J.M. Jeffries's Blog, page 4

Iva’s Story

For everyone who has asked over and over again about Iva’s story from Vegas Bites.  We are 10,000 words into it.  Just letting you know.  After Iva, we will be working on Sunni’s story from the Suite series of romances.

Harry’s Law

Miriam here.  I’ll admit, I’m 64 years young.  I’ve watched a lot of stupid TV in my life which is why I latched onto Harry’s Law.  What is so odd about this cancellation is that this show was the no. 1 scripted TV show for NBC, beating out The Voice.  Harry Korn, as played by Kathy Bates, is smart, articulate, and grouchy as only an older woman can be.  That’s why I love her.  I adore smart, capable older women who can manage on their own, be their own person, manage their lives without deferring to others and who can trade smart remarks with the best of men without being put down for being smart.  Harry is all these things.  But according to NBC TV executives, the one thing she isn’t…is young and isn’t attracting ‘younger’ viewers.  From my perspective, it seems as though those younger,  highly prized viewers are more interested in reality TV rather than scripted TV and nothing would have attracted them to Harry’s Law.  Yet it had a following of loyal, older viewers who are scorned because of their age.  How sad is that?

Youth triumphs again even as the youth of 25 years ago, and courted by TV advertisers back then, has now grown into middle age and no longer considered a viable audience because..well because they are too old.

TV advertisers and scheduling executives have weird fetishes about youth. For some reason the 19-49 group allegedly has more money to spend on luxury items, basic needs and other products constantly being pushed at them.  Older viewers are ignored even though they have money, too, and in many cases more than they had in their younger years when they were the prime target of TV advertisers.  So why are we as a group ignored now?  I guess its because we’re no longer…gasp…young!  What a crock of dog poop.

This last year saw a few new TV shows with smart women in charge–Unforgettable, Prime Suspect and Harry’s Law and each of them were cancelled.  A smart woman would think that TV is afraid of smart women.

I think smart women should rise up and overthrow the TV stations, take charge of their own programming and show the world what we’re made of.  After all, we may be old, but we still have our smarts.

Voice your protest.  Join https://www.facebook.com/WeWantHarry/app_9953271133 and let the TV executives and advertisers know how you feel.

Tow truck pursuit, or I just lost two hours of my life

I just lost two hours of my life, which I will never get back, and I’m at fault.  I turn on the news most nights to get the weather report.  Tonight the news concerned a police pursuit of (of all things) a tow truck.  Okay, I’ve wasted my brain because I kept thinking the station would finally figure out, I want the weather, not the tow truck pursuit.  Didn’t happen.  I started watching the news at 5 pm. Decided to do an errand and came back an hour later.  Guess what?? The pursuit was still on the news.  Me:  WHY? Los Angeles has high speed pursuits almost daily.  I guess this one made the news because it was a low speed pursuit with a tow truck.  A tow truck!  If I’m going to be involved in a high speed pursuit, I want a Cadillac Escalade rather than a tow truck. Let’s be comfortable, after all, once I’m caught I’m off to jail for whatever time I will have earned.  Grand theft.  Failing to yield to another car.  Yeah, whatever.

All I want to know is: do I need my umbrella and rain coat tomorrow?  Never did find out.  I’m still being subjected to a ribbon along the bottom of my TV screen to update me to the tow truck pursuit.

The worst part! The newscasters who waste my time and theirs trying to figure out why someone is driving a tow truck and being pursued by the cops.  Excuse me!  Who Cares?  I don’t.  And I don’t want to hear another inane stupidity from a newscaster trying to assign  a purpose to the unknown driver.  Is the reason why they stole a tow truck relevant when no one really knows.  It’s not like they have a direct link to the tow truck driver so they can ask him/her (yes, we did have a woman on one long term pursuit–high speed (and low speed) pursuits are equal opportunity pursuits).

The newscasters are the worst.  They wasted more time theorizing why the person took the truck and no matter what they say, later when the real reason comes out, it’s never what the news people thought.  So why bother.  Oh!  I get it.  Fill the air time with stupidity.  No one wants dead air.

Okay tow truck, will you please run out of gas and save my sanity.  Thank you. That didn’t happen, either.

So, let’s establish some boundaries.  No more news about high speed, or in this case, low speed pursuits. Once I’ve heard the weather report, you can hypothesize and theorize on every stupid reason why the tow truck, the Cadillac, or BMW driver stole, borrowed or just plain got caught doing whatever once I know if it’s going to rain tomorrow or not.

So, are we there yet?  Oh, wait? The cops are on my tail, no bathroom breaks until I run out of gas.

 

Protecting Lulu Sample

Sample a bit of the first chapter of The Global Protection Agency: Protecting Lulu

Chapter One

After an intense, nearly sleepless week in Mexico City extracting the family of a witness who was testifying against a Mexican drug cartel and twelve hours on a plane, Noah Callahan could barely keep his eyes open.  Back in the day, he would finished the job, hopped off the plane and then partied all night.  Not anymore.  Even though he was only thirty-six, at the moment he felt ninety-six.  He wanted nothing more than to sink onto the comfortable sofa against the wall and sleep for twenty-four hours, except Harrison had dragged him out of the terminal and into this meeting with a possible client before Noah had a chance to blink.

