the Navajo Nation Reservation, high on a mesa held sacred by George and his grandfather. Outnumbered and outgunned, George will make the ultimate sacrifice to protect his adoptive father and his adoptive brothers- but can he? Without knowing who these men are? Or where they are? Without knowing whom to trust? Is he prepared for betrayal that leads to his heartbreak and death? http://bit.ly/SplinteredLives  

Photo courtesy of Aron Visuals and Unsplash.

  

 

 

Sunday, May 22, 2022

One Perspective


About this same time, but fifty years ago, I remember sitting nervously in St. Ambrose Church on my high school campus, awaiting my turn to speak. I wasn’t the Valedictorian, nor the Salutatorian. Rather, my classmates and faculty chose me to be one of the speakers. Harold was the other.

Thirty-two of us graduating, the first graduating class of JFK Prep in tiny St. Nazianz, Wisconsin. Little did any of us know that roughly ten years later, the school would fold because of finances.

I remember worrying more about my speech than I did about my future. I was happy to just graduate. Later, I would attend the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, where I changed my major a couple of times, to what I once became, a social studies teacher and coach. Quite the journey.

I’ve reconnected with several of my classmates, and I’m looking forward to the fiftieth reunion this coming October. I’ll get to see, face-to-face, some of the guys and girls I attended high school with. Exchange stories, some successes, a few failures. All of us have them.

I remember the day of my graduation. Beautiful outside. Blue sky. Hot and humid though, the inside of the St. Ambrose a welcome respite from the heat. Sitting in my blue double-breasted suit, fashion at the time.

Speech over. Diplomas awarded. Congratulations and handshakes and hugs. Pats on the back. A change of clothes, the tie and the suit coat the first to go. A party or two. Then packing up and leaving for home.

 


One time of life at an end. A new time of life beginning. The anxiety, the unknown. Some friendships ending, new ones about to begin.

Who knew that I would become a college coach? A counselor? An assistant principal and then principal? I didn’t. Not then. My vision and my world was myopic. Who knew I would have eight books published and a ninth on the way? Not me! Married with three kids? A hope. A dream.

This is the graduation and commencement season. Yesterday, the five high schools in my area all had commencement. There were, I’m sure, tears of joy and some sadness. All with high expectations. Yet, so much is a fog as they peek into the future. Not much to see . . . yet. Not much to expect . . . yet.

Most of us were there, too, weren’t we? Scrubbed, shiny faces. Dress shoes and slacks. Pretty dresses and skirts. Smiles wide, eyes alert. Parties to attend. Food to eat and gifts to open.

And then . . .

Who knows? But hope is a tangible thing, a good thing. Kids will test waters, apply their budding and growing skill to carve out a life and a world for them to live in. Some memories, both good and bad, will accompany them along the way, as will the few friends they maintain from the old days. 

It’s life. It’s love. It’s the future to hold and behold. Successes along with failures. Triumphs along with defeats. All in one tidy, perhaps, package. The package we call life. Our life. Only to be repeated this time next year. And again. And again. No end in sight. Shouldn’t be an end in sight. Lives changing. Lives becoming. Something to think about . . .

Live Your Life, and Make A Difference!

To My Readers:

I finished the edits on my ninth book, Fan Mail. I want one more go-round one more edit before I ship it off. It differs from the other books I’ve written. It is more coming of age wrapped in a thriller. It is longer than my other books, and it was fun and satisfying to write. Like I have done in some of my other books, I laughed out loud and wept in spots as I wrote it. It will tug at your emotions and will cause you to reflect.

I subscribe to the belief that a good book, any book, is never finished by the author. A book is finished by the reader. His or her feelings and experiences with the book color the book and make it his or her own, aside from the author. I am happy to share it with you upon publication to see what it will do for you, do to you.

I will let you know the publication timeline on Fan Mail as I find out. Meanwhile, below are my other books for your enjoyment.

If you have read one of my books, I would like to ask a favor. If you could go online and write a review or, at the least, give a rating on the book, it would be of great help. Both a review and a rating would be wonderful. The review could be one or two lines. It doesn’t have to be long. Just let others know you read it and hopefully, enjoyed it. Obviously, 4s and 5s are the best. Thanks for this consideration.

