Fear Itself: Airplanes, Motorcycles, & Aikido

Jude Hayes is way braver than her humble writer. Or, at the very least, she takes a more relaxed approach to life. Both of us were corporate pilots for quite a few years, and flying is definitely one of those pursuits that many people file in the daredevil category. Well, Jude would say to that, "Not hardly."

Not corporate flying, anyway. Boards of directors of large corporations and the safety guardian Federal Aviation Administration really prefer not to allow reckless cowboy types to cart highly placed executives around the big sky. It's bad for the stock market and such. They prefer the safe and boring type of pilot. We can't all be Sam Shepard playing Chuck Yeager in The Right Stuff.

Flying does have a bit more risk than some things, like playing the piano, for example, because it features a few challenges like getting up close and personal with weather and kiting around in the atmosphere where most land mammals really aren't supposed to be. Statistically, it carries far less risk than say, riding motorcycles, or practicing a martial art like Aikido, two more things Jude Hayes and I have in common. But the flight environment is one always to be respected, no exceptions.

All these vocations/avocations are big fun, but sometimes they're pretty intimidating --not to use that sissy word "scary." Generally, the fun trumps the fear, or the challenge trumps the fear, or the sense of accomplishment or some other intrinsic reward outweighs the fear, and we fly, or we ride, or we redirect our partner's attack in the dojo.

My husband claims I'm irresistibly drawn to hobbies that generate fear in me. I don't think he means I'm an adrenaline junkie. I'm nobody's idea of a thrill seeker. I just like the fun, active stuff. And I do like a moderate level of challenge. There's something to be said for feeling really grand after you surmount an obstacle. As Eleanor Roosevelt said, "You must do the thing you think you cannot do." And, as her husband said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

Back in Jude's parallel universe version of Grand Junction, Colorado, we hear Clicker say, "Dudette, that's like . . .  way too heavily philosophical for a mystery blog!" Fer sure, Clicker. But, I have a couple of questions. I'm wondering, what hobbies or interests or passions--that's the operative word--do you have that scare you a little bit, but you "feel the fear and do (them) anyway?" The fun, the passion fuels the doing, but what part does the fear play for you?

My long-time mentor Richard Bach, author of Jonathan Livingston Seagull and my all-time favorite flying books, wrote a short story titled Loops, Voices, and the Fear of Death where he discusses this point most eloquently. He's initially very apprehensive about taking spin training in a light airplane. When he masters spins--and spin recoveries, of course--he's elated that he's wrestled that fear to the ground and he practices more spins "just for fun." So what's your passion-laced-with-fear? Is it singing for an audience? Catching a pass and running for long yardage? Having your first baby? The first day of class at that college you dared not hope you'd get into?    

Remover of Obstacles

It occurs to me that perhaps a brief description of Remover of Obstacles is in order:



Jude Hayes is so burned out flying corporate airplanes that she never wants to hear a jet engine spooling up ever again. Convincing herself that the career move is permanent, she sinks every penny of her savings into becoming a private investigator and unintentionally attempts to replace the excitement of flying jets with motorcycles, martial arts, and … murder.

Desperate to give her newly minted detective agency an edge, she latches onto the restaurant business as a niche market. When an old college chum hires her to clandestinely investigate missing valuables at the McMansions of her wealthy catering clients, Jude is appalled when her lucrative little theft case escalates into the highprofile “Garden Party Murder,” complete with the dead dilettante son of a prominent doctor behind the barbeque. Also not happy about her involvement is bucolic Deputy Chief of Police Tommy Gallagher, who warns her to drop the case or face losing her license.

Jude focuses on her other clients, ex-circus star chefs Elio and Simone Tremont, whose momandpop restaurant has been suffering afterhours computer invasions. Jude and her supergeek assistant, Ming (the Merciless) Shen, are successfully profiling the über cyber criminal when A.J. Pierpont, powerful octogenarian matron and industrial magnate, persuades Jude to remain peripherally involved in the “Garden Party Murder” investigation against her better judgment.

Hoping things will calm down long enough to take her martial arts test at the fall Aikido seminar, Jude volunteers to locate a reclusive living Aikido legend to preside over the benefit seminar and keep her sensei’s financially strapped dojo alive. But she is totally unprepared for the reality of the man she meets—he’s certainly no Mr. Miyagi. Nor can she predict that this handsome and enigmatic hermit will be drawn into the violent collision of her two cases.

