Way, way back when
my younger brother was about to be married, which was shortly after my father
passed away, our big family gathered in a living room so we could view some of
my father’s slides he had taken over the years. It was fun seeing everyone as
we grew up (though some of us don’t necessarily act our ages still). The older
hair and clothes styles. Games we used to play. Trips we had taken, especially
the camping trips.
My dad had a good
eye, but sometimes his execution wasn’t the best. There were plenty of pictures
with a thumb in the way. A few pictures of cracks in a sidewalk or of ceilings
when the camera moved as the picture was taken. But these pictures caused
laughter because it was a “dad” thing and we were used to it. Nice memories.
Ever take a
picture of something you want to remember only to look at it later and it’s
fuzzy? It happens to me often. Fortunately, we don’t have to waste money on a
fuzzy picture, but can delete it if we want. Still, the idea behind taking the
picture at that moment was to capture a memory and having the picture fuzzy (or
a thumb in the way) is frustrating.
I think people,
kids in particular, have Jagged Edges. We sometimes don’t fit nicely or cleanly
into a perfect frame. There is fuzziness in our lives that sometimes causes the
picture to be out of focus. Sometimes, we’re out of focus, fuzzy and jagged.
And the thing is,
sometimes, we don’t realize we have Jagged Edges, and sometimes we don’t
realize we’re operating with a fuzzy image, whether it is with our own eye or
the fuzziness of the subject we’re taking the picture of.
Sometimes, our
expectation is that others who pop in and out of our lives, kids in particular,
fit in this nice frame we have for them. It’s our frame, therefore, they should
fit it, right?
Hmmm, not really.
You see, we don’t
know what might have happened the night before to have caused a Jagged Edge.
Sometimes, we don’t know what might have happened that morning, on the way to
work or school that might have caused a Jagged Edge. And sometimes, we just
have Jagged Edges and don’t realize it.
We aren’t perfect
no matter how hard we try to be, so how can we expect kids to be?
And the thing
about kids . . .
They leave us.
They grow up, move on, and move out. Sometimes we hear from them because they
come back to visit. Sometimes we receive a letter, or not, or get a message
from one on Facebook.
While they are
with us, we might not know what will become of them. We do our thing. We teach.
We counsel. Sometimes we talk with them. With a little luck and a whole lot of
patience, sometimes we are able to smooth out some of the Jagged Edges, clear
up some of the fuzziness.
Some of us will
not have that one “Rudy Story” movies are made of. Instead, most of us will
plant seeds. And like any seed, it takes time for the seed to grow. We might
never know what fruit that seed brings. But if we do it right, with love and
compassion, with kindness and care, mostly with patience, we can be certain
that the seed we plant today will bring about a beautiful result. And who knows,
we might smooth out some of those Jagged Edges. We might even smooth out some
of our own Jagged Edges. Something to think about . . .
Live Your Life,
and Make A Difference!
To My Readers:
The free Kindle
promotion for my new book, Spiral Into
Darkness has ended, but it is still available (and not that expensive).
The cover description reads as follows:
He blends in. He
is successful, intelligent and methodical. He also has a list and has murdered
eight on it so far. There is no pattern. There are no clues. There are no
leads. Two adopted boys, struggling in their own world, have no idea they are
the next targets. Neither does their family. And neither does local law
enforcement.
I play with the
question, Is a serial killer born or made? There are two sub-themes one of
family and one on sexuality, and all three collide at the conclusion.
There have been several
reviews already:
I received a Five Star Review from Best Thrillers! In part, it reads:
“The Bottom Line:
A thoroughly compulsive police procedural by one of America’s most promising
new writers. Joseph Lewis, author of our Best of 2018 pick Caught in a Web, is
back with another crime thriller featuring world-weary Milwaukee detective
Jamie Graff . . . While Lewis
savagely explores romance, drama, and sexuality with his wider cast of
characters, Jamie’s interpersonal life is refreshingly free of drama for a cop,
enabling him to be the determined, resourceful rock capable of cracking the
case. The result is a thoroughly compulsive crime thriller.” Best Thrillers
You can find Spiral Into Darkness on Amazon at https://amzn.to/2RBWvTm and on Barnes and Noble
at https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/spiral-into-darkness-joseph-lewis/1129937958;jsessionid=0C9F7881E2F56139FAD36435022CB35D.prodny_store01-atgap18?ean=9781684332090
Best Thrillers had
previously reviewed my book, Caught in a
Web. It was named as a PenCraft
Literary Award Winner for Thriller Fiction! Best Thrillers called it “one of the best crime thriller books of
the year!” I am both proud and humbled.
Thanks to all who
have read Caught in a Web. You can
find it on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CKF7696
or on Barnes and Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/caught-in-a-web-joseph-lewis/1128250923?ean=9781684330249
If you do read Caught in a Web, Spiral Into Darkness, or any of my other books, please leave a
rating and a review. I would appreciate it. Thanks for this consideration!
Caught in a Web:
The bodies of high
school and middle school kids are found dead from an overdose of heroin and
fentanyl. The drug trade along the I-94 and I-43 corridors and the Milwaukee
Metro area is controlled by MS-13, a violent gang originating from El Salvador.
Ricardo Fuentes is sent from Chicago to Waukesha 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, who had killed his
cousin the previous summer.
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, especially
George or members of his family. The three detectives discover the ring has its
roots in a high school among the students and staff. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CKF7696
Book One of the Lives Trilogy, Stolen Lives:
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’ll end up like all the others- dead!
They have no leads, no clues, and nothing to go on. And the possibility exists
that one of his team members might be involved. http://tinyurl.com/Stolen-Lives-J-Lewis
Book Two of the Lives Trilogy, Shattered Lives:
Six men escaped
and are out for revenge. The boys, recently freed from captivity, are in danger
and so are their families, but they don’t know it. The FBI has no clues, no
leads, and nothing to go on and because of that, cannot protect them. http://tinyurl.com/Shattered-Lives-J-Lewis
Book Three of the Lives Trilogy, Splintered Lives:
A 14 year old boy
knows the end is coming. What he doesn’t know is when, where or by whom.
Without that knowledge, neither he nor the FBI can protect him or his family.
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 don’t know
one another, the lives of FBI 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 that Pete Kelliher holds in his hand. The three
of them are on a collision course and when that happens, their lives are in
jeopardy as each search for a way out. http://tinyurl.com/Taking-Lives-J-Lewis
Connect with me on Social Media:
Twitter at
@jrlewisauthor
Facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/Joseph.Lewis.Author
Photo courtesy of Sergei Akulich and Unsplash
