#ThursdayDoors #bookstagram #writingprompt
I haven’t done a Shameless Self Promotion in a week or so, so I’m taking this opportunity, since I have a book with a door on the cover.
Juss — Injustice H. Chocolate (named and raised by hippies) — questions the usefulness of her Life Coach work and hires a secretary to prove its importance. Prim and efficient Kerry Dashingly can hardly wait to tell his wife that his latest secretary temp job is in a miniature castle in a neighborhood of Disneyesque architecture. Kerry hasn’t even begun when he gets a call from his hapless cousin, Abby: A man she openly hated is dead, and the police found unspecified evidence in the back of her car. Juss immediately attaches herself to the problem, determined to help, even if it kills her.
BAR SINISTER
EXCERPT:
Eight bars of “Who Wrote the Book of Love?” toodled from Kerry’s inside jacket pocket.
“I beg your pardon. I should have put it on vibrate.” He checked the phone but, before he could turn off the ringer, Juss spoke.
“Go on and take it, if you need to. Go ahead. It might be an emergency.”
“It’s my cousin Abigail,” he said. “It’s always an emergency with Abby.”
“Take it, then. Go on.”
Kerry had the feeling he was in the presence of the queen of all natural eavesdroppers. Busybody, she had called herself. Ah, well.
Abby’s high-pitched panic squawk split the air as Kerry held the phone away from his ear.
“Kerry, he’s dead! Jack Pitt! Hit and run this morning! Oh, God, what if they think I did it?”
Jack Pitt! His first thought was Good Riddance. Then shame slapped his conscience awake and he understood why Abby was upset. “Calm down,” he said. “Why would they?”
“I don’t want to be alone. What if they come to question me? Can you come over?”
“I’m at work now. Go to that coffee shop you like and have a cup. Decaf. I’ll call you on my lunch break.”
“What if they come there? What if I get scared at the coffee shop? Can I call you from there if I need to, Kerry? Can I?”
“Yes, of course you can. Or call Schatzi, if you need to talk to somebody. Calm down; it’ll be all right. Everything will be all right. Okay?”
After a few more sobs that wrenched his heart, she sniffled and whispered, “Okay.”
“Sounds like trouble.” Juss cocked her head to the side and fixed Kerry with one big emu eye. “Let’s go desk shopping and you can tell me about it.”
“Here we go,” said Doris.
A WRITING PROMPT FROM ME TO YOU: busybody
MA
Teagan Geneviene
March 26, 2026 at 11:51amI love this book, Marian.
And thanks for the terrific read you emailed me. 🤗 Brilliant. Hugs.
Marian Allen
March 27, 2026 at 11:18amThank you so much, Teagan! I didn’t realize you had read BAR SINISTER. The court case was loosely based on a true story, and I very much enjoyed dispensing rough justice to the villains. I’m glad you enjoyed the story. Some people have found the style off-putting. You’re the best!