Who Do I Trust?

 Back when I was single and when I moved from Omaha back to Wisconsin, I lived briefly with my older brother and his wife, Jim and Laurie. They have three kids, now all grown up. Back then, the youngest, Kim, was still in a highchair.

I remember going out to dinner with them to a Chinese restaurant, and when the meal came. Kim declared her food was too hot, so my brother blew on it to cool it down. Kim waited patiently, and when Jim was finished, Kim began eating it. That’s trust.

She didn’t know if it was still too hot to eat, but she trusted her dad. If he said it was now okay to eat, that was good enough for her. 

Flash forward many years to when my wife, Kim (certainly not Jim’s daughter 😊) and I had our own kids. Hannah and Emily were still in elementary school. We had a jet ski and either Kim or I would take them out for rides. Either of us would drive, and Hannah and Emily- together or separately, would mount the machine and hold on tight. They trusted us to not crash or do anything too stupid with it.

My first year of teaching, I gave my seventh graders an assignment. Being a small school (72 kids in the high school and 110 in grades seven through 12), there was one social studies teacher: me. Sitting at my desk while the kids worked, I overheard one student ask another for help. Wayne tried as best he could and when he couldn’t go beyond what he knew, he said, “Ask Joe. He’s the teacher. He’ll help you.” Trust.

My last year as a head basketball coach, we faced a tough conference rival in the division championship for the rights to go to the regional competition. It was around a minute left and I called a timeout. One of my assistants turned to the other assistant and said, “Watch this!” confident that I knew what to do in the final seconds. It seemed I did, but we lost when the player, clearly open, slipped and fell as the pass was thrown his way and was intercepted. Trust.

Last week, Aaron Rodgers threw a pass on the first possession to a wide open rookie receiver. The pass was perfect. The pass hit the receiver in stride and would have been a walk-in touchdown. Instead, the ball hit the receiver’s hands, and the receiver dropped it. It was a long time before Rodgers threw the ball at him again that game.

Time and again, we face situations where we are asked to trust: someone else, a leader, God, our child, our spouse, ourselves. Sometimes trust comes easy, while at other times, mmm, not so much!

When that trust is crushed and betrayed, not only does it make us angry, but it hurts. It hurts deep down.

I’m not sure where I heard it or if it is original, but I told kids- my own or my team or my students, that trust is like a mustache. It takes a long time to grow, to shape, and to make it look presentable, but less than five minutes to shave off.

That’s what betraying someone’s trust does. We might try to trust again. Maybe. It might take a while, perhaps a long time. Maybe we got burned too badly and that trust never happens again. I’m certain that today, as the Packers play once again, Rodgers will throw the ball to that same rookie receiver, hoping the result pans out. Heck, I hope so too.

But I think we need to take better care of who we trust, and we need to take care to make sure we are trustworthy. Losing someone’s trust hurts- both the one who trusts and the one who is trusted. Take care of trust. Value it. Cherish it. Make sure you are someone who is and can be trusted. Something to think about …

Live Your Life, and Make A Difference!

To My Readers:

In a couple of weeks, I should receive a preview of the cover for my ninth book, Fan Mail. The publication date is March 30, 2023. If you check out my author website at www.jrlewisauthor.blog/ you will find more about me, my writing, my books, my new gig as Story Writer, and my new book, Fan Mail.

While you wait for Fan Mail to hit, I hope you take the time to enjoy my other work. The last four books have won thirteen awards, while my Lives Trilogy has won two.

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 Readers’ Favorite 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: Two Top Shelf Awards: 1^st Place Fiction-Mystery; and Runner-Up Fiction-Crime; A PenCraft 1^st 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 Kim Lewis.

If

I love football and the start of the football season. I especially like the Packers. Always did. It was the first and only team I follow, besides the Badgers. I guess, growing up in Wisconsin, one would think I’d gravitate to cheering and following those teams. Throw in the Brewers and the Bucks, and you have me pegged.

