They found the car waiting exactly where they told Joe Solomon to leave it. Taylor had half been expecting a black SUV that was the hallmark of official US vehicles everywhere, but instead, he saw a dark blue, older model Volkswagen sedan. Nice enough to not stand out as a noticeable...
2020-07-30 14:13:04 +0000 UTC View PostThere was a small change to Chapter 8 of Family Ties (John Taylor #5) dealing with the location of where Whitaker hid the journal. This will become important in later chapters.
2020-07-30 14:09:13 +0000 UTC View PostSome of you may have noticed, but I wanted to spell it out to make sure no on got confused. The title of the 5th John Taylor book has changed and is now Family Ties.
2020-07-24 15:35:41 +0000 UTC View Post
The sun was still peaking around the edges of the thick motel curtain when Taylor woke up. Turning, he found Whitaker already awake, propped up on one elbow, staring at him.
“I missed this,” she said once he looked up at her.
“Me too.”
She rolled over, drapi...
2020-07-24 15:34:52 +0000 UTC View PostTaylor forced the bike he and Whitaker were on around a tight turn, leaning the bike almost too much as he tried to keep from bleeding too much speed as they ran from the cyber cafe. His hopes that the siren he’d heard was just a different officer pulling some motorist over were soon dashed as ...
2020-07-07 17:06:54 +0000 UTC View PostThe next morning Taylor and Whitaker both seemed to subconsciously need to constantly touch each other. Passing each other in the small motel room, they repeatedly reached to make physical contact. A slight caress of the back or brief hand hold seemed to reinforce they were really together again,...
2020-06-20 21:25:59 +0000 UTC View Post
Whitaker dropped her helmet and threw herself at Taylor, her mouth smashing into his. For a long time, they kissed, pouring their worry and love into each other, each clutching the other tightly. Eventually, Whitaker untangled herself from Taylor and stepped back, both stopping...
2020-06-13 21:24:50 +0000 UTC View PostThe next day at lunch, I told Rhonda I needed to sit with Hanna and get some help on my homework at lunch, which was partially true. I was starting to really struggle in math, and I’d made a promise I wouldn’t start blowing my school work off. The real reason, though, was I needed to talk to ...
2020-06-11 14:10:10 +0000 UTC View Post
The trip back to the medical examiners' office seemed to take a lot longer than it had just that morning. Taylor spent the entire time in the back of the cab alternately, fearing Whitaker was gone and denying it could be her.
When he arrived at the offices, he wanted to j...
2020-06-06 13:47:49 +0000 UTC View Post
Taylor thought about the name 'Grace Sharp' all the way back to the hotel, trying to place where he’d heard it. By the time he got back, he still hadn’t placed it, but he did remember it had something to do with Whitaker. He couldn’t remember if it was a personal connecti...
2020-05-19 08:10:41 +0000 UTC View PostSunday was more of the same except I got to work earlier to help the brunch crowd, which was half people from town and half people headed south out of the national park on their way back home. Instead of coming in early or staying late, Hanna had us there just in time for me to help prep in the k...
2020-05-17 14:21:28 +0000 UTC View PostFirst, an update. I know posts have slowed down a lot. The quarantine has done a number on my productivity, especially with kids doing school from home. I'm going to re-arrange my schedule some and try and get in more writing time. This is to say you should see May get bac...
2020-04-30 12:43:22 +0000 UTC View PostNew versions of chapter 3 and 4 are up (The text on the original posts was edited to the new material). It should seem largely familiar, but with changes to the timeline and the progression of Hanna & Charlie's friendship. More changes to the other chapters coming soon.
2020-04-11 15:53:59 +0000 UTC View Post
Taylor spent several more hours poring over documents with no luck before shutting his computer down. He’d found some general background information, what he really needed wasn’t going to be found in searches. There were two possibilities he could see at the moment for gett...
2020-03-22 13:52:42 +0000 UTC View PostI know it's been a bit since the last chapter and I wanted to make sure everyone knew I hadn't ghosted. There is going to be a major rework of Playing by Ear coming up pretty soon. Normally I outline pretty heavily so this isn't an issue and the only updates are minor, but this time the cha...
