Character Interview- Brandi Boudini

Today, I sat down with Brandi and talked to her about her life. You can read all about Brandi's life in detail in the book Brandi's Nightmare. http://amazon.com/dp/B00B50XLFU or on Smashwords at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/312016

My first question was, how long has it been since the nightmare began?

She leaned back in her chair and sighed before speaking. "It has been four long years since the car bombing that killed those I loved and changed my life."

So did you find out who killed your parents?  A tiny tear trickled down her eye as she recalled their deaths. " I finally did but I am not a liberty to say. My biggest question was "Why", that was what I wanted to know."

Did you learn why? She paused not wanting to say more but after a short silence she spoke finally. "It turned out not to be all the reasons I thought."  She again paused before adding. "I thought it was because of my father being jealous of my step father having my mother, and they had testified against him sending him away to prison, or because he was involved  in the CIA."

Your father, actually your step father was a former member of the Mob hiding in a witness protection plan and was involved in the CIA while in the plan, how did that happen? "My father was a forger in the Mob and the CIA put his skills to use for them. Somehow they found out he was hiding under a false name and without the FBI even knowing it, the CIA recruited him."

The FBI agent in charge first broke the story that former mobster had been killed in a car bombing along with his wife. They thought right away the Mob was behind the killing at first but you proved them wrong. 

Brandi sighed again, she looked tired like this was a big ordeal for her. "I thought the same thing for a long time and told my real father that if I ever proved he had anything to do with it, I would kill him with my own hands."

Another tear escaped while she waited on my next question. 

Is that why you took all those martial arts training along with becoming a kick boxer?  Wiping the tear away, she spoke. "I didn't like it that I was forced into a car against my will by two or maybe it was three of my father's bodyguards, then by others, so I decided to do something. Martial arts was a good start. I also learned to fire a weapon for protection."

Why did you give up kick boxing after losing your first professional fight? "I learned to love kick boxing and became very good at it, I thought, but when I didn't even see the blow that knocked me out, I started having second thoughts. My thoughts went to the first fight for my life that I was in during my trip to London, you saw it in all the local papers there. In that fight; I was getting the crap beat out of me. Then I realized while I laid in the hospital after the fight that she had been just toying with me. In desperation, I made a kick that should have not killed her but, she was in the process of finishing me off. When she moved to do so, I got lucky and hit her upside the head, breaking her neck. She died instantly. After I woke up in the hospital from my being knocked out, I realized that it could happen to me like it did that woman in London. I hung up my gloves then and never stepped back into the ring. Instead I concentrated on finishing law school."

 All the while you were going to law school you kept trying to find out who killed your parents and why? Do you wish you had dropped it? "I had a friend in the FBI that more less kept me informed on what was going on. They were no longer investigating the case when the state department stepped in and CIA saying this was not their jurisdiction and the case was closed as far as they were concerned. Especially after their main suspect, my father, was proven to be in the presence of another FBI agent at the time of the bombing and they couldn't prove he had any connection to the bombing even though he was with my parents shortly before they died. That was their only weak connection."

Brandi took a deep breath then added. "I found out from them that my father and maybe my mother was involved in killing a couple and hiding the bodies in a storage unit. Those they killed resembled them. The FBI agent suspected that they killed them and were planning to place them in the car then set off the explosive, but it was set off before they could carry out their plan."

So they were planning to disappear from your life regardless? "Yes, that was the heartbreaking part of all this, I learned. Sometimes, I wish I had just let it drop and leave it to others to find the reasons and the killer or killers."

She stood up signalling the interview was over so I asked her quickly, "Are there any parting words you wish to say?"

"Yes, the good thing about all this was I found family that I never knew existed and have a beautiful smart daughter that I love more than anything. Even though I didn't give birth to her, she is my soul daughter. I have accepted a job in the prosecutor's office in Buffalo, New York. That is where you can find me."

