Clover Autrey's Blog

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Call Sign Raptor: Army Ranger Billionaires

He's only there to protect her. But when she's taken, everything changes.

Ex-Army Ranger and self-made billionaire Louis “Raptor” Langley is ready for someone to share his life with, someone with substance. Definitely not the small town twist-every-man-around-her-pinkie beauty queen. The beauty queen that someone is stalking. As he protects her, he discovers she is more than she seems and in far more danger.

Risa Hudson has moved to Memphis, Tennessee to reinvent herself. The small town "it" girl is ready to take life on in a bigger city with a new job. She’s ready to make it on her own. Her apartment is great except for the niggling little feeling that she is always being watched.

It's been a little over a week since my friend Regina passed away. I've thought about her every day. I met her through the North Texas Romance Writers more than a decade ago and then we became critique partners in a smaller group of 6, enjoying monthly lunches that spanned into suppers with how much we talked and all enjoyed each other's company, and yearly writing retreats~most of them hosted by Regina as she was a boss at organization and loved coming up with themes and treating us with fun writing incentives. 

It was in those overnights that we had deep talks about so much more than our writing ideas and I discovered what a treasure she was. There were times when my life was a mess, struggling financially mostly and how I was so tired of it. Rather than bemoaning with me, she asked, "Where would you like to be?" and then compensed to lay out a plan of success. I'm not the only one she did that with. I know because she told me. When her children were struggling with something, they would get the same treatment. She'd take them out to lunch and ask the same type of question. "Where do you want to be?" and then commence to laid out a plan to get there. 

I was smart enough to follow her plan and a few years later the financial woes are in the past and I'm making a good living. It's not a huge leap to say that Regina changed my life and by so doing affected my family's life as well. I've no doubt that many more people than myself can say the same. 

Regina was also the most intelligent person I've ever known in real life. There wasn't a subject that she didn't know something about. She loved learning just for the sake of learning. She kidded that she liked hanging out on what she called "the dark web", which consisted of finding the writings of intelligent people, professors and such, that weren't easy to find by following breadcrumbs along the Internet until she found what she was looking for. She simply had an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, which also came in handy when we were all brainstorming.

Once I asked for a scenerio where one of my fictional heroes could be the donor for a rare type of disease. I wanted something unique and without batting an eye, Regina came up with some rare disease I can't even remember the name of. She then proceeded to tell me all about how it would be a feces transfusion. "A what? Regina, I'm not having my romance hero give someone a poop transfusion!" to which she just laughed and laughed, her eyes twinkling in mischeviousness. 

That's how it was with our critique group, a lot of fun and laughter mixed with moments of support for each other's pain. It's going to be forever changed without Regina. 

And she loved her family. It was evident in the way she spoke about them with so much love and pride about what they were doing with their lives. She was also a planner for herself, always making goals and plans with several trackers that she dutifully placed stickers in. She had plans. She said she was in the 3rd quarter of her life and had plans for her 4th quarter, places she wanted to travel to, goals she was on track to achieve, including books she was in the process of writing. I can't help but think, "what about your 4th quarter? You weren't done yet." It makes me want to stop waiting for a future day, but to live now, be bold now.

Pat and I attended her prayer service at her home the night before her funeral. We were a few minutes late so came in and stood near their front door. Touches of Regina were everywhere. I could tell she had put up her Christmas tree as it had ornaments she loved, several that were received from fellow writers. I couldn't help thinking "How is her husband Steve ever going to be able to put them away?" I imagine him leaving it up for a while. Her office was off to the side, dark and still, her trackers spread out across her desk, her youngest son was doing a valient job of holding it together while the prayer service continued and I was glad to be in the back where it was easier to wipe my tears unnoticed. 

However, there is comfort also. Regina was a woman of faith. It was evident in how she thought of others before herself and it was evident in her funeral and the choices she made for scripture and song. She once told me that she wasn't afraid to die, but was worried about how hard it would be on Steve. Again, thinking of others. I grieve for her loss in my life and I grieve for her family. I know they'll be okay because she prepared them well to be achievers, but there will be those life events when they will want her to be there. 

