Tag: Academic Freedom

The Blessed Event

“You may wonder what my least-favorite student was doing in my living room. In a twist of fate that might seem hilarious if it happened to someone else, he was now my stepson.”
Professor Molly Barda is looking forward to a quiet summer in Mahina, Hawaii working on her research and adjusting to married life. But when a visit from her new husband’s relatives coincides with a murder, Molly wonders what she’s married into–and realizes she might have a killer under her roof.

The Blessed Event is the only book in the Professor Molly series published by Amazon’s Kindle Press. It was selected through Kindle Scout, a competitive platform powered by reader feedback.
Here are some of the editors’ comments:

Readers clearly loved your work and editors also raved about it.
It’s light-hearted, funny, and smart
The author does an excellent job making all of the characters likable, even when they do unlikable things…The story is also peppered with a variety of humorous minor characters that greatly contribute to the verisimilitude of the world-building and setting.
Very entertaining
The humor is great – there were several LOL moments.
It’s a light read, but it’s also a smart read. The author’s insights on the characters and the absurdities of their situations are compelling and give the book a sense of satisfying substance.

Excerpt

I knew I should get to work on my book chapter, but as long as I was thinking of it, maybe I’d have another look around for my missing jewelry. I had daylight and might see something I’d overlooked the night before. I took a small flashlight from the kitchen utility drawer, went back into the bedroom, and raked the light over the floor.

There was scarcely a dust mote in evidence, let alone a glittering pair of pear-shaped diamonds or a gem-encrusted necklace. I shone the light behind the dresser, illuminating a light coating of dust on the wall. Alas, no jewelry. I shone the light around the floor again, with the same result.

I hadn’t heard Davison come in. He must have stayed out all night. This was my chance. If I found my jewelry in his room, I could just steal it back. What could he say about it? Donnie certainly wouldn’t approve of my snooping in his son’s room, so I’d have to do it when they were both out of the house.

The guest room door was ajar. I knocked gently. When there was no answer, I knocked harder, and then pushed the door open.

I stood, listening for Davison clumping up the front steps. Or Donnie turning his key in the door. What if one of them walked in on me? I would simply say I was tidying up or looking for a spare fire extinguisher or something.

I tiptoed into the room.

The air was heavy with cloying cologne and a ripe, meaty aroma. Davison’s backpack lay in the middle of the floor, exactly where someone would be most likely to trip on it.

I picked up the backpack and shook it. It was disappointingly light. Inside I found a pen, a yellowed receipt, and a single sock, but no jewelry. I turned it upside-down, shook it again, and then searched for hidden pockets. Nothing.

Then I tried the chest of drawers. I rooted through the anarchy of socks and boxer briefs in the top drawer. Where better to hide something valuable? But I found nothing.

The next drawer down had a few rolled-up tank tops and a couple of pairs of shorts. The shorts pockets contained some loose change, lint, and a few crumbs of what looked like oregano. The next two drawers were empty. The closet was bare except for a few forlorn hangers.

There was one more obvious place to look. If Davison hadn’t already fenced my jewelry, it might be hidden under the mattress. I paused and listened, but didn’t hear anything out of the ordinary. A car drove by; a lawnmower hummed in the distance.

I grabbed an armload of blankets and lifted them off the mattress.

I did not expect to see Davison lying on the bed in his boxer shorts.

I yelped and dropped the blankets back down on top of him. He pushed them out of the way and sat up, grinning.

“Eh, just let me brush my teeth first.”

“Davison! What are you doing here? I thought you were out.”

“What are you doing here, Molly?”

“I was looking for something.”

He held his arms out, displaying his hairless chest and his bristling armpits. A baby beer belly pooched out over the top of his boxer shorts.

“You find what you’re looking for?” he asked.

“Stop it. Davison, why didn’t you say anything when I knocked?”

“How come you’re in my room?”

“I’m looking for a fire extinguisher. I don’t have to explain myself.”

The Blessed Event is available on Kindle and in paperback

One question that I get is,
“Am I in your book?”
I can see why people might ask this. The setting is a public university in Hawaii, similar in some ways to my own workplace. The main character is Molly Barda, who teaches in the Mahina State University College of Commerce. I teach at a university, in Hawaii, in the business school.
But I must insist: I am making most of it up.
In my author bio, I try to make this clear:

Like Molly Barda, Frankie Bow teaches at a public university. Unlike her protagonist, she is blessed with delightful students, sane colleagues, a loving family, and a perfectly nice office chair. She believes if life isn’t fair, at least it can be entertaining.

I have sacrificed Truth on the altar of Art.
Why? Because Truth is boring.
If I were really writing about myself and the people I know, my stories would feature kind, capable people doing their jobs competently and without incident. Snore.
So I punch it up a little: Ruinous budget cuts. Reckless, showboating legislators. A powerful and well-funded Student Retention Office staffed by self-assured dimwits.
Molly, my protagonist and narrator, is neurotic and socially awkward. Her bottom-line-obsessed dean won’t let her report cheaters, because he refuses to scare off paying customers. Her next-door colleague is the reason she’s not allowed to close the door when she has a student in her office (it’s called the “Rodge Cowper Rule”). Her students don’t know what “plutocracy” means, but they’re pretty sure it has something to do with planets.
So no, you are (probably) not in my book. I promise. Now go read and enjoy!
Originally posted on Brooke Blogs