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I am currently on vacation!

Having spent a full year writing Long Ago and Not Very Far Away and publishing it online weekly, I was disheartened when I offered the ending to the story for $5.00 and only had one taker.  That does not amount to a very big paycheck for what I thought was a very entertaining and heart breaking story.   My paypal button is still laughing at me!

I will be back on this site at some point in time, but I think it is going to be as some sort of product or restaurant review.  Maybe I will share a few recipes with you.  I am working on another book, but I shall keep it under wraps and I am not going to either do it for free or invest another $4,000 .00 and not get a return on my investment.

I see a few of you check in here occasionally, so I guess  somebody actually read me.  Until I come up with something, hang in there. 

I have run amok!

Now, I know you popped in here to read the next installment, but I got some bad news for you.  Since the sales of my first book are stalled out I have rethought the whole thing.  Don't get me wrong, I am full of ideas and there is another book just busting to get out, but I am not a rich woman.  So until I can pay for the last one, I am not going to worry about the next one.
And how silly is that to put it on here for free and then think some one might actually buy it?  Not good marketing from this end.  So the book is on a flash drive waiting to be finished. When the first one is paid for the second one will be printed and that is how it goes.
In the meantime, here is this blog and nothing to put on it.  So my thoughts are that I am going to wander around this town and pop in to businesses here and there and then give you a report.  Say I decide I want a hamburger and I drop in to McDonalds.  Does the clerk smile?  Make eye contact?  Is the place clean?  Was the hamburger what I expected?  You get the drift.  Trust me I have been in some places that would not like to have my report published!  I am thinking I may need to take some one with me to verify my findings.  I think I will carry a clipboard and when I leave get a permission slip.  Thinking I may want to consult my attorney before I even embark on this, so give me some time and then check back in and see where I am.
And I would like your feedback on whether you would even read this or not.  So email me your thoughts.  loumercer3@aol.com  In the meantime...

 

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This is the novel I have for sale on Amazon. Do not be confused by the title. Chapter One simply means this is my first book. There may never be another, or there may be many more. I am very proud of this endeavor and guarantee you will enjoy the book in it's enirety. Lou Mercer

From the back cover

Chapter One...Loose Ends
Lou Mercer

Meg Parker led a simple life.  She was a widow of three years and lived on a chicken farm at the foot of the mighty Rockie Mountains.  Life was good and her little store on eBay made her extra spending money.  But snow and wildlife were not the only things lurking in the forest above her house.  Nor did it stay in the forest for long.

Marshall Purcell came home a wounded veteran from vietnam.  He still had his dreams, but they were of an incestuous past that threatened to consume him.

When Meg and Marshall met it seemed an inconsequential meeting, but it changed both their lives forever.  And change is not always a good thing.

This is adult fiction at its best without all the sex.  Well, maybe just a little bit. 

About the author.  Lou Mercer was born in Nickerson, Kansas. She came to Pueblo, Colorado in 1977 and is now a product of the majestic Rockie Mountains