Goodbye my sweet friend. I wish I could express how much you meant to me but words aren't large enough. Until we meet again. 

 Today marks the anniversary of my son Chase's death. I usually mark this date in my heart and outwardly keep going through the motions of the day. And then his birthday comes a few weeks later. I mark it on my heart again, sometimes send him a Facebook shoutout on his page. It's been more than ten years and the loss is still just as painful. The tears flow just as heavily. The he'd-be-this-age-now-and-doing-these-things-now thoughts wash across the floor of my mind, leaving behind minefields I step on at the most random moments.

I tell myself that if he were alive, he would have left my house by now like all my other kids, living his own life. It's just like he moved away farther, to a place I can't visit, without cell reception. But then there are times when I feel his presence so clearly that I don't need a phone call to reach him anyway. I feel his happiness at being free and doing whatever it is that he is doing. 

With cystic fibrobis I would still be counting every one of his breaths instead of holding my own until September is over. September has become a month when so many people die. My friend's husband and my other dear two friends' parents. There seems to be more celebrities that pass in September as well. Jimmy Buffet was the first I've heard of this month late last night. Or maybe I only think more pass in September because I'm more attuned to it. I don't know.

But as years pass there is also joy in September. My grandchild who shares Chase's name was born this month. Chase probably loves that. And two days before Chase's birthday we're celebrating the marriage of his brother to an amazing woman. 

Perhaps this September I can release the breath I'm holding a little bit earlier. 

What I Carry by Jennifer Longo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love those books that you can't wait to get back to and are sorry you have to put down because you have to work instead of read all day.

"What I Carry" is one of those books. I loved Muir and the way she portrayed what it's like being a child in the foster care system. My heart hurt for her and rejoiced as she opened hers up and took the chance on trusting people when she never had been able to before.

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It's time to say adieu to 2022. I started my 3rd year teaching High School English to Freshman. I'd love to say it's been going great but I'm still learning the best techniques to manage the classes and keep them engaged. I feel like an imposter nearly every day but keep on faking it until I make it. 
I watched a Ted Talk the other day about power poses and how your body language can actually stimulate your brain and make good things happen so when I get back to school I'm going to do the Wonder Woman power pose before the students come in. 
I've been creatively busy and the past couple of months with a new series of books. I finished the last two books in the Chapel Pines series and the first book in the Billionaire Brigade series. I have a plan and a planner to get the next five books completed before the end of 2024. 
It's going to be a busy year but a great one. How about you? What are your goals for this year? 

Coming Soon (Mock up Covers)



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While I was in Utah a few weeks ago, I went to my first escape room with my sister Heather and her family. I had no idea what to expect really. We went to Alcatraz Escape Rooms and picked a Harry Potter themed room. 

They put us and another group of 4 or 5 (total strangers to us--my first thought was that I would have to work and talk with people I didn't know) into a dark room the size of a small dining room. I'm looking around completely clueless about how to start while they went over the rules. Then we were off. 

Everyone starts scrambling and I have no idea what to scramble for. I noticed that there were colored pennants on the wall. Most people were working on figuring out what the two foot columns were for when I called out that there were pennants on the wall. Someone who knew what they were doing decided to match the colors with the columns to get a combination. Okay then, I see how this works now.

There was a chest set with a clue to find the white queen's winning play with several examples of the game board. This is where I become both brilliant and a complete moron at the same time. Brilliant, because I know enought about chess that I immediately knew the correct sequence and loaded them on the board. A moron because as soon as I placed the final piece a trap door opened in the wall behind me and a wand popped out. I give the wand to my sister's daughter, but I did not get the connection that it came from the chess piece. I don't know how much more time I wasted trying to figure out that chess game that I had already solved. 

It so it went. I had moments of brilliance and moments of being utterly clueless. It was really fun though, with lots of laughter and even working with strangers who were okay. It seems like we were smarter than we gave ourselves credit for because we kept second-guessing ourselves. We ended up escaping with five minutes to spare so Huzzah to us! 

I highly recommend these as good family fun! 