I watched her walk away, her face was the face of a woman no longer the young girl I once knew. She might still be considered pretty by some but her nose had been broken so many times that it had a slight crook to it pointing to the side. All the bruises were gone from her face from the years of fighting but her face no longer had the girlish glow about her.  If any reader has a question they would like to ask Brandi, just comment on this post and I will forward it to her for an answer! 

Talk back, I'm listening!

Nothing is forever!

I am one of those people that fall into a daily routine very easily. My routine used to be that I would get up about 7 am and go for a mile and half walk down to one of the local bars, not to have alcohol but the owner always has a fresh pot of coffee brewed for the local early risers. I drink a lot of coffee. I return home about 9 am and eat breakfast before texting my sister. We either text back and forth or she would call and we would chat for about an hour. Afterwards, I would blog whatever and check emails before writing whichever book I am working on at the time. Her sudden death disrupted that routine. Ever since returning from the funeral at Christmas time, I have not went for my walks nor do I text anyone in the mornings. My day starts off empty, now!

My sister was constantly saying, she wants to live before she died. Her husband had turned her into a recluse like him staying in the house all the time. She purchased an RV and wanted to come to live with me. I was going to be her driver taking her all around the USA. Also taking her out to make friends, something she lost being a recluse but events that occurred prevented her from doing that. I now understand why some successful people go off the deep end, they are one top for such a short time before their world comes crashing down as the next wonder of the world appears. My advice to everyone is to learn to live before it is all over. That means have fun, laugh everyday and spend less time worrying about tomorrow that might never come. Talk back, I'm Listening!

Social Media flooding?

Do you often hit delete the instant you receive a posting by someone that posts constantly? Without even bothering to see what it is about. Some of us make that mistake by flooding our followers with a constant barrage of posts whether they be tweets or on other sites. By doing so, we risk alienating them from even bothering to read what we wrote or even worse having them to un-follow so they will stop receiving the posts altogether. What do you do to find a happy medium where you get others to read what you write, blog or post other places?

After being in a contest where you had to tweet everyone in it everyday and there were 165 entries at the start. I am sure that I turned off a lot of readers but for every one I lost a gained two so I guess that was not bad. What do you think? During all this time I suffered a personal loss and came down with the flu so I could not even concentrate to read or blog much. All I seemed to have time for was tweeting. Now, I am back to normal and the contest is over so my followers can breath easier and not feel deluged by my tweets. Now I hope they started reading what I actually am tweeting. Do you have a better idea? If so, I would like to hear about it. Talk back, I'm listening! 

Hidden Magic- my review

My review of Hidden Magic   Sorry I am so late on posting it. I was suppose to post it on Wednesday, I think. I was too sick to do much of anything.

Now my computer is acting up not letting me do what I want with this post. I was surprised when I read the book after I started feeling better on how entertaining it was. I was lost in the story by the end. Six years of hard work paid off for this author. 

Hidden Magic by Melanie Crouse

I surprised giving this book five stars. I was going to give it only four stars but the way Melanie brought the book together in the last part; I felt it deserved five stars.

I enjoyed the story and feel everyone should read the work of this talented writer.

The story is about a young woman that slowly learns about life and herself in a land filled with magical Dravani, gypsies and humans all living in the same peaceful world of Kierika. In the next kingdom, humans are slaves to the Dravani. It is a story filled with magic and a young woman’s coming of age finding herself able to stand on her own in their world.

The main Character’s:

Jenny, the main Character is a young woman was raised as a human in the kingdom of Kierika that makes part of Nazdravan discovers she is not just human. Sheltered all her life by her Aunt and grandmother she learns the truth when she goes to her sister’s wedding about herself.

Sarah, her older sister that by her wedding brings the protected Jenny into the real world to attend her wedding.

Arram, a Dravani man that Jenny falls in love with but has difficulty accepting his ways.

Jack, another Dravani that tries to steal Jenny away from Arram to posses her. She enjoys Jack’s attentions at first and almost falls in love with him but he is devious and tries to take her for his own. 

