Début release for Lindy Spencer. The Boomerang Effect

Today I have the privilege of having Lindy Spencer over on my blog.  She will be telling us about her new release  The Boomerang Effect. But first a little bit more about the author herself.

Firstly hello Lindy and welcome. I’m not one to beat around the bush so how about we jump straight in 🙂

what book would you take to a desert Island?

Oh dear… I can only take one book?  I’ll only be staying a short time, won’t I? 🙂  Hmmm… can I take the book I’m currently writing or is that cheating?  Quiet time, undisturbed, great setting for getting my genius on.  If that’s not an option, I would probably take a book on how to build a boat.  I’m no Gilligan or Ginger, I’m more of a combination of MaryAnn and the Professor…  and I’d want off the island, please!

😀 before we can allow that, answer me this, it could change your mind 😉

Who would you choose to fan you, while you read your how to build a boat guide, and yes taking your own work is cheating lol. Although I totally get where you are coming from.

If someone else has to be there, I want him to be gorgeous, dumb as a brick and mute. Fan away, fantasy guy!

Lol, okay at this point I normally have a picture of a super fit guy to post, but I am sure I haven’t got any pictures of guys that fit those exact specifications…

Well we will put the hot guy to one side for a moment. What is the first book you remember reading,or have read to you?

Clifford the Big Red Dog… I think.  That one stands out!   He was one of my faves as a child.

I will have to look that one up, not one I know.

So Lindy, who is your hero? Be it writer or otherwise?

My mom is my hero… the most amazing woman I’ve ever known.

Now this is a very important question!! Chocolate…. Dark, Milk or White?

Ooh, dark chocolate please.  Make it Dove!

A girl after my own heart, although If there is no dark chocolate on offer the others will just have to do 😉

What was your favourite childhood game and why?

I liked Red Rover because we all had to work together.  It was fun times, being a kid!

Yes I think we all come to

if you could live in any era, present, past or future what would it be and why?

Gosh, that’s a tough one.  If you go too far into the past, you leave running water and flushing toilets behind.  Too far into the future and Big Brother sees everything.  I’d have to choose the present, because I already know the score and the rules.

Now it’s time for the book blurb and link info, plus a snippet to wet the appetite 🙂

www.amazon.com/gp/product/1478209518

www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-boomerang-effect-lindy-spencer/1112181586

www.smashwords.com/books/view/180083

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15745205-the-boomerang-effect

www.facebook.com/LindySpencer.Author

A little bit about The Boomerang Effect:

Being in the wrong place at the wrong time can end your life – or worse, postpone it indefinitely.

In Aspen Grove, Oklahoma, fifteen-year-old Katy had everything going for her, until an innocent decision to walk home from school set the karmic wheels in motion. Katy suffered a brutal attack, leaving her comatose. The legal system failed to convict the men responsible for this heinous crime – instead found them not guilty.

They’ve gotten away with it, or so it seems. Darnell and Jerome, then boys, now men, continue on with their lives; Bruce Hanson, the attorney tasked with convicting the two attackers, brushes off his loss and continues his climb up the legal ladder; Office Webster, the policeman who responded to the call for help, the man who destroyed evidence, forgets all about his part in the crime and moves forward in his lazy life; all of this while Katy lies in a hospital bed, still comatose, her life postponed, her loved ones outside of that room hoping and waiting.

Several years go by, bringing us to now. Something, or someone, has found a way to bring these individuals to justice; the perfect murder has been created and is being unleashed on the individuals responsible for Katy’s situation.

Are they accidents? Could it be coincidence? Perhaps long-awaited payback in the form of the perfect murder? Revenge is a dish best served cold… and karma is a well-thrown boomerang.

Interested?  Here’s an excerpt:

Copyright 2012 Lindy Spencer

No part of this e-book or excerpt may be copied, reproduced or redistributed in any form, written or electronic, without specific consent of the author.  Piracy (Arrr, matey) is fun, piracy (stealing) is a crime.

Karma is a well-thrown boomerang.  ~ Andrea Parker

PROLOGUE

“It would be so much easier if real life mimicked the movies and ominous music played itself when bad things were about to happen.  It doesn’t, though, so if you aren’t sure you’re going to be ready, practice on your own. See you tomorrow.”

With the concert coming up fast, Mr. Baxter, the band teacher, expected everyone to stay for the extra practice sessions held after school.  The students grabbed their various belongings and made their way toward the doors, out of the auditorium, and into the parking lot where parents waited or students’ cars were parked. The buses were long gone, along with the rest of the students and teachers.  The only other person left at this time of the day was the janitor.

Glad practice was finally over, Katy stowed her music in her backpack, disassembled her flute, wiped it down and put the pieces carefully away in the custom case she’d saved her allowance to buy.  Waiting for Andrea to finish talking with Mr.Baxter, Katy stood up on her chair and looked out the thin row of windows halfway up the wall.  “Oh, look, it snowed!” she squealed to her best friend. “They keep promising, and it finally did!!”