 

White Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love this book more than I thought I would. It's the kind of story where you want to skip ahead to see how it ends, but don't dare because you don't want to miss one darn word.
Mari, the main character, has personality and attitude, but can she trust what she is seeing? She's coming off a situation where her family can't take her word for anything, leaving us readers wondering if she is a reliable narrator. What is going on? Is the house/neighborhood haunted? Is there a conspiracy? Every citizen is suscipious and creepy. This is NOT a town you want to move to.
I cannot wait to introduce this story to my freshmen students. They are going to be as caught up as I was.

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Pat and I went to see the new Top Gun today and I am so glad to have experienced it in the theatre. I loved it. For those who haven't seen the original ~~ wait, why haven't you seen the orginal? Nevermind that. For those who haven't seen the original, the movie stands on its own so it will still be awesome. However, for those who have seen the first, this one pays beautiful homage. 
What I loved: That the scenes we loved from the first TG were duplicated, giving us fans big nostalgia, yet each scene played out in a completely different manner with the new characters and the new storyline with Maverick learning new life lessons. 
The original scenes had a beginning ramped up action with Maverick pulling an unbelieveable stunt against a Russian Mig. 
TG: Maverick starts with a harrowing action scene with Maverick pulling an unbelieveable stunt as a test pilot. Both stunts land him in trouble. And he is sent to Top Gun. This time as an instructor. 
 Yes, he once again races his motorcycle with the jet. 

The bar scene is replicated, which moves into the the scene where the new pilots are in the hanger and are introduced to their instuctor (this time Maverick) who they embarrassed themselves with at the bar. 
 They begin amazing training exercises and they soon learn Maverick's skill. The pilots take their shirts off and play sports. There is a training accident and then a funeral. Maverick again moves into his dark moment or all is lost scene and has to do something balls-to-the-wall to pull himself through it. They go on their mission, have a dog fight. I won't go into too much more detail about that except that it is so much fun to watch, espescially in the movie theatre with the rumbling vibrating through your bones. 
They even manage to get Maverick back into an F-15 with a plausible reason. So much more I could gush about and so many more little Easter eggs dropped in but I don't want to spoil too much. 
 Other things I loved:  The similar rivalry between the two top pilots. 
 Characterization. From a writer's perspective the way they introduced each of the new pilot's character was true genius. During training, the way the pilots flew, whether playing it safe, leaving their wingman, sacrificing themselves, or being gutsy showed who they were in a really quick and unique way. Honestly, I learned from that and want to figure out how to do that in my writing. Not with pilots obviously, because that's not what I write, but it's got my brain percolating. 
 Themes: After their crash, Maverick is holding Goose in the ocean. One of the rescue team says, "You got to let him go, sir." Then shortly after Goose dies, Viper tells Maverick "You gotta let them go." He repeats it for emphasis. In the new movie Iceman gives Maverick come to the same advice. He also repeats it for emphasis. 
 And speaking of Iceman: The scene he is in with Maverick is amazing. That's all I'm going to say, but dang. Just dang. Maybe it was more impactful because I had recently watched the documentary "Val". I highly recommend it. 
 Another line brought back from the origianl: When Charlie analyizes Maverick's move with the Russian Mig, he says, "You don't have time to think up there. If you think, you're dead." This line is brought back in the new movie when Maverick tells Rooster, Goose's son, that he is thinking too much while flying. "Don't think, just do." Then Rooster tells Maverick the same thing when Maverick is being too cautious to engage the enemy. The twist is that they are in the F-15 and Rooster is in the same seat as his father. Maverick is only thinking about that and not doing what needs to be done to save them both. 
 There is just so much I loved about this. Top Gun was amazing. Top Gun: Maverick is spectacular. It was made with a lot of thought for the fans and what we loved about the original but it also paid attention to making a new and better plot, keeping in mind the growth that has already transformed Maverick. His character still has things to learn but he didn't back-step and have to relearn the lessons from before. That would have been lame. The action sequences and even the mission objective were better. It's great. It's really really great. Well worth seeing. 

                                                       Where love really does conquer all

Books are wholesome and sweet 

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