Installment #12 Jack Farley

 Jack unlocked the door and opened it into his condo.  Home.  It had been a very frustrating day.  Hot as hell.  He dropped the mail on the hall table and headed for the refrigerator and a cold beer.  He was only mildly surprised that there was no beer to be had.  Should have gone shopping.  Shoulda, coulda. Oh well, grab a quick shower and hit the corner bar.  He was ready for a little meaningless chatter with the boys anyway.  He stripped as he headed for the shower leaving a trail of clothes behind him on the floor.  Wasn’t really littering, just storing them there for later.   Yeah, the cleaning lady would pick them up tomorrow.  And she would call him a pig.  She would tell him the floor was not a storage area.  And he would ignore her.  She should know if he picked up after himself, she would not have a job.  That was the way the game went.
 Clad only in his “whitey tighties” as  he like to call his Fruit of the Loom briefs he suddenly remembered the mail.  He should be hearing from his oncologist about his PSA test last week.  Surely it was alright.  He felt alright.  It had been over a year since he had been diagnosed with Prostate Cancer and he was faithfully taken the chemo shot every 3 months.  That and the radiation seeds the doctor had planted in his scrotum were surely working.  He was sure if he ever got the notion that he could get a hard on.  At least he sure hoped so.  Just the other day he had felt life down there just thinking about Meg Parker in the shower.  Sex had never been a big motivator in his relationships.  There were things far more important that brought him back to a woman for a second or third date.
The first and most important thing was that she be pretty.  He preferred stunning and he had many of those.  A woman must be intelligent and able to carry on a conversation and not become flustered or rude.  She must be a lady at all times.  There was that one back in St. Louis who had been perfect or so it seemed.  He had entertained the idea of her as a wife and then she had done the unthinkable.  He and a friend had been out riding the trails on their dirt bikes and were close to Janice’s house.  Why not stop in for a cup of coffee.  Jack wanted to see what Roger thought of Janice.  So they popped in unannounced.
 Of course Janice was happy to see him and immediately made coffee.  Soon she appeared in the living room with a plate of his favorite cookies and two cups of steaming coffee on a tray which she sat on the table in front of the sofa.  Jack and Roger reached for their cups.  Jack noticed a bit of coffee on the tray, but what troubled him most was the lack of a saucer.  If he picked the cup up off the tray, the bottom would be dripping and it would drip on him.  He was not in the mood to be saturated with hot coffee just because Janice was inept at serving coffee properly.  He suddenly saw a future before him of a dirty house, cold lumpy gravy, snot nosed kids and probably a hairy dog laying somewhere near where he would want to eat. 
 He arose briskly and headed for the door leaving a completely confused Janice and Roger staring after him.  He had to leave because he suddenly felt like he was choking.  Smothering.  Dying a lonely old man would be better than compromising all the things he believed in and God help him a saucer and a doily under his cup was nothing short of civility.  Mother had not understood at all when he explained that, “No, I will not be marrying Janice.  If you are so concerned about her, you go talk to her.  I never talked marriage with her so I am clear on this one.”
 And mother had.  Janice’s mother was her best friend, after all.  There had been recriminations and even father had voiced an opinion that dating a girl exclusively for three years  usually gave people an idea that more would be coming.  So he had left home and taken an apartment in the Gas Light District.  After work he would go “clubbing” and weekends were spent antique hunting.  He found he had a flair for design and so pursued the free lance design business in his spare time.  He took up photography and developed his own film.  He loved taking pictures of people being people.
 And so he had spent his life.  Cleveland, Sacramento, back to St. Louis, Minneapolis, San Francisco, and now Denver.  He had worked in the Post Office, been a draftsman for a plumbing company, an engineer, day labor, dog trainer, and now he was a detective.  Analytical mind had gotten him here.  And over the years he had come to know that he was dyslectic and had retrained himself in the way he learned things.  He knew he could only concentrate on one thing at a time and that was why Meg had upset him so bad.  Ah, yes, his mind had come full circle and it was back to Meg.
 He found the envelope with the return address of  the oncologist.  He picked up the letter opener and slit the top.  With two fingers he removed the single sheet of paper.  It was short and to the point.  His PSA was elevated and he needed to come in for a consultation.  He dropped the letter in the basket and returned to the shower and his plans for the evening.



 