Wilder Bennington was a tall, slim, dark haired man wearing a dark gray ten thousand dollar suit that fit him to perfection, like the old world elegance of his office. Dark wood paneling covered the walls.  A carpet deep enough to mask any sound stretched from wall to wall, and a black lacquer desk sat perpendicular to the windows so Bennington could enjoy the view.  A sitting area at the other end of the large office contained large over-stuffed chairs in cream leather and two sofas in dark brown leather.

The view out the window was prime Times Square real estate.  Wilder Bennington had money, lots of money and influence.  The background check Harrison had complied and Noah had read in the car on the way here had done nothing to prepare him the man in person.  Even though he knew as much as Harrison could find out about Bennington and his sister, Lulu, Noah was still impressed.

"I thought there would be more of you," Bennington said with a sharp glance at them.

"I asked your assistant to put our team else in the conference room while Harrison and I checked things out."  Even though the room was large enough to hold ten times the number of people Noah had brought, he hadn't wanted Wilder Bennington to feel overwhelmed by so many strangers invading his personal space.

"To decide if you wanted to take the job or not?" Wilder said with a shrewd, studied glance at Noah.

Good, this guy didn't pull any punches.  Noah respected that. "Something along those lines."

"I'm not here to audition for you."

"We understand that, Mr. Gennington." Harrison's eyebrows rose.  "Why hire us?  You have your own security team?"

Bennington pinched the bridge of his nose, controlled anger showing in the clenched tightness of his jaw.  "My sister is not taking the threats seriously.  Every suggestion from my security team has been turned aside or simply ignored."

Being ex-Delta Force had taught Noah to read people quickly, because survival depended on it.  Bennington was a man used to getting his own way.  The fact that he wanted to hire Global Protective Services Inc. meant things were going sideways in a way Bennington couldn't control.  "How so?"

The man's jaw clenched even tighter and he held his hands straight against his side.  "Lulu refuses to believe anyone would dislike her enough to want to kill her."

"A lot of people find it hard to believe someone wants to kill them."  Noah didn't want to look a gift paycheck in the mouth but did he want to take a puff job?  He didn't need a New York society babe conjuring up fake threats just so she could run around New York with a gang of bodyguards in tow like little purse dogs.  But then again, as a fairly new company Noah needed the money and doing a job for media tycoon Bennington would go a long way toward cementing his company's reputation.  Except if they were just spinning their wheels babysitting for some poor, little rich girl.

"Dave Larkins recommended you," Bennington said with a glare.

"I've met Dave Larkins, he's very good at what he does."   Larkins, Bennington's head of security, was a hard ass, ex-army ranger Noah had run into a couple of times in Afghanistan.  The man had a rep for handling his business.

"He is or he wouldn't be working for me."

Noah glanced at Harrison.   This guy was wound really tight.  "I see."

Bennington's eyes narrowed betraying a deeper level of tension.  "Dave's a good man,' he said, "but Lulu introduced him to his wife and is also his son's godmother.  She can get him to do whatever she wants.  I need someone who won't cave in to my sister's…ability to wrap people around her little finger."

"She sounds stubborn," Noah said.  The background check had given him facts about these people, but not who they really were.  His sense of caution deepened.  He wanted to say not interested, but instead folded his arms over his chest and studied Bennington waiting.  "Why not let the police handle this situation?"

Noah doubted the police would do much of anything except take a report.  The department was under-staffed and over-worked and the current political climate was determined to down-size them even more.

Bennington pinched the bridge of his elegant nose.  "You don't read my newspaper do you?"

"No, I'm afraid I don't."  Noah was a Times man.   Not that there was anything wrong with Bennington Media's many newspapers, Noah just like the predictability of the Times.

Wilder took a deep breath.  "I'm not a fan of the new Police Commissioner.  I've been very vocal about it."

As far as Noah was concerned, any guy, who owned one of the biggest media corporations in universe, could talk all the shit he wanted about whoever he wanted.   From what he heard from his contacts in the NYPD not many of the rank and file cops were fans either.

Bennington closed his eyes.  "I'm not risking my sister's life on the personal vendetta of an idiot."

Said idiot being the police commissioner.   Hell, Noah didn't trust that man to find his shoes much less stop a crime.

Noah considered all his options one more time.  "I want to meet your sister."  That should give him more of a clue as to whether he should accept the assignment or not.

Bennington checked his gold Patek Philippe watch.  "She should be here anytime now."

Translation, the princess is taking her sweet time, Noah thought.  He'd bet the twenties in his wallet, the sister would be at least another half an hour.

Bennington glanced at the open double doors into the reception area beyond.  His face suddenly looked pinched and worried. "While we're waiting for her, I'd like to meet the rest of your team."

"I'll get them," Harrison said and walked out of the office.

What we’re doing!

