Wednesday, June 30, 2021

INTERVIEW: Canadian Sweet Romance Author Elle Rush


Elle Rush 
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Canada
 

 

Good morning, Elle, and welcome to Vision and Verse. What have you written?
I’ve dabbled in romantic suspense, but my primary focus is sweet contemporary romance. I have three active series: Holiday Beach celebrates love all through the year with holiday-themed romances, North Pole Unlimited is a long series of Christmas romance novellas, and Hopewell Millionaires is a small-town romance series about a group of friends at their high-school reunion who win a $50,000,000 lottery jackpot. 

 


What is your favorite genre to write?

Definitely sweet romance. I love the flirting and fun and banter of a happy couple falling in love. (Although I wouldn’t mind trying a historical romance set in the Great Depression or WWII, or a mystery.)

 

 


Favorite food.

That’s a tough one. Probably pizza. However, I am a huge gardener, and I eat like a queen in August when all I have to do is go outside and fill a basket. So, can I say pizza all year round and homegrown vegetables in the summer?





Tea or coffee?

All the tea! I’m a tea snob and have a shelf full of loose teas.

 

 

Pizza or ice cream?

Pizza (but it was a difficult choice.)

 

 

Wine or beer or soda or what?

Alcohol rarely. Mostly tea, water, and juice or Crystal Light. 

 

 

 


Where would you like to visit?

I was lucky enough to visit the UK for the first time in 2019. I’d like to go back and see more of Scotland (3 days wasn’t enough.) Also on the list is New Zealand and Paris. 

 

 



Favorite musical artist.   

Glenn Miller (the big band conductor). Also the Eagles, Taylor 

Swift, and Daughtry. 

 

 

Do you listen to music when you write?  What?

Always. I have several Christmas playlist that I use to get in the mood (I write a lot of Christmas romances.) I also have lots of cassette tapes, DVDs, and playlists from the 80s and 90s. I can’t listen to podcasts when I write, though – I stop writing and listen to the people speaking.

 

 

What makes you laugh?

Terrible sci-fi movies (I’m a huge Sharknado fan.) Dad jokes. Good banter in romance novels (I’m a huge fan of Shelly Laurenston for that reason.)

 

 

Favorite work of art or sculpture.

I didn’t used to be interested in art, but in the last four or five years, I’ve recently started going to exhibits at the WAG (Winnipeg Art Gallery). We’ve seen Monet, Norman Rockwell, Van Gogh, and Picasso. Rodin’s sculptures were my favourite.

 

 

How old were you when you started writing?

10. My first “best-seller” was a self-illustrated book in the school library when I was in fifth grade.

 

 

Do you plan out your book with outlines and notecards? Or just write?

Outlines and cards always. I need to know the major events in the book before I start writing.

 


 

At a Jane Austen event

Who is your favorite author?

Come on, you know an author can’t have just one! Jane Austen is my favourite author of classics. Shelly Laurenston for romance (she writes paranormal romance). Matthew Reilly for action-adventure fiction.

 


 

Last book you read.

Christmas with the Ops Room Girls by Vicki Beeby (book 2 of a WWII series set in England. I’m anxiously awaiting the third book of the trilogy.)

 

 

What would you do for a living if you weren’t a writer?

I’d be working in finance at a bank or investment company.

 

 

Who is the one person who has influenced your personal life the most and why?

My earliest memories are my mother taking me to the library and my dad bringing home bags of books for me that he bought at yard sales. If that didn’t sent me on this path of being an author, nothing did.


 

What advice would you give someone who aspired to be a writer?

Practice! Write short stories, write a novel, write a poem, write a non-fiction piece about something you are passionate about. Try all different forms until you find your strength and build from there.

 

Do you have some links for us to follow you?

http://www.ellerush.com/newsletter

https://twitter.com/elle_rush

https://www.bookbub.com/profile/elle-rush

https://www.amazon.com/Elle-Rush/e/B00KUCB1O2%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share



 

My newest releases are in my Holiday Beach series. 

 

In SHAMROCKS AND SURPRISES (out now), “Lucky” Lucy Callahan can fix anything, which is why her boss sent her to the Dew Drop Inn. The neglected hotel sounds like the perfect challenge for a woman who likes to bring things to their full potential. It’s a shame that the cute bar owner who asked her out doesn’t seem to appreciate her efforts.

