Becky Durfee's Blog
July 15, 2015
Amazon Giveaway for a Middle Grades mystery
Please enter and share!
I have written a mystery that adults can enjoy, but features a 12 year old main character and has no swears or romance. Through Amazon, I will be giving away 5 free copies. All you have to do is click!
Copy and paste this link for a chance to win. Please share with your friends who have teens and tweens who like to read!
https://giveaway.amazon.com/p/1e47a11...
I have written a mystery that adults can enjoy, but features a 12 year old main character and has no swears or romance. Through Amazon, I will be giving away 5 free copies. All you have to do is click!
Copy and paste this link for a chance to win. Please share with your friends who have teens and tweens who like to read!
https://giveaway.amazon.com/p/1e47a11...
January 29, 2014
Exposed will be available for download tomorrow
Go to Amazon.com to get your copy!
Thanks!!
Thanks!!
January 15, 2014
First chapter of Exposed...minus the last word.
“What’s going on here?” Jenny mumbled as she looked at the pack of pills in her hand. Every one of the slots was empty; she had taken every dose first thing in the morning, just as prescribed. So why was she three days late?
She tapped her foot nervously as she considered the implications of what may have potentially lay in front of her. She and Zack were still too new to commit long term—her divorce from Greg wasn’t even final yet, and it wouldn’t be for months. If she was pregnant her secret relationship with Zack would certainly not be a secret anymore. Everyone would know that she’d started something new before her marriage was officially over. In that regard, pregnancy would have been a nightmare.
On the other hand, Jenny had desperately wanted to be a mother for years. This became especially true when she realized that she herself had been conceived out of wedlock and had inherited her psychic ability from her biological father. Since it ran in the family, perhaps her own children would be blessed with the gift. Was she carrying a baby who would keep that remarkable trait alive?
“You’re putting the cart before the horse,” Jenny proclaimed, still not having conquered her habit of talking to herself. Reaching for her phone, she called her gynecologist’s office.
“Doctor Patil and Associates,” the secretary said. She always sounded unbelievably happy.
“Hi, my name is Jenny Watkins, and I just have a quick question for the nurse if she’s available.”
“Sure, just one moment please.”
Butterflies danced around Jenny’s stomach as the hold music blared through the phone. After what seemed like an eternity, another pleasant-sounding woman picked up. “This is Lisa, can I help you?”
“Hi Lisa, this is Jenny Watkins. I’m on the birth control pill, and I was just wondering if there might be any reason why I wouldn’t get my period other than the obvious one.”
“Did you forget to take any pills this month?”
“No,” she replied. “I took every one.” At that moment the horrible cough that had been plaguing Jenny for the last month crept up on her. She shielded her mouth with the crook of her elbow in an attempt to mute it, but to no avail.
“That’s a pretty bad cough you have,” Lisa noted. “You didn’t happen to take antibiotics for that, did you?”
“Yes, I did.”
Lisa sighed before she spoke. “Did your doctor tell you to use back-up birth control while on those antibiotics?”
Excitement, fear and shock hit Jenny all at once. “No, he didn’t.”
“Well, unfortunately antibiotics can lessen the effectiveness of the pill. I’m sorry to tell you this, but what you’ll need to do is go out and get a pregnancy test. You should take it first thing in the morning since that’s when the test is most accurate. If it does come back positive, you’ll have to stop taking the pill and then figure out what you want to do from there.”
Jenny rubbed her lower belly with disbelief. “Okay, thank you. I’ll do that.”
“Give us a call if it’s positive. We’ll want to set up an appointment with you to make sure everything’s okay.”
In a daze, Jenny replied. “Will do.”
She hung up the phone and sat motionlessly on her couch. She had dreamed of this moment for a lifetime, but it wasn’t supposed to be like this. She was supposed to be gazing into the loving eyes of her husband, talking about how wonderful this planned and anticipated pregnancy would be. She wasn’t supposed to be upstairs while her boyfriend, who lived downstairs, was most likely taking a nap.
And her husband lived in a separate house three hours away.
