The Cozy Chicks | Cozy Up To Some Killer Books

Is someone following me?

I have a confession to make. I have an overactive imagination. It’s a blessing when it comes to writing mystery novels. It’s a curse at most other times. For instance, yesterday when I met a friend for lunch at Panera’s, we sat out on the patio so we could talk and enjoy the nice day. There was only one other person on the patio, a well-dressed, 30-something guy who sat at a table nearby reading a paperback.

Nothing odd about that, right? But why, then, did he seem to be eavesdropping on our conversation? Why wasn’t he eating or drinking anything? Did he know I was a mystery author and was perhaps waiting for an autograph? Or did he have some other, possibly nefarious, purpose?

We sat there for one and a half hours, my friend and I, and for about half that time I was covertly watching the man. What was he up to? Why was he there? What if he followed me when I left? I’d need a game plan, right? Should I duck into another shop and escape through the back door? Hop into my car and tear out of the parking lot, leading him on a wild car chase through the city? Or just go back inside the restaurant and call the cops?

Oh, wait. I wasn’t my character, Abby Knight.

I left the restaurant and walked calmly to my car. He didn’t follow. Needless to say, I was a little embarrassed. But that’s the problem with this occupation. I see mysteries everywhere.

Do you have an imagination like mine? Or do you have another type of job that overlaps into your life? I’d like to know. Misery loves company –or should I say “mystery loves company?”

Kate

10 Responses to “Is someone following me?”

Well, you never know, he really might have been eavesdropping. Better safe than sorry.

by Tori Lennox on July 8th, 2007 at 11:10 am
Our vivid imaginations are a double-edged sword–sending us characters and stories bubbling up out of nowhere–AND–causing wild speculation and seeing “boogeymen” in the shadows. I figure we can’t have one without the other, right?

by Maggie on July 8th, 2007 at 8:06 pm
I work for a plastic surgeon so I see people and think…..did they or didn’t they? Are those REAL or is it a secret only Victoria knows? Sick, I know. Fact nonetheless.

by debbie on July 9th, 2007 at 8:27 am
Kate, I’ve got an overactive imagination, that’s for sure. I’m forever making up fictional lives for strangers at restaurants, in the car next to mine, at the airport… A hazard of the job, I think.

Deb, LOLOLOLOL!

by Heather on July 9th, 2007 at 10:53 am
My mother sent me an e-mail about men following women at the mall and it said if you saw these men, you were supposed to call the police immediately. She attached a photo and it was a picture of my second husband, George Clooney, along with Brad Pitt and Matt Damon. I wish!! PS I just finished “Mum’s the Word” and I loved it! I’m gonna go buy the next one. PSS My grandmother once made me a baby poop green, pottery cookie jar that was a head and you lifted the scalp off and put the cookies inside. I was afraid of it. And I was 25 years old.

by Melissa Balsam on July 9th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
Melissa, my aunt has a cookie jar similar to the one you talked about except hers is a monk with a bald head. Who thinks up these things?!?!

by debbie on July 9th, 2007 at 3:32 pm
Debbie, I do not know who thinks these things up, but my brother in law gave me a pair of salt and pepper shakers a few Christmases ago - the shakers were bald headed monks… Given that I am a bald headed friar, the irony was not lost on me!!!
Kate - I don’t so much make up fictional lives for the people I see, but I often make up fictional scenarios for houses and/or their interiors, imagining what might happen inside or near them!

by Rudolf on July 9th, 2007 at 4:04 pm
Hi, friends,

I just got back from a trip to Indianapolis to hear my son’s band play (which is a whole new blog subject) and just now read your comments. A big thanks to Karen for posting my blog for me while I was out of town (and couldn’t remember the password.)
Melissa, your mother sounds frighteningly like Abby’s mom. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Debbie, I HAVE that Monk cookie jar! I got it as a wedding present from my brother (who thought it was hilarious).
Rudolf, are you seriously a friar? How cool is that? (Although I have to admit my knowledge of friars is limited to Fr. Tuck) Any enlightenment would be so appreciated. Where are you located? And, oh, did I mention that besides an overactive imagination, I have an unsatiable curiosity? :-/
Kate

by Kate on July 9th, 2007 at 8:49 pm
I guess I should investigate the cookie jar….now I NEED one! LOL

I think I’ll invent a cookie jar for myself. A 30-ish gal wearing scrubs, holding a toilet brush in one hand, mascara wand in the other, and has a child clinging to both legs and 1 around the neck. Yup, sounds about on target!

Rudolf, I have to agree with Kate in that my curiosity is piqued. Do tell!

by debbie on July 10th, 2007 at 4:27 pm
I am seriously a friar. There are many similarities in the lifestyles of friars and monks nowadays, but one big difference is that friars can be moved around a lot, if they are asked or told to do so.
I joined a religious order (of friars) in 1994. Prior to that I had been a primary school teacher, and now, at the behest of my superiors I am full time teaching in term time, and working on the parish at weekends. Many friars and monks can also be ordained priests, and I was ordained to the priesthood in 2000.
I am based in North London, although I’ve also been based (earlier on, that is) in Edinburgh, Oxford, Jaroslaw (South Eastern Poland), and Yalta.
I’ve always enjoyed reading murder mysteries, although as should be obvious, I prefer the cozy domestic types! And there is no bar on us reading them, either. Nor is there a bar on what hobbies we have, within reason. So I continue to enjoy knitting (this year, all my fifth graders learnt to knit! Someone else taught them initially, but I’ve helped out from time to time.)
Hope that gives you some basic information - anything else that is unclear, do ask!

by Rudolf on July 11th, 2007 at 6:35 pm

Is someone following me?

10 Responses to “Is someone following me?”

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