Paddy Plays in Dead Mule Swamp- Chapter 14

cover design by Farah Evers

Chapter 14 is the first of the chapters after everything in the story has changed. There has been a crisis and people are going to begin to react differently to each other, new characters will come in, and relationships will change.

Sometimes I think I'm really dense when it comes to this sort of thing. I'm not sure why I didn't realize this story could become quite "heavy" when I thought up the plot line. At the time, it just seemed like an interesting story, but the people who were affected by the events weren't "real" to me yet.

Now they are, and for the book to remain a "light" mystery, I need to let the characters be emotional in a natural way, and yet not let them get bogged down in the tragedy. Bad stuff happens, and there is a fair amount of it in this story.

Here's an excerpt from Chapter 14:

    “How are you related to these girls?” Milford interrupted.
    “I’m not,” I answered. “Their grandfather is on his way. He’s their guardian. And Angelica’s father.”
    “Okay, we’ll wait until he gets here.”
    Milford pulled Brown aside and said something to him, after which the deputy went out to the car, and the detective sat down heavily at the kitchen table and clamped his jaw shut. We sat there in uncomfortable silence.
    The girls became tense and increasingly frightened at the man’s gruff demeanor as the minutes ticked by. I was more than relieved when I heard another car approach. As soon as I said, “It’s your grandfather,” both girls jumped up and ran toward the front door.

You can buy book 1, News from Dead Mule Swamp, for only 99¢ at Smashwords, or Amazon