Ewwww, I just realized my word count was 139,750... (559 pages)
So, what do you think? Not such a good thing for a first time author? Is there an agent on earth who would even look at it?
Oy!
My head hurts.
Threshold of Midnight:
Diana sat down to breakfast with a madman. Eggshells, she thought. This is what they mean when they say walking on eggshells. This edge of your seat fear that the wrong move, the wrong word, will set him off.
She chanced a glance toward her husband and saw it. Right there in those Robert Redford blue eyes was the mania. That touch of insanity that crawled into their lives a few months ago was shimmering in her husband’s eyes like a gleam of another dimension. A place where madness grew like wild flowers in an open field. Or maybe weeds. Weeds that set their roots down deep in Luke’s brain and mangled his thoughts. Tightening on his brain cells and twisting them with fear anger and confusion. She knew if she could get him to some kind of mental hospital they would tell her the fruit loops in his box were doing the jig right now, trying to escape.
“Sorry Mrs. Archer. Your husband’s a couple beers short of a six, brain’s gone fishin’, out to lunch-probably permanently.”
Thank you much, doc, but that little fact is old news. Now, tell me how much time would a lady get for murder in New Jersey? If she used the insanity defense would it really matter which one of them was crazy?
“We need all the dry goods in today, Diana.” Luke insisted as he mopped up his soft-boiled eggs with his whole-wheat toast. “I’ve packed the linens in boxes and put them in the mud room. Take those down, too.”
Diana looked across the breakfast table at her husband and felt the heat of anger rise up inside her. And fear. There was always that too, inching up her spine, twisting her gut like some kind of venomous snake. And it won out over the anger every time. She looked away, across the room and out the window over the sink. The sun was out today. Birds singing in the trees and clouds drifting by making the morning seem just like every other day. If she focused on the trees and the sky it was almost like her life was normal. Just for a few minutes.
“Diana.”
Reluctantly, turning back to Luke, Diana promised herself she was not going to feed his mania today.
“Yes?”
Luke nodded and continued with his instructions, but Diana wasn’t listening. Instead, her thoughts turned to getting out of this situation.
She chanced a glance toward her husband and saw it. Right there in those Robert Redford blue eyes was the mania. That touch of insanity that crawled into their lives a few months ago was shimmering in her husband’s eyes like a gleam of another dimension. A place where madness grew like wild flowers in an open field. Or maybe weeds. Weeds that set their roots down deep in Luke’s brain and mangled his thoughts. Tightening on his brain cells and twisting them with fear anger and confusion. She knew if she could get him to some kind of mental hospital they would tell her the fruit loops in his box were doing the jig right now, trying to escape.
“Sorry Mrs. Archer. Your husband’s a couple beers short of a six, brain’s gone fishin’, out to lunch-probably permanently.”
Thank you much, doc, but that little fact is old news. Now, tell me how much time would a lady get for murder in New Jersey? If she used the insanity defense would it really matter which one of them was crazy?
“We need all the dry goods in today, Diana.” Luke insisted as he mopped up his soft-boiled eggs with his whole-wheat toast. “I’ve packed the linens in boxes and put them in the mud room. Take those down, too.”
Diana looked across the breakfast table at her husband and felt the heat of anger rise up inside her. And fear. There was always that too, inching up her spine, twisting her gut like some kind of venomous snake. And it won out over the anger every time. She looked away, across the room and out the window over the sink. The sun was out today. Birds singing in the trees and clouds drifting by making the morning seem just like every other day. If she focused on the trees and the sky it was almost like her life was normal. Just for a few minutes.
“Diana.”
Reluctantly, turning back to Luke, Diana promised herself she was not going to feed his mania today.
“Yes?”
Luke nodded and continued with his instructions, but Diana wasn’t listening. Instead, her thoughts turned to getting out of this situation.
Death or divorce.