“Cart before the horse,” she said again, resolving to take a pregnancy test in the morning. Although, she knew the wait was going to make the next twenty hours feel more like twenty days.
Feeling the need to sidetrack herself, she knocked on the door to the in-law apartment downstairs. “Come on in,” she heard Zack say. Perhaps he wasn’t napping. That, at least, showed promise.
She walked down the stairs to find him in the midst of unpacking. “Need any help?” she asked.
“Only if you’re willing to give it.”
“I’m certainly willing to help,” she said as she walked into his living room. “The only problem is I don’t know where you’d want anything.”
Zack stood up straight and wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand. “I don’t know where I want anything either. Something tells me you’d be better at putting things in logical places than I would, though.”
Jenny had been at an advantage when they’d moved in a few days earlier. She’d left her marriage with little more than the shirt on her back and a sizeable bank account from one of her earlier cases. She simply ordered furniture and had it all delivered to the main floor of the house, purchasing smaller items at the store a little at a time. Zack, on the other hand, had years’ worth of stuff packed haphazardly into boxes, and he had to unpack it in much less space than Jenny did. She scratched her head as she contemplated the inequity of the situation.
“I’ll tell you what,” Jenny said. “I’ll put some of your stuff away, but I’ll try to think like a man while I do it.”
“No, don’t do that,” Zack said, shaking his head. “If we both think like men, soon enough we’ll be calling it quits to watch sports and eat wings.”
With a stifled laugh Jenny looked at this uncomplicated yet charming man who may unknowingly be a father. Was he ready for that? Was she ready for that?
Cart and horse, she thought as she started unpacking a box.
“I appreciate this,” Zack added, flashing Jenny a sincere smile.
“It’s the least I can do,” she said. “I had it so easy compared to you.”
“Well, if I wasn’t such a packrat this would be a lot less painful.” He lifted a box and began to carry it toward the bedroom, stopping to give Jenny a kiss on the cheek as he walked by.
Their relationship had progressed over the past several months without discussion, which Jenny found to be both wonderful and scary at the same time. She had always been such a planner, needing to know every detail about exactly where things stood to the point where she made herself crazy. This time she just allowed things to happen, and it felt remarkably good despite her forfeiture of control.
From time to time the couple would exchange I love yous, and Zack was always quick to give her little kisses and affectionate pats in passing. The joy of those tokens was not lost on Jenny, who had struggled for acknowledgement in her previous, sub-par marriage. In that regard she was quite happy with Zack.
But they were still so new. Would the affection last? And how on earth would he react to a baby? Nerves threatened to engulf her, so she busied herself with unpacking.
The afternoon was largely uneventful; they made good progress emptying boxes, and Zack’s apartment became somewhat livable. For long stretches throughout the afternoon Jenny would find herself immersed in the move, completely forgetting about the potentially life-changing news she would receive in the morning. Other times the thought would come flooding back to her in an overwhelming wave, inducing a multitude of emotions. All the while, Zack continued to be Zack, which proved to be both comforting and alarming at the same time.
With the pregnancy test situated safely on the bathroom sink, Jenny climbed alone into her bed. While she and Zack spent the night together on occasion, they didn’t always. Despite the unusual living arrangement, they were proving to be like any other new couple—enjoying time together while also maintaining their space. She wondered if this latest development would make that all change.
Dog tired, she nestled into her pillow and let out a yawn. Soon enough she was dreaming, looking into the eyes of a terrifying and angry man who appeared to be in his late thirties. “I told you,” the man said through gritted teeth. “Stop checking up on me.”
“I’m not,” Jenny said, her voice shaking. “I swear.”
“Then why are you going through my shit?” The brown-haired man approached her, making Jenny cower in fear.
“I am looking for the gas bill. I’m not sure where it went, and I need to pay it.”
“That’s bullshit.”
“It’s not bullshit. It’s the truth.” Jenny was telling the truth, and she desperately hoped this man believed her.
Apparently he didn’t.