I was really looking forward to yesterday’s Packer versus Vikings game. Rodgers defending his back-to-back MVPs. New receiving corp. The emergence of two solid running backs. A vaunted defense that seemed to be, on paper anyway, tougher than most.

And the Vikings have become one of the biggest rivals for the Packers. They have a new coaching staff and front office. During the off-season, just like the Packers did, they went out and filled up some holes on defense, including one veteran from the Packers. I have to admit, I was hoping he’d fall flat on his face, but he’s tough and was out to prove the Packers wrong for letting him go.

Vikings began with the ball, drove right down the field and scored. So much for our much-improved defense. 7 to zip.

Packers turn. 

First play of the game, our new rookie receiver streaked past his defender. Rodgers let it fly. A perfect pass, a perfect route, but an imperfect ending. What would have been a seventy-five yard touchdown on the Packers’ first play of their first possession was dropped. It hit his hands. It. Was. Dropped.

If.

Several other miscues. A wrong route. A forced pass for an interception, Rodgers admits he shouldn’t have thrown. Another drop or two. A goal line stand where Rodgers admitted he thought of improvising on the play, keeping it and walking in for a touchdown. Several missed blocks. Missed defensive assignments. Some missed tackles. Two timeouts because we didn’t get to the line of scrimmage and run the play fast enough. 

If.

All of which resulted in a Packers’ loss. And my frustration and dismay, if not anger. (I have to admit to yelling at the TV, though only my wife, equal to me as a Packers’ fan, and our dogs listened.) 

If.

If that first pass was caught and turned into a score. If Dillon was able to punch it in at the goal line or if Rodgers would have trusted his gut, kept it, and walked in for a touchdown. If those other drops were caught. If Rodgers didn’t throw an interception. If our line held up and made their blocks. If we could have gotten out of the huddle faster and run the play quicker.

If. 

There are times when we look back on what we did, what we said, perhaps what we didn’t do or didn’t say, and say to ourselves, “If …” We get caught up in the game of If-I-Could-Have-Should-Have-Would-Have. We play it often, all of us, and never win it. Never. There is a path we like to walk down paved with Ifs where we stumble and trip and fall. We cut our hands (our hearts) on the sharp objects of If on that beaten path. And though we vow to never walk it again, we find ourselves back on it tripping and falling again and again.

Perhaps there is a better way to live. In the present- not the future. In the present- not the past. To resolve to do better the next time and then to actually do better and take better care of the opportunities that come our way. And if we don’t, if we somehow fall back into the pattern of missed opportunity, let’s not play the If game. Let’s chalk it up to experience, a sometimes painful and exasperating lesson learned. But move on and look for the next opportunity. The Packers play next week. We live on today and tomorrow and the next day. Let’s do better. All of us. Something to think about …

Live Your Life, and Make A Difference! 

To My Readers:

Well, so much for my position as story writer for Acorn TV.

It was a scam. Not Acorn TV, but the person or persons behind the remote story writer promotion and site. Hundreds of us fell for it. I’m not sure what their endgame was or is. They didn’t get money from me, but I can’t speak for anyone else. It is frustrating and disappointing and saddening. Yet, life moves on, and I will too. Lesson learned and all that.

This next month, I should receive a preview of the cover for my ninth book, Fan Mail. The publication date is March 30, 2023. If you check out my author website at www.jrlewisauthor.blog/ you will find more about me, my writing, my books, my new gig as Story Writer, and my new book, Fan Mail.

While you wait for Fan Mail to hit, I hope you take the time to enjoy my other work. The last four books have won thirteen awards, while my Lives Trilogy has won two.

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 Readers’ Favorite 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: Two Top Shelf Awards: 1^st Place Fiction-Mystery; and Runner-Up Fiction-Crime; A PenCraft 1^st 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 Johnny Williams and Unsplash.

 

 

In Their Own Time

We have three Crepe Myrtles in our yard. Two in the back corners and one in the front of the house, but off to the side. Three different colors: white, pink, and red. I was partial to the red one, so we planted it in front of the house, while the white sits in the back right, and the pink on the back left. The two in the back bookend the knockout roses and the Japanese Maple trees. It’s peaceful and almost perfect. Serene. My favorite place to sit is on the lower patio.