Installment #9 Fred

 Fred watched from the edge of the forest as the shiny car kicked up gravel on Banner  Road.  Yep.  It was that one cop.  Wonder why he drove that car?  Looked like he should drive a black sedan of some sort.  Or maybe white.  White would be good.  Bet he was showing off for Mrs. Parker.  Bet that was it all right!  Well, that was no never mind to him.  He had more important things to do right now.
 He glanced at the sun.  Must be about 3:00 o’clock in the afternoon.  They ought to be thinking about cooking before long and he ought to be thinking about maybe getting cleaned up, but first he had something to do.  He felt the vial in his shirt pocket and turned back towards his cabin.  He better hurry!
 At the cabin he knelt by a solitary scrub evergreen.  He had pruned it so the branches did not touch the ground and the sun could reach the soft dirt for several hours a day.  He stared intently at the funnel shaped depressions in the dirt.  Which one today? 
 He had a grid laid out in his head and numbers for the depressions, but they kept changing positions! Finally he picked one as the recipient for the day.  Pulling the vial from his pocket he held it near his face and stared at the big red ant inside.  It was not moving much.  Oh, it needed air! 
 Fred quickly pulled the stopper out.  The ant began to kick.  That was just in the nick of time!  Better drill a hole in the cork or the next one might not make it at all.  He smiled at the ant as he tipped the vial down and the ant slid down the tube and landed gently in the sandy dirt.  Fred had worked very hard to make the area just right.  It had to be sandy and soft.  If it was not the larvae buried in the sand could not build it’s trap.  He had worked very hard to make this the perfect world.  Antlion’s normally did not live up here on the mountain.  Or so he thought.  He had never seen them before and this was the only ones he knew about.  He could be wrong, but he did not think so.
 He had caught three of the adult damselflies and put them in an aquarium with sandy soil and a little greenery and a grow light all set up right in his kitchen.  He had put up a little card so he would not forget what he had learned at the library.
Common name: Antlion
Scientific name: Myrmeleon sp.
Order: Neuroptera
Life cycle: Complete metamorphosis.  Adults do not fly much but lay eggs in the sand.  Eggs hatch and the larva dig funnel shaped pits in the sand and hide in the bottom.  Ant or other small things fall in the pit and can not get out.
 He had easily recognized the mother antlion when he seen her.  She looked very much like a dragonfly, but much smaller and rather drab with four wings with veins in them.  He was not sure whether the mother was called a damselfly or an owl fly.  Really did not matter.  He knew he was going to get something when he saw her with her tail in the sand in the aquarium and several weeks later he began to see the funnel shaped traps immerge.  They were fascinating to watch, but for some reason when the ant was trapped and the antlion struck, it made him very sad, as now. 
 He watched the ant struggle to get away and slide back down the steep sides into the ferocious jaws to the predator.  As he watched the ant slowly stop struggling and curl into a fetal position he realized that time had passed and it was going to be supper time pretty quick.  He hurried back to the clearing and sure enough, they were making preparations to make more preparations. 
 He hurried to the cabin and through the door to his small cot.  He gathered a pair of boxer shorts, a pair of socks, his newest Levi’s, a white tee shirt with a pocket and his long sleeved blue checkered shirt he had ordered last month from LL Bean. These he laid on the chair outside the door to his shower room.  He had built this little room himself after dad died.  It held a corner shower, a small sink and of course, a commode.  He had bought a taller one because he was a tall man and did not like crouching when he did his business.
 As he stripped and dropped his clothes on the floor he remembered how when he first built this he did not have a water heater.  Mountain water was very cold and he very soon realized that a water heater was a must.  As he lathered his chest he also made a mental note to buy more soap.  He had found that bag of Irish Spring soap laying by the road last winter.  Whole bag not even touched so he had brought it home.  He kind of liked the smell of it.  Maybe he would buy some more. 
 He wondered what kind of soap Meg used.  He could call her Meg when he was here naked in the shower and no one else was around.  When he was at her house he had to be respectful and call her Mrs. Parker.  He bet she was really soft.  He could almost tell that by looking at her.  Course she was in the sun a lot of times, so she wasn’t the creamy skin like his momma. 
 Or like momma used to have.  And she wore tennis shoes mostly, not like the patent leather ones his momma had worn.  His momma had been perfect.  His momma had been like an angel.  Probably why he had not messed with women.  None could compare to his momma.  Still there had been that woman in Kansas that time.  Not a woman really, more of a girl.  Not a little girl.  She was just out of school and working in that café where he ate.  He let himself think back in time for just a moment.  He tried to remember how that woman had felt.  Oh, yes!  She had been so soft and warm.  And she smelled good and her hands pulled him toward her.  And her lips!  Her eyes!  He could almost see her.  He could alost feel her and almost see her as he suddenly turned the hot water off and felt the jolt of ice cold mountain water bring him back to reality.  And with the memory he lost what could have been a hard on. 
 But Fred Himes, Jr. would never allow that to develop.  Not while he had control of his mind.  A woman would never be a part of his life.  And with that came a very great sadness.

