Moments for the Heart

Welcome back Weekend Writing Warriors and here we are on the precipice of Fall, my absolute favorite season. The drop in temperature, change of colors, and ohhh man the food. And I’m not talking about spiced anything. No way. While I do love me some pumpkin pie, I enjoy the feast that surrounds Thanksgiving: turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, pecan pie, and our family’s staple veggie collard greens. Once we cross the September 21 date, my sights are on the fourth Thursday in November.

I hope you and your family have something special planned, I know its still two months away, but for me, I can’t wait.

Thanksgiving is also at the tail end of another crazy time for us as writers. Not sure if any of you take part in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo,) but I will be smack dab in the middle of it. And by the end of November, this novel will be written, and will finally have its title. Until then, lets get on with the snippets.

We left off at the end of an exciting Chapter Two. Clarke and Ryan finished their account of the events of the evening. Their actions led the saving of Mr. Nelson and the death of the tattooed man. Now we move into the next chapter and Masters and Grady take over. >>Catch up on past snippets from this novel HERE<<
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Where we left off:

He stood – they gave warning. He walked over to Mr. Nelson – another warning. The tattooed man folded his hands like he was praying, raised them over his head, and he screamed as the entire room began to shake. The officers gave one final warning, and before the tattooed man could thrust whatever he may have had in his hands down into the man’s chest, the officers fired, two shots each, center mass, just as they had been trained, ending the life of the unknown man.

SYNOPSIS:
Lieutenant Daniel Masters is a 27-year veteran Savannah Georgia Major Crimes Detective. He has seen many crime scenes like the one he saw last February. Little did he know this one would change his life. Grady, the newest addition to his team, is the first to see the abnormalities, but will the rest of the team listen in time. There is a serial murder on the loose in South Georgia, and for some reason the killer leaves their final victim alive right before committing suicide. But why? Masters and Grady must find out before its too late and the next killer strikes again.

SNIPPET:
CHAPTER THREE

The coroner’s van that drove the unknown tattooed man’s body to the morgue took a haphazard route through the chilly night. It had been a long day, and although it would be their last drop off, neither man was in a hurry. They had no clue that a tall, dark-haired lieutenant was sitting at his desk across town, waiting for a phone call with an identification. They were unaware that his new partner was sitting across from that desk just as eager, but for different reasons.

The coroner had similar ignorance because when he signed for chain of custody, he assigned the unidentified tattooed man a slot and called it an evening. By the time Masters had enough of waiting and called the coroner’s office, all he got was a ringing phone. Not even the courtesy of an answering service or machine.

Masters slammed down the phone, which made Grady jump.

***That is this week’s eight. This being a relatively short scene, I will complete it for you.***

Grady looked up at the clock on the wall, it was nearly one in the morning. He figured the coroner would be well gone by now, but he dared not say anything. He just watched as his partner read over the statements from the two officers. He flipped back a couple pages liked he remembered something.

“O77 prison tatts,” he said. “Pretty hardcore. Known for multiple homicides outside and inside the State Prison system.”

“Yeah, they did some damage up in Atlanta. They can touch anyone, anywhere. You think this was a hit?” Grady asked.

Masters switched documents, this one on Stuart Taylor Nelson. He spent some time looking through his information, shaking his head, nothing there either he assumed. Masters handed the file to Grady. “Take a look.”

Grady thumbed the pages. Nelson seemed clean. He was a college student and an Uber driver that appeared to live alone. If anything, this was a shakedown from a loan shark, if that’s what Mr. tattoos was. A student loan repayment plan gone bad, who knows. “Student loan gone sideways? Uber drivers have been known to be a good cover for drug runners and helps fund a college education. Too bad we don’t have bank records?”

“Impressive thinking,” Masters said without a smile, “but yeah, too soon to get that type of info. Carmen will be in at seven. She can pull bank, medical, school, military records. She could tell you if he had a pet turtle when he was five if you wanted to know.”

Grady looked up at the clock again. Masters must’ve read his mind.

“Not much else we can do tonight. Head home, get some rest. Be back here at seven. We’ll get back on it when Carmen can get those records and the coroner can get us an ID.” Masters said squinting at the clock. “Make it eight, give her time to do her magic, and you time to get settled in.”

Grady didn’t acknowledge or complain. He did not want to be sentenced to an all-nighter of speculating the unknown. He set down the file, said good night, and headed back to his sleeping wife.

Such a subtle scene after last week. But everything needs a transition, and getting ready to introduce the rest of Masters team to Grady needed one with just the two of them. This is where I started to lose myself in the Grady character from the original intent of centering the novel around Masters. As soon as the team is introduced, I started to write the novel as Grady having to prove his worth. Masters started to take the back seat.

I also had to take some time off to do some research on the manner of death for Mr. Nelson. It is integral to the story, that is all I am going to say. But it took me about a month of research to get it all right. So, will this be the last death in this fashion? Hmmmm, maybe. Maybe not. I just think that its part of the fun of writing, the research. We as writers know so much about so many things because we research for our writing, that we are often more educated than most people out there. Fun times.

So go write something!! Do some research and make us proud!!

And speaking of Thanksgiving…


Elissa Learns About Thankfulness
With Thanksgiving right around the corner, consider this charming story for your little reader. Book 4 in the Elissa the Curious Snail Series finds Elissa living with her human friend Francine. Elissa is sad because she cannot do some of the things her friends can do like fly or run. She eventually learns to be thankful for who she is and what she can do. Find out what that is when you cuddle up and read this book with your little one. It is available on Amazon at the link above.

Moments of the Heart is not just this website. I have a Facebook page that has something going on everyday of the week. Come on over, follow, and interact with my page to check it out! Here is what you can expect to find there.

Monday is Memory Monday – I share an important event that occurred on that Monday or sometime that particular week.
Tuesday is Talk About it Tuesday – I post a weekly video where I cover a topic that has meant something to me over the past week.
Wednesday is when I post my blog for the week.
Thursday is This or That Thursday – A weekly two option poll that raises the question, do you like this, or do you prefer that?
Friday is Fun Fact Friday – I find and share an interesting or obscure fact.
Saturday is for Weekend Writing Warriors – This is when I post my 8 Sentence Snippet from a current or past work.

I really am trying to make it fun and engaging. Something that people look forward to visiting. It has been something that has been on my heart (no pun intended) for a long time and I am now acting on it. I would love your support!!

– Little Reminders of Who I Am is now available for purchase on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other booksellers.

–The Five Barred Gate is still available on Amazon in Hardback, Paperback, and Kindle versions.

–You can purchase TFBG direct from me on my Home Page. The benefit of buying direct is you will receive a personalized signed copy!!

–My Children’s books, Elissa the Curious Snail are also on Amazon. There are 4 books about an adorable snail teaching children about prayer and believing in themselves.

–Finally you can see all updates regarding the progress of this current Untitled work in progress.

Fellow Warriors, I also have have a weekly blog that is posted in between these snippets. I would love to hear your thoughts.

AND if you have little warriors running around I now have many of my Children’s Short Stories on this website. They were originally on my Elissa the Curious Snail publisher’s website, but I now control that domain and have moved that content here. There are many stories for your little reader. These are great bedtime or anytime short stories.

In His Exciting Service,

Jeff S. Bray

Little Reminders of Who I Am

The Five Barred Gate

Elissa the Curious Snail Series

Check out amazing established and emerging writers at Weekend Writing Warriors. Each week we post new snippets from either published works or works in progress for each other to comment on. Gain insight of how the mind of a writer works and a behind the scenes look at works before they hit book stands everywhere.