Sharing Links and Wisdom: Birthday Bash Day 29

Liza O’Connor’s

Best Birthday Ever

It was a hot summer night, we’d just gotten off work (at midnight), full of teenage energy, so we headed to the Civic center. Most places in my town weren’t particularly safe at night, but we’d discovered the civic center a few weeks before and it seemed safe, especially since the police department occupied once side of it. It also had a huge shallow pool with multiple fountains and giant columns you could hide behind when the police entered and exited their station. It also had great acoustics for singing.

When we got there, instead of jumping in the water, my friends laid down a blanket over a wide concrete walkway and placed upon it a birthday cake and presents. Surprise! It was the only birthday cake I recall getting and I was speechless that my fabulous friends had spent their money (none of us had much) to give me a real birthday celebration before I went off college in the fall.

Alice was a fabulous hostess and made sure we had forks, napkins, paper plates, and Dixie cups. She even brought a bag to put the trash in. Never had I felt so loved. And happy. I was at my comical best that night and had everyone laughing with my stories. Then their eyes widened and their smiles faded as they stared over my head. I turned and looked up at a policeman.

A non-smiling policeman.

I could not let my friends go down for this. So I smiled. “It’s my birthday. I’ve never had a birthday party before. Would you like a piece of my cake? It’s very good.”

After what seemed an eternity, his face softened from a I’m-going-to-arrest-you-all face to a gentle smiling face. He shook off the cake Alice so eagerly offered.

“You kids the ones who’ve been coming out here the last few weeks?”

We slowly nodded. (And here we thought we’d been successfully hiding behind those pillars in the pool.)

“Well, make sure you clean this up before you leave.”

We all pointed to Alice’s trash bag as we promised we would.

Then he added one last statement. “You kids can really sing. Keep it up.”

Our mouths fell open. Wow, he really did know about us.

Looking back, it could have been my worst birthday, if the cop had sent us into the police station and called our parents. But instead, it stands as my very best birthday ever.

Now I let my characters get in trouble.

Climbing Out of Hell

Book 4 of the series

Romantic Comedy

A Long Road to Love

In the third book of A Long Road to Love, we discovered how truly horrible Trent could be. Now we discover the full truth which puts him in a better light.

Still, there is no going back. He has lost Carrie forever, but he would rather die than marry Coco, so he does just that. Determined to be the man Carrie always saw within him, Trent gives away most of his possessions, fakes his death, and starts over with a new face.

With no skills, how will he survive?

Can he rebuild himself into a better man?

Will he ever find love again?

Trent sets about to fundamentally change the man he is, channeling Carrie rather than his father.

Excerpt:

Sam burst into the kitchen, frowned at Trent, then focused on Danielle. “Leroy is at it again. I thought you said you were going to hide the damn thing?”

“I did. But there are only so many places one can hide an AK 47 rifle.”

“Well, you hid it worth shit because it’s raining lead again at the downtown square!”

She gripped her head as if it might explode.

“What’s the problem?” Trent asked Sam.

Sam rolled his eyes. “Iowa passed a law allowing blind people to carry and discharge weapons in public. So her grandfather, who is blind as a bat, sits on a bench in the square and shoots his AK into the trees.”

“What’s he trying to shoot?”

“Pigeons,” both Sam and Dani answered at once. She glared him into silence and continued her reply. “He likes pigeon soup. A Pakistani doctor told him it would prevent strokes.”

“Well, he’s giving me a stroke,” Sam snapped. “You have to make him stop!”

“I’ve talked to him until I’m blue in the face. He won’t listen to me. Most of the time he thinks I’m three years old. Who listens to a three-year-old?” She threw up her hands in frustration and turned back to the grill.

Trent didn’t care for the way Sam pushed Danielle. Grandparents were impossible to boss about…at least his had been. “Why don’t you talk to him?’

Sam released a hurricane of air and stared at the ceiling. “Because the mayor told me to stay away from him. He is not breaking any laws, and any attempt on my part could result in a lawsuit against the town.” He then eyed Trent. “You should talk to him?”

“Sam, Trevor’s only been in town an hour. You know Gramps doesn’t trust people right off.”

“True, but neither do you, yet here he sits, like an old friend, watching you cook him dinner.”

She rescued the burgers off the grill, slapped them both on buns, and shoved one at Sam. “This is your hamburger. Trevor is holding out for braised lamb.”

“Point still stands. Look, I think he can do the job. I intended to hit him with a ticket, but ended up sending him to you instead. He’s a likable guy. Let’s send him out and see if he can stop this madness.”

“No!”

“Then I’m shutting this bar down for safety violations.”

She stared at him in shock. “What violations?”

“Don’t worry. Mr. Olsen will find something. He owes me big time after last night’s poker game.”

Trent stood up. “Sam, you’re digging yourself into a hole. Your initial solution was excellent, and frankly I’m honored you think so well of me. I’ll go talk to him right now. Just tell me how to get to Pigeonville.”

Sam grinned and slapped him on the back as he led him out of the kitchen. “Way to man up. Seriously, I’ll owe you one if you can get the gun away from Leroy and bury it six feet under.”

Trent just hoped his offer to be a friendly nice guy didn’t put him six feet under as well.

Climbing out of Hell

Coming May 1^st 2014

AMAZON

Liza O’Connor Author Bio:

Liza lives in Denville, NJ with her dog Jess. They hike in fabulous woods every day, rain or shine, sleet or snow. Having an adventurous nature, she learned to fly small Cessnas in NJ, hang-glide in New Zealand, kayak in Pennsylvania, ski in New York, scuba dive with great white sharks in Australia, dig up dinosaur bones in Montana, sky dive in Indiana, and raft a class four river in Tasmania. She’s an avid gardener, amateur photographer, and dabbler in watercolors and graphic arts. Yet through her entire life, her first love has and always will be writing novels. She loves to create interesting characters, set them loose, and scribe what happens.

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