I Finished the Damn Book!
May was such a messed up month for me, I was getting seriously worried whether I could finish the book I had up on pre-order in time to fulfill my obligations.
It came down to the wire, but I got it done and feel good about the outcome 🙂
Now I can breathe again, and with views like these in my backyard- relax.
Virtually Gone Releases JUne 12 on all your favorite retail sites!
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B085PQTV69
International: https://books2read.com/VirtuallyGone
Add to your TBR List: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52329219-virtually-gone
Exclusive Excerpt
Matt sat next to a middle-aged university security guard and stared at the video playing out on a desktop computer screen. It was brain-numbing work, but he held onto the hope one of these recordings carried a usable ID of their suspect. Investigators had gone over footage taken from the general area of Gina’s attack, but at the time, they hadn’t realized they were dealing with a serial offender. With the new information received, he and Connor were going back over the evidence with a fine-tooth comb.
The timestamp on the top right of the screen said it was eight pm, shortly before Gina’s final class for the night had ended. She’d told them her routine was to take a path cutting across campus in order to arrive in time to catch the transit bus she needed to get home. There were safer routes, such as the bus lane outside the security building, but at that time of the evening she would need to make several transfers, which made her nervous. It was sadly ironic her careful choices ended up placing her in the crosshairs of a criminal.
After her shock today, Connor had offered to drive Gina home and wait until someone could come over and be with her, so she wasn’t alone. Every time Matt thought about the photo and frightening message she’d received; it made his blood boil.
The cops can’t save you, sweet Gina. See you soon.
No wonder the girl was scared; the bastard was stalking her.
While Connor had interviewed each of the individuals outside on the grassy rotunda with them, he’d snapped pictures to go over later. Their tech guy, Bob, had come up empty at tracing the number to where the photo originated, but they’d expected that. The perp hadn’t made many mistakes to this point, he wasn’t going to hand himself over on a silver platter. But he’d given them another clue—Bob had explained even burner phones came with a unique serial number, and given time, he could find out whether their suspect had used the phone to browse the web, make calls, or even if he carried another ‘regular’ phone with him. Phones constantly communicate with cell phone towers, whether in use or not, and therefore left a digital footprint that could be traced back to the distributor.
“Wait. What’s that?” Matt straightened and strained to see the grainy figure moving in and out of the shadows on the video. “Back it up a bit, will you?”
The guard paused the footage and rolled it back a few seconds before hitting play again. This time, they focused their attention on the hunched form in dark clothing, head covered by the hood of his jacket.
“Does it seem as if he’s waiting for someone to you?”
The guard shrugged. “Maybe he’s got a buddy.”
Or maybe he was waiting for Gina.
Thanks for reading. Enjoy your Saturday, everyone!
Sounds great, Jacquie. All the best. 😁
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Thank you, John 😊 deadlines scare NOT my friend, lol
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😊
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I enjoyed the excerpt, Jacqui and have my copy pre-ordered. Congrats on getting it all done:)
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LOL. I had to laugh with the post headline, Jacquie. That would probably be my reaction too. But you did it! Congratulations! I like the cover and the snippet really drew me into the story. This is going to be fab! Hugs on the wing.
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Thanks, Teagan 🙂
This was a tough one to wrangle. Between Mom getting sick and all the research involved, I didn’t think I’d ever get done!
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Well done! You have had a lot on your plate. You deserve to relax and enjoy that gorgeous garden of yours. xo
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Thank you, Darlene. Hope all is well on your end!
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Congrats on your new book!!🎉🎉
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Thank you, Trisy! Number 25 🙂
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Hey, you did it, Jacquie! You deserve to sit in your gorgeous garden the whole weekend. Congratulations to you! I hope your mom is doing better. ❤ ❤
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Thanks you, Miriam! I’m so happy to have that weight off my shoulders 🙂
Mom is doing much better. She had edema so bad they took the equivalent of eight gallons of liquid out of her body- no wonder she was weak!
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Good to hear your mom is doing better, Jacquie. Eight gallons of fluid is a lot. Which part of body does she have edema? Good thing she has a relief now. Does she have to do anything to manage the edema?
I understand about edema. I have lymph-edema problem on my legs from the removal of cancerous lymph nodes and the fluid has a hard time to circulate to my upper body. I can’t sit still all day as much as I want to work on the computer. I need to exercise every day. 🙂
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She has a blocked lymph-node under her left arm from an operation to relieve carpal tunnel. Her hands and feet were so swollen they looked like balloons and it had worked its way up to her stomach in the last month before she went in. I can’t imagine how hard on the heart that was.
Do you wear anti- embolism stockings?
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Yes, I wore the compression stockings for ten years now. When I had allergy with inflammation last year, the legs were so swollen, I couldn’t put the tight stockings on. The legs got more swollen.
When the fluid doesn’t circulate, it burdens the heart also. Did the doctor have any recommendations of how to make it better for your mom?
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I’m sorry you went through that. They advised her to go salt free and to avoid drinking too much water- surprising as I thought water was crucial to proper kidney function.
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I’m taking very little salt. When I buy can food or any packaged food, I always check the sodium levels.
I think keeping a balance is the thing. I don’t eat too much, so everything I eat counts for the nutrition. I don’t know if your mom keeps track of what she eats and what she drinks. When I took two Nutrition classes, I did analysis of my intakes.
