Anything But Whirlwind by Cindy Blackburn

“A day in the life of Adelé Nightingale!” Louise Urko shouted. “Can’t you just see it, Jessie! This will be so fantastical! Absolutely, completely, and totally fantastical!”

I held my phone a foot away from my ear as my literary agent, fondly known in the publishing world as Geez Louise, ranted on and on about the “fantastical publicity” a short blog about my daily life would produce. According to Louise, I could count on selling a “million-zillion” more copies of my historical romance novels once my fans discovered what a whirlwind life I lead.

Whirlwind?

I interrupted Louise when she came up for breath and told her she was dreaming. “Adelé Nightingale might sound exotic,” I said, “but let’s remember she’s really just little old me, Jessie Hewitt. I’m a middle-aged divorcee who spends an inordinate amount of time writing my books and talking to my cat. Where’s the human interest?”

Louise told me to just do it. And after ten more “fantasticals” and twenty more exclamation points, she finally hung up and let me get to work. So here goes:

I start each day with a sex scene. But don’t get too excited. All this great sex happens on my computer screen, not on my bed. I’m–I mean Adelé Nightingale–is well known for her rather inventive romantic encounters.

I write all morning, occasionally looking up to read a tricky passage to my cat. Bless her heart, Snowflake almost always tears herself away from her view at the windowsill to meow her opinion about word-choice or syntax. The views from my top floor condo sometimes distract me, too. I live in downtown Clarence, North Carolina, and when Snowflake and I aren’t riveted by the activity down on Sullivan Street, we can always look further afield to the Blue Ridge Mountains in the distance.

You’ll be happy to know my afternoons are more active. I get outside to take a long, brisk walk through town and end up at my rooftop garden where I putter around with my plants. Anything with yellow flowers makes me very happy.

Dinner at the Jessie Hewitt homestead is usually a green salad. I’m not much of a cook, and since I hit menopause I really have to watch what I eat. Then it’s off to my friendly neighborhood bar The Stone Fountain. Champagne–nothing fancy–is my beverage of choice. After my divorce from the low-down, no-good, altogether despicable Ian Crawcheck, I decided to celebrate each day of the rest of my life with a bit of bubbly. My young and beautiful neighbor Candy Poppe agrees with this habit, and she usually joins me, as does my other good friend and neighbor Karen Sembler.

Never fear. I don’t drink that much at The Stone Fountain, since I always get involved with the goings on at the pool table. I’m a rather good player. Okay, so I’m a very good player. Make that brilliant. But I can’t take credit for this skill. My father, Leon Cue-it Hewitt, was a pool shark. He put the working end of a cue stick in my hand the day I could stand up on my own, and I’ve never looked back.

My hobby got me into some interesting and even dangerous situations back in my youth. And between you and me I sometimes wish a little of that excitement would come my way again. But what’s the saying? Watch out what you wish for? I got some excitement just the other night when I found this pesky dead body on my couch and–

Oops. Louise told me to write about my normal, everyday existence, didn’t she? So forget about the dead body, which I am sure there’s a logical explanation for, and you’ll have to agree that my life is anything but whirlwind.

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You can read more about Jessie and that pesky dead body in Playing With Poison, the first book the in new “Cue Ball Mysteries” series.

** Cindy is giving away one (1) digital copy of PLAYING WITH POISON for Kindle only. Contest ends November 2. Leave a comment to be included in the giveaway. The e-book will be sent directly by the author. **

Meet the Author
Cindy Blackburn has a confession to make-she does not play pool. It’s that whole eye-hand coordination thing. What Cindy does do well is school. So when she’s not writing silly stories she’s teaching serious history. European history is her favorite subject, and the ancient stuff is best of all. The deader the better! A native Vermonter who hates cold weather, Cindy divides her time between the south and the north. During the school year you’ll find her in South Carolina, but come summer she’ll be on the porch of her lakeside shack in Vermont. Cindy has a fat cat named Betty and a cute husband named John. Cindy’s favorite travel destinations are all in Europe, her favorite TV show is NCIS, and her favorite color is orange. Cindy dislikes vacuuming, traffic, and lima beans.

Connect with Cindy at her website http://cueballmysteries.com. Cindy can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.

Book are available at Amazon.