Prize Pets, a Ben Harper Story

By RC Monson

With Valentine's Day rapidly approaching, Ben’s relationship with Amber is in crisis. He further complicates matters by flirting around with another woman. Ben will survive the painful ordeal that follows, more or less in one piece, but not without learning a few things about himself and the type of women he tends to be attracted to. This title is included in The Ben Harper Stories.

• Language: English
• Publisher: RC Monson
• Release date: Sep 29, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463027011

RC Monson

RC Monson spent his youth on a high ridge between the Sandia Mountains and the Rio Grande during the 50s and 60s. In the early 70s he moved to California and studied art and creative writing at San Francisco State. After ten years of big city life, he stepped off the treadmill and returned to a more laid back lifestyle in New Mexico. He had at least twenty-five different jobs over the years, ranging from bike mechanic to sales clerk to garageman, from typographer to proofreader to editor, from sales work and public relations to high school English teacher.Having begun his quiet venture into the literary world by writing a series of angst riddled, adolescent poems, he later penned a dark, explosive little yarn that caught the attention of the editors at the college literary review. After graduation he published only on a rare occasion and spent most of his free time blundering around, trying to figure out how to put a novel together. For a number of years he read his poems at the open mic shows at coffee shops and bars around town. Then he went back to school at the Albuquerque branch of the College of Santa Fe and acquired a teaching credential, and for nearly a decade his creative energies were completely devoted to that craft.Next thing you know he took an early retirement and jetted off to Costa Rica for a few months, then off to Colorado and Florida and California by car. He piddled around for a while on a couple of useless websites, and settled eventually into a writing routine for the first time in about ten years. Starting with short pieces about his time in the apartment rental business, he gradually built up the confidence to tackle another full length manuscript.She Didn’t Say is his first and only published novel to date. In recent months he has been toying with the notion of attempting another one, but right now he has a website to build and maintain as well as a slew of other marketing chores to attend to. And, lord knows, he certainly wouldn’t want to get in a big hurry about it—not anymore!

Book preview

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Prize Pets

A Ben Harper Story

RC Monson

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Copyright 2018 RC Monson

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 9780463027011

Cover Design: Livewire Productions

Cover photo by pngimg.com

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i

The sun shone bright and full one blustery February afternoon in Albuquerque. But the wind had an icy edge to it. Two of the Harper brothers stepped across the parking area at a brisk pace as they moved from Matt’s car to the front gate of Ben’s triplex. Pausing at the front wall, they watched a pair of dogcatchers at work across the street. The dogcatchers each had a long pole with a nylon strap at the far end. Each of the straps constrained a growling, flailing canine, attached at the neck. Meanwhile, in back of the truck the dogs already captured created a riot of furious barks and painful sounding yelps.

They come by at least once a year, Ben explained, The old gal who lives there won’t stop collecting stray dogs until the next-door neighbor reports her. One time they pulled fifteen dogs out of that dinky little house.

Poor old gal, Matt sympathized, she must get lonely when they take all her pets away.

Only the strays, Ben replied. They let her keep the ones she has licensed.