Connect with me on Social Media: 
Author Website
www.jrlewisauthor.blog/
Twitter at @jrlewisauthor
Facebook at: 
www.facebook.com/Joseph.Lewis.Author  
Amazon at: 
www.amazon.com/Joseph-Lewis/e/B01FWB9AOI /

Blaze In, Blaze Out: A Literary Titan Gold Book Award Winner! A Reader’s Ready Recommended Read! A BestThriller’s Editor’s Pick!

Eiselmann and O’Connor thought the conviction of Dmitry Andruko, the head of a Ukrainian crime family, meant the end. It was only the beginning. They forgot that revenge knows no boundaries, vindictiveness knows no restraints, and ruthlessness never worries about collateral damage. Andruko hired contract killers to go after and kill O’Connor and Eiselmann. The killers can be anyone and be anywhere. They can strike at any time. They care nothing of collateral damage. Andruko believes a target is a target, and in the end, the target must die. https://amzn.to/34lNllP

Betrayed: A PenCraft 1st Place Winner for Thriller-Fiction! A Maxy Award Runner-Up for Mystery/Suspense! A Literary Titan Silver Book Award Winner! A Reader’s Ready Recommended Read Award Winner! A Reader’s Favorite Honorable Mention Award Winner for Fiction-Crime-Mystery!

Betrayed is Now Available in Audio Book, Kindle and Paperback! https://amzn.to/3AfUUpS

A late-night phone call, a missing kid, a murdered family, but no one is talking. A promise is made and kept, but it could mean the death of a fifteen-year-old boy. Greed can be all-consuming, and seeing is not believing. No one can be trusted, and the hunters become the hunted. https://amzn.to/2EKHudx

Spiral Into Darkness: Named a Recommended Read in the Author Shout Reader Awards!
He blends in. He is successful, intelligent, and methodical. So far, he has murdered eight people. There is no discernible pattern. There are no clues. There are no leads. The only thing the FBI and local police have to go on is the method of death: two bullets to the face- gruesome and meant to send a message. But it’s difficult to understand any message coming from a dark and damaged mind. Two adopted boys, struggling in their own world, do not know they are the next targets. Neither does their family. And neither does local law enforcement. https://amzn.to/2RBWvTm

Caught in a Web: A PenCraft Literary Award Winner! Named “One of the Best Thrillers of 2018!” by BestThrillers.com 

Caught in a Web is also available in Audio Book, Kindle and Paperback! http://bit.ly/2WO3kka

They found the bodies of high school and middle school kids dead from an overdose of heroin and fentanyl. A violent gang, MS-13, controls the drug trade along the I-94 and I-43 corridors. They send Ricardo Fuentes to find out who is cutting in on their business, shut it down and teach them a lesson. But he has an ulterior motive: find and kill a fifteen-year-old boy, George Tokay. Detectives Jamie Graff, Pat O’Connor and Paul Eiselmann race to find the source of the drugs, shut down the ring, and find Fuentes before he kills anyone else. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CKF7696  
 
The Lives Trilogy Prequel, Taking Lives:
FBI Agent Pete Kelliher and his partner search for the clues behind the bodies of six boys left in various and remote parts of the country. Even though they live in separate parts of the country, the lives of Kelliher, 11-year-old Brett McGovern, and 11-year-old George Tokay are separate pieces of a puzzle. The two boys become interwoven with the same thread Kelliher holds in his hand. The three of them are on a collision course and when that happens, their futures grow dark as each search for a way out. https://amzn.to/34nXBH5
 
Book One, Stolen Lives: Editor’s Pick by BestThrillers! Literary Titan Gold Book Award Winner! A Crime Thriller finalist in the 2021 Best Thriller Book Awards!
Two thirteen-year-old boys are abducted off a safe suburban street. Kelliher and his team of FBI agents have 24 hours to find them or they will end up like the other kids they found- dead! They have no leads, no clues, and nothing to go on. To make the investigation that much tougher, Kelliher suspects that one of his team members might be involved. https://amzn.to/3oMo4qZ  
 