;">********************For Sale by owner*****************

From the back cover

Chapter One...Loose Ends
Lou Mercer

Meg Parker led a simple life.  She was a widow of three years and lived on a chicken farm at the foot of the mighty Rockie Mountains.  Life was good and her little store on eBay made her extra spending money.  But snow and wildlife were not the only things lurking in the forest above her house.  Nor did it stay in the forest for long.

Marshall Purcell came home a wounded veteran from vietnam.  He still had his dreams, but they were of an incestuous past that threatened to consume him.

When Meg and Marshall met it seemed an inconsequential meeting, but it changed both their lives forever.  And change is not always a good thing.

This is adult fiction at its best without all the sex.  Well, maybe just a little bit. 

About the author.  Lou Mercer was born in Nickerson, Kansas. She came to Pueblo, Colorado in 1977 and is now a product of the majestic Rockie Mountains

Update....again???

Bet you thought you were actually going to get to read something, didn't you?  Sorry.  I must confess that I am inundated here with my life.  I have come to a crossroads in the book publishing arena.  I have one price.  200 books will cost me $2000 and 500 will run $4,000, neither amount is on hand at the present time.  Guess I could mortgage the house, and that still remains an option.

I have submitted it to a couple publishing companies and I can always hope that one of them will be taken and they will do the publishing thing for me. 

In the meantime I have started the next novel and am now on page three of it.  Life is going to slow down here soon and I will be able to concentrate.  In the meantime, hang in there cause I am wanting to write it as bad as you are wanting to read it!!

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Update

Well, kiddies, I know you are getting tired of waiting here, but bear with me.  I have been really busy.  I have gotten Chapter One...Loose Ends to the printer and am waiting for a price.  I have also been making character notes on the next installment.  I think this next one will be really interesting.  May not be as gripping as the last one, but the nutso's are still alive and well in my head. 

So give me a couple weeks and then summer will be here and you will not be able to read anyway cause you will be off doing the summer things. 

And look down there at my Dickie Ad.  I wonder if that thing keeps blinking when I am not looking?  Reminds me of a song.  Here you go.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xXD9-1mLBY&ob=av2e

I do love technology!

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Oh, Burger King! I cannot beleive you did that!

I am thinking this is a real good reason NOT to go to our local Burger King!  JMHO

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/07/burger-king-manager-fired-hiv_n_1497718.html?icid=maing-grid7%7Chp-desktop%7Cdl15%7Csec3_lnk2%26pLid%3D158651

What am I doing?

If you wonder where we are on the book, I will tell you.  I picked it up last night and am now working on the corrections. My "partner in crime who shall currently remain nameless" is checking into the art work for the cover and a few other things.  That woman is a godsend and where would I be without her?

I think the title has been extended to Chapter One...Loose Ends.  That was her idea and I think it fairly well describes what went on there.  The Chapter One part was a vital title and this will make it easy to find on the New York Best Seller List.  And since I left myself wide open for the next one, I will call the next one Chapter Two...But This Is the Part I Have Not Completely Decided On. 

So there you have it.  As the dwarfs would say "Hi, Ho!  Hi, Ho!  It's off to work I go!"  Be back to fill you in on progress next week.

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Update on what is going on here.

I know you are wondering just what I am up to so let me fill you in on that.  My Chapter One is currently being edited and should be finished by the first of next week.  My editor who shall be known as only Jeanne, is giving me pointers and has agreed to travel with me to my book signings and things like that.  But I am getting ahead of my self. 

Then I will deal with a publisher who has to do formatting and all that stuff.  I need to design a cover and I am still stuck on what to name the silly thing.  I have been assured that if I stick with Chapter One , and then name the next one Chapter Two, and so forth that people will get confused and think it is all the same story.  I am comfortable with the One, Two, Three thing, but I guess a nice catchy title is in order.  I am toying with Sins of the Mothers, Sins of the Sons.  Course other suggestions have been, Up the Tree, Down the Hole, and Oh, Mamma!  That is only a few that have been tentatively offered.

In the meantime, my little mind is working on the next book.  Course I am torn between keeping Meg on the farm or sending her into town.  Staying has all kinds of possibilities with the advent of Fred having actually taken a shower.  But so does the relocation to Denver and the detective there.  And then there is the son in California.  California with its balmy breezes and earthquakes and the gay night life could prove a real challenge.

