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The Visitor Meets Old Hairy

 

Back Cover Blurb:

 

The Visitor goes camping? Pollyanna Reagan can't wait to take her always-put-together, ultra-professional sister out into the boonies. But when they encounter what they thought was a mythical creature, they might both become sticks in the mud.

 

Of course, when they find a body, a stiff in the mud, Connie shifts into deduction mode. Was the deceased somehow scared to death or possibly attacked by what should be imaginary, or are there other, more human and certainly more vicious, intentions at play?

 

Match wits with The Visitor as she unravels this twisted puzzle and the family drama that surrounds it.

 

 


Do You Believe in Bigfoot?

I teach, or try to teach, keyboarding once a month for my granddaughter, Abigail’s sixth-grade class. They are learning to write essays and reports before they advance to middle school, and I always desire to take them beyond the keyboard to what learning the process can do for them in their academics and everyday life.

 

What, you might ask, does that have to do with Bigfoot? Let me backtrack a little before I get to my main point.

 

I have a cozy mystery that is releasing soon in which Bigfoot is a main suspect. My characters discover a body in the woods, and well, they’ve just seen—ah hem—or they think they’ve just seen Bigfoot. I have emersed myself in Bigfoot research. Well, not like you’d think. I mean, I didn’t just decide to write the book and delve into the details about the big guy. I have always been a dedicated fan of all things Sasquatch (that’s Bigfoot’s real name). To set my character apart from the rest, the folks call him Old Hairy. Thus, my title The Visitor Meets Old Hairy (and, no, the visitor is not an alien).

 

Let me get back on the right train of thought now. When preparing a paragraph for the students to type so that we could learn formatting, I was still out in the woods in my brain, seeking the overgrown ape. So, I wrote a small article about Bigfoot and cryptozoology. Then when I taught the class, I asked them three questions: 1) Do you remember the promise you made to me last month? They did. 2) Did you keep that promise? Most of those precious, bright children had kept the promise to practice their typing skills; and 3) do you believe in Bigfoot?

 

Not only did some of those wildly creative kids believe, they spieled out all of the vast knowledge I’d accumulated for longer than they’d been alive. Still, there were the naysayers, and they brought valid proof of their disbelief to the table with one question. “Where are the bones?”

 

Did I try to convince them that Bigfoot is real? No, because while I’d like to believe there is this big lumbering ape-like man in the woods—and I even look for him here in Florida—I have no idea.

 

But that wasn’t the reason for my question. I wanted them to see beyond their keyboarding class and into their research for essays and term papers. So, I read them this small excerpt from my story, the one where the family, on expedition, explains to their visitor, Aunt Connie, all they know about Bigfoot”

 

“Aunt Connie, you’re not up on your Bigfoot information. They’re stealthy. They are hard to spot even in the daytime. They can hide themselves against the trees and not make a sound unless they want to be heard or seen—all eight feet—no grunting from exertion, no stomping when they walk.” He glanced at his mom with a sly smile that barely showed in the moonlight. “Some people even believe they have a cloaking ability like one of those lizards in Florida that change colors.”

Marc drew near. “And they can read your mind.” He wiggled his brows and glanced at his wife. “When they’re near you, their sub-sonic hum can make you deathly ill.”

They were making fun of her, but Polly didn’t care. Standing alone with her family in the middle of their expedition area and gabbing with the people she loved, that was all she wanted. “They hide in caves and traverse that way. That’s why they aren’t seen,” she countered with her own knowledge of Bigfoot lore. “And they’ve had years to adapt to the land, and they know the layout.”

 

Not to toot my own horn, but the kids were riveted to their seats—of course, I read them the part about where the family thinks they see Old Hairy, and when I finished, I asked them how I knew so much about Bigfoot? So bright, they called out, “Research!”

 

No need to tell them that the research was years of fun. I nodded and said, “So, research isn’t always dull and boring. You can write about fun things, but they still need facts.”

 

I believe in the creativity and fascination of Bigfoot. I follow his mantra: “Believe in yourself even when no one else does.” I want those kids to believe in themselves and march toward a bright future, typing all the way.

 

So, do you believe Bigfoots exist?





Biography:

 

Fay Lamb is the only daughter of a rebel genius father and a hard-working, tow-the-line mom. She is not only a fifth-generation Floridian, she has lived her life in Titusville, where her grandmother was born in 1899.

 

Since an early age, storytelling has been Fay’s greatest desire. She seeks to create memorable characters that touch her readers’ hearts. She says of her writing, “If I can’t laugh or cry at the words written on the pages of my manuscript, the story is not ready for the reader.” Fay writes in various genres, including romance, romantic suspense, and contemporary fiction.

 

If you’d like to catch up with Fay, visit her at her website, on Amazon, Goodreads, Facebook, and Twitter. Also, Fay has become a “novel” gardener, and she shares her adventure in her newsletter, Tales from the Azalea Garden. You can sign up for her newsletter, Tales from the Azalea Garden, here.

 

Links to Social Media:

 

Fay Lamb’s Social Media Links:

 

The Visitor Meets Old Hairy: https://amzn.to/3iLN5Uk

Join the Expedition: Enter the contest by guessing at the clues given to you as to the location of each book in The Visitor series: https://www.writeintegrity.com/thevisitor

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FayFayLamb

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FayFaylamb

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1482814.Fay_Lamb

Amazon Central: https://amazon.com/author/faylamb

Newsletter, Tales from the Azalea Garden: https://www.faylamb.net/contact


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