Book Two of the Lives Trilogy, Shattered Lives:
The boys are home, but now they have to fit back in with their families and friends. Their parents and the FBI thought the boys were safe. They were until people began dying. Now the hunt is on for six dangerous and desperate men who vow revenge. With no leads and nothing to go on, the FBI can only sit back and wait. A dangerous game that threatens not only the boys, but their families. https://amzn.to/2RAYIk2 
 
Book Three of the Lives Trilogy, Splintered Lives:
Three dangerous men with nothing to lose offer a handsome reward to anyone willing to kill fourteen-year-old Brett McGovern. He does not know that he, his younger brother, and a friend are targets. More than anyone, these three men vow to kill George, whom they blame for forcing them to run and hide. A fun vacation turns into a nightmare and ends where it started, back on the Navajo Nation Reservation, high on a mesa held sacred by George and his grandfather. Outnumbered and outgunned, George will make the ultimate sacrifice to protect his adoptive father and his adoptive brothers- but can he? Without knowing who these men are? Or where they are? Without knowing whom to trust? Is he prepared for betrayal that leads to his heartbreak and death? http://bit.ly/SplinteredLives  

Photos of me circa 1972 courtesy of unknown.

 

Sunday, May 15, 2022

Two Strong Women


I’ve been blessed to have strong women in my life. A mother and six sisters. Of the six sisters, four of them are or were nurses. Two went into education. Through it all, there was a mother who did her best with what she had, and a past that was haunting, at least by her account.

Ten of us all together. The first four or five born were about 18 months to two years apart. Always one or two in diapers, and they weren’t the disposable ones, either. Mounds and piles of laundry. One income- my dad’s.

There was never enough food or money to go around. Often, both mom and dad made sure we had enough to eat, while they didn’t. Saturday was baking day. Homemade bread and rolls. Maybe a pie or two. And of course, laundry.

My dad busied himself with the Knights of Columbus and the Squires. He was one organizer of the local Big Brothers, Big Sisters chapter in the city. All of his time away, left mom to deal with us.  

At one point, mom suffered an undiagnosed breakdown. I was little at the time and didn’t understand it. I still don’t. My memory of it is foggy, and I’m lucky it is. No need for me to remember that. There were other awful memories that are best kept private. Safe to say my brothers and sisters and I are products either because of or despite our upbringing. That’s the way with all families. I choose to remember and write about the good and the positive.

Mom lived to be 99 years old. She hung in there to see all her kids marry and have children of their own. A tough life, but a good life. A life well lived as best she could. 

Because our family was so large, and because my mom needed help with those of us at the tail end of the Lewis line, we had a charge system. One of the older ones took care of one of the younger ones. My “charge” was my sister, Betty.

 


It was Betty who bought me my first day of school outfit. I spent weekends with her and with her husband. I am the godfather to their daughter, Nadine. She took me to movies, bought me ice cream and hamburgers. Later in life, my own family spent more than one Christmas with Betty and her family. There isn’t enough positive I can say about her.

Betty was the smallest of our family, standing four-foot-ten-inches in her nurse’s shoes. But in my mind, she was so much larger. She worked as an ER nurse, a surgical nurse, and a visiting nurse. I picked up her penchant for worrying, but I also think I picked up her compassion, her caring, and her sense of humor.

She loved to tell stories, especially those that poked fun at herself. She would often end up laughing well before the punchline or the story was finished. She tells the story of a turkey that hadn’t been thawed out enough, and the dressing floated around the pan as it baked. There was the time she put her husband’s underwear in the wash and dryer with the curtains- fiber glass, of course. On a skiing trip, she intended to go down a bunny hill, only to take a wrong turn, not once but twice, and went down a black diamond hill, the hardest, toughest run of the slope.

May is the month we celebrate mothers. I’m fortunate to have had two women who guided and protected me, molded me, and loved me. We are all products of our upbringing and the lives given to us. Along the way, there are people who move into and out of our lives, sometimes like waiters in a restaurant (to quote or paraphrase Stephen King). As children, we watch and we listen and learn. I believe (maybe hope?) we gravitate to the best that is offered to us, while some gravitate to that which isn’t. I’d like to think I am who I am because of my mom and my dad, and my brothers and sisters, especially Betty. I owe her so much more than anyone can imagine. 

