by Inmon, Shawn
“—to have punished her for doing what is now our protocol. We’d like you to bring her back.”
Chapter Sixty-Seven
Carrie walked along the nearly infinite row of desks. She stopped at each one, smiled, and laid a hand on the shoulder of each Watcher who occupied it. She talked with them about what they were seeing, the decisions they were making, and any problems they might be having.
She came to an empty desk and sat down. She glanced to her left and saw that Margenta was seated beside her. “Oh, hello, Margenta. Blessings to you.”
“Blessings,” Margenta said, but the pleasantry cost her. She attempted to stop her lip from curling back in distaste, but failed. Her back ramrod straight, she manipulated her pyxis and did her best to ignore Carrie.
Carrie pulled out her pyxis and ran through her own charges. She had refused to give them up, even with her new responsibilities. No one knew the threads of their lives as she did.
She settled on Dominick Davidner and saw that he was sitting at his kitchen table, drinking coffee, talking and laughing with Emily-who-was-also-Emillion. His once-dark hair had broad streaks of gray in it and he had reading glasses perched on the end of his nose. Emily’s hair had also begun to gray, but her peaceful, unlined face showed no signs of aging.
“Time for me to get to school,” Emily said.
Dominick grabbed her waist and pulled her onto his lap. “How about we say this is your last year teaching? Thirty years at the same school should be enough and we sure don’t need the money.”
She kissed him sweetly. “I would love the time with you, but I would miss my kids.” She stood and smoothed her sweater.
“I vote for the more time with me side of the equation, but you make up your own mind.” He picked up his coffee cup and set it in the sink. “Oh, hey, I’m having lunch with Thomas this afternoon. It’s a big day for him—an anniversary of some sort.”
Carrie moved the scene back and played it again. She smiled at their happy life, and speaking only to herself, said, “They just said to bring her back. They didn’t say when.”
Coming in March, 2018
Available for Pre-Order now:
The Final Life of Nathaniel Moon
Author’s Note
The Death and Life of Dominick Davidner was a much easier book for me to write than its predecessor in this series. I struggled mightily to get on track with The Redemption of Michael Hollister, and it showed –it took me almost a year to write, although I did manage three other books in the interim.
Dominick’s story dropped into my head almost all at once, complete and ready to be written. I love it when that happens. Then, it feels more like I’m taking dictation, than actually creating something. In fact, I wrote it quickly—about 80% of the book was written between November 20th, and December 17th, 2017.
At its heart, I saw Dominick as a love story. Not a Romance, though – that has very definite tropes you need to hit, and I chose not to do that. Still, a love story, between Dominick and Emily.
When I introduced Emily as Emillion in The Unusual Second Life of Thomas Weaver, I saw her as a stand in for Clarence, the angel from It’s a Wonderful Life. That’s how I wrote her in that first book. But then, when she transitioned to human form, I saw her differently—a free spirit with her own unique view of the universe.
This book concludes the first trilogy in the Middle Falls Time Travel series. I think I managed to close all the circuits I had opened in the earlier books. We know, at least for the moment, how things turned out for Thomas (who finally got to his emancipation day at the very end of this story) Dominick, Emily, Michael, and Carrie.
There will be more books in the series, and the characters from these books will almost certainly pop up in them, as well, but it feels good to have the main characters’ stories wrapped up here.
The fourth book in this series, The Final Life of Nathaniel Moon, will be out in March of 2018. It’s the story I’ve had percolating in my brain the longest. In fact, I started writing it in 1980. Back then, I called it The Man Who Is. That terrible title sums up my writing ability at the time, and explains why it’s taken me almost thirty eight years to get back to it.
I’ve always been fascinated by how we, as a nation, can focus all our attention on one single story for a period of time. It doesn’t matter if it’s a baby down a well, a Long Island Lolita, or a missing Korean airplane—certain stories just grab the public consciousness. Often, when the cameras focuses on the key players in the drama, they turn out to be vapid people who have nothing to say, really. I’ve always wondered what would happen if someone who was at the center of one of those attention-grabbing events actually had something worthwhile to say. The Final Life of Nathaniel Moon will show what my answer to that is.