Roy Wagner’s family feud with the business next door is older than he is. He’d happily see the hotel go up in flames—he’d even supply the marshmallows. He liked Lucy before he knew she worked for the enemy. Now he has no idea what to do about her, but he’s sure the relentlessly helpful, happy woman is up to no good. 

Rebuilding a hotel is no easy task, especially when she has to make the old inn fit into Holiday Beach’s unique tourist-friendly setting, but Lucy hasn’t failed yet. If she can get Roy to come around, maybe she can convince him that the changes she’s bringing could be a very good thing for his hometown…and their own future.

https://www.ellerush.com/shamrocks-and-surprises

And up for preorder in October is PUMPKINS AND PROMISES, with more romance, laughs, and a corn maze that may or may not be haunted.







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Tuesday, June 29, 2021

BOOK REVIEW: Die Every Day For the Rest of Your Life by Gordon Bickerstaff



A woman is murdered in a Glasgow city hotel room. Police have everything they need to charge a suspect. Caught at the scene, he confessed, and he's filled with guilt and remorse. With undeniable evidence; the police expect him to plead guilty.
Rumours suggest the man will plead not guilty and tell his story. If he faces trial, the truth will cause international outrage and the government will fall.
Faceless mandarins in corridors of power are determined he will remain silent.
Lambeth Group agent, Zoe Tampsin, is ordered to make him plead guilty. What she discovers will crush her soul and place her next in line to be murdered.
Who is pulling the strings? What secrets are they hiding?



My Review:
Die Every Day for the Rest of Your Life by Gordon Bickerstaff was a roller-coaster ride of twists and turns, an excellent suspense thriller with great characters. Main character Zoe is all you could want and more. The the bad guys are... extremely bad. This is the first I’ve read in this series and my this author, but it won’t be the last. Bickerstaff plunks you right in the middle of the action: a barroom fight, the betrayals, and the Secret Service coverups. Tight plot, well written. Needs to be a movie.

Buckle Up for a Great Roller-Coaster Action Ride!


Amazon Buy Link:






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Sunday, June 27, 2021

SCHEDULE: June 28 -July 2, 2021

Aruba, Marriott Stellaris       Photo by Carol Ann Kauffman


 Mon., June 28 - ART:
Folk Artist
Eric Dowdle
Tues., June 29 - BOOK REVIEW:
Die Every Day for the Rest of Your Life
by Gordon Bickerstaff
Wed., June 30 - INTERVIEW:
Author Elle Rush
Thurs., July 1 - ENTERTAINMENT:
Cursed
(Netflix)
Fri., July 2 - BOOK:
The Baslicato
 by Carol Ann Kauffman 





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Friday, June 25, 2021

BOOK: Bentley Square by Carol Ann Kauffman


 





Bentley Square
is a great story.
Strangers see each other on the train every day, but never speak. She is a beautiful, wealthy businesswoman. He's a down on his luck office manager. They have nothing in common. And yet, they are drawn to each other with an undeniable hypnotic magnetism. 





This is the story of Rebecca Robbins, daughter of one of the wealthiest men in the country and Mark Ramsay, a man shrouded in dark mystery and hiding in the shadows from death squads amid international intrigue.

This one was so much fun. to write! I hope you enjoy reading it.

Most of the action takes place in Northeast Ohio in the fictitious city of Skylar. 

The cover photo, however, is the bank building in downtown Youngstown, Ohio. We scouted locations early in the cover design planning stage. I really wanted to use the Niles Bank Building in downtown Niles, Ohio. But none of the shots came out well. Some of the Cleveland ones were great shots, but somehow missed the mark of what I wanted Skylar, Ohio to look like.

But when I saw the Youngstown photos, I knew I found my cover. Even the sky cooperated that afternoon! 





There's a ton of action is this one. What begins as a little love story between two people who see each other on the train soon becomes a story of international intrigue, with kidnap, assassin squads, and murder.  



There's apart in the book about fixing old telephones. When I was little, much to the dismay of my parents, I used to love to take things apart. 