I think that is the case with each of us. There is someone, perhaps more than one “someone” who helped guide us towards a path and helped us stay on it. I’d like to think that in my forty-six years as a teacher, coach, counselor, and administrator, I help mold those I worked with. Far greater is my role as dad and husband. I only hope that my daughters, Hannah and Emily, will look back on their dad, me, as someone who cared and gave and loved them with all he had to give. And I dearly hope they can forgive any of my misgivings, of which there are many. Something to think about . . .

Live Your Life, and Make A Difference!

To My Readers:

I finished the edits on my ninth book, Fan Mail. I want one more go-round on it before I ship it off to the publisher. It differs from the other books I’ve written. It is more coming of age wrapped in a thriller. It is longer than my other books, and it was fun and satisfying to write. Like I have done in some of my other books, I laughed out loud and wept in spots as I wrote it. It will tug at your emotions and will cause you to reflect.

I subscribe to the belief that a good book, any book, is never finished by the author. A book is finished by the reader. His or her feelings and experiences with the book color the book and make it his or her own, aside from the author. I am happy to share it with you upon publication to see what it will do for you, do to you.

I will let you know the publication timeline on Fan Mail as I find out. Meanwhile, below are my other books for your enjoyment.

If you have read one of my books, I would like to ask a favor. If you could go online and write a review or, at the least, give a rating on the book, it would be of great help. Both a review and a rating would be wonderful. The review could be one or two lines. It doesn’t have to be long. Just let others know you read it and hopefully, enjoyed it. Obviously, 4s and 5s are the best. Thanks for this consideration.

Connect with me on Social Media: 
Author Website
www.jrlewisauthor.blog/
Twitter at @jrlewisauthor
Facebook at: 
www.facebook.com/Joseph.Lewis.Author  
Amazon at: 
www.amazon.com/Joseph-Lewis/e/B01FWB9AOI /

Blaze In, Blaze Out: A Literary Titan Gold Book Award Winner! A Reader’s Ready Recommended Read! A BestThriller’s Editor’s Pick!

Eiselmann and O’Connor thought the conviction of Dmitry Andruko, the head of a Ukrainian crime family, meant the end. It was only the beginning. They forgot that revenge knows no boundaries, vindictiveness knows no restraints, and ruthlessness never worries about collateral damage. Andruko hired contract killers to go after and kill O’Connor and Eiselmann. The killers can be anyone and be anywhere. They can strike at any time. They care nothing of collateral damage. Andruko believes a target is a target, and in the end, the target must die. https://amzn.to/34lNllP

Betrayed: A PenCraft 1st Place Winner for Thriller-Fiction! A Maxy Award Runner-Up for Mystery/Suspense! A Literary Titan Silver Book Award Winner! A Reader’s Ready Recommended Read Award Winner! A Reader’s Favorite Honorable Mention Award Winner for Fiction-Crime-Mystery!

Betrayed is Now Available in Audio Book, Kindle and Paperback! https://amzn.to/3AfUUpS

A late-night phone call, a missing kid, a murdered family, but no one is talking. A promise is made and kept, but it could mean the death of a fifteen-year-old boy. Greed can be all-consuming, and seeing is not believing. No one can be trusted, and the hunters become the hunted. https://amzn.to/2EKHudx

Spiral Into Darkness: Named a Recommended Read in the Author Shout Reader Awards!
He blends in. He is successful, intelligent, and methodical. So far, he has murdered eight people. There is no discernible pattern. There are no clues. There are no leads. The only thing the FBI and local police have to go on is the method of death: two bullets to the face- gruesome and meant to send a message. But it’s difficult to understand any message coming from a dark and damaged mind. Two adopted boys, struggling in their own world, do not know they are the next targets. Neither does their family. And neither does local law enforcement. https://amzn.to/2RBWvTm

Caught in a Web: A PenCraft Literary Award Winner! Named “One of the Best Thrillers of 2018!” by BestThrillers.com 

Caught in a Web is also available in Audio Book, Kindle and Paperback! http://bit.ly/2WO3kka

