Boredom Fighter

By Sue Perry

Nica works as a detective and longs to be called back to her new life in the other dimensions called Frames. Nica's latest client is a wife who suspects that her husband is unfaithful. Routine stuff, except that the wife is from a Frame where unfaithful spouses must die. Also, P.S., the wife is human but the husband is, well, not.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sue Perry
• Release date: Jan 20, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463686256

Sue Perry

... Concert stage, dark except for a deep blue spotlight. Singer drops to one knee and his narration evolves from murmur to rant. "This is the story of a man who got what he wanted but he lost what he had. He got what he wanted but he lost what he had. He got –" ...It goes on forever. It's mesmerizing. Uncomfortable. Confessional.Pretty sure this memory is from the time I saw James Brown, decades ago, but the lost identity of the singer isn't the point.I've spent my life gazing across some fence or other, admiring greener grass over yonder. I've acted on so many impulses to jump the fence. No complaints, but it has sure taken me a long time to appreciate where I'm standing right now. And nowadays that blue spotlight chant fills my head whenever I contemplate a new jump.Sometimes I jump back.I was a low–budget television producer until I wrote a psychological thriller, "Was It A Rat I Saw", which Bantam–Doubleday–Dell published in hardcover in 1992. Soon after that I became the mother of twins, jumped into graduate school, and became a disaster scientist. I dabbled in academia, government research, and consulting.I stopped writing fiction for nearly two decades, until I noticed how much I missed it. I resumed writing novels with the literary fiction "Scar Jewelry" about a family with secrets that started in the era of Los Angeles punk and persist for decades. I'm in the midst of a speculative detective series FRAMES, with "Nica of Los Angeles", "Nica of the New Yorks", and "Boredom Fighter" so far. I've just completed a nine-novella series, the young adult paranormal horror romance, "DDsE".Funny. Back in the day, I had a single book idea at a time. Now I'm flooded with them, can't keep up with them, though I write just about every day.I live in southern California. I had to leave for five years to confirm this is where I belong. I live with multiple cats, comfortably close to my twins and granddaughter. Like my life paths, my friends and family are all over the damn place. I like to visit them, spend time at the ocean, explore cities, and go out to hear live music.

Book preview

Boredom Fighter

Sue Perry

Copyright 2019 Sue Perry

Smashwords edition.

ISBN: 9780463686256

All rights reserved.

Cover by Sue Perry.

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Dedication

For Bill. As it turns out, he's the second oldest.

The Frames chronology, so far*...

Nica of Los Angeles, a novel

Nica of the New Yorks, a novel

Boredom Fighter, a novella

*when complete, Frames will include 3-5 more novellas and 2 more novels

Table of Contents

The Story: Boredom Fighter

Acknowledgments

About Sue Perry

Boredom Fighter

I fear boredom, so it's no surprise that I would take a case when the war with Maelstrom hit a slow spell. The surprise comes from the war itself. Big? Check, I was expecting that. Brutal? Check and double check. But boring?

Maybe only boring to me, because the recent action has been in dimensions where I can't go. The far Frames, so remote that I can't Travel to them, much less fight unspeakable evil there. Someday I'll be strong enough. But not yet.

And so I'm a desk potato, meeting with clients who have problems they think somebody should solve. I like to agree their problems matter, because that's the optimistic perspective. (Nobody's problems will matter if Maelstrom wins.)

We were in the initial interview phase, me 'n' my latest client. She sat erect and still in a marginally stuffed armchair that would make a statue squirm. I slouched and fidgeted, per usual.

She was a rose come to life. Delicate peachy complexion protected by thorny spikes of hair. She made a lovely gesture toward the words on my glass entry door. S.T.A.T.Ic. and Watkins, Private Investigations. Your door implies that your name is an acronym. What does it mean?

We'd already tap-danced about my first name. I'd confirmed that Nica was short for Veronica. Time to help her get to her point. Long story. Let's not get sidetracked. You wouldn't be here if you didn't need something a.s.a.p.

She swiveled to face me, her skin darkened to plum.