She grabbed her book bag, instrument case, coat, gloves and hat, jumped down off of the stage where they’d been practicing, and sprinted up the aisle.  The low stairs led her past the rows of well worn, red velvet-covered auditorium seats where all of the parents and guests would sit next Saturday night for the concert. Right now all she could think about was getting outside.  “Come on, let’s go!” she hollered over her shoulder.

“Thanks, Mr. Baxter, see you tomorrow!” Andrea finished her conversation and scrambled to gather her things.  Squinting at the clock on the wall, she could hear it tick, tick, ticking, but couldn’t read the time.  Pushing her glasses back up her nose, the clock came into focus and she saw it was only 5:15 p.m.  “Wait, Katy, hold up!  We’re done early!  My mom won’t be here for a few more minutes!”

Andrea took the time to use the stairs instead of jumping off the stage.  Katy was out the door before she even got near the aisle.  Hurrying, she broke into a lopsided run, slinging her backpack onto one shoulder and bumping the saxophone case into her thigh to avoid crashing it into the rows of seats as she hurried by.  Her mom would kill her if she banged this case up.  The last one hit the seats one too many times and wouldn’t close and latch anymore.  Short of breath, she mumbled, “You’d think it was the first time it ever snowed here.”

As long as they’d been friends, it was still a wonder to Andrea how Katy could show so much enthusiasm and pure joy over the changing seasons.  Summer was fun, with the swimming and bike riding, but winter was definitely Katy’s favorite.  Snowmen, sledding, and, just as she’d been expecting, a snowball flew at Andrea as she pushed through the door.  Ducking, she laughed and called out, “I knew it!  You’re so predictable!”

Scanning the parking lot and the road, she didn’t see her mom’s white minivan yet.  Dropping her book bag on the steps and balancing her saxaphone case on top of that, Andrea darted to the bottom and around the side of the stairs where there was undisturbed snow, grabbed a handful and packed it together.

Laughter bubbled out from behind the huge old oak tree on the school’s front lawn.  Popping out from behind, Katy launched another snowball just as Andrea’s snowball burst against her shoulder, causing Katy to squeal with delight.

Even without the electric blue hat and hot pink gloves, Katy was hard to miss.  She was a stunning girl, already 5′ 6″, weighed 110 pounds, and only 15 years old, with ice blue eyes, an explosion of cascading curly red hair, and pixie-like features.  That in itself was enough to turn the boys’ heads and make the girls jealous, but when she smiled, everyone around her smiled, too.

As far as Andrea was concerned, they made an odd sort of friends.  Standing 5′ tall and weighing in at a solid 150 pounds herself, she thought she looked more like the Pillsbury Dough Boy in her white down jacket and matching gloves.  Straight, dull, mousy brown hair fell to her shoulders, and even as often as she pushed her glasses back up on her pug nose, she could never seem to keep them there. Wouldn’t have mattered to her if they had stayed put, in her opinion they didn’t do anything to enhance her boring hazel eyes or cover up her perpetually pasty white skin.

“I just can’t stand the thought of missing out on this snow,Andy.  Its so beautiful, I’m going to walk home!  I’ll call you later, we can do Algebra together.”  Katy called as she slipped her backpack on and skipped toward the sidewalk.  “Tell your mom thanks for the ride offer, but it snowed!”  With a wave, she broke into a full-out run and struck a surfer pose, skidding across the sidewalk.

“Katy, wait!” Looking around, she called, “Come ON, that’s her coming around the corner! Katy!!  You’ll never get home before dark, its over a mile!”  Katy waved in answer and kept going.

Agitated, Andrea slapped her gloves together, sending pellets of snow flying, huffed, then shoved the hair out of her face with the back of her gloved hands.  Stomping backup the steps she scooped up her stuff. As the van stopped, she ran down to the curb and climbed in, knocking the snow off of her boots before swinging her legs in.  “Hi, Mom.”

“Hi, kiddo.  Where’s Katy?  Did her mom come pick her up today?”

“No, she said to tell you thanks, but it snowed.  She wanted to walk.”

Frowning, Denise Parker looked down the street.  “How long has she been gone? Maybe we can pick her up, instead of letting her walk. Its over a mile.”

“I told her that.  She left right before you pulled up.  If she wants to freeze, let her.  I told her to wait, she just waved and left.”

The tone had Denise glancing at her daughter.  Her furrowed brow, narrowed eyes and clenched jaw all said she was irritated with her friend. “Why don’t you call her later, make sure she got home safe.”

“She said she’d call me.”  Andrea buckled her seat belt.

Blinking, Denise pushed her glasses up her nose.  “Ok, then. You’ll talk to her after dinner. We’re having lasagna,” she said nonchalantly, watching her daughter out of the corner of her eye, knowing that would bring her back around.  It did.

