Dear Reader: The Truth Behind THE IMMACULATE DECEPTION

Dear Reader,

I wrote THE IMMACULATE DECEPTION to deal with a bizarre and painful family incident. It began with a phone call from my father that I really received, and after that my muse took over. My heroine, Oh-Donna, said and did things Sherry never could or would. The story just poured out into my keyboard. The first draft of this 116,000 word paranormal romantic suspense was completed in five weeks. It sold to the first publisher I submitted it to, Cerridwen Press, an old mainstream imprint of Ellora's Cave. I have my rights back and have now Indie published it.

Here is an excerpt of the true incident with names changed to protect us all:

On a gusty July Thursday, my telephone reverberated to the tune of “We Wish You A Merry Christmas”. I shuddered because I knew who was calling. I had set that distinctive ring tone to my father’s number. I was screening his calls because he always had something vile to say about my mother and I had listened to too many of his outrageous lies. My stomach churned while I waited for him to hang up after the fourth ring like he always did when the automatic answering machine kicked on. I held my breath, hearing with relief the click of the machine. The robotic voice said, “Hello, no one is able to come to the phone. Please leave your message after the tone.” When I heard the beep, I swallowed the big wad that clogged my throat. “Oh-Donna, she’s trying to kill me!” I ran to the portable handset and punched the talk button. “Dad! Daddy! Who’s trying to kill you?” In a strained breathless whisper, he said, “Your mother.” “What? When?” “Right now!” he whimpered. I overheard Momma’s voice in the background. “Nobody’s going to care about you. You damned old fool!” After a dull thud, the line went dead.        Oh my God. I detected my breath echoing out in audible pants. I couldn’t believe this. What was I supposed to do? Call the police on my own mother? Not an option. No way! I shook my head. This was just too bizarre to wrap my mind around. Momma was a good girl through and through. She might get furious with Daddy once in a while but she’d never ever hurt him. But what if she was really trying to kill him? Lord knows, he’d manipulated, stifled and belittled her for decades. Had he finally done something so dastardly to drive her across the line of sanity? Or perhaps he’d just pulled another one of his everyday mind games and Momma just reached her breaking point? What if she really was trying to kill him? Think, Donna, think! The Meddlesteins! Yes! I would call the Meddlesteins.      Pressing the end button on my phone, I automatically plucked the number of Gloria and Roderick Meddlestein from the cobwebs of my childhood. They’d been my parents’ across-the-street neighbors for more than thirty years. When I was little, I could always count on them to help me when I was home alone and needed an adult to relight the furnace or check out a strange noise that had me frightened. They were such good people. I prayed they hadn’t changed their number. I felt a flush of heat rise up and envelop my body as I dialed with trembling fingers, agonizing in the seemingly slow motion. Gloria Meddlestein answered on the second ring. “Hello?” “Mrs. Meddlestein?” My voice sounded unnaturally shrill. “Yes.” “This is Donna Payne. You know, I used to live across the street from you?” She cheerfully said, “Yes, of course. Hello, Donna, how are you, dear?” “Listen, I just received a phone call from my father. He said my mother was trying to kill him.” I faked a laugh. “Will you please go over and check on him?” Without much of a pause, she said, “I’ll send Roddy over. You want to give me your number so I can call you back?” “Thank you so much, Mrs. Meddlestein.” I gave my phone number and ended the call.   The Immaculate DeceptionBy Sherry Silver The Good Girls of Washington Book 3

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Paperback: Amazon  Barnes and Noble  CreateSpace  Books A Million Book Summary:After her SUV meets the business end of a deer, Oh-Donna is pulled into an exciting dreamland far away from her peon job and selfish siblings--where mystery, murder and romance take over. Her debonair angel takes her time traveling through the sordid pasts of her Secret Service Agent mother and her genius medical researcher father--who was obsessed with Marilyn Monroe. Oh-Donna discovers she is the first baby born from an ovarian transplant. She must sleuth out the dark secrets of her D.N.A. and close an unsolved murder.  Read the First Chapter