Saturday, February 21, 2015

HID FROM OUR EYES and Hot Red-Headed Men; or; The Lazy Woman's Blog

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Yesterday was a long, long travel day. Getting in and out of Boston was complicated by 1)snow-clogged streets and highways 2) Friday traffic 3)Start of February school vacation in Massachusetts. I arrived at home late, tired, hungry and with NO idea what to blog about today. So guess what! You're getting a book excerpt from HID FROM OUR EYES! (And yes, the week after next is What We're Writing Week and you'll get one then, as well.) To prove exactly how tired and imagination-deprived I am, I'm illustrating this entirely with pictures of hot red-headed men. Please feel free to complain in the comments...;-)



We should have brought beer,” Brock Smith said, stretching his legs out on the grass.

Kevin Flynn tucked his hair behind his ears. The sun was well on its way to setting, its long rays streaming through the very tops of the trees in Onondaga Park, leaving the walking paths and green places in a hazy blue twilight. The lights ringing the Little League fields were already on, brilliant flares against the violet sky.

It was swampy hot, without even a breeze across the park's man-made lake to cut the heat. For a moment, Kevin's mind went home to the mountains, where the winds would shift at twilight and begin blowing from the east. The streetlights of the town would be on, and they'd walk down to the river and swim in the cold, clean current, so different from the still-polluted Onondaga Lake--

Brock nudged his shoulder. “Irish? You're not losing it now, are you?”

Kevin snapped back to the here-and now, where his home was in Ireland, not the Adirondacks, and where he was going to scramble up the next rung of the prescription drug dealer ladder if he didn't blow the whole thing by getting distracted. “Nah. I was just t'inking. You're right, a beer would be good right now.” He glanced around. Nothing but joggers and dog-walkers on the path and a cluster of teens shoving a soccer ball around in a way that suggested they'd rather be texting. “Wouldn't want to be picked up for open carry, though.”

God, you're paranoid.” Brock flopped back on the grass with the utter carelessness of boy whose parents were rich enough to get him out of any trouble. 
 
Soon as I open my mouth, even a park ranger would be asking for my ID.” Mouth came out as mout'. One thing he didn't have to worry about was the accent. Until he emigrated to America to join his brothers in Boston, Kevin's dad had lived his whole live within a mile of Limerick's Treaty Stone. Kevin's slang might be a little dated, but the cadence of the Irish Mid-West was embedded in his brain from birth.

Oh, man. Easy is gonna love you. He's always going on about, like, double and triple checking everybody.” Brock eased a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and held it out. Kevin pulled one and picked up his lighter, laying on the grass next to his phone.

T'anks.” He took a deep drag. Kevin-from-Millers Kill had never smoked in his life, but Kevin-from-Limerick did. It was alarming how quickly it had gone from being camouflage to being a pleasure. He tossed the lighter to Brock. “When's he going to get here?”

He'll be on time. He likes to run it like a business, you know?” Brock sucked on his cigarette. “Swear to God, I'm learning more about enterprise economics and organization here than I am in B-school. It's all about distributors, supply chains--”

Shrinkage.”

Hey, I don't use up much of the stock. That's just a bonus.”

He doesn't like it, though.”

I'm the best distributor he's got. That's why he's letting me introduce you.”

Yeah. I appreciate it, mate.” The reason Brock had become the top producer over the past two months was because Kevin, selling for him, had unloaded one hundred percent of the inventory at top price. To the Syracuse Police Department, a detail he had failed to share with the grad student. Kevin had no doubt he was going to be Easy's best distributor as well. As long as this meeting went well.

32 comments:

  1. Sorry to hear you had such a difficult travel day but I certainly don't have a single complaint to offer!
    I love this look at Kevin working undercover in Syracuse; a whole different side of him than we might have imagined.
    Thank you for this wonderful treat . . . but now I'm more anxious than ever to read the rest of the story!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love it, Julia! Glad you got home safely. Boston's a mess.

    And to end it up with a red-haired Benedict, well, be still my heart...

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think you gals should start a Redhead of the Week. It's been done, but fun.

    ReplyDelete
  4. It's a challenge just driving 3 blocks to the grocery store, I can only imagine getting Nantucket to Maine.