The insides of an old land line telephone are fascinating. Little colored wires. Tiny metal coils. All snuggly nestled inside the screw off receiver. Now, bear in mind, we had one phone. It was a landline. And when it was in pieces, it didn't work.

Bentley Square is available in ebook and paperback format on Amazon.com, and other large book retailers. It is also available at your local public library. 










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Thursday, June 24, 2021

ENTERTAINMENT: The NEW War of the Worlds (BBC Prime)



A stellar cast, including the lovely and versatile Eleanor Tomlinson of Poldark fame and the very talented Robert Carlyle (Hamish MacBeth, Stargate Atlantis, Once Upon a Time), among others give this BBC period piece version of War of the Worlds a brand new spin. 

 








 







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Wednesday, June 23, 2021

INTERVIEW: Crime/Humor Author Toni Kief

Toni Kief
Marysville, Washington
USA




Good morning, Toni, and welcome to Vision and Verse, the site dedicated to art and authors and those who like to write and draw and those who like them. What have you written?

When I was 60, I was pondering what I would be when I grow up. A friend dared me to write. I started with flash fiction and short stories. I then wrote Old Baggage: Never too late for a new beginning. It was inspired by an older woman walking on the side of the road cussing and kicking dirt, I thought, “That miserable SOB got 49 years, he ain’t getting 50”. 

After that I thought of a name, Mildred Petrie, and I swear she wrote the next 4 books in the Mildred Unchained the Unexpected Series. The first, Mildred in Disguise with Diamonds was a standalone, and then there was another. Each book was the last, but Mildred just doesn’t rest. I released #4 in 2020. Working on #5, but the pandemic seems to be kicking me around. 


I invested some years of research from genealogy research my dad’s cousin did. Finding Susanna White-Winslow who was a survivor on the Mayflower sent me to work, and I have released Saints, Strangers and Rosehip Tea – which is a historical fiction with the women’s side of the migration. 

 

I have also released some of my short stories and writing prompts with “Dare to Write in a Flash”.

 

I would love to do a collaboration with someone about women lost in history. 

 

 

What is your favorite genre to write? 

I made up my own genre, OA (old adult) but it is more Crime/humor with an older protagonist. 

 

Favorite food. 

Changes through the day, but I realize that I’m responsible for the death of 52 chickens a year, I don’t have a running count on how many broccolis or pumpkin pies. Okay, here is a well know secret. I love marshmallows, even my grandchildren would bring me their peeps at Easter and the grimace when I celebrated their short lives. 

 

Tea or coffee? 

Tea – It took me almost a year to quit diet coke. I have become an unsweetened tea aficionado. I have to write well to get the high-quality English Breakfast otherwise it is the 2 for $5 ones from Safeway Grocery. 

 


Pizza or ice cream? 

This is a cruel question. I demand both, but not on the same plate and maybe about an hour apart. 

 

Wine or beer or soda or what? 

I have one glass of wine after 7:15 in the evening. I have no idea where the time came from. There have been some nights it is a very large glass. It helps me sleep (I tell myself).

 

Where would you like to visit? 

The world- although right now I would love a cruise of Norway. Thanks to my genealogical research I have connected with cousins in Norway and with a cruise, I could meet them but not have to be a tiresome guest that doesn’t speak “Norsk”. 

 

Favorite musical artist. 

Sam Cooke, I discovered him when I was still in high school. He was 

already gone, but I have bought all his albums (note that tells you how 

long I have loved his music). I did buy the Beatles first 45 in the US 

(not an album yet) and vowed to never see them in person, because 

Paul would love me so much, he would quit music and the world needed 

his genius. You are welcome.  

 

Do you listen to music when you write?  

No, too many memories. I tried, but would get distracted, quit writing and 

sing or dance. If it is silent, I worry about every noise in the neighborhood. What I turn on is NPR (National Public Radio) and it becomes almost a 

white noise in the background. 

 

What makes you laugh? 

Damn near everything. I was raised by brilliant funny parents, and I’ve noticed that all my siblings are the same, we will make a joke, play on words or whatever it takes to keep things positive. 


 

Favorite work of art or sculpture. 

