Tracy Richards Series -

RV challenges

Life is challenging, whether you are in an apartment, house, or RV motorhome. I, finally, found a shop that had the knowledge to fix Lucy the Shark. The suspension is being repaired, she is getting an alignment and new brakes. According to Paul at Acme Springs in Dayton, Ohio, she will be returned to me sometime this week. He has been super about keeping me updated.

The riverfront campsite I rented for the year, I won’t be renting next year. Jim, successfully sold the campground last Friday and the new owners will take full possession on October 11. Tonya, the new owner informed me last night they wanted to ‘rent’ my site, that I have a yearly contract and paid a year in advance, to overnighters since I was not using it. Excuse me? After explaining my rig was in the shop, she got even more snippy about why I wouldn’t allow her to rent my spot to temporary overnighters. Needless to say, I won’t renew my contract with these folks.

While that sounds icky and sour, I am not. I was taken aback by her attitude, but in my world, something better is coming along. Originally I wanted closer to my girls during the summer and will begin looking in the one-hour travel time area today.

The improvements with Lucy are beyond groovy. The fifty-five-inch television is totally hidden within the cabinet that still needs painting. Then the living room will be totally done except for a throw rug. Joe and Cleo love the couch.

Remember the wobbly driver’s seat? Well, the new pedestal arrived and is ready for install when Acme Springs is done with Lucy’s new suspension and brakes. I decided to wait on actual new captain chairs for now.

Moving into the bedroom area, all curtains and decor have arrived. I’ll paint the walls, but not the woodwork.

Oh, you may or may not know, Jeeps have Easter Eggs. For example, my #2 daughter’s C-7 has a spider embossed in the gas tank door and a lizard someplace else. This gave me the idea to put USN and Shark-themed puffy stickers in out-of-the-way, fun places for the grandchildren to discover on their visits with Grammy. Oh yeah, the four-year-old sings Grammy Shark when she visits.

Will I repaint the Shark? Yes. She is fun and draws attention, but the paint is flaking and I will need to repaint her next year. My focus this year was getting her upgraded for me to travel in. I’m thinking cream and blue for the exterior. Although, I did consider a vinyl wrap, except they only last about seven years.

Let me know your thoughts about future improvements. Photos of the interior will arrive when she is returned to me and we get settled at the river.

Successful wishes to you!

My new-to-me RV

These last couple of exciting months have provided me with the sale of my old class C RV and a new-to-me RV. As some of you know from my meanderings, in 2017 I was suppose to purchase a Class A Rexall that my friend had renovated and that fell through when she decided to keep it. It had the floor plan I dreamed of and zero slide-ins to have anything go wrong. Then 2021 came along and another buddy had a lifestyle change and decided to sell her RV. I hired Vagabond RV Solutions to do an inspection and bought my airline ticket to go retrieve my new to me RV with slide outs. My old class C sold in less than two days after I put it on Facebook Marketplace. I had my license plates in hand and ready to get my new home. Well, my luck did not hold out and she reneged on the sale two days before my scheduled flight making me houseless.

On the upside of things, I have an RV site on the river for my spring/summer time in Ohio. I love my spot on river. When it rains on the river and floods, I will then move to my home in the hollow or travel. So far, I haven’t spent any time on the river due to decorating and making the RV I did purchase mine.

Things really looked sad in June when things were falling apart left and right. I’m so glad I took the set backs in stride and began looking again. My eldest says, “Mom, let’s go look at this one.” I told her I was looking for a condo and not a quan set hut. Then we went to see what this offered.

Ignoring the custom paint job, I viewed the interior. It is not the Rexall, but it is a close runner up. The floor is wood plank.

The front seats swivel for additional seating. The fold out table against the wall at one time had a chair beside it. The TV is the Panasonic in the cockpit dash. The walls and upholstery were denim blue-gray. I felt as if I had stepped on to a USN ship once again.

Fast forward. I bought it after I had my mechanic check it over. Now, unlike the Class C, he can not work on it because it is 34 feet long and a tri-axle. It has a Chevy workhorse chassie and a 454 engine, plus an aluminum frame and roof. It is a 1990 Holiday Rambler Imperial, that sports a custom paint job in a classic rendition of the WW2, Bomber aircraft.

Say hello to Lucy Shark, and her theme song is the verse: Grammy Shark, doo doo doo doo doo.

Next Blog post will be a tour inside of her since I have made her mine.

Online Book Signings

May 2020, consisted of two online book signings. It was a pleasure to meet with readers virtually though the webcasts. Books were signed and mailed the day after each event.

The CABIN FEVER ANTHOLOGY is coming along. It is comprised of six authors, romance, and having cabin fever. Look for it to arrive on Amazon in July.

Small Bit of Justice Available on Amazon

SMALL BIT OF JUSTICE, now available on Amazon is the first release of the Tracy Richards, psychic investigator series.

Welcome to Brule, Ohio, where the lost is misplaced, the grocery store is more accurate than a newspaper, and the home of online psychic, Tracy Richards, who is a single mother of two high-school daughters. She finds misplaced items for the police department and her neighbors. Her track record for finding the misplaced has earned her the respect and cooperation of the local law enforcement officers and town residents.

Sylvester DeGroff re-enters her life, only to learn history repeats itself. Despite their past, Tracy agrees to help after she learns his deceased brother’s only child is missing. Using her psychic abilities in a capacity she has never done before, she sets off on a course to find her daughters’ only cousin.

