Often times when we are on the cell phone or having a conversation in a public place, we become oblivious to others within listening range.  At a restaurant, I was helping a fellow author friend plot her novel. She had reached a stagmire in the plot, basically dug a whole for her protagonist that she couldn’t climb out of.  It involved a murder.

As we brainstormed the crime, I  glanced over her shoulder to the next booth where an elderly woman appeared wide-eyed and nervous. She quickly glanced way when our gazes locked.  Sensing her angst, I slipped out of the booth, handed her my bookmark, and whispered, “It’s okay. We are authors.”

Her shoulders relaxed as a smile crept onto her lips. I winked and went back to my table confident our conversation no longer gave her indigestion.

Julie B Cosgrove

Author of the award winning Bunco Biddies Mysteries