Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Stop. Look. Listen. Write.

Pamela Tracy here, and today, I'm reporting the news.

"Don't be above bending down to investigate an old rusty tin can," says Mary, a California woman who along with her husband found a stash of gold coins (possibly worth ten million) buried on her property just last week.

Hmmm.

Sounds like a suspense novel to me.  
Perhaps you've read the story. 

When I was in college, I was in love with a cowboy named Greg.  I write cowboys, and I actually dated one.  (I let him get away.  I wasn't not really bright when I was in college).  Here's the true test.  Cowboys never wear shorts.  Yup, it's true.  Think of all the cowboy covers you've seen.  Never will you see hat, boots,  and SHORTS.  Greg, to my knowledge, didn't own a pair of shorts.

One of my memories of Greg is of driving home from Six Flags over Texas (I lived in Abilene, back then, so yes, land of the Cowboys.  Hey, they even named their football team right.)  We were on a dirt road and it was about two in the morning (I'm tired, tired, tired, and want to go home).  Greg sees a brown grocery back on the side of the road.  Clearly there's something in it.

"I need to look," he says.

"No," says I.  (Keep in mind, I wasn't a writer back then, just a lowly college student)

"It could be money," he says.

"Not a chance," says I.  

I'm a different woman now.  And, see, the thing about being a writer is, that brown grocery bag can be anything I want.
Right now, I'm writing a suspense.  If there were to be a brown bag found, Native American artifacts would be in it.

What are you writing?  And, should a brown paper bag be found in the next chapter, what could you put in it?

Pamela Tracy is the author of twenty-six books.  Her next release What Janie Saw is a May 2014 Harlequin Heartwarming.  It contains no brown grocery bags, and no brown grocery bags were harmed in the writing of the book.


26 comments:

  1. Love the orange tabby in the bag:) Looks like my Leo.
    So I guess you didn't stop to check out what was in the bag?

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  2. Yes, Pamela, do tell what was in the bag. Cliffhangers are all right in books but not in a blog post!

    The gold coin story reminded me of childhood when we figured every mound of dirt was a burial site for hidden treasure. Yes, we dug up quite a few, only to find...well, dirt. Better 'treasure' could be found on the beach or sidewalks, occasionally enough coins to buy a candy bar. Fond memories.

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  3. Rachel,
    We did, and it was trash.
    So glad you're here!

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  4. Christine,
    Oh, you made me think of now. I have a nine-year-old and a big hole in my backyard. All the neighborhood kids get back there with shovels and dig. LOL, wish they'd find something.

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  5. btw, my husband (not Greg) is a plumber. Yesterday a neighbor called because they were looking for some kind of valve water in their backyard. They thought they'd found it, but weren't sure. Hubby goes over, digs a little deeper, and pulls out an old stove grill.

    No treasure, not even the valve.

    He says treasures hard to come by.

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  6. LOL, Pamela. I've driven past large plastic trash bags on the side of the road many times. My mind always jumps to DEAD BODY!

    And I don't even write suspense. :)

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  7. I'm with you on the artifact, Pamela. It could have had money in the sack from a robbery and the robbers come after them. I'm with you, Pamela. I'm a romantic suspense writer and think that way.

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  8. My first thought was food, but then i wouldn't want to eat food found on the side of the road unless I was starving. :) Guess I'm not very suspenseful.

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  9. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  10. Pamela, after reading your post, I just happened to log into my Yahoo mail and discovered a story about the couple who found the gold. Here is a link. I think you can copy it and paste it into your browser.
    http://tinyurl.com/mrcuxo9

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  11. Missy,
    Back then, with Greg, I wasn't thinking dead body. I was thinking that someone would jump out and the brown paper bag was a lure. ACK

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  12. Merrillee,
    Lol, I was at the park with a friend the other day. We were watching out kids. We sat down on a bench. There was an M & M on the bench. SHE ATE IT. I was like, "Ew."

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  13. Merrillee,
    The link is under the picture. Is it not showing up?

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  14. Pamela,

    I wouldn't dream of stopping by the side of the road at night to investigate a sack. My first thought was that there might be a hand inside, but then I guess you'd see blood on the sack before the hand.

    When I was young, I wanted to grow up and marry a rancher so I could ride horses any time I wanted. Instead of a cowboy, I married a sweet computer geek who is scared of horses.

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  15. Vicki,
    Hehehe
    I wanted to grow up and marry David Cassidy.

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  16. The story of the gold coins made news In Australia.
    now the bag I would love a kitten but that would mean someone was cruel and left it to die.
    With my luck it would contain an moldy, smelly sandwich.
    Oh I did find $5 on my bike ride a week ago felt like I had found a fortune. Don't find much in the way of money now days like I use to. Thats the first find for the year. then my friend found 10cents just up the road from me and I probably walk passed it a few times!

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  17. What would be in that bag?

    Hmmmm???

    A clue to a murder? A ransom note from a kidnapper? A strand of cultured pearls worth thousands?

    Maybe I have the opening to my next suspense. LOL!

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  18. Jenny,
    Can you have a moldy sandwich without it being smelly.
    Now you can have smelly without moldy (It's called TUNA)

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  19. LOL Pam! You're right no cowboy would ever wear shorts. Maybe swim trunks but only when swimming. But then again, maybe they don't. Hehehe.

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  20. I never saw Greg in swim trunks. Although, I think given the opportunity, he'd have worn them. And, sigh, something else a cowboy does, or at least did back then, Greg chewed.

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  21. I live in the heart of California's Gold Country. After hearing the news of the amazing find, I've decided it could be worth my while to do more investigating when I'm out walking and happen to run across old cans, bottles, etc. You never know. I might be the next one to find buried treasure. :-)

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  22. true the moldy sandwich would be even worse if it was in 100 degree heat.
    I know what I wouldn't want to find is a baby snake!

    Oh sardines would smell worse.

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  23. Keli,
    Then you could blog about it here.

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  24. Oh, Jenny, now I'm thinking about sardines.

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