I share a birthday with Picasso (not the same year), but he isn’t it. I love Vincent Van Gogh and took my grandchildren to his exhibit when it was in Seattle, WA. I also went to Rome with a friend who only wanted to shop. We went to a multitude of museums and I stood in the Sistine Chapel and could barely believe I was there. I would try to make Michelangelo like me. 



How old were you when you started writing? 

Over 60. My first book was published at 68. 

 

Do you plan out your book with outlines and notecards? Or just write? 

I’m what is called a pantser, and sometimes a baggy pantser. I allow my characters to lead me and I’m often as surprised as they are. Although I’ve been stuck this year and have the scene of my book drawn on a white board. It hasn’t helped, but it was a good stalling tool for one day.

 

Describe your perfect evening. 

I sit and look back and the perfect evening has been as varied as possible. Now that no one asks me to dance anymore, I’d say a bottle of Prosecco, and my brother and sisters. We laugh, and share memories, and since I’m the eldest, I correct them. We might need two bottles and a pie.


 

Where do you get your inspiration? 

If I knew, I’d go there and give her a shake. I am more productive when I interact with people and have my private time too. 

 

What do you do when you get a writer's block? 

I have had trouble with the pandemic and inspiration. I’m an extrovert. So, I took a Masterclass from David Sedaris, he said I should walk. I thought that had to be wrong, so I took one with Dan Brown, and he told me to walk. I have now walked 763.2 miles and picked up over 800 bags of trash as I go. It is stunning the old songs and ponderings that go through your mind. 

 

Who is your favorite author? 

It varies from day to day. I love Vicki Leon’s books on women’s history- they are hilarious. I also read all of Dan Brown’s books. But to really dig deep, I’d have to say Alice Walker, no - Tony Hillerman. (I came back a day later to check commas and decided it is Liz Gilbert, er Maya Angelou. I’ve been to Papa Hemingway’s house and drank in his bar. 

 

Best book you ever read. 

This is very difficult as you can tell from the previous question. I have only reread one book ever, The Temple of My Familiar by Alice Walker. But you must realize that when I read 1984 it was way in the future. One book that has stayed with me the longest is The Grapes of Wrath. I was grateful I read it but felt I should get a prize for finishing. I read all the banned books in my sophomore year of high school (they are classics now). When I was 23, I read the books I had faked the book reports on.

 

Last book you read. 

I read every night, and mostly indie authors. Last week’s favorite was Submerged Hopes by Chloe Holiday. I’m not usually a romance fan, but this was brilliant and not your usual characters. 

 

What would you do for a living if you weren’t a writer? 

I was an independent insurance investigator for 43 years. The first woman outside adjuster in Florida. I started writing before I retired. My husband at that time owned the business, but we couldn’t work together. So, I’d send him to the racetrack, and run the business. When I moved to Washington, I already had years of experience. Every catastrophe I see, I’m grateful I’m retired.  


 


Who is the one person who has influenced your personal life the most and why?  

My father, Bob Kief was a firefighter and went to college at the age of 45. They kept him there and he retired from Illinois State as a trainer and worked with athletes. He was beyond brilliant and was naturally funny. Just being around him made you bolder and positive. We all developed his outgoing personality and ability to make most any situation better. 

 

If you could sit down and have a conversation with ONE person, living or dead, real or fictional, who would it be and why? 

Mary Magdalene and a translator. I have questions. 

 

What advice would you give someone who aspired to be a writer? 

Read, read, read, then do it. Realize it won’t be perfect and rewrite and edit like a maniac. I found a small error in Gloria Steinem’s book and knowing she lunches with editors every day gave me permission to publish. Oh, and then write some more. 





Do you have some links for us to follow you? 

http://tonikief.com

https://www.facebook.com/tonikief8author/  

https://twitter.com/tonikayk1  

Still figuring out Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tonikief/   

Amazon Author page link:   https://www.amazon.com/Toni-Kief/e/B01CR8V3RG/

 

WOW you didn’t delve into my FBI file!


Toni, you are a riot. I love the Mildred books. We at Vision and Verse wish you continued success in all your endeavors. Come back and see us again.






