Thursday, February 28, 2013

FIRST FRIDAY: Delaney! Iyer! Lovely!


It's First Friday! The day three talented authors give their take on a single photo in 150 words or less.
DELANEY


  The shoes called me through the store window, whispering my sister’s party was tonight, reminding me of that cute guy who never noticed me. I didn’t stand out at parties, and he always looked over my head, not down at me. I wanted him to notice me. What did I have to lose if I bought the shoes? Just half a month’s paycheck and possibly my balance. It was worth it.
  I looked amazing. My mirror told me so. So did the smile on the face of the cute guy as I entered my sister’s apartment. I smiled back and took a step onto her slippery white tile floor. My ankle went one way, the shoe another and my face met the floor. Was that my blood the shoe sat in?  My nose was flowing freely. But the cute guy was picking me up.
  I had been noticed.

IYER
  His nickname was Detective Superman. There’d never been a case he couldn’t crack, until what the media dubbed The Stiletto Murders came along, six vicious slayings ago. The victims were johns, and the murderer’s signature was always the same: a different stiletto posed near the body, blood drizzled around the bottom of the shoe. Neat, clean, no prints, no hairs, no DNA. Nothing but the victim’s unadulterated semen. The shoe, sold in every chain store in the city, offered no clue to the buyer.
  Except this time. This time, she’d left a calling card. For him.
  His heart pounded. Sweat beaded at his hairline, trickled down his back.
  “You all right, Detective?” the first cop on the scene asked. “You look pale.”
  “Fine, fine,” Superman said, sloughing him off. But he wasn’t. Not by a long shot
  He recognized the red stiletto. He’d bought the expensive shoes for her.

LOVELY
  A cherry-red stiletto? Crimey. The blood is dandy. Marley steps in it often enough. But no way would my heroine squash her D-width tootsies in my cover artist’s tribute to foot surgery. What possessed Judy—my early twenties cover artist? Her arches won’t collapse for a few decades. I didn’t expect Judy to read my book, just hoped she’d peruse the synopsis. Sigh.
  Okay, try diplomacy. As authors are pitifully aware, we’re less likely to sway book cover design than President Obama is to gain unanimous Congressional approval—of anything. Guess I could photograph one of my scruffy clodhoppers. While Marley and I are far from twins, we see bunion to bunion on footwear.
FREE today on Amazon!
  Hmmm. Or I could edit. After losing a bet, Marley can be en route to a costume party wearing Madonna breast cones and shiny stilettos when she slips on some blood. Marley would you forgive me?

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

KATHLEEN DELANEY
  Kathleen Delaney writes the Ellen McKenzie mystery series. Dying for a Change introduces Ellen, who’s returned to her career as a real estate agent. Finding a dead body in the closet of the first house you show is a hard way to start. Life doesn’t get any easier for Ellen in Give First Place to Murder,  And Murder for Dessert, and Murder Half Baked.
  Kathleen has just finished the fifth, Murder by Syllabub. She lives in Georgia with a dog and cat and often a couple of grandchildren who love to visit. Or is it the pumpkin/cranberry bread they like?
Polly's Amazon Page

POLLY IYER
  Polly Iyer was born on the coast of Massachusetts. After studying at Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston, she traveled to Italy, lived in Atlanta, and now resides in the beautiful Piedmont region of South Carolina in an empty nest house with her husband, a drooling mutt named Max, and Joey, the timid cat. She writes crime fiction that always has a murder or two…or three, characters who cross ethical lines, and a hint of romance.


LINDA LOVELY
At Amazon
  Linda Lovely writes mysteries and romantic thrillers. Her Marley Clark series features a 52-year-old retired military intelligence officer. DEAR KILLER is set in the SC Lowcountry where Marley works as a security guard. NO WAKE ZONE moves to Lake Okoboji, Iowa. Marley will return to the Carolina Coast in book three. Lovely’s newest romantic thriller, FINAL ACCOUNTING, is a set in Atlanta and Jamaica.
  The author is a member of Sisters in Crime, Romance Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, and the South Carolina Writers Workshop. Click on book covers on Lovely’s website—www.lindalovely.com—for ebook and paperback buy links.

Join in! Add your 150-word vision in the comments. We love to read them.

11 comments:

E. B. Davis said...

What variety! Delany's humor, Polly's genre surprise and Linda's editorial, I loved them all. Thanks for great reads to start the day. (PS--I've often thought the cover artists must never read the books they portray. I think the public realizes it's only PR. Too bad--but change the book! Never, I'm shocked.)

Polly Iyer said...

Thanks for asking me to do this for a second time, Ellis. It's a challenge to write tight. Wish I could do that with 90,000 words. I'd probably wind up with 60,000, more of an exercise than I'm up to.

Linda Lovely said...

I assure you my suggestion on changing the book was tongue-in-cheek. However, can't say how many authors have told me the initial cover featured a hero/heroine with the wrong hair/eye color, had snow in mountains where it never snows, etc.

sherry fundin said...

Awesome. Thanks to everyone for working on this great post. It was wonderful. ^_^

E. B. Davis said...

Yes, kind of figured you were joking, Linda. But, you would think that they would ask for specific characteristics before completing the design. I guess artists don't contemplate who, what, when, where and why.

Kathleen Delaney said...

Thanks, Ellis,for asking me. It was fun looking at that shoe and trying to come up with something. I love the pictures, and the challenges, you throw at us.

Gloria Alden said...

I love all your stories. What great imaginations you each have. I would find it hard to pick a favorite.

Terry Tyler said...

All that effort. The Valentine's card, the careful make-up, the spray tan, the new 'do', the dress worthy of red carpet flashlights - and these unbearably uncomfortable but totally AMAZING shoes. All that effort. And still he was with HER.

He knew how much this was hurting me, yet because SHE was there he'd not even looked at me.

I decided then and there that I'd had enough. Oh yes, I most certainly had....

Ellis Vidler said...

Terry, thanks for joining in. I like the implication. Very clever. :-)

Sandy Cody said...

Once again, three great interpretations. Love reading this feature of this blog - reminds me why I love being a writer.

Kaye George said...

I like all your posts, but your First Fridays are always most excellent! Love this feature! I nominated your blog for a Liebster Award this morning. Details at: http://travelswithkaye.blogspot.com/2013/04/liebster-award.html