They found the bodies of high school and middle school kids dead from an overdose of heroin and fentanyl. A violent gang, MS-13, controls the drug trade along the I-94 and I-43 corridors. They send Ricardo Fuentes to find out who is cutting in on their business, shut it down and teach them a lesson. But he has an ulterior motive: find and kill a fifteen-year-old boy, George Tokay. Detectives Jamie Graff, Pat O’Connor and Paul Eiselmann race to find the source of the drugs, shut down the ring, and find Fuentes before he kills anyone else. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CKF7696  
 
The Lives Trilogy Prequel, Taking Lives:
FBI Agent Pete Kelliher and his partner search for the clues behind the bodies of six boys left in various and remote parts of the country. Even though they live in separate parts of the country, the lives of Kelliher, 11-year-old Brett McGovern, and 11-year-old George Tokay are separate pieces of a puzzle. The two boys become interwoven with the same thread Kelliher holds in his hand. The three of them are on a collision course and when that happens, their futures grow dark as each search for a way out. https://amzn.to/34nXBH5
 
Book One, Stolen Lives: Editor’s Pick by BestThrillers! Literary Titan Gold Book Award Winner! A Crime Thriller finalist in the 2021 Best Thriller Book Awards!
Two thirteen-year-old boys are abducted off a safe suburban street. Kelliher and his team of FBI agents have 24 hours to find them or they will end up like the other kids they found- dead! They have no leads, no clues, and nothing to go on. To make the investigation that much tougher, Kelliher suspects that one of his team members might be involved. https://amzn.to/3oMo4qZ  
 
Book Two of the Lives Trilogy, Shattered Lives:
The boys are home, but now they have to fit back in with their families and friends. Their parents and the FBI thought the boys were safe. They were until people began dying. Now the hunt is on for six dangerous and desperate men who vow revenge. With no leads and nothing to go on, the FBI can only sit back and wait. A dangerous game that threatens not only the boys, but their families. https://amzn.to/2RAYIk2 
 
Book Three of the Lives Trilogy, Splintered Lives:
Three dangerous men with nothing to lose offer a handsome reward to anyone willing to kill fourteen-year-old Brett McGovern. He does not know that he, his younger brother, and a friend are targets. More than anyone, these three men vow to kill George, whom they blame for forcing them to run and hide. A fun vacation turns into a nightmare and ends where it started, back on the Navajo Nation Reservation, high on a mesa held sacred by George and his grandfather. Outnumbered and outgunned, George will make the ultimate sacrifice to protect his adoptive father and his adoptive brothers- but can he? Without knowing who these men are? Or where they are? Without knowing whom to trust? Is he prepared for betrayal that leads to his heartbreak and death? http://bit.ly/SplinteredLives  

Photos of my mother, Corinne, and my sister, Betty, courtesy of unknown.

 

Wednesday, May 4, 2022

What Isn't Said

 

My background is psychology and counseling. The last years of my teaching before I became a counselor was spent teaching psychology entirely. I wrote the curriculum for it centered on having the students answer two questions: Who am I? and Why am I? Each activity we did in class was geared around answering those two questions. 

The culminating project for each student was for them to choose one of the personality theorists and describe their life from early on to the present day. It was as much fun for parents as it was for the kids. I remember one mom came to me in a grocery store one day after her daughter had graduated and with tears in her eyes, thanked me for having her daughter do that project. She still had it and considered it a keepsake.

This past weekend end, Kim and I dog sat. We had our two, Daisy (golden retriever) and Stella (lab, beagle mix), both rescues, along with Hannah’s and Alex’s two dogs, Teddy (golden retriever) and Chip (a rottweiler and shepherd mix, and a rescue). Stella is the oldest, and I think of her as Gladys Kravitz, the nosey busy-body neighbor on the old Bewitched TV show. All four get along, though Chip and Stella have developed a tolerance of each other. Chip leaves Stella alone and vice versa.

It was interesting watching them interact, or not, as the case may be.

I was reminded of something I picked up in one of my undergrad psychology classes. We studied Niko Tinbergen, a Dutch biologist and ornithologist, who spent a significant part of his life, and earned a Nobel Peace Prize, studying organization and elicitation of individual and social behavior patterns in animals. 