I keep the annual physical and blood test current so nothing major would surprise me. That would tell me something like the blood count, liver function, kidney function… I hope your mom also does that.
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Thanks for the advice, Miriam. Mom is diabetic, so she should be counting her nutrition, but I think she became lax about it in the last few years.
This has definitely been an eye-opener!
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I hope your mom will be back on a more disciplined diet. There’s no other way to deal with diabetes. Is your dad still around? She needs someone to encourage her all the time.
My husband is diabetic also. He was pre-diabetic for years and he ate large piece of dark chocolate every day, ate white bread and other sweets. Then he crossed the line and became diabetic. He is very discipline regarding his diet now. It surprised me. He doesn’t eat sweet. I made a banana nut cake a week ago and have one 1/4″ thick slice each day. He only eats 1/8 of what I eat each day, just enough to have a taste of it. He has green drink (made with all the dark green plus carrots) every day. He cooks all the meals, breakfast with basically eggs, avocados, mushrooms, and fruit. For dinner, we alternate chicken and salmon.
My mom was diabetic and had Alzheimer. She had an open wound and even the doctor asked if we wanted to have her foot amputated.
I told my husband I don’t want to see his toes being amputated! Toes have less blood circulation and are more vulnerable.
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Yes, we had a friend back home who had his leg amputated due to diabetes. It’s such a common disease that people take it too lightly until they end up on pills or needles.
My dad passed away 25 years ago- gosh, it doesn’t seem that long!
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Since I have diabetes in my family, I have to be very careful. My mom passes away at least 15 years ago, and my dad 4 years before that.
Do you have any siblings, or are you the only one taking care of your mom?
My daughter is the only child. My son-in-law’s parents passed away. So we’re the only grandparents to our granddaughters. I hope the virus situation will pass so I could go see them!
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I have two brothers, but they’re 1200 miles away, so it’s just me to help Mom. I don’t mind though, she’s always been there for me.
I hope you get to see your grandkids soon!
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It’s nice to have siblings. I have only one sister about 25 miles away. All my other siblings are in Hong Kong. I’m 1000 miles from my daughter. But I don’t mind flying.
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This is just up my interest ally. I grabbed the first one in the series and will work my way up to yours. What a clever idea, for many authors to write with the same characters.
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Yay! Thank you, Jacqui 🙂 It took some organization and creative license, but we made it work 🙂
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Congratulations, Jacquie. Life is hard enough without having the personal stuff on top of everything else. The photo of the hummingbird in your yard got my attention. Do you know what species it is?
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I found this on it, Pete. I believe it’s an Anna’s Hummingbird- https://cwf-fcf.org/en/resources/encyclopedias/fauna/birds/hummingbirds.html
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You could be right. We get Anna’s here where we live, but this one seemed even brighter and more colorful. My dad was a birder and he would know in an instant. I have a love and respect for nature, but I never got the birding bug the way that he had it.
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I love watching them, but have no patience for going through bird books to find out what they are, lol.
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Congrats on the new book, Jacquie! You did it. I’m glad you can take a break and relax a bit. Your garden is looking beautiful. 🙂
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Thanks, Diana. It’s a BIG relief to have it done, lol.
Hope you’re getting a chance to enjoy the sun!
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I like the cover! Congratulations Jacquie. I am in awe of your prolific writing! Thanks for sharing that excerpt and lovely pics of your garden.
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Thank you, Balroop. This was a hard slog, time for a rest 🙂
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You deserve congratulations after what you went though to get your “damn” book up on time. 🙂 Way to go, Jacquie. You probably need a hug about now too. The flowers are so pretty. It looks like I can reach out and touch them. Again, Congratulations on your book! I enjoyed the excerpt.
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Thank you, Mary, and a hug sounds lovely ❤️
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Congratulations Jacquie and the book review sounds very good. Thanks for the share.
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Thank you, Kamal! I hope it does well 🙂
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Welcome Jacquie and of course your book will be awesome. God bless.
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You too, my friend ❤
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Welcome dear Jacquie.
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Many congratulations Jacquie. Wishing you lots of sales and happy hours in your lovely garden.
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The best of both worlds 🙂 Thank you, Brigid!
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Congrats on finishing the book, Jacquie – and your garden is gorgeous!
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Thank you, Teri!
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Well done on finishing your book, Jacquie. I have 30 pages of editing to go and just want to get it done but have seemingly endless work at the moment.
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I edit as I go, which makes slower writing, but at the end I just have to do a read through.
You’re right though, it feels great to get it done 🙂
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Congratulations, Jacquie, on getting your book finished. I finished mine yesterday too. I has felt like quite a haul with work being so busy for me since mid-March. I didn’t get to take the two weeks leave I had planned to finish it. The premise for your new book is very intriguing.
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Congrats on getting it done, Robbie! I don’t know how you manage to juggle so many balls without a breakdown.
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Congratulations on your new book Jacquie. How you manage to complete as many books as you write beats me. You are amazing. Hope your mum is doing better. 💕
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Thank you, Jane! She came home Thursday- I’m so grateful ❤
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Congratulations Jacquie! What endurance you have and your book sounds fabulous. The cover is a gravitational grab!💐
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Yay! That’s what I like to hear 🙂
Hope your week is going well, AOC ❤
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