423 Apprehensive Avenue has reached that milestone at last, and it’s a good feeling. Uncertainly Yours has been shelved for the time being, as it’s too complicated to write when all I’ve got are spare minutes here and there. Mystery Lane book 3, however, isn’t complicated in the same way. There’s not as much to keep track of.

During the writing of 423, I’ve come up with the next two or three Mystery Lane plots. It took so long to come up with 423, I wondered how long the series would last. After all, how many mysteries can one run into, in a small idyllic (yet oddly named) town of 404? I prefer to limit my characters’ contact with death, as it’s probably my least favorite subject. Unless it involves a large cat hurling a very bad person over a banister, or Jack (in self-defense and in defense of others) shooting someone who seriously deserves it. Or when the bullet meant for first Miles, then Anika, sent the thoroughly evil George Frank on for God to deal with. Or when the Nutty Professor fell in the crevasse as he attempted to throw someone else into it. Now my mind is being flooded with all the deaths, mostly bad guys, that have populated my books. So fine, there’s death involved sometimes, but when it comes to murder I avoid it. Murderers are fair game, but random strangers and those who are comparatively innocent, I just can’t go there. Crazy as it may sound, I’m still bothered by the death of the real Ryan Mead. Second-Miles’ parents, also. As for him… if you wonder what did happen to Second-Miles, there’s a major clue in Failure to Engage. At any rate, I avoid murder in my books. This makes my job harder when it comes to constructing mysteries, but  I wouldn’t have it any other way. Murder changes people, even characters, and I don’t want that darkness touching them repeatedly. Jack is different due to his occupation, and so are Miles and Anika, due to their abilities and therefore calling.

Will and Gemma, are another matter, and I did wonder what more there was for them to do. Now, I know. When I’ll get those books written, I have no idea! Em has doctor appointments every day this week but one, the same as last week. I’m praying she will have neither a 4 hours nosebleed or the stomach flu on that single free day, but it would be more likely that some completely new ailment would crop up. This has been the craziest semester thus far. She was reminiscing earlier this week over how she never went to the doctor when she was younger. She was never sick, so her well-child visits were the only time she went in. It was truly wonderful. I thought so at the time, and boy would we both like for her life to go back to that.

The marathon nosebleeds have been diagnosed, so that’s a positive. Her septum is so deviated, when her sinus tissue (is that a thing? I don’t remember what the doc said exactly) is inflamed, it irritates itself and gets even more inflamed, and then bleeding happens. We saw the CT scan, and it was crazy how severe it is. Dr. Fox (love the man’s name for obvious reasons) said surgery will fix that, and is almost 100% likely to make it easier for her to breathe. She said later how great that will be, as it is really hard to breathe. Huh. Nice how the child is so forthcoming with information! That was the first I’d heard of it. But whatever! So when we can scrape together a weeks’ worth of consecutive days, Em will have the surgery (unless she has another nosebleed first, in which case Dr. Fox will meet us at the ER and do it then). It should be simple, and take about an hour. I trust the doctor, and I trust God even more. So I’m not worried, but am obligated to act somewhat concerned so Em knows I care. I have a tendency to not worry, and then people wonder. Especially when I’m weeping bitterly over the possible demise of her cat, but Pandy was really sick, and it’s awful to see anything suffer that much, and I knew what a horrible thing it would be for Em if she lost her, and I admit sometimes my priorities get kind of confused! I trust God with all the big stuff, but am working daily on trusting Him with the small.

People are going to start demanding food soon, so I might as well feed them preemptively. Although, that tends to result in mild looks of surprise, and statements of “I’m not really hungry right now.” So never mind that! I’ll get back to 423, instead. When the townspeople do get hungry, they will let me know. Of that, I am sure.

Happy reading!