Tinbergen was asked to consult on a child who didn’t speak. Not that he couldn’t speak. Just that the child didn’t speak. The mother mentioned that she wanted to know what he was thinking and wished he would talk. Tinbergen smiled and said something like, “I’m happy he doesn’t. We can find out the truth of what he is thinking by observing.” 

So, I watched the dogs interact with each other, and with Kim and me. Chip and Daisy played constantly. Teddy demanded his share of pets and would wedge his way in between the dog Kim or I was petting, so he would get his pets, too. Stella was Stella. She would observe from around the corner or from a distance, just like Gladys Kravitz. Not sure whether or not Stella approved, but she was content to watch from a distance.

More than once, I wondered what she and the other three dogs thought, and I thought of Tinbergen.

I was reminded of that as I observe the kids in my classroom. Some work diligently: head down, nose into it, and they don’t come up for air until the bell rings. Some work in intervals: not constantly, but will work for a time, then check their phone or stretch or look around the room or grab a book and read, only to go back and work on their computer. There are some who sleep without actually working. Using my computer, I can see if they are on pace or ahead, so I let them sleep. Others, if they are behind, I wake them up and they work for a small amount of time, only to rest their chin on their chest or their head on the table and nap. 

I watch and listen and observe. I wonder what is going on in their home life that causes them to come to school with bedhead, without deodorant, or without sleep. I wonder if they get enough to eat. We have sixteen school days left and I wonder what the summer will bring to or do for them. 

I engage them in conversation. I ask how they are doing or what their plans are. I listen and I watch, and sometimes, most times (I think), like Tinbergen, we get the truth by observing, and not what they say. Kids are protective of themselves. Their antenna is up and they observe and listen as much as I do. They know sincerity when they see and hear it. They know who is genuine and who is not. Don’t we all! Something to think about . . .

Live Your Life, and Make A Difference!

To My Readers:

I finished the edits on my ninth book, Fan Mail. I wrote the dedication, the author’s notes, and the synopsis/book blurb. It differs from the other books I’ve written. It is more coming of age wrapped in a thriller. It is longer than my other books, but it was fun and satisfying to write. Like I have done in some of my other books, I laughed out loud and wept in spots as I wrote it. It will tug at your emotions and will cause you to reflect.

I subscribe to the belief that a good book, any book, is never finished by the author. A book is finished by the reader. His or her feelings and experiences with the book color the book and make it his or her own, aside from the author. I am happy to share it with you upon publication to see what it will do for you, do to you.

I will let you know the publication timeline on Fan Mail as I find out. Meanwhile, below are my other books for your enjoyment.

If you have read one of my books, I would like to ask a favor. If you could go online and write a review or, at the least, give a rating on the book, it would be of great help. Both a review and a rating would be wonderful. The review could be one or two lines. It doesn’t have to be long. Just let others know you read it and hopefully, enjoyed it. Obviously, 4s and 5s are the best. Thanks for this consideration.

Connect with me on Social Media: 
Author Website
www.jrlewisauthor.blog/
Twitter at @jrlewisauthor
Facebook at: 
www.facebook.com/Joseph.Lewis.Author  
Amazon at: 
www.amazon.com/Joseph-Lewis/e/B01FWB9AOI /

Blaze In, Blaze Out: A Literary Titan Gold Book Award Winner! A Reader’s Ready Recommended Read! A BestThriller’s Editor’s Pick!

Eiselmann and O’Connor thought the conviction of Dmitry Andruko, the head of a Ukrainian crime family, meant the end. It was only the beginning. They forgot that revenge knows no boundaries, vindictiveness knows no restraints, and ruthlessness never worries about collateral damage. Andruko hired contract killers to go after and kill O’Connor and Eiselmann. The killers can be anyone and be anywhere. They can strike at any time. They care nothing of collateral damage. Andruko believes a target is a target, and in the end, the target must die. https://amzn.to/34lNllP

Betrayed: A PenCraft 1st Place Winner for Thriller-Fiction! A Maxy Award Runner-Up for Mystery/Suspense! A Literary Titan Silver Book Award Winner! A Reader’s Ready Recommended Read Award Winner! A Reader’s Favorite Honorable Mention Award Winner for Fiction-Crime-Mystery!