He lunged at Jenny, gripping her throat in his hand and slamming her against the wall. “Then you need to do a better job keeping the bills straight, got it? I don’t want you rummaging through my stuff.” He loosened his grip for a second, only to tighten it and slam her against the wall again.
Nodding feebly, Jenny remarked, “Uh-huh.” It was the only sound she could muster with his grip being as firm as it was.
Looking into her eyes like a crazed man, he paused as if to consider what he was about to do next. Jenny silently prayed for mercy, hoping that as he looked at her he would be able to see the woman he once fell in love with. As if reading her mind he let go of her, flashing one last glare for good measure before silently storming out of the room.
Jenny sat up in bed, unsure if what she’d just endured had been a dream or a vision. Either way she found herself shaken, gently caressing her own neck, grateful that she’d never experienced anything like that first hand. Reaching for the notepad she kept by her bed, she wrote down all of the specifics she could remember, including a detailed description of what that horrible man had looked like.
Once the entry was complete, she looked at the clock. Four a.m. Was it too soon to take a pregnancy test? She hoped not, because she was about to do it anyway.
She felt as if she was having an out-of-body experience as she scurried into the bathroom. Her eyes took a moment to adjust to the light; then she began reading the directions from the sheet inside the package. She had never taken a pregnancy test before and was unsure what to do. After learning her options, she looked back and forth between the stick and the cup, deciding she’d probably have better luck with the cup. Hitting the stick with the stream seemed like too much of a challenge at that hour. A few moments later she laid the stick flat on the counter, walking away so she could count off the next one-hundred-eighty seconds.
A million thoughts raced through her head as the seconds ticked by. How would she feel if it was positive? How would she feel if it was negative? She wiped her hands down her face, wishing she could fast forward the few minutes it would take for her to know her answer.
After the longest three minutes of her life, she returned to the bathroom. She closed her eyes at first, let out a quick exhale, and then looked down at the stick.
She tapped her foot nervously as she considered the implications of what may have potentially lay in front of her. She and Zack were still too new to commit long term—her divorce from Greg wasn’t even final yet, and it wouldn’t be for months. If she was pregnant her secret relationship with Zack would certainly not be a secret anymore. Everyone would know that she’d started something new before her marriage was officially over. In that regard, pregnancy would have been a nightmare.
On the other hand, Jenny had desperately wanted to be a mother for years. This became especially true when she realized that she herself had been conceived out of wedlock and had inherited her psychic ability from her biological father. Since it ran in the family, perhaps her own children would be blessed with the gift. Was she carrying a baby who would keep that remarkable trait alive?
“You’re putting the cart before the horse,” Jenny proclaimed, still not having conquered her habit of talking to herself. Reaching for her phone, she called her gynecologist’s office.
“Doctor Patil and Associates,” the secretary said. She always sounded unbelievably happy.
“Hi, my name is Jenny Watkins, and I just have a quick question for the nurse if she’s available.”
“Sure, just one moment please.”
Butterflies danced around Jenny’s stomach as the hold music blared through the phone. After what seemed like an eternity, another pleasant-sounding woman picked up. “This is Lisa, can I help you?”
“Hi Lisa, this is Jenny Watkins. I’m on the birth control pill, and I was just wondering if there might be any reason why I wouldn’t get my period other than the obvious one.”
“Did you forget to take any pills this month?”
“No,” she replied. “I took every one.” At that moment the horrible cough that had been plaguing Jenny for the last month crept up on her. She shielded her mouth with the crook of her elbow in an attempt to mute it, but to no avail.
“That’s a pretty bad cough you have,” Lisa noted. “You didn’t happen to take antibiotics for that, did you?”
“Yes, I did.”
Lisa sighed before she spoke. “Did your doctor tell you to use back-up birth control while on those antibiotics?”
Excitement, fear and shock hit Jenny all at once. “No, he didn’t.”
“Well, unfortunately antibiotics can lessen the effectiveness of the pill. I’m sorry to tell you this, but what you’ll need to do is go out and get a pregnancy test. You should take it first thing in the morning since that’s when the test is most accurate. If it does come back positive, you’ll have to stop taking the pill and then figure out what you want to do from there.”
