Monday 27 April 2020

Book Spotlight & Author Guest Post: A Thoughtful Woman by K.T. Findlay



(K.T. Findlay – A Thoughtful Woman)

Culture’s an interesting thing. It can show up in the most unexpected ways.
Some years ago I had the pleasure of visiting a rather beautiful area of Atlanta called Buckhead. I’d visited downtown Cincinnati the year before, but otherwise, this was my first visit to mainland USA and everything was new to me. I remember my astonishment at seeing white butter for the first time, and wondering if it had been manufactured in a factory somewhere and someone had forgotten to add the yellow dye.
Then it was a quick cab ride to the office, one of the few high rises at the time and that was a revelation too. Buckhead is made up of nice homes set on large sections, all settled into a lot of trees. From ground level it looks like a really pretty, leafy suburb. From several stories up it was completely different. You would have thought you were surrounded by forest because there were almost no houses or roads to be seen. It was just trees as far as you could see, with the odd high rise popping up here and there.
So when I had a day off, I went for a walk. Who wouldn’t want to go for a walk in the woods? Well, Americans, as it turned out. Or at least these particular local Americans.
I took a cab to a shopping centre a few miles from the hotel, and paid attention to the route and the way the roads were laid out, and I was pretty confident about finding my way home again. So I had an interesting time wandering around the mall, dazzled by the huge variety of stuff on offer, but confined myself to buying just a few things that would fit in my backpack.
Then it was time to head back to the hotel, and right away there was a problem. What do you walk on? No footpath.
“That’s odd.” I thought. But I assumed it was just something about the main road, so I danced my way through the traffic and headed for the quieter suburban streets between the mall and the hotel.
Well those quiet suburban streets were just made for walking. Gorgeous homes, beautiful sections, and always, those wonderful, glorious, shady trees. Happiness is. So a terrific walker’s paradise, except for just one thing. No footpaths. At all. Of any kind. I had to make my way via people’s lawns and walking on the road, hopping over low walls, and always keeping an ear out for traffic coming up behind, on the wrong side of the road of course!
I found it all fascinating, but nowhere near as fascinating as the doorman found me. When he spotted me walking in the far end of the hotel’s driveway, he literally ran out to greet me, dressed in all his gear, on a sweltering hot, muggy day.
‘What was the cab company you came in?’ he demanded. ‘They should never have dropped you off at the street. We’ll have them barred from the chain!’ He really was furious.
“‘No cab.” I explained. “I walked back from the mall. It’s not far. Only a few miles.”
His jaw dropped. “You walked? Seriously? All that way? But it’s miles!”
I shook my head. ‘Nah. It isn’t far really. Didn’t take me long at all, at least not once I gave up looking for the foothpaths.”
‘But we don’t have any footpaths around here.” he protested.
“I noticed.” I grinned in reply. “But it’ll be okay tomorrow.”
“Why’s that?” he asked.
“Because I’ll be going out again tomorrow. There’s some stuff at the mall I still want to buy, but I’ve got a good route now.”
“We can get you a car sir. It’s no trouble.”
“Thanks, but I’d rather walk.”
“No really sir. We’d much prefer that you take a car.”
“Why?” I asked.
He was silent for a moment, and seemed to be struggling to find the right words. In the end he plumped for honesty. “Because it doesn’t look very good, a guest walking out of the hotel.”
I compromised. “Well, okay. If it makes you feel any better, I can take a cab.”
His face brightened. “Thank you sir!”
I shook his hand. “No worries. And thanks for coming out to get me. I appreciate your concern. At least you won’t have to do it tomorrow when I come back.”
“Sir?” he queried. But he already knew the answer. I was going to be walking back.
As the elevator doors closed to take me up to my room, I glanced back at the main entrance. He was busy in earnest conversation with the two bellhops, who were also looking aghast in my general direction. There was just enough time to give them a wave before the doors closed.
It was a different world. For both of us.


A Thoughtful Woman by K.T. Findlay
Genre: Thriller / Dark Humour
Standalone first book in a series


Artist Sally Mellors has planned the perfect revenge, but with two secret agents on her tail, and her best friends running the police investigation, getting away with murder is going to be tricky...
Everybody loves Sally. She's a funny, generous, warm hearted friend, without a nasty bone in her body. 
Isn't she? 
Unknown to her friends, Sally's discovered another side to herself, cool headed and relentless, as she hunts down the three men who killed her husband. 
But Sally's not the only one with an interest in the trio. Unknown to her, two agents have arrived in town, urgently hunting a missing man and his diary, which could blow their organisation apart. Their best leads are the very men that Sally's hunting, and she's getting in the way…


Amazon US          Amazon UK



K.T. Findlay lives on a small farm where he dovetails his writing with fighting the blackberry and convincing the quadbike that killing its rider isn’t a vital part of its job description.


Webpage : www.ktfindlay.com

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