Betrayed is Now Available in Audio Book, Kindle and Paperback! https://amzn.to/3AfUUpS

A late-night phone call, a missing kid, a murdered family, but no one is talking. A promise is made and kept, but it could mean the death of a fifteen-year-old boy. Greed can be all-consuming, and seeing is not believing. No one can be trusted, and the hunters become the hunted. https://amzn.to/2EKHudx

Spiral Into Darkness: Named a Recommended Read in the Author Shout Reader Awards!
He blends in. He is successful, intelligent, and methodical. So far, he has murdered eight people. There is no discernible pattern. There are no clues. There are no leads. The only thing the FBI and local police have to go on is the method of death: two bullets to the face- gruesome and meant to send a message. But it’s difficult to understand any message coming from a dark and damaged mind. Two adopted boys, struggling in their own world, do not know they are the next targets. Neither does their family. And neither does local law enforcement. https://amzn.to/2RBWvTm

Caught in a Web: A PenCraft Literary Award Winner! Named “One of the Best Thrillers of 2018!” by BestThrillers.com 

Caught in a Web is also available in Audio Book, Kindle and Paperback! http://bit.ly/2WO3kka

They found the bodies of high school and middle school kids dead from an overdose of heroin and fentanyl. A violent gang, MS-13, controls the drug trade along the I-94 and I-43 corridors. They send Ricardo Fuentes to find out who is cutting in on their business, shut it down and teach them a lesson. But he has an ulterior motive: find and kill a fifteen-year-old boy, George Tokay. Detectives Jamie Graff, Pat O’Connor and Paul Eiselmann race to find the source of the drugs, shut down the ring, and find Fuentes before he kills anyone else. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CKF7696  
 
The Lives Trilogy Prequel, Taking Lives:
FBI Agent Pete Kelliher and his partner search for the clues behind the bodies of six boys left in various and remote parts of the country. Even though they live in separate parts of the country, the lives of Kelliher, 11-year-old Brett McGovern, and 11-year-old George Tokay are separate pieces of a puzzle. The two boys become interwoven with the same thread Kelliher holds in his hand. The three of them are on a collision course and when that happens, their futures grow dark as each search for a way out. https://amzn.to/34nXBH5
 
Book One, Stolen Lives: Editor’s Pick by BestThrillers! Literary Titan Gold Book Award Winner! A Crime Thriller finalist in the 2021 Best Thriller Book Awards!
Two thirteen-year-old boys are abducted off a safe suburban street. Kelliher and his team of FBI agents have 24 hours to find them or they will end up like the other kids they found- dead! They have no leads, no clues, and nothing to go on. To make the investigation that much tougher, Kelliher suspects that one of his team members might be involved. https://amzn.to/3oMo4qZ  
 
Book Two of the Lives Trilogy, Shattered Lives:
The boys are home, but now they have to fit back in with their families and friends. Their parents and the FBI thought the boys were safe. They were until people began dying. Now the hunt is on for six dangerous and desperate men who vow revenge. With no leads and nothing to go on, the FBI can only sit back and wait. A dangerous game that threatens not only the boys, but their families. https://amzn.to/2RAYIk2 
 
Book Three of the Lives Trilogy, Splintered Lives:
Three dangerous men with nothing to lose offer a handsome reward to anyone willing to kill fourteen-year-old Brett McGovern. He does not know that he, his younger brother, and a friend are targets. More than anyone, these three men vow to kill George, whom they blame for forcing them to run and hide. A fun vacation turns into a nightmare and ends where it started, back on the Navajo Nation Reservation, high on a mesa held sacred by George and his grandfather. Outnumbered and outgunned, George will make the ultimate sacrifice to protect his adoptive father and his adoptive brothers- but can he? Without knowing who these men are? Or where they are? Without knowing whom to trust? Is he prepared for betrayal that leads to his heartbreak and death? http://bit.ly/SplinteredLives  

Photo Courtesy of Jeremiah Lawrence and Unsplash.