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Tuesday, June 22, 2021

BOOK REVIEW: Firefly Junction, Death in the Park, by London Lovett

 



Firefly Junction: Death in the Park is a cozy mystery by London Lovett. It’s the first book in the series and introduces Sunni Taylor, spunky investigative journalist, who is renovating an old farmhouse that has a distinctive ghost. She is assigned a piece at the newspaper office on a retiring high school custodian, who comes up dead. Great characters! Fast moving story. Loved it.






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Sunday, June 20, 2021

SCHEDULE: June 21-25, 2021



 Mon., June 21 - ART:
English Painter and Sculptor
Frederic Leighton

Tues., June 22 - BOOK REVIEW:
Firefly Junction:
Death in the Park
by London Lovett
Wed., June 23 - INTERVIEW:
Crime/Humor Author
Toni Kief

Thurs., June 24 - ENTERTAINMENT:
The New War of the Worlds
(BBC Prime)
Fri., June 25 - BOOK:
Bentley Square,
Time After Time
by Carol Ann Kauffman










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Friday, June 18, 2021

BOOK: June Green Leaves of Deceit by Carol Ann. Kauffman

 

Join Cat Collier is this serial mystery short story series, described as a cross between Nancy Drew and Mike Hammer.

Carter disappoints Cat in the worst possible way. She begins to doubt her worth. Can a new location bolster Cat’s self-confidence? Is she strong enough to let a new love in?

June Green Leaves of Deceit continues and adventures and misadventures of Mary Catherine Collier, known as Cat, as she opens a second online investigation office, away from Heaton Valley and the love and support she’s known there. Can she make it on her own? 


Amazon Buy Link:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DYFCFS

Here are some reviews:

Reviewed in the United States on June 15, 2019
Verified Purchase
Cat Collier is one of my favorite female detectives! In this book, she opens an office in New York to try to expand her business, and prove to herself that she can make it on her own.
Hurt after Carter runs off, as he does when there are problems, she decides to open another office. The building she moves into is run down, and owned by a hermit who lives on the top floor. After getting his okay to update the office she and Spencer, the hermit, start building a loving relationship. I can't tell you more, you'll have to read it!
I highly recommend this book!!

Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2019
Verified Purchase
I just love these Cat Collier Mystery’s! Each time I find myself trying to figure out who did what and why? But this one has so many elements to it, that it’s kinda hard to but my finger on the killer. I have my suspicions and my why, but I’ll probably be wrong and shocked to find it all out. This one leaves you hanging and starving for the next book. If you like good clean down to earth mysteries, then I highly recommend this book.

Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2019
Verified Purchase

But, wait! Read an excerpt before you buy:


Chapter One
Gauze and Breeze


It was a perfect June morning in northeastern Ohio. The sun illuminated the periwinkle sky as a gentle breeze fluttered through the open window of my gorgeous office on the eighth floor of the beautiful Palazzo Castellano, a hotel situated in the center of downtown Heaton Valley. Perfect morning. Perfect office. Perfect little town.
So why was I so damn miserable? 
I have everything a girl could want. I’m living my dream. I have my own private online investigation business in a big, beautiful office that adjoins the office of a sweet, handsome lawyer who just happens to love me to pieces. I have a new car, gorgeous clothes, and a huge rock of an engagement ring so big I could use to put out an eye in a street fight. I have a wonderful circle of friends and family who love and support me in whatever I do. I am my own boss. Nobody tells me what to do. 
So then… why the misery?
I don’t know. Because I’m not the person I used to be, maybe. My motto has always been honesty is the best policy. But one lie led to two, then four, and they continued to grow at an alarming rate. I almost needed to carry around a notebook to write down my lies in order to keep them straight. But I was afraid I’d lose it, someone would find it, and discover my deceit.
I’m no longer the honest human being I thought I was. Lately, I lie to people on a daily basis. I lie to my mother. I told her I met Kayko in Los Angeles last year at the newspaper convention. I told her there was nothing serious going on between Kayko and my brother Dane. I told her Kayko would probably be going back to California soon. 
My wonderful fiancé whom I adore? Yes, I lie to him, too. Of course, you can come with me, Carter. And no, I’m not up to anything. And I nurture those lies and cuddle up to them and keep them warm. 
I am keeping the truth from my brother Dane about his new girlfriend, Kayko. He thinks she’s a little wounded bird. And he is dead-set on saving this orphaned waif. Little does he know, she not an orphan. She has family and a betrothed in China. She was part in a human trafficking ring, and not the abused part. She lived as a homeless person on the streets of Detroit. And her name is made up, like every other part of her life.
I lied to my client Jack Harlan. I know who the father of his girlfriend’s daughter is, and it’s not some dead Italian Art professor. Lystra’s father is very much alive and is an extremely dangerous and powerful criminal. And as far as keeping his fiancée Simone out of the loop? Well, guess what, she knows everything.
And I lied to Kayko. Sure, I can get you papers so you can stay in the country legally. Sure, I can keep you safe. Sure, I can hide you from international sex trade criminals.
I took a deep breathe. Stop it, Cat. Everybody tells a few untruths every now and then, don’t they? Maybe I was blowing this whole honesty crisis out of proportion. Maybe a walk in the park across the street would clear my head and help me feel better. I pulled on my jacket and put my wallet and keys in my pocket. 