The nicest thing you can do for me is leave an honest review for this book on its Amazon product page, which you can find here: books2read.com/u/b5Mz06. I appreciate any feedback you have.
Writing a book is a lonely business—long hours sitting alone at the keyboard, trying to catch up to the story in your mind. Producing a book is a team effort, though, and I am so fortunate to have these people on my team:
Linda Boulanger from Tell Tale Book Covers designed the cover, and I love it. Linda and I have been working together since I first dipped my toe into publishing in 2012. There are times that we struggle to find the right concept. My Lap Around America book must have gone through close to a dozen iterations before we struck a winner. Not so with this book though. The cover you see is very close to the first one Linda sent me. To tell you how much I love working with her, she’s already designed the cover for the next book in the series, too.
This marks the first book I have worked with Dan Hilton as my editor, but it won’t be the last. He worked not only hard, but quickly and with a deft touch, untangling my sometimes tangled sentences, and fixing my grammar, which I am the first to admit, is not what it could be. I appreciate everything he did to make this book a better experience for you.
Debra Galvan and Mark Sturgill acted as my proofreaders again. Debra has been with me for years now, and I trust her to not only find and eradicate whatever typos I make, but to make comments that always leave me chuckling. Mark hasn’t been with me as long, but I have grown to trust his eye for details. When he tells me I need to check something, I always know I need to check it.
The talented writer Terry Schott, who is my writing BFF, was once again my alpha reader, which means he sees the truly rough first draft and makes gentle suggestions as to what might make a better story. Even more importantly, when my spirits flag, he is always there to pick me up and give me encouragement to go on. He’s the man.
My bride, Dawn Adele, sits beside me as I write and puts up with my endless questions when something evades my mind. She is also a brilliant story creator, who has unerring instincts as to what works and what doesn’t in a story. Many of the tasty bits of this book came directly from her.
I have a wonderful group of beta readers, as well, including Laura Heilman, Jeff Hunter, Joni Furry, Athena Herder, Carmen Anslow, Barb Larson, Marta Rubin, Dale Lewis, Kerri Lookabaugh, Craig Simmons (who got name-checked as a smokejumper in this book), and Kianne Werrell. They suffer through early drafts, so you don’t have to.
I have at least three more Middle Falls books planned for 2018. I hope to see you between the pages of one of them soon.
Shawn Inmon
Seaview WA
December 2017
Other Books by Shawn Inmon
The Unusual Second Life of Thomas Weaver – Book one of the Middle Falls Time Travel Series. Thomas Weaver led a wasted life, but divine intervention gives him a chance to do it all over again. What would you do, if you could do it all again?
The Redemption of Michael Hollister — Book two of the Middle Falls Time Travel Series. Michael Hollister was evil in Thomas Weaver’s story. Is it possible for a murderer to find true redemption?
Feels Like the First Time – Sh
awn’s first book, about falling in love with the girl next door in the 1970’s, losing her for 30 years, and miraculously finding her again. It is filled with nostalgia for a bygone era of high school dances, first love, and making out in the backseat of a Chevy Vega.
Both Sides Now – It’s the same story as Feels Like the First Time, but told from Dawn’s perspective. It will surprise no one that first love and loss feels very different to a young girl than it did for a young boy.
Rock ‘n Roll Heaven – Small-time guitarist Jimmy “Guitar” Velvet dies and ends up in Rock ‘n Roll Heaven, where he meets Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Jim Morrison, and many other icons. To his great surprise, he learns that heaven might need him more than he needs it.
Second Chance Love – Steve and Elizabeth were best friends in high school and college, but were separated by a family tragedy before either could confess that they were in love with the other. A chance meeting on a Christmas tree lot twenty years later gives them a second chance.
Life is Short – A collection of all of Shawn’s short writings. Thirteen stories, ranging from short memoirs about summers in Alaska, to the satire of obsessed fans.
A Lap Around America – Shawn and Dawn quit good jobs and set out to see America. They saved you a spot in the car, so come along and visit national parks, tourist traps, and more than 13,000 miles of the back roads of America, all without leaving your easy chair.
A Lap Around Alaska – Have you ever wanted to drive the Alaska Highway across Canada, then make a lap around central Alaska? Here’s your chance! Includes 100 photographs!