We noticed the differences in the way the three grow.

The white one grows and blooms the fastest. Perhaps it’s because the tree is in direct sun from sunrise to almost sundown, while the pink one is shielded and shaded from the sun because of the woods behind our house. And the red one is the smallest of all, and we think it is in the shade of our large oak tree. The only sun the red one receives is in the afternoon, when the sun is at its harshest.

All of them receive the same water. We prune them evenly, yet the two in the backyard are the tallest, while the red one is the shortest. And like clockwork, the white one will always bloom first, followed by the red one, and last, the pink one. 

Same trees, just different colors and different places in the yard. 

For 47 years, I’ve watched kids grow, including three of my own. I’ve watched them grasp concepts- or not, as the case may be. Some caught on quickly and knew how to “play the game” to their advantage, while others struggled and chafed at the bit, as they say. Their “learning” came later, after resisting. Resisting what, I don’t know. General stubbornness, I suppose.

One student comes to mind. I’ll call him Al.

Al was in three of my online learning classes last year. He was a project. Quiet. Likeable. A lot going on. Lived with mom. Month to month, he didn’t know if they could keep the apartment they lived in. Food? He helped put it on the table. Clothes? He kept what little he owned clean. School? Truly an afterthought. Like I said, he had a lot going on.

He started out strong, but as the year progressed, he didn’t. He fell behind despite my encouragement and the encouragement from his counselor. By his own admission, he fell in with a rough crowd. That didn’t help his situation.

Flash forward to the last two weeks of school. He was failing all three of the classes he took with me. All of them. I didn’t think there was any hope of any course being salvaged. Like some kids do, he surprised me.

I’d like to say he finished and passed all three courses. He didn’t. But in three or four days’ time, Al completed and passed one of the classes. That summer, he completed and passed another. This year, he is attending the alternative school and is on track to graduate in December.

My wife and I went to dinner at a local restaurant one evening this past week, and we ran into Al, who worked there. A great smile- he always wore that despite his circumstances. After we were done eating, I called Al over to our table and introduced him to Kim. He told us his story. Not the full of it, but enough of it. I told him how proud I was of him. He beamed. He apologized for being “mean to me” but I never experienced that from him- not one day. Those were his words, but honestly, I would never have used them. Kim remarked he had a wonderful smile.

Al reminded me, like our three crepe myrtles do, that kids, and trees, grow in their own time, and grow in their own way. Some fast. Some slow. Some with ease. Some with struggle. But they grow. And each, in their own way, turn out just fine. We can, and should, supply all we can to them, meet their needs. Treat them with care and kindness. Be gentle with them. Prune them evenly and when necessary. But love and enjoy them. They will grow. Each in their own way. Each in their own time. Something to think about …

Live Your Life, and Make A Difference!

To My Readers:

I was asked, and I accepted a position of Story Writer for Acorn TV. I write short stories or submit my books to them and they decided if they want to develop them into a TV series or movie. My short story, Changes and Secrets, is going into production. They are flying in a crew of fifteen and a production manager to scout out locations, production design, and production schedule, and discuss with me the script, and possible changes. I’ll keep you posted on how that goes.

This next month, I should receive a preview of the cover for my ninth book, Fan Mail. The publication date is March 30, 2023. If you check out my author website at www.jrlewisauthor.blog/ you will find more about me, my writing, my books, my new gig as Story Writer, and my new book, Fan Mail.

While you wait for Fan Mail to hit, I hope you take the time to enjoy my other work. The last four books have won twelve awards, while my Lives Trilogy has won two.

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: Two Top Shelf Awards: 1^st Place Fiction-Mystery; and Runner-Up Fiction-Crime; A PenCraft 1^st 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 Kim and Joe Lewis.

 

 

 

 

 

What is Your Treasure?

Growing up in a family of ten on one income, even way back in the fifties and sixties, was tough. We didn’t have much, but we had plenty. Ironic, isn’t it?

