Tracy Petry

The following is a brief excerpt from Cast Down. The series of three books (one available now, two coming soon) are companion novels that will not need to be read in any particular order to be enjoyed, although they are related with several characters making "crossover" appearances in each. -----            Branches scratched lightly at the window of the little girl’s bedroom as she chattered happily at the invisible friend in the rocking chair. “An’ then next year, I’m gonna go to school the whole day,” she announced happily. She paused and listened intently for a few moments, cocking her head and paying close attention. “You want another towel? Okay, Melissa, I’ll go ask Mrs. Henderson for one,” she agreed as she jumped to her feet and ran out of the room.           Maureen Henderson dried off the last dinner plate and put it back into the cabinet. She folded the dishtowel adorned with brightly colored roosters and ...

1st Corinthians 12: 4-11 "T here are different kinds of gifts. But they are all given to believers by the same Spirit.    There are different ways to serve. But they all come from the same Lord.    There are different ways the Spirit works. But the same God is working in all these ways and in all people.   The Holy Spirit is given to each of us in a special way. That is for the good of all.    To some people the Spirit gives a message of wisdom. To others the same Spirit gives a message of knowledge.    To others the same Spirit gives faith. To others that one Spirit gives gifts of healing.  To others he gives the power to do miracles. To others he gives the ability to prophesy. To others he gives the ability to tell the spirits apart. To others he gives the ability to speak in different kinds of languages they had not known before. And to still others he gives the ability to explain what was said in those languages.    All the...

RIP, old friend. My husband and I work for a property management company. We manage almost 400 mobile homes in 16 communities in 2 counties. The owner of the company likes to employ folks who live in his homes because they have a vested interest in the communities and it's a great way to get his monthly rent on time! We sometimes refer to the employment situation as "The Island of the Misfit Toys". Thomas was one such Misfit Toy. Thomas did odd jobs for us, wherever an extra pair of hands was needed. His very favorite thing to do was play "Repo Man", which consisted of cleaning all the belongings left behind when every anyone moved out of one of the units. It didn't matter how nasty the job was, he was happy to go. Thomas didn't have an overabundance of education but that man KNEW stuff. He'd walked a rough mile or two in his life, for sure. In the picture below, he and our office manager (who gets her hands dirty on a regular basis) were just about...

Divide and Conquer! How long has this tactic been employed? Since Satan divided man from God in the Garden? Everywhere I look now it's what I see, over and over. Black versus White, Gay versus Straight, Christian versus Muslim, everyone versus the Police and craziest yet; Christian versus Christian. There have always been conflicts between groups but the rate of escalation in just the last few months alone has been startling. In some parts of the country the Covid "shelter in place" practices have been much more intense than they have been for us down here in a fairly rural area of NC. We've been able to come and go pretty freely, and masks are not as much of a thing here as they are elsewhere. I can't even really blame the isolation for what I'm seeing just in our neighborhood alone. The hostility of neighbor for neighbor is something we didn't really have before this year. Attitudes are changing. People don't seem to have even common courtesy towards...

Today is Memorial Day.  It's cloudy, it's supposed to rain cats and dogs all afternoon. Marty is working today because it's double-time for him. It's a paid holiday for me, too, but I'm taking the day to stay home and process.  Friday night the Sabbath rolled in and was welcomed. It was a long week. It was a hectic week and we were both tired. Sabbath is our time to truly rest together, to set aside the worries of the world. We recharge. I cooked dinner for a change and we ate together. We turned in early. It was nice. Before I headed to bed I took the card I'd bought for Marty and left it on his chair so he'd see it first thing in the morning since he gets up so much earlier than I do. Saturday morning came. It was Marty's 56th birthday. It was a nice quiet day, which we needed. We couldn't visit with friends - some were out of town for work, one had just had knee replacement surgery, others are more in the "at risk" group and really aren...

"Don't forget to be an asshole today!" They were the first words I heard the other morning.  I was sitting on my new deck (that is a whole 'nother story, but the deck is almost done), having my cup of coffee with Bodie.   It was about 8:30 in the morning and the neighborhood was quiet.  For a community this size it is a surprisingly quiet place to live.  The silence was suddenly broken by a familiar voice from next door.  Lisa.  I love Lisa.  She was "hand picked" to be our neighbor and then to be our coworker as well.  Lisa's Italian.  She's from Chicago.  Soft-spoken she is not.  "Don't forget to be an asshole today!" she yelled back in to her husband as she walked out the front door.  "And if you forget how , just call me and I'll remind you!" I mentioned that Lisa works with us.  She was hired to handle sales because she has real estate experience and she could sell ice water in Siberia.  Her husband, Joe also wor...

One more benefit to this recent "Great Pause" we've all been going through is that I've had some time to get back to writing.  A little here, a little there as my brain-fog has been clearing from my bout with elevated blood sugars. One of the projects I've gotten back to is the long overdue sequel to Cast Down; A New England Haunting. The new book will be titled Cast Down; Masked and is the story of one of the characters we meet in the first novel - Carrie. Here is a brief excerpt from the current work in process.  - - - - - - - - - - - Carrie sat in the front passenger seat of the minivan and watched as the other members of her team went up onto the front porch of the old house and spoke at length with the young woman who’d answered the door.   She assumed that was the person who’d made contact with Mike and arranged for them to come out.   She glanced at her watch and noted their time of arrival on the small notepad she carried with her.   It was 7:3...