Jenny rubbed her lower belly with disbelief. “Okay, thank you. I’ll do that.”
“Give us a call if it’s positive. We’ll want to set up an appointment with you to make sure everything’s okay.”
In a daze, Jenny replied. “Will do.”
She hung up the phone and sat motionlessly on her couch. She had dreamed of this moment for a lifetime, but it wasn’t supposed to be like this. She was supposed to be gazing into the loving eyes of her husband, talking about how wonderful this planned and anticipated pregnancy would be. She wasn’t supposed to be upstairs while her boyfriend, who lived downstairs, was most likely taking a nap.
And her husband lived in a separate house three hours away.
“Cart before the horse,” she said again, resolving to take a pregnancy test in the morning. Although, she knew the wait was going to make the next twenty hours feel more like twenty days.
Feeling the need to sidetrack herself, she knocked on the door to the in-law apartment downstairs. “Come on in,” she heard Zack say. Perhaps he wasn’t napping. That, at least, showed promise.
She walked down the stairs to find him in the midst of unpacking. “Need any help?” she asked.
“Only if you’re willing to give it.”
“I’m certainly willing to help,” she said as she walked into his living room. “The only problem is I don’t know where you’d want anything.”
Zack stood up straight and wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand. “I don’t know where I want anything either. Something tells me you’d be better at putting things in logical places than I would, though.”
Jenny had been at an advantage when they’d moved in a few days earlier. She’d left her marriage with little more than the shirt on her back and a sizeable bank account from one of her earlier cases. She simply ordered furniture and had it all delivered to the main floor of the house, purchasing smaller items at the store a little at a time. Zack, on the other hand, had years’ worth of stuff packed haphazardly into boxes, and he had to unpack it in much less space than Jenny did. She scratched her head as she contemplated the inequity of the situation.
“I’ll tell you what,” Jenny said. “I’ll put some of your stuff away, but I’ll try to think like a man while I do it.”
“No, don’t do that,” Zack said, shaking his head. “If we both think like men, soon enough we’ll be calling it quits to watch sports and eat wings.”
With a stifled laugh Jenny looked at this uncomplicated yet charming man who may unknowingly be a father. Was he ready for that? Was she ready for that?
Cart and horse, she thought as she started unpacking a box.
“I appreciate this,” Zack added, flashing Jenny a sincere smile.
“It’s the least I can do,” she said. “I had it so easy compared to you.”
“Well, if I wasn’t such a packrat this would be a lot less painful.” He lifted a box and began to carry it toward the bedroom, stopping to give Jenny a kiss on the cheek as he walked by.
Their relationship had progressed over the past several months without discussion, which Jenny found to be both wonderful and scary at the same time. She had always been such a planner, needing to know every detail about exactly where things stood to the point where she made herself crazy. This time she just allowed things to happen, and it felt remarkably good despite her forfeiture of control.
From time to time the couple would exchange I love yous, and Zack was always quick to give her little kisses and affectionate pats in passing. The joy of those tokens was not lost on Jenny, who had struggled for acknowledgement in her previous, sub-par marriage. In that regard she was quite happy with Zack.
But they were still so new. Would the affection last? And how on earth would he react to a baby? Nerves threatened to engulf her, so she busied herself with unpacking.
The afternoon was largely uneventful; they made good progress emptying boxes, and Zack’s apartment became somewhat livable. For long stretches throughout the afternoon Jenny would find herself immersed in the move, completely forgetting about the potentially life-changing news she would receive in the morning. Other times the thought would come flooding back to her in an overwhelming wave, inducing a multitude of emotions. All the while, Zack continued to be Zack, which proved to be both comforting and alarming at the same time.
With the pregnancy test situated safely on the bathroom sink, Jenny climbed alone into her bed. While she and Zack spent the night together on occasion, they didn’t always. Despite the unusual living arrangement, they were proving to be like any other new couple—enjoying time together while also maintaining their space. She wondered if this latest development would make that all change.