    And on the excerpt: Goodness! I mean, what else is there to say?

    ReplyDelete
  5. I don't have a single complaint. Not about the excerpt and not about the pictures. What a great start to a snowy Saturday morning! Thanks, Julia!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm married to a redhead and I approve of this message. Love the guy cuddling the cat!

    ReplyDelete
  7. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hid From Our Eyes is going to knock the ball not just out of the ballpark, but into the stratosphere, methinks!

    Nice classy shot of the Benedict, too, by the way!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Well, well, well - what a lovely way to start the day. Thank you very much. Pics and excerpt appreciated - cannot wait to read the rest!

    ReplyDelete
  10. My first husband was a redhead. I am immune to their charms, thanks to him. But the color of their hair isn't all these guys have going for them! Swoon.

    ReplyDelete
  11. My first husband was a redhead. I am immune to their charms, thanks to him. But the color of their hair isn't all these guys have going for them! Swoon.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Where was the excerpt? :) NEXT to the photos? Really? Totally missed it.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hee hee hee. But no love for ginger Kevin McKidd?

    ReplyDelete
  14. why in the world would we complain about any of this????

    ReplyDelete
  15. YOu are too hilarious.

    Welcome home..-isn't Boston a MESS???

    ReplyDelete
  16. So glad you are home safe . . . and thanks for warming things up on this cold icy day. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  17. So glad you are home safe . . . and thanks for warming things up on this cold icy day. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  18. Two, two treats in one! Love the excerpt, when I could tear my eyes away from the red-headed men:-)

    Thanks, Julia!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Oh, I want more, more, more!!! Of the writing, of course. However, the pictures were delicious, too. I can't wait to see where this story is going with Kevin undercover. I now know that you are a risk taker, Julia, as putting those gorgeous red-headed men on the same page as your excerpt and counting on the reading getting done, too. But, like men open up Playboy for the articles, I was immune to getting distracted. Hahaha!

    Benedict as a red head was nice. Well, they were all "nice." I would have liked to have seen Jamie from Outlander, Sam Heughan,, in his kilt and topless. Best combination is a red-headed man in a kilt. Get me the smelling salts!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Couldn't concentrate on the excerpt. Can't imagine why!

    (Seriously, the "teaser" you posted is going to haunt me until I can read the entire book!)

    ReplyDelete
  21. I should have mentioned in my intro that Kevin Flynn is a good-looking young redheaded man. What I also might mention is that it's been two weeks since I last saw my red-headed, red-bearded husband. :-)

    And Susan, I had a great picture of Kevin McKidd. In fact, I have about twice as many pics as would fit in the post, so if anyone wants them as a regular feature, I'm good to go. Maybe we ought to have Sexy Man Saturday - everyone come with your beverage of choice and feel the cares of the week fade away as you contemplate the goodness of nature.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Oh, Kathy Reel, yes! Sam Heughan, who is the perfect man, especially topless and in a kilt.

    Julia, love the idea of Sexy Man Saturday.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Julia, thanks for excerpt. It was a great read on a snowy afternoon.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Sorry couldn't read the excerpt...my eyes kept straying to the red-heads :-)

    ReplyDelete
  25. You're a funny one.Thanks for the laugh.Looks like you've come back relaxed to me.

    ReplyDelete
  26. The red-headed hotties are a nice diversion, but for me it's all about the excerpt, which is great. I've been anxiously waiting for more, more, more of "Hid From Our Eyes," and this is another promising installment. Oh, Kevin, methinks you're no longer our innocent kid!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Thanks for the excerpt - and the photos. Just the thing for a night of icy rain.

    Sadly for some, it is the end of school vacation here in Massachusetts, not the beginning. I grew up in Ohio, and don't understand this February vacation thing anyway...

    ReplyDelete
  28. Thanks for a double treat, Julia! It was even better when I clicked on a picture and looked at the larger shots.

    ReplyDelete
  29. :) I vote for the third ginger down for Kevin. He looks hot AND sufficiently heartbroken.

    ReplyDelete
  30. I'll take the one with the cat and the one with the kilt!
    Thanks for the eye candy.

    ReplyDelete