By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills
Content from this post first appeared 8-17-17
I was a guest at a book club of a special group of ladies who read my books and encourage me. These ladies are grandmothers and great grandmothers, full of life and energy.
With the release of Fatal Strike, I think you’ll enjoy what happened at this Texas book club meeting.
If you suffer from Ophidiophobia, read no further.
As a kickoff to the evening, one of the ladies prepared a fabulous dinner. We filled our plates and seated ourselves in the dining and kitchen rooms. For some reason, they started sharing stories about snakes . . . not garden snakes but the venomous kind native to Texas. These sweet women are gutsy and more courageous than I’ll ever be. I laughed to keep from being frightened. Although for a while, I pulled my feet up from the floor.
Their tales are below.
One of the ladies is a retired school librarian. From inside her school library, she opened the door to the outside. A snake from above the door fell at her feet. Thank goodness the snake was stunned, and she didn’t have to chase it through the school. The assistant principal found a broom and helped her sweep it into a trash can.
The book club hostess told an alarming story. Her husband had been busy tending their yard when he was bitten by a coral snake (hyperlink coral snake info). He called his wife at work to arrange anti-venom to be delivered to a neighboring hospital. He decided to take a shower before driving himself for medical treatment. Dear reader, a coral snake is nothing to mess with. He finished his shower and drove to the hospital where he received the anti-venom treatment.
Another story came from a woman’s husband who enjoyed hunting. She mentioned her husband had backed up from a poised rattler to take a shot and landed on a cactus. Ouch!
A woman, quite lovely and feminine, spoke about an incident that happened about six months prior. My heart’s still pounding with this story. Outside her back door is a narrow, concave area where a coral snake had stretched out. Her husband fetched a shovel, but wasn’t able to get to the snake due to the shape of its “bed.” The snake couldn’t coil to strike. This woman retrieved a butcher knife from her kitchen and proceeded to cut the snake into pieces and used scissors to sever its head! Oh, what can I say about Texas women except we do have our heroic moments.
Other women had stories too, but I think I’ve shaken y’all enough for one day, even without showing pictures!
I’m excited to share that Fatal Strike is now available at your favorite online or retail bookstore.
In Fatal Strike, I used my worst fear—snakes,—to create real emotions and panic among the characters walking the pages of the story.
What aspects of a romantic suspense novel thrill you?
Comments 15
Congratulations to all the winners!! I guess we all have snake stories we could tell. LOL LOL Maybe around a campfire??? LOL
Congratulations to all the winners!! I used to love snakes, but not so much anymore. Who knows why, but I guess we all have snake stories we could tell. LOL LOL
And we’d all be scared!
Am I the only one who isn’t afraid of snakes? I even had one as a pet: Homer. He was a good boy. He’s in Heaven with the rest of my pets.
Congratulations to all y’all winners!! Woot! Woot!
You might be the only one not screaming!
Really? I don’t want to talk about snakes….
DiAnn, this post reminds me of Steven James’ hysterical story of his experience with a snake at youth camp one year.
What do I love about romantic suspense? I can answer that it two words: DiAnn Mills. Her books have made me laugh and shiver. She is responsible for keeping me up at night to finish one. She doesn’t seem sorry for that at all.
LOL, Lyndie, I don’t like them at all!
Sherry, you are so sweet! I love Steven James’ story about the snake at a youth camp.
Congratulations to all the winners!
My mother grew up on a farm in Michigan. When she was a teen, she was alone picking cucumbers. As she moved the leaves away, she heard the sound of a rattler. She screamed, and some of the men working nearby came with shovels, and took care of the snake. Mom never picked cucumbers again.
Tim, I wouldn’t walk through where snakes like to roam either! Smart Mom!
Congrats to all the winners!! All who know DiAnn and follow her and her books are the true winners.
Hi Phyllis, thanks for the great encouragement!
Congratulations to all the Fatal Strike giveaway winners! Then again, anyone who reads this fabulous and exciting book is a winner. I’ll have to share my Bubba snake, or the time an Anaconda fell across the back of my legs in South America stories with you one day Ms. DiAnn. I’m not afraid of snakes, but I sure respect the heck out of them. 🙂
Hi J.D. – respect those snakes! But I’m also petrified of them. One day I’ll have to hear about your Anaconda experience!