Its One Powerful Pen...

 I can breathe for a minute. The bank account juggle has left me with a few heart palpitations, and not knowing sales tax and transferring plate fees for the new vehicle has me in a tailspin. Did I mention the newer car has been back at the dealership three times for repairs they thought I wouldn't notice? Have I mentioned I have PTSD over my car dilemmas? 

I have places to go and people to see, and I hope with the best of intentions, they have resolved what they hoped could be ignored. I had fewer issues with my 20-year-old car than with this less than 10-year-old vehicle. I did come completely unglued at one moment, only to apologize to the service girl handling this issue. ( I want to mention. You never know who you are waiting on or having to do business with, and do not think for one moment I will not take this matter and use my social media influence if I need to. I may pretend to be a restaurant worker by day, but I promise you, my pen (keyboard fingers) is mightier than a sword! I promise you!)

Nonetheless, I love the car! It was a difficult purchase! I fondly remember buying a house and a car all within a few months apart, 20 years that did not leave scars like this emotional upheaval has left. Once again, very loudly, I will yell, the American person who has 2 jobs and is not in debt should NEVER have an issue buying anything! The credit score is a crock of corporate BS and a sham of financial ethics. Debt-to-ratio when there is no debt! F.ck off! The life coach might need some life coaching because the ordeal has been nothing but insanity!

This week, being shuttled back and forth to the gig from my kid (thank God for him), the small number of customers has left everyone shaking their heads. Where rain has more than drizzled, not being able to use a patio, there is a 1800 square foot inside space that should have been filled. There is no rhyme or reason to this madness. I will, though, say that whatever is occurring in people's lives, it has left them less than desirable to wait on and serve. "Entitled and in a hurry, and excuse me, I need." Oh, and my favorite, "I have an allergy." I hear the grocery store has food...to cook! Yes, that attitude does not pay my bills or fill an establishment that serves a delectable menu! After 32 years of these lines... I am ready to be done with part of my life. I am ready to go... but I have been saying this for the last 10 years! I am not sure the dislike of the public can be any more disheartening!

While the car was in the shop, I weeded the front and back, clearing out enough tall grasses that if I had a goat, it would be one happy animal. Although I was not thrilled to start the process, I was exhilarated by the end! My flowers have come up beautifully in the front, and when I ran out of steam in the back of the house, the kid took over. (Again, thank God for him.) His mother's whims leave him laughing. He says nothing, just complies with, "Tyler, can you move this?" I am not sure which one of us is working more outside of our home, but effortlessly, he and I are accomplishing these small tasks. Funny, I came home yesterday to my front porch, which looked like a storm had blown through. I texted him and said, " What happened to the porch (which is about to fall in) He responded, "I powerwashed the porch and the front of the house." AH, good kid of mine that Tyler!

I dare say I have been trying to promote my painting classes a bit. A few flyers and photos of themed paintings. I say to myself, "self, if people are struggling to entertain themselves in the dining world how will they want to entertain theirself in the creative space." Nickles and dimes and paychecks that do not go very far and a bunch of humans on this timeline that can not make ends meet in any capacity. 

And the book I am writing, you ask, I am working on chapters 9 and 10. The rewrite has been a bit darker, and my publisher keeps asking if I want to make this a psychological thriller. I laugh... the character is a narcissist. It really can not get any darker than what his behavior has displayed. I will add that it has a plot twist and has become a sort of a mystery. What will Hank do next? What behaviors has he repeated from all the women he has used, conned, and played that will be different on the newest supply? The reflection of Kate and her insightful research that she is compiling for a news report that shakes the industry in which Hank works. Maybe it could be a thriller... Wait and see! ;)

But for now, I will leave you with this... 

*************************************

In the early morning stillness, as Kate sifted through folders and compiled documents for the investigative report she was preparing, her eyes wandered to the window. She watched a pair of birds fluttering between branches, their movements light and free — a stark contrast to the heaviness that had settled in her chest. Her mind drifted, not out of distraction, but reflection. How had it come to this? How does someone go from self-made to self-destruct?

Hank Daniels was once a man of ambition, building his own business from scratch, presenting a polished version of success. But behind the curtain was a crumbling reality. Poor choices, addiction, delusion — and a belief that somehow, despite it all, he’d land on his feet. But fraud is fraud. Paper trails don’t lie. Between the stolen deposits, unpaid supply invoices, and half-finished jobs, the truth was undeniable. And layered atop the financial chaos was the web of women. No pause between them, no clean endings — just an ongoing rotation, each told just enough to keep her questioning herself instead of him. How did he keep their names straight? Did he ever confuse their bodies, their voices, their hearts? Or was that the point — to never truly see them as people, only as what they could give him?

It was always the same script: beer, blow jobs, and backhanded compliments meant to erode confidence. Each woman, a weapon he wielded against the next. None of it made sense. It never had to be this way. But when the game was always more thrilling than the truth, Hank chose the circus — and all who danced in it with him.

Her phone buzzed. Her boss on the other end, calling with a lead. Government contracts. Double indemnity clauses. More evidence of Hank’s unraveling empire. Kate straightened her shoulders, grounding herself back in the work. The story had to be told — not for revenge, but for the truth. And perhaps, a warning.

The pen is mightier than the sword, but truth never stays buried. When you manipulate out of greed and a thirst for control, all facades eventually collapse. In time, everyone sees the game for what it is — a desperate man behind the con, scrambling for one more conquest at someone else’s expense. It never mattered who got hurt, only that he walked away untouched.

That's one powerful pen now, isn't it? #WhenHeHadHer

Kitryn Marie

#writer #instructor #madeformovies