Got any ideas?  I would love to hear from you.  loumercer3@aol.com  will get you right to me.  Just be sure you put Chapter One in the subject line or you are off to the spam folder and never, never land.  Nothing encourages the writer in me more than  knowing that some one is out there reading my missives and actually liking them!  Just a ham at heart!

So, until later, I remain, Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered so to speak.

Good Morning!!!

On gossamer wings and a silver tome,
of moonbeams bright
My dreams will come.

I stood on a precipice deep and wide,
And dreamt of leaping
to the other side.

Lou Mercer.....unknown date

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told you I was cleaning house. found this.

It was with love that I set him free;
With faith that he would return to me.

Then vainly I walked where I had seen him go,
For a sign of life or a sort of glow.

One month; then two and finally three,
Then several months later a speck I see.

So with heart all a twitter I ran to the sight;
But hold it there, something ain't right!

For there on the seat where I should be
Sat a frowsy blonde with a kid on her knee.

So let this be a lesson to you;
Got a man-stick like glue.

For a  lot's to be said of the words in kind,
"out of sight is out of mind."

Lou Mercer....some time in my delusional past!

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This was written exactly 4 years before I married Kenny who I had not met yet.

Lay down beside if just for a while.
Be mine tonight so tomorrow I'll smile.

Hold me so close that I feel your heart beat.
Your head on my chest until our lips meet.

Hands so strong yet gently they hold me,
In a lovers embrace your arms do enfold me.

This night of all nights should go on forever;
Hold me tonight for tomorrow is never.

Lou Mercer...12/23/1979

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My feeble attempt at free verse.

I can see the raindrops fallin, twisting, spiraling, dropping
     on to the earth.

I can see the raindrops gathering, rushing, cascading
     to the river wild.

I can see the river flowing, rushing, roiling
     to an Emerald Sea.

I can see the sea now rising, rolling, cresting
     on to the beach.

I can see the sea now drying, evaporatin, ascending
    to a clear blue sky.

I can see the storm clouds gather, rolling, thickening,
    into raindrops.

Lou Mercer ...March 2003


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Mother May I?

Mother may I please go out and play
In the forest near the house today?

May I take my dolly with the broken arm,
Deep in the forest so dark and warm?

You see the sun is shining bright
And in the forest there is a light.

I promise that I will take care
while in the dark, cool forest there.

Dolly needs to rest and mend her arm,
And the forest holds a magic charm.

I'll make a bed of pine boughs sweet
And lay dear dolly at my feet.

I'll lay her gently; her eyes will close
And she will be in sweet repose.

The forest nymphs will gather round,
As dolly rests upon the ground.

Then you will see, her arm will be
As perfect as it used to be.

then Daddy can, if he but will,
Take you to the forest still.

And lay you down neath sky and tree
and bring you safely home to me.

For I can see you growing weak.
I can just barely hear you speak.

So mother dear, I can but plead,
Rest in the forest is what we need.

Lou Mercer-Some time in 2001

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#2 Baby Ducklings!

Oh, baby ducklings!  See them go,
Behind thier mother in a row.

Now they run and there they stop,
Catch a bug and up they hop!

To the lake they scurry fast;
No one wants to be the last.

Bobbing there like ships at sea;
Baby ducklings, wild and free!

Lou Mercer, March 20, 2003

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#1 My first poem for your consideration.

What do I like best in this beautiful world?
A blank sheet of paper awaiting my word!
A blank sheet of paper is a challenge to me,
I close my eyes and pictures I see.
To put them to paper in black and white,
Seems to be the thing that is right.
To convey to you what I feel deep within
Whether memory of good or memory of sin.
It seems to be a compulsion of mine,
That the end of each sentence surely must ryhme.
And it must for all purpose and intent,
Be a metered time when a sentence indents.
Anal retentive, you ask with a smile?
I think so, ever once in a while!
But still I scrawl with pen and ink,
All the thoughts I so nobely think.
And continue to write, page after page,
Until I am old and crippled with age.
Lou Mercer
May 2, 2003

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