The Barometric Frog

By Terrie L Knox

Murder! Not just for others! When Callie Zanders was accused of murder her whole life seemed to fall apart. In order to prove her innocence she had to look beyond her fear. But the web of deceit was growing and she didn't know how to stop it or who to trust. What started as a humorous murder mystery ended as a life revealed in metaphor. No one is exempt.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Terrie L Knox
• Release date: Jan 11, 2012
• ISBN: 9780984809912

Book preview

The Barometric Frog

By Terrie L. Knox

***

Published by Flying Scroll Publishing, LLC

at Smashwords

Copyright 2012 by Terrie L. Knox

Cover design by: John Poetzl, Jillian Rowley and Richard Rowley

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***

To my ex-husband, without whom

I would have never thought of murder.

And

In memory of Mrs. Gladys Wiegert

who had faith in my ability

to do it up right.

***

Table of Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Epilogue

About the author

Another view

PROLOGUE

I started writing The Barometric Frog shortly after I was remarried. For the first time in my life I felt secure. I no longer had to fight for survival. I could enjoy my marriage, my home, and my family. And I did.

But the need to fight was still there. I had to have a goal. I had to have a challenge. I had to work for something I never had. I had to find my self-worth. Thus, I started writing a murder mystery, The Barometric Frog, under the assumption that this new accomplishment would bring me closer to finally proving that I was truly a worthy human being.

After working on the book off and on for about ten years, I came to a halt. I was exhausted and I still had to write the last chapter. I pushed myself back to work but instead of finishing it, I started edited it. I polished the writing, corrected the characters, and brought it all together.....all except that last chapter.

During this review, I found an interesting phenomena. I found that every character and every event was reflected in my own life. The more I looked the more I saw and the more I realized that this was not a fictitious comic mystery; it was my life in metaphor.

I finally could not stand one more day of this unfinished project sitting in my basement. I asked God if it was worth saving, worth finishing. I asked Him to either help me write that last chapter or help me throw it in the garbage. There was no other choice. To my surprise, the last chapter became very clear and I was able to write it out in one day.

Now for the big question: Was it worth publishing? I sent it off to several agents. One sent it back with a very encouraging note saying it was well written but not within his market. It was then that I decided to pay $450 for a professional critique. I needed to hear more than just yes or no. And I did. The opinion given was that The Barometric Frog was not funny and it was impossible to see as salable or even potentially salable within the perimeters of the contemporary market.

After dealing with the disappointment, I laughed. I laughed because everything stated in the critique was true and proved that I got my point across very well when looking at this novel in terms of my life. You see, my life was not funny and, according to the contemporary market, it is impossible to see as salable. Even I had trouble convincing myself of its salability. God was the only one who could prove its worth.

But let me be more specific. My life starts out with the memory of being raped at a very young age. My novel starts out with an obscene phone call on the first page. The professional critique begins with a statement that the obscene caller business is not understood. It goes on to describe it as a false lead and suggests that since it is not a factor in the plot and has no effect on the characters in any way, it should be dropped.

After 40 some years of trying to do just that, I have to disagree with these observations. Though I agree that it was a false lead, it led me to believe many things about myself and men in general that simply were not true. This in itself proves that it was a very strong plot factor and it affected me and many characters in a way no one could foresee.

The method of murder was also demeaned because of it being the central gimmick of one of the five most famous mystery short stories of the 20th century: Roald Dahl's LAMB TO THE SLAUGHTER. Other stories that use it were also listed. This intrigued me enough to include all of these stories on my reading list....when I have time. But I also would like to point out that there is no crime against a human being that has not been done before. Only the perspective is different.

Another criticism was that I used too many viewpoints which caused the novel to be skewed. I find it amazing that this was considered a disadvantage because this is exactly what is being taught in our society under the guise of multiculturalism. If looking through the eyes of others can cause a novel-a life-to be skewed, maybe we should be a bit more cautious about passing this technique on to our children.

It is also stated that, at times, the pace is very slow. The critiquer found the novel labored and expository throughout. What can I say? It might be a hard read at times but it was also very hard to live through. If it was an easy life to explain I would not have needed ten years to write it. The critiquer wrote, And sometimes the thoughts of your characters refract those of the reader, allow us to infer your own doubts about this (almost) eventless novel... Again, I will readily admit, I had many doubts.

The critique goes on to explain: Callie may feel that she's implicated in the murder but she's never in real distress and the reader can't feel that any of these characters are taking the problem seriously. Instead of complications you have banter, exposition, flashback, irrelevant jokes about frogs, instead of a crises you have an easy solution managed offstage and without any powerful involvement on Callie's part. And as stated in the critique, the murderer isn't central or interesting or threatening enough to make a convincing villain and the novel lacks a sense of menace.

Again, it is all true. I have always felt responsible for so many things in my life. But there was never much show of any concern or true distress. I learned at an early age, that humor could cover up a sea of tears and irrelevant jokes became a major way of life. If I took my life seriously, according to all those other view points, there could be only one conclusion....the garbage.