We wore hand-me-downs, and mom patched holes in our jeans. Dad repainted bicycles. We had sports to play, books to read, a radio to listen to, and a TV to watch. Mom made sure we had food on the table, prepared and baked by her.

We had a backyard to play in, woods to explore, and a river to raft on. Church each Sunday- left side, third or fourth pew. Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, though I didn’t excel or pursue scouting. I was into other things. Sports. Music. And school.

We had neighborhood friends to play with, but mostly, we had each other.

And then, somehow, I lost my treasure!

In college, I had a passion for coaching, but in order to coach, one should be (or so I thought) a teacher. I had always wanted to coach football alongside my brother, Jack. He’d coach defense, and I’d coach offense. Not to happen. I became a basketball coach by chance. The phone call to come interview stated I would teach social studies and be a head football coach, assistant basketball coach. Fine with me. Got to the interview, and about half-way through, they informed me they had hired a head football coach, and offered me head basketball with assistant football. I didn’t think much about it, and I said yes!

Thought I had found my treasure!

Always wanting better, always wanting bigger, I coached three years at the high school level, then two at the college level while earning a master’s degree in counseling, then went back to high school for five more. Tiring of it, I became a counselor.

Did that for many years- loved it. But I had wanted more: money, a bigger job, bigger whatever, so I became an administrator. Assistant at a large school for one year, principal at a small school my next. Principal at a bigger school for my next stop, and then principal for an even bigger school at my last stop.

Always wanting bigger, better. More pay. Bigger and nicer house. More. The thing is, at first it was for me. A bigger name, more recognition, all that … stuff.

The treasure I thought I had wasn’t much after all!

Then, I got married and had three beautiful kids. Everything shifted- as it should have. Maybe I matured. Maybe I evolved. Maybe I learned. Who knows?

My life became about them: Kim, Wil, Hannah, and Emily. Whatever I did, I wanted it for them! To make them happy, to see them successful, to ensure their lives beyond our own family.

I began doing for them, not me. Instead of money and recognition and all the “trappings” (and I emphasize trappings!) of my own success, it shifted and became about Kim and the kids! They have become and are my treasure.

And how satisfying it is now, and looking back on my life before Kim and my kids, how unsatisfying it all was then. What I thought was my treasure wasn’t. 

I think my semi-retirement has helped. No pressure. No paperwork or politics that come with the office of the principal. No major decisions other than what to eat that day. Nothing major except can the laundry wait one more day or should it be done now? 

I get up early on weekdays and do my part-time job at the high school- love it! I come home and I write- love it! I text the girls each day and many times throughout the day. I love hearing about their lives and what they’ve been up to. And Kim and I talk. We spend time together. Our biggest decision is what to watch on TV or what to eat for dinner.

My treasure became not about me- the me in my younger years, but has become about them- my family, my wife and kids- my true loves. They’ve become my life. They’ve become my treasure!

I’m so much happier for it. I’m so much healthier for it. I now have real and lasting treasure! Something to think about …

Live Your Life, and Make A Difference!

To My Readers:

I have a new gig!

I was asked, and I accepted a position of Story Writer for Acorn TV. I write short stories or submit my books to them and they decided if they want to develop them into a TV series or movie. Good News! One of my short stories, Changes and Secrets, is going into production. They are flying in a crew of fifteen and a production manager to scout out locations, production design, and production schedule, and discuss with me the script, and possible changes. I’ll keep you posted on how that goes.

I mentioned in my last post that my ninth book, Fan Mail, has been accepted by my publisher, Black Rose Writing. The publication date is March 30, 2023. If you check out my author website at www.jrlewisauthor.blog/ you will find more about me, my writing, my books, my new gig as Story Writer, and my new book, Fan Mail.

While you wait for Fan Mail to hit, I hope you take the time to enjoy my other work. The last four books have won twelve awards, while my Lives Trilogy has won two.

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: Two Top Shelf Awards: 1^st Place Fiction-Mystery; and Runner-Up Fiction-Crime; A PenCraft 1^st 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 Bjorn Pierre and Unsplash.