2020-03-20 23:07:50 +0000 UTC View PostI liked Saturdays, mostly because mom doesn’t work until the afternoons. Most kids my age would probably try and stay in their rooms, hiding from their parents, and they’d almost certainly find me looking forward to spending time with my mom Saturday mornings weird. They probably also hadn’...
2020-02-20 14:21:19 +0000 UTC View Post
Once Graf’s backup arrived, but before the ambulance that they then called to tend to Graf’s wound, Taylor moved to check out the scene while they dealt with their brother officer. The new arrivals seemed concerned at first that Taylor, a civilian, was wandering around the ...
2020-02-08 15:20:26 +0000 UTC View Post
The next morning Ky was in a foul mood, something his lictores picked up on quickly. Partly it was because he’d started to push himself too hard. While it was true, he could operate on significantly less sleep than non-augmented humans, he had pushed this ability ...
2020-01-22 12:45:54 +0000 UTC View PostBerlin, Germany
Taylor managed to get a few hours’ sleep on the flight. It wasn't really enough, but it allowed him to beg off when Graf suggested Taylor check into his hotel and get a few hours’ sleep before they started. While Taylor was tired, he was not going ...
2020-01-10 19:31:09 +0000 UTC View Post
While the games took up most of the afternoon, Ky’s day was far from over. The Emperor and his advisors had begun setting up meetings with some of the people that Ky would need to deal with to enact various parts of his plans.
This afternoon’s meeting had ...
2020-01-07 12:26:15 +0000 UTC View PostI know there's normally a chapter posted by this point. The next chapter of Imperium required a lot more research than I expected (on banking in the ancient world and renaissance era financial innovation). There is a new chapter coming soon, I haven't forgotten. Promise.
2020-01-04 03:37:06 +0000 UTC View PostTaylor made plans with Graf at seven-thirty, for the red-eye flight to Germany. He left the German officer to take care of the details, so Taylor could take care of things before he had to go out of town. While the Germans had agreed to pick up Taylor’s tab for the time he was on lo...
2019-12-27 17:42:08 +0000 UTC View PostMy first week of public school had been somewhat of a mixed bag so far. I’d gotten a job that seemed like it’d be okay, free music lessons and it looked like I might manage to make some friends. On the other hand, I had also managed to make enemies, including a teacher, and I was starting to ...
2019-12-25 14:25:38 +0000 UTC View Post
Ky came out of his quarters the next morning to find two of the men from Carus’s detail flanking his door. He still found the concept of men guarding him around the clock to be strange. Leaders in his time had guards, of course, but everything was more hands-off. ...
2019-12-18 15:09:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Berlin, Germany
Frieda Wissler sat in her old, comfortable chair, pushed close to the fireplace, a shawl wrapped tight around her shoulders. Although the fall air had only just started to cool, taking on the crisp scent of the changing of seasons, her wea...
2019-12-10 14:04:35 +0000 UTC View Post
Ky walked the courtyard the next morning by himself. He was confused that, during his walk, the one thought that kept returning to him was that he wished Lucilla was walking with him. They had not arranged to meet, and, as the Emperor’s daughter, she must have had...
2019-12-08 14:17:53 +0000 UTC View Post
Mom was stuck working late, as seemed to happen a lot, which meant my normal night of feeding myself, reading, playing a little guitar, and getting to bed. The only new thing in this schedule was homework. I struggled somewhat with my math, still unsure of how to wo...
2019-12-05 13:48:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Ky was surprised when Lucilla stood and left the meeting room with him.
“You aren’t going to stay?”
“No. The only reason I was there was because you asked for my input, but they would be uncomfortable if I stayed. Honestly, if the emperor weren...
2019-12-04 13:48:56 +0000 UTC View PostI was second-guessing my bravado the next morning as I stood, staring down at the creek. The night before I had pictured vaulting over the creek, my feet skimming across the water. Sticking my crutch into the creek, I realized vaulting was not going to work. If I tried to stick my crutches in the...
2019-12-03 15:01:27 +0000 UTC View Post
It turned out ‘springing’ me from the hospital was a lot more complicated than I had hoped. We waited for the x-rays to come back, which showed I only had bruised ribs, not broken ones. The actual bad news was that I did have a hairline fracture in one of the bones in my fo...
2019-11-27 15:17:20 +0000 UTC View Post