The Secret You Don't Want to Keep (Part 1)

I have to credit my husband with the title of this post, and the idea for it. He's brilliant like that.

I started this blog not to disprove or poke fun at mistakes in stories. I want to help writers. This was the best I could think of: to test out various things and see if they work, and if they did or didn't, to help others learn more about it. Someone described it as doing the research for you. I love doing it. I've been all pregnant and whatnot so the videos are on haitus, but the desire hasn't diminished. I want to help. Also, it's fun to entertain you all with my antics.

But this post series is different.

Yes, I want you to learn, but there is no entertainment to be found here. I am deeply pained to have learned what I'm about to share. Others are suffering because of this even now. But I want some good to come of it, and I want to talk about it.

On July 4, 2012 my neighbor died when a mortar malfunctioned. My husband, his brother, and I were the first on the scene. This family's pain is very real, so please know I do not treat this subject lightly. I'm not looking for page views or to exploit what happened. I do this to help you and to heal. My husband has agreed to offer another perspective on the matter as everyone really does react differently. Also, he can be quite eloquent (see the title of this post).

All I ask is that you learn. If you have questions, please, please ask them. It helps us to talk about it and to know we're doing some good. We want to share what this is like, and what better way than to spread it to authors?

My husband and I are going to do the next post together. We'll describe the events of that night, taking turns to describe our thoughts on it. Then we'll do a final wrap up post, perhaps one each (I'm not sure) on the after-effect it has had on us and maybe more if you have questions that need a full post. If you want to ask questions now to make sure we answer them, please do.

Thank you for reading. Keep your pants on.

Which would you read?

Since I haven't actually read any of these books and I can't afford to right now, I'm wondering which of the following you all would read. Leave a comment, and let me know your favorites.

These are courtesy of Meredith Barnes' blog.

• Deborah Camp (A mix of contemporary and Old West Historical romances...over 40 coming in the near future, but here is a list of 10 or so available now)
• Lorena Dureau (Historical Romance: American Colonial South and West. Very Sexy)
• Dan Streib (thrillers with a James-Bond-meets-Anderson-Cooper main character)
• Barbara Keesling (her too-hot-to-blog nonfiction is here, here, and here)

In other news, I'm expecting my second child! So I've put my more dangerous stunts on hold until what I'm going to call "Season 2." In the meantime, are there any pregnancy related tropes or just safe in general ones you'd like to see? Something I can do while I get fatter. Leave comments about those ideas as well!

As always, keep your pants on!