A plot skeleton is briefly summarized as needing: a sympathetic, three-dimensional lead character, a major, urgent, and compelling problem, an attempt to solve it with the obstacles building, and a solution just when the night is darkest. It is pointed out that 95% of all published fiction conforms to this basic outline. It is also noted that if an author wants to deviate from this accepted norm, the book must be exceptional, strikingly original, or brilliantly executed from a stylistic or structural point of view. Otherwise it won't sell.

Funny, but again, I see all of it as fact. It is so true that to live a saleable life, people have to conform to the currently accepted outline of social priorities.....and 95% of our population does. If a person wants to deviate, their life must be exceptional, strikingly original, or brilliantly executed. Otherwise it won't sell.

And now we come to the solution, off stage and easy with no powerful involvement on my part. It was a solution that was always there. But it was a solution I would not accept until I exhausted every other possibility, every other view point. That solution took an invitation without much effort on my part. I just asked and then simply received. That solution was and is God, which explains why The Barometric Frog is considered so unsalable in this market.

The professional suggestion is that I not waste my time to revise or rewrite my book. For the moment, we feel your time would be better spent laying this aside and turning your attention to an entirely new project, as you keep our remarks in mind. There will always be time later to return to this with fresh insight.

I will not try to revise or rewrite The Barometric Frog. One simply cannot rewrite history. And I find it quite ironic that the very words used to advise me about my novel are the exact thoughts most people use when God is mentioned. There will always be time later.

Again, I have to disagree with this observation. I see my life reflected in too many of the lives of our children. They have been raped, humiliated, not taken seriously, and even ignored. The villain our children face is not central, interesting, or threatening enough to give us a sense of menace. We leave them nowhere to turn and then we accuse them of murder.

There is no fresh insight that is worth waiting for. We cursed these princes and princesses and turned them into frogs. Though we cannot revise or rewrite history, we can take that easy, off stage solution that requires no powerful involvement on our parts. We can put God in the lead and ask Him to walk us through the storm that we are all now facing.

That is a decision no one can force us into. It is a decision no one can take away from us. But it is a decision each of us has to face. Little did I know that in my quest to find my self-worth in yet another accomplishment, I would accomplish my goal in yet another quest. Since the numerous viewpoints of the Barometric Frog led to a skewed life and novel, I will live and write the sequel through only one. I will use the only viewpoint I have proven worthwhile.....that of God.

Terrie L. Knox

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***

THE BAROMETRIC FROG

Chapter 1

Callie Zanders sat at the corner table in the small dining room of the Allium, her favorite restaurant. She had had a long day of disappointments. First she received the original Latin version of a book she needed for her research...with no translation. Then there was the late shipment of frogs that had died en route....the Live Specimen sticker had either been forgotten or torn off. And last came the phone call. Though Callie didn't like getting phone calls while she was working, she did realize that some were necessary and inevitable. Thus she always answered them with a wary gruffness.

But this phone call was different. It wasn't necessary or inevitable. It was atrocious. It was obscene. She slammed the receiver down and ran through the house locking every door as she went. Then she disconnected all her phones and went back to her books. Unfortunately her concentration had been thoroughly broken. All she could do was pace back and forth thinking of all the implications of such a call and all the further implications of her stressed reply.

Her pacing brought her into the living room where a particularly unpleasant thought struck her. What if the caller was watching her house right now with the idea of actually acting out his monstrous descriptions of pleasure which would obviously have to end in murder? He certainly knew something about her or he could not have called. Her number was unlisted.

Her gaze fell on the Australopithecus afarensis cranium on the bookshelf propped between Leaky's, People of the Lake and Jonanson and Edey's, Lucy. The whole controversy surrounding the cranium was very clear in her mind. But one argument was prominent. That was the bipedal argument. One theory explained this improbable posture as an advantage to sex. Callie shook her head disgustedly. Yes, she said to the offending skull top, mankind started with sex on his mind and hasn't gotten it off yet.

She tried to shake this ridiculous dread with a soothing hot bath. But the water running full blast made the normal creaks and groans of the house sound like footsteps and whispers. The usually comforting steam rising from the tub reminded her of a sinister swamp just perfect for hiding a body. Thus, with her nerves even more frayed, she turned off the water and called Tom.

Tom sounded rather worried when she informed him they were meeting at the Allium in 15 minutes. And he was still looking worried as he watched her from across the table while asking vaguely specific questions.

Oh, it's not just the book, Callie retorted to Tom's last remark about abusive librarians. That's a perfectly legitimate mistake any intelligent person could make. I guess I just look like I can read Latin. I'll reorder it tomorrow and enjoy my intellectual aura while I wait another two weeks for the usable copy.

Yes, I suppose you could be mistaken for the corpus type, replied Tom, refraining from anything more obvious for fear