About the Author When Melanie Crouse looks out her window right now, all she can see are ice covered trees and a huge igloo surrounded by glittery, sparkly snow. There is also a cat, but he is barely visible because his white fur is such great camouflage in the winter. Somewhere out in all that whiteness, (hopefully in the igloo, but who knows?) are her husband and two youngest children. As soon as Melanie is done with writing for the night, she is going to play Curses with her teenage children, and then they will probably watch TV. And then, when everyone is asleep, (except possibly the shivery children in the igloo), Melanie is going to meet online with Sheena and Sabrina, where they will discuss horrible ways to torture the characters of Pyromancy, who have been way too happy for a couple of chapters now. It is a wonderful life. You can find Melanie at: https://www.facebook.com/MelanieCrouse.author and at http://theprosers.blogspot.com/

Sorry I don't have the link to her Amazon page, I didn't think to get it while I was there picking up the cover image for this post. If magic and a young woman coming of age is not to to liking check out some of my weird books at http://amazon.com/author/Agmoye

Talk Back, I'm Listening

Still Waiting on my review?

If you are one of the unlucky ones that I have not gotten to your review yet take Heart, I am moving slower than a snail but will eventually get caught up. I can't seem to shake this bug that has a hold on me. One minute I feel like I am getting over it and the next I feel like crap. I have read  Angels and Aliens but have not posted my results yet, maybe that will be tomorrow's  post. I don't know how I will feel one minute to the next so who knows? I had promised last week to review another book for its' cover revealed and debut week but my illness prevented it. I will try to do it Wednesday if I can. Have a great day and stay well! Talk Back, I'm Listening!

My review of Life II and other comments.

We have all seen movies or read stories where the main character goes back in the past to make or correct something but Scott has his character  go back inside his past body using help from Aliens to change his mundane life. I found this a very interesting read while I was very sick with the flu, hence the late posting.  What I didn't include in my review was the torment Max, the main character went through when he realized changing his path when he was still a young man meant he would not have his two children to look forward to in his adult life. By changing his path in life, he caused several of his close friends to change their paths away from him. 

Maybe it was because I was sick that I started to think about decisions I made in my life that had huge ramifications but seemed minor at the time. The effect it had on my family along with my friends was significant as time went on. You may understand this going through little changes that had a big impact on your future, good or bad. At the time, you didn't think so. I know I didn't! 

Review of Life II by Scott Spotson – Five stars  

How many people would love to go back in time to a pivotal age and making changes that point their life into a new direction? Forty-two year old, Max Thorning did. Solving a puzzle hidden in an old book, Max thinks he is being given the location to a hidden fortune waiting to be discovered. Instead at the location, he discovers Doctor Time and given the opportunity to go back as himself at age sixteen and change his life out of the mundane direction he had taken with a wife he really didn’t love or being with. Accepting the offer, Max is sent back in time with his forty-two years of knowledge to assume his sixteen year old body.

Little does Max know that changes he makes in his life also causes changes in the lives around him with dire consequences when compared to the life he knew they lived before he made changes.  At times he regrets his actions and wishes to be back in his original body but learns it is a one way trip.

Very interesting read, one that touches on everyone’s wish to relive some of their life’s decisions. I highly recommend it. Available on Amazon and other locations wherever ebooks are sold or paperbacks. Ask for it by name. Sorry I don't have a link for it off hand. 

Talk back, I'm listening!

Too sick to blog!

I am glad whatever I have can't be transmitted over the Internet. I know today I am suppose to blog my review of Angels and Aliens followed by my review of Life II by Scott Spotson. I have read the books but don't feel I can concentrate well enough to do the books justice so I will wait until in the morning and see if I am focused enough to write my review. Don't hold your breath. This has put me into bed for two days and only today did I feel like attempting to do anything. You know I must be sick not to even write on my latest book, Jody's Dilemma, You all out there watch this flu going around, it is a tough one. 

Talk back, I'm listening and stay well!