Tracy is driven to save the girl and try to redeem her confidence in lieu of the life she couldn’t save. Will Tracy only recover a deceased body, yet again? Or will she actually be able to complete a rescue?

Small Bit of Justice – deleted scene

Annie and Hillary continued to sit on the embankment. Dominick flashed his badge and identification quickly.

“You ladies are safe now.” Sly said.

“Show me your badge again. I want to know that it is real and not from the dime store.” Hillary said.

Dominick held it for Hillary to examine.

“See I knew it was f ning fake. No one from the damn UN would care if I got kidnapped or not.” Hillary said.

Two highway patrol cars parked behind the van and Sylvester’s truck, and one zipped around to park in front of the van. Dominick showed his badge to the officers and Sylvester produced his identification. “We’re looking for two women in a ‘70 orange MG. They go by the name of Tracy Richards and Lehana Jamison.” Dominick told the officers.

“What you want them for?” Hillary said.

“Have you seen them Miss?” The state highway patrolman said.

“Yes, they’re the ones who rescued Annie and me.”

“They did this?” The state highway patrolman asked.

“Yes.” Annie said.

The state highway patrol officers hauled the men out of the van.

“Two women did this,” asked the officer who took charge of the scene.

“Yes sir.” Annie said again.

“The idea that Tracy had put herself in danger irritated the hell out of me. Yet to see the men trussed up like goats at the rodeo makes me proud to know she has capabilities.” Sly said to Dominick.

“Officers, we’ll take our leave and continue on our search for those two vigilantes. Girls, I’m glad your safe and will be reunited with your families in a few hours.” Dominick said.

He and Sly returned to the truck.

“Let’s go.” Dominick maneuvered the truck around the patrol cars and pulled out onto the highway.

As they passed the next exit, there sat the battery to the van. They both laughed.

The Missing Locket – The Séance Series

Eileen Thompson went missing when her son, Sam Thompson was fourteen years old. After years of investigations, law enforcement and private investigators found not a single trace of this respectable, reliable mother. The question lingered, what happened to Eileen Thompson?

Callie Prescot Sanchez and Danielle Galluccio Thompson characters from Because of You by Renee Pellegrino, reached out to psychic investigator Tracy Richards, a character from Small Bit of Justice by Cynthia Carver, to uncover information recovered during a seance that answered that specific question.

Each author writes their perceptive characters. This novella has two distinct voices.

Enjoy the thrilling adventures in The Missing Locket – The Seance Series is a collaboration blending two authors and their fictional world. This novelette is available as a paperback, ebook, and Kindle Unlimited.

Reorganizing my home office

What am I doing now? Reorganizing my home office at the farm. I moved my desk from the storage utility trailer into the living room and I really do plan on getting at least a couple manuscripts polished for publication.

First I have items to haul to the Salvation Army, Give (a medical give away for vets and others who need help affording their meds), along with heirlooms that family members will be given. To my surprise, I found my #2 daughter’s first violin. It is a 1/16th size. The bow is missing, I seem to remember a fight and her older sister breaking it. Other fun objects include antique metal cars, miniature porcelain flower vases, and my personal highchair my mother purchased with S&H green stamps.

Other things on my to-do-list in 2019 include choosing a couple conferences to attend and welcoming a new grandson. The grandson might arrive in 2018, never can tell with those little ones.

Do you really live in an RV?

Do you really live in an RV? Why, yes I do. I’ve lived in an RV for a couple of years now. Recently I moved back on to the farm while repairs are made. Some might say well then you don’t really live in an RV… I would have to disagree because of eight percent of my time is spent on the road. I’ve had renters that lived on the farm, and now it is my time to fix and repair before I hit the road again.

It does seem odd to me not moving daily, weekly, or at least a couple of times a month. This fall and winter, I will be taking short trips here and there. Always returning to finish projects that are in process. Currently, the bathroom is under construction including an actual new tub.

After this project, then I’ll begin in the master bathroom and rehang the door, change paneling and add new curtains. I know the rooms I want to remodel. I’m waiting on each room to let me know how they want to be designed. I know it sounds a bit weird, but the bathroom my ideas just wouldn’t become concrete as to what I wanted to do. Now they are very solid as well as the colors.

My thoughts on the current bathroom remodel. I would like the long wall corrugated barn siding galvanized metal and each end a white fiberglass. The tub is white. The walls will have a wallpaper above a faux wainscoting and all colors will be white, sand, turquoise and accents of a navy. I’m excited to see it finished and thoughts becoming things of beauty.

The RV is parked until my next trip. I do love to travel, meet new folks, and see new sites. In 2019 I want to make it to a couple of writers conferences and return to New Orleans again. Until next time…

When you run short on time and still want to write

When you run short on time and still want to write you either make time or dictate on the go. If you choose the later, then transcribing can be a chore. There are a lot of virtual assistants that do transcribe only and nothing else. Which means you will need to do all the edits yourself.

I have found that google docs have a voice typing tool. You dictate to google docs. This feature is not always accurate and sometimes when I use it, my article reads as if the aliens dictated it. Speak slowly, enunciate clearly, and read it often to make sure you are actually capturing what you dictate.

At times my southern twang drives it to the brink of a chaos hijinks. I do like and recommend it as a form of the old Dragon Speaks program. The drawback is it doesn’t work on all my devices.

Log into docs.google.com with your Gmail account and you have an online equivalent to Word, Excel, and Powerpoint.

Beginning Anew

Sometimes the website minions are against you and you lose a decade of blog posts. Singing a slightly off-key, well okay a Lot off-key, “Here we go again…”