Andrea smiled. “Mmmmm, lasagna! Katy should have stuck around, she could have come over.  She’s gonna be mad at herself when I tell her!  Oh, well, her loss!!”

Denise laughed.  “How was your day?”  They pulled away from the curb.

“Mrs. Pinch gave us like 20 Algebra problems and she ‘wants to see our work’,”  Andrea made quotation marks in the air with her fingers and rolled her eyes.  “How else do you get to the answer if you don’t do the work?” she mimicked in a nasally voice, almost a perfect imitation.  Pushing at her backpack with her foot, she continued.  “The rest was ok.  Practice was pretty good, I guess.  We’re almost ready for the concert, if Michael can ever get through his solo.”

* * * *

Smoke curled lazily from the end of the cigarette, mingling with the lazy drift of the falling snowflakes. The garbage was piled up behind him, by the dumpster in the middle of the alley, but the stink wasn’t as bad today as it would have been in the middle of summer.  The icy cold more than made up for the lack of smell with its own form of misery by invading Darnell’s dirty, worn out tennis shoes and wrapping around his feet like tentacles. The threadbare, ratty, hand-me-down jeans were a size too big, three inches too long and shredded at the bottom, and being held up by a brown leather belt that had seen better days, while the t-shirt and grey hooded sweatshirt that covered it didn’t do much to keep the rest of his body warm, either.

There wasn’t much wind, barely a breeze, though if he stood just inside the end of the alley, like he was doing now, he was blocked from even that little bit.  Not that it mattered.  He preferred the cold outdoors to the foster parents’ shack.  At least here he didn’t have to listen to her calling out for someone, anyone, to bring her another bottle or a glass of ice or, occasionally when the whiskey ran low, soda to mix with it so it lasted longer.

“Who are you waiting for?” He startled at the sound, having forgotten that he wasn’t alone.  The new kid had been around a few days, looked at the fosters with the same barely-hidden disgust as he did, and kept to himself.  He had potential.

Darnell slid his eyes sideways, pinned the new kid with an empty look, took a long last drag on his cigarette, blew out the smoke, and flicked the butt across the sidewalk and into the street.  “Karma. Fate.  Whoever.”

Jerome had been the ‘new kid’ more times than he could count.  Didn’t matter, he never stayed in one place long enough to bother learning names either.  The first time something, anything, went wrong after he’d been placed in a new foster home, he always got the blame and got yanked out and shipped to the next house. Didn’t matter that he wasn’t to blame, hadn’t done whatever it was, he still ended up being moved.  Keeping to himself didn’t help, maybe trying to make a friend would.

Turning back, Darnell pointed with his chin toward the school.  “There.”

Jerome looked and saw a girl coming out of the school doors, and another hiding behind the old tree on the lawn pop out and let fly.  The snowball fight was on.  A pang of regret for what he’d never have sliced through him.

“Which one?” Jerome said, stamping his feet and blowing into his cupped hands, trying to warm up, his clothes an almost identical mirror of Darnell’s, except the jeans.  He’d gotten them at the last house, and those fosters were kind enough to care that the clothes they bought for all of the kids fit them right.  He’d still be there if that little prick, Donnie, hadn’t lit his mattress on fire and then run and hid.  They said nothing like that had ever happened in their house before, and Donnie had been there for a year.  Nobody believed it wasn’t Jerome who lit the fire.

When Darnell didn’t answer, he tried again. “She do your homework or something?”

Rolling his shoulders, Darnell’s face split into a humorless grin.  “Wanna… talk.” They watched one girl wave and take off running. “Let’s go. We’ll catch her at the other end.”

They turned and jogged down the alley, around the corner and into the next.

The flakes floated to the ground, muffling sound.

* * * *

As she rounded the corner from Elm to Park Street, with just a block to go before she crossed Boulevard into her neighborhood, Katy was beginning to regret her decision to walk home.  It was so cold she could see her breath! Hunching up her shoulders she quickened her pace.

At this time of the year, it started getting darker earlier.  A chill skittered up her spine as she passed the deli and then Mr. Candor’s flower shop, both closed for the evening.  Normally, the pretty displays would make her smile, but not today.  It felt like there was something wrong, someone out there watching her.  She shivered and chalked it up to the weather.

As she passed the alley, a strong yank on the back of her jacket jerked her off of her feet and onto the ground with a hard thud, the shoulder strap of her backpack ripping loose, the backpack tumbling across and stopping against the side of the dumpster. She was dragged around the other side of the dumpster and out of sight of the street.

With the breath knocked out of her, it was all she could do to kick and swing her arms.  She tried to get a breath, and as she opened her mouth to scream a hand clamped down over her mouth and a brush of air whispered across her ear.

……………..

I know, its mean to end it there!!  Read more here: http://www.facebook.com/LindySpencer.Author/notes

Lol, how mean….
A big thank you for coming over Lindy, good luck with the new release and hopefully we will see you back here soon.