Dog tired, she nestled into her pillow and let out a yawn. Soon enough she was dreaming, looking into the eyes of a terrifying and angry man who appeared to be in his late thirties. “I told you,” the man said through gritted teeth. “Stop checking up on me.”
“I’m not,” Jenny said, her voice shaking. “I swear.”
“Then why are you going through my shit?” The brown-haired man approached her, making Jenny cower in fear.
“I am looking for the gas bill. I’m not sure where it went, and I need to pay it.”
“That’s bullshit.”
“It’s not bullshit. It’s the truth.” Jenny was telling the truth, and she desperately hoped this man believed her.
Apparently he didn’t.
He lunged at Jenny, gripping her throat in his hand and slamming her against the wall. “Then you need to do a better job keeping the bills straight, got it? I don’t want you rummaging through my stuff.” He loosened his grip for a second, only to tighten it and slam her against the wall again.
Nodding feebly, Jenny remarked, “Uh-huh.” It was the only sound she could muster with his grip being as firm as it was.
Looking into her eyes like a crazed man, he paused as if to consider what he was about to do next. Jenny silently prayed for mercy, hoping that as he looked at her he would be able to see the woman he once fell in love with. As if reading her mind he let go of her, flashing one last glare for good measure before silently storming out of the room.
Jenny sat up in bed, unsure if what she’d just endured had been a dream or a vision. Either way she found herself shaken, gently caressing her own neck, grateful that she’d never experienced anything like that first hand. Reaching for the notepad she kept by her bed, she wrote down all of the specifics she could remember, including a detailed description of what that horrible man had looked like.
Once the entry was complete, she looked at the clock. Four a.m. Was it too soon to take a pregnancy test? She hoped not, because she was about to do it anyway.
She felt as if she was having an out-of-body experience as she scurried into the bathroom. Her eyes took a moment to adjust to the light; then she began reading the directions from the sheet inside the package. She had never taken a pregnancy test before and was unsure what to do. After learning her options, she looked back and forth between the stick and the cup, deciding she’d probably have better luck with the cup. Hitting the stick with the stream seemed like too much of a challenge at that hour. A few moments later she laid the stick flat on the counter, walking away so she could count off the next one-hundred-eighty seconds.
A million thoughts raced through her head as the seconds ticked by. How would she feel if it was positive? How would she feel if it was negative? She wiped her hands down her face, wishing she could fast forward the few minutes it would take for her to know her answer.
After the longest three minutes of her life, she returned to the bathroom. She closed her eyes at first, let out a quick exhale, and then looked down at the stick.
November 13, 2013
Reading for a good cause
Hi everyone!
Driven and Betrayed are now available in paperback on Amazon, and I will be donating the proceeds of those books (through 11/20) to the red cross to help those in the Philippines. If any of your friends have e-reader aversion, this would be a good week for them to pick up a copy of Driven!
I'm working on book number four...I hope to have it out before the new year. I'll keep you all posted.
Happy reading!
Becky
Driven and Betrayed are now available in paperback on Amazon, and I will be donating the proceeds of those books (through 11/20) to the red cross to help those in the Philippines. If any of your friends have e-reader aversion, this would be a good week for them to pick up a copy of Driven!
I'm working on book number four...I hope to have it out before the new year. I'll keep you all posted.
Happy reading!
Becky
August 6, 2013
Sunday, August 11th is free download day!
Driven will be available on Amazon for free on August 11th. If I can hit 1000 downloads that day, I'll do a giveaway to somebody who has liked my facebook page or followed me here on Goodreads. The prizes are either an autographed copy of one of my books or a $10 Amazon gift card. Please help spread the word! My marketing budget is precisely $0. :)
I can also be found on facebook at www.facebook.com/jennywatkinsmysteries
Thanks so much!
Becky
Driven
I can also be found on facebook at www.facebook.com/jennywatkinsmysteries
Thanks so much!
Becky
Driven
July 13, 2013
Free download day!
My book Driven will be available for free download on July 14th on Amazon.com. Please share this information with your friends! Thanks!