Jackie and I have been really, really quiet lately because we’ve been really, really busy.  We turned in our book Darcy’s Magic which is now My Only Christmas Wish to Harlequin Kimani and are now doing edits.  The book was originally scheduled for Nov 2013 and has been moved up to Nov 2012.  So now we’re in a rush to get things done.  We are also finishing up Protecting Lulu for Silver Stiletto Books.

Next on our busy schedule will be Iva’s story from Vegas  Bites: Three of a Kind.  The title is tentatively titled Vegas Bites: From Vegas With Love.  And then barring any other changes in the direction of our lives, we’re going to write Sunny’s story from the Suite series.  The title is tentatively Suite Sunsations.  The title came to me in a dream.  I had to get up at 3 am to write it down because I knew I wouldn’t remember in the morning.  Unless we have anymore interruptions to our schedule, this is what we’re planning to accomplish for 2012.

Happy 2012 to everyone.

What we're doing!

Jackie and I have been really, really quiet lately because we've been really, really busy.  We turned in our book Darcy's Magic which is now My Only Christmas Wish to Harlequin Kimani and are now doing edits.  The book was originally scheduled for Nov 2013 and has been moved up to Nov 2012.  So now we're in a rush to get things done.  We are also finishing up Protecting Lulu for Silver Stiletto Books.

Next on our busy schedule will be Iva's story from Vegas  Bites: Three of a Kind.  The title is tentatively titled Vegas Bites: From Vegas With Love.  And then barring any other changes in the direction of our lives, we're going to write Sunny's story from the Suite series.  The title is tentatively Suite Sunsations.  The title came to me in a dream.  I had to get up at 3 am to write it down because I knew I wouldn't remember in the morning.  Unless we have anymore interruptions to our schedule, this is what we're planning to accomplish for 2012.

Happy 2012 to everyone.

Joyous New Year

To everyone: Joyous New Year.

2012 looks to be a banner year for J.M. Jeffries. we want everyone to know how grateful we are for our readers. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Best wishes for a terrific 2012.

Runaway Bride by JM Jeffries

http://amzn.to/uvGaUJ 

Exclusively on Amazon.com for your Kindle only$2.99.

You never know about a person until you've traveled with them.

Artemis Stephanos has her life all figured out. First on her list is keeping her family in line. Second is keeping the family business afloat. And third, staying as afar away from marriage as she can get even as her flock of younger sisters urge her to take that trip down the aisle so they can follow. What Artie didn't figure out was how to not fall in love with her runaway cousin's fiance.

Nick Constantine isn't thrilled about marrying Artie's cousin, but as a member of a traditional Greek family, arranged marriages are the norm. And a contract is a contract. What he doesn't expect is to have his almost bride take off on a cross country trip to find herself, while he trails behind with Artie in tow and trying not to fall in love with the child/woman, shrew businessperson/thrill a minute mixture that is Artie Stephanos.

Join Artie and Nick on a cross-country pursuit that is filled with as many surprises as the contents of Artie's almost magical purse and two people who never thought love would happen to them.

Have a Happy Christmas and a Joyous New Year

Miriam and Jackie  writing as J.M. Jeffries

Happy Thanksgiving

I love Thanksgiving. I love the wonderful smells that come out of my kitchen reminding me of my childhood when my grandmother cooked non-stop for a week making apple pies, pumpkin pies, cookies shaped like turkeys and of course the turkey.

Thanksgiving is a day of wonderful memories for me. Getting together with my family as a child and seeing all my aunts, uncles, cousins, my grandparents. Some of my happiest moments are at Thanksgiving: the birth of my daughter, the family get-togethers, the wonderful cooking and the smells permeating the house. Even though those memories are darkened by the loss of my husband who passed away on Thanksgiving Day, I've tried to see the positive side to even that.

I think about all the things I'm grateful for: my family, my friends, my life. My family is my rock. My friends are my blessings, and my life is still unfolding. I'm even grateful for glue both physical and metaphorical. For without glue things would fall apart, the hems on my clothes would fall down, my life would fall apart.

What are you thankful for? Let me know.

Until next time, Miriam

Protecting Lulu, February 2012
Darcy's Margic, Fall 2013

Happy Thanksgiving

I love Thanksgiving.  I love the wonderful smells that come out of my kitchen reminding me of my childhood when my grandmother cooked non-stop for a week making apple pies, pumpkin pies, cookies shaped like turkeys and of course the turkey.

Thanksgiving is a day of wonderful memories for me.  Getting together with my family as a child and seeing all my aunts, uncles, cousins, my grandparents.  Some of my happiest moments are at Thanksgiving: the birth of my daughter, the family get-togethers, the wonderful cooking and the smells permeating the house.  Even though those memories are darkened by the loss of my husband who passed away on Thanksgiving Day, I've tried to see the positive side to even that.

I think about all the things I'm grateful for: my family, my friends, my life.  My family is my rock.  My friends are my blessings, and my life is still unfolding.  I'm even grateful for glue both physical and metaphorical.  For without glue things would fall apart, the hems on my clothes would fall down, my life would fall apart.

What are you thankful for?  Let me know.

Until next time, Miriam

Protecting Lulu, February 2012

Darcy's Margic, Fall 2013