Just then I heard the sound of stiletto heels clicking on the tile floor, slowly, deliberately, almost seductively, into Carter’s adjoining office. He likes to keep the door between our two offices open in case I get into trouble. He believes private investigation tends to draw out the most unsavory of characters and he worries about my safety. I peeked around the corner.
The most gorgeous girl I ever saw in my life was standing in Carter’s office. A beautiful face framed with long, flowing, shiny brown curls gazed at Carter. Her hands on her hips, feet apart, her tiny gauzy dress blowing slightly in the breeze. Skin, hair, figure, nails, outfit - all perfect.
“Hello, Lover,” the beautiful creature purred.
“Yvette!” called Carter.
Yvette. Of course, my finance’s ex-girlfriend had to be the most beautiful girl in the world.
“What are you doing here?” Carter said in shock.
“I miss you, Rick,” she cooed as she walked runway-style around his desk. 
I hid around the corner, plastering myself to the wall, trying to calm myself. I peeked around slowly.
She pulled open his bottom desk drawer.
“What are you want?” Carter asked.
“Isn’t it obvious? I want… you. I want you back.”
Yvette put her foot up on the bottom drawer. The sun streaming through the window left nothing to the imagination. Little Miss Yvette, the beautiful underwear model, wasn’t wearing any.
“Yvette, I’m engaged to a …
She reached over and grasped his hand. She placed his hand gently on her uppermost inner thigh, then slid it up.
Carter moaned. 
I knew that particular moan. I knew it very well. I held my stomach. I thought I was going to puke. I needed to get out of the office. I couldn’t bear to stand here and listen to her… to them… I slipped off my shoes and quietly made for my office door.
Once in the hallway, I ran to the elevator at break-neck speed. I went up to our penthouse apartment. I just made it into the bathroom. Crying and puking. Heaving and sobbing.
I knew it! I just knew the someday he’d want his old life back. Big Manhattan lawyer with his underwear model Barbie Doll of a girlfriend. Why would he be satisfied with this boring, little hick-town existence? With me? Why was I surprised? I knew it was coming. More sobs, more heaves. 
I threw some clothes in a suitcase and found some shoes. I placed my big, beautiful, heart-shaped diamond engagement ring in the center of the dining room table. I ran. 
Where could I go? I let my friend Marcy Winegard stay at my old shoebox of an apartment while she looks for a place. She and boyfriend Carl Hayden called it quits and she needed a place. I could stay with my sister. I know she would take me, but she was at work and I need to get out of here right now. Where could I go?

“Mom?” I cried.
“What is it, Cat? What’s wrong?”
“Carter…” I blubbered. “And Yvette.”
My normally nasty, caustic, supercritical mother wrapped her arms around me and pulled me close to her. She stroked my hair.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, honey. He was really something special. You two were so happy. So, he packed up and went back to New York and the underwear model girlfriend, huh?”
“No. She came to his office. In this flimsy, little see-through dress. I was just leaving. I saw…” I cried some more. “I saw her seduce him. He didn’t try to stop her. He didn’t push her away. He didn’t say stop. He… he moaned.” More tears and sobs.
“Men! They’re horrible, disgusting creatures. Sex maniacs, all of them. They have no self-respect or self-control.”
“Not Daddy.”
      “No, not your father. And not your brother. But all the rest of them."






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