Take the quirky diversity of the food business, season with the solemnity of the Japanese dojo and the roar of sport motorcycles, add friendly witches and unfriendly cops. Leaven with murder, then mix and bake in the highaltitude sun on the pink sandstone cliffs of the Colorado National Monument near Grand Junction, Colorado.



Remover of Obstacles, by Amy Gardiner, is currently available for purchase as an   e-book from Amazon/Kindle. Free Kindle apps allow it to be read on any PC, Mac, tablet, or smartphone--and, of course, all Kindle models.

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A Comfortable Circle of Friends

When I was a nineteen-year-old housewife, suddenly socially disoriented because I'd temporarily quit college to get married and, as my mother used to say, "go to housekeeping," I often found myself quite lonely during the day when my husband was at work and all my chores were finished. But like my mother, I loved to read, and in the stories published in the "ladies' magazines" of the day--most notably Redbook and McCall's--I found friends to keep me company.

Fast forward a decade to my first real corporate jet pilot job. I loved the flying and the travel. Much of a corporate pilot's life involves sitting in hotel rooms in odd corners of the world, ready on a moment's notice to race back to the airport and take the passengers to their next destination. It's a lot like being "a chauffeur with wings." You're almost always tethered to the airplane, because you never know when the passengers may abruptly change their plans. That's part of why they fly on a private airplane--the schedule centers on them, not the other way around, as in airline travel.

One such weekend found me in San Francisco, a city on my "top ten list" of favorite trips. The other pilot and I had secured no rental car for the weekend, opting to depend upon the airport shuttle since our hotel was so close to San Francisco International Airport. That meant hanging around the hotel until departure time two days hence. Fortunately, the hotel had a good restaurant.

Well and truly bored by Saturday morning, I idly wandered over to a small coffee shop next to the hotel, one of the few nearby businesses catering to travelers. It was vaguely reminiscent of the old drugstore soda fountains or Woolworth lunch counters. Looking for something to read that was more interesting than the bag of flight manuals I'd brought with me, I found a small section of paperbacks on a rack by the door.

Without much enthusiasm, I selected an unknown (to me) title by a mystery author that my sister, who owned a mystery bookstore in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, had occasionally mentioned. I'd never read a mystery, but it seemed promising--after all, it was set in California. Might as well get into the spirit of the place.

The book was "A is for Alibi," Sue Grafton's first in the Kinsey Millhone "alphabet" mystery series. I was surprised to find that I loved it. I'd always shied away from mysteries, fearing a too-complex plot that would make me feel stupid and lots of blood 'n' guts and gore. Clearly, this was a different sort of mystery. But after burning through the book, I tried to figure out what I liked best about it. Of course, the writing was superb, the plot compelling, and the sense of place most satisfying--after all, Sue Grafton is one of the original grandes dames of the female detective story. But it was something else, and it was something elusively familiar.

It took me a while to realize that it was the characters, the people in Kinsey's world that brightened up my lonely, impersonal hotel room. By the end of the book, they all felt like old friends. Back at home base, I drove out to the local bookstore and picked up more of Grafton's "alphabet" series. By the time I finished "D is for Deadbeat," I had permanently acquired a comfortable circle of friends--friends who asked nothing, but were always there, ready to eagerly lead me on new adventures.

When I decided to set my flying life aside for a little while and do the writing I'd wanted to do for many years, it was a no-brainer what I would write: it had to be a mystery with really engaging characters. Oh, and it had to be a series. Oh wait--and it had to have flying in there somewhere!

Installment number one of the Jude Hayes Mysteries is titled Remover of Obstacles and it will introduce you to your newest "comfortable circle of friends." I hope you like it. Number two is already well under way--but that's for another post. By the way, congratulations to Sue Grafton who will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention this month in Albany, NY!

All Things Jude Hayes Mysteries

Welcome to my blog where we'll discuss all things related to the Jude Hayes Mysteries series--please notice that I said "we'll discuss"--because I hope it will be an ongoing conversation. Comments are welcome and encouraged here!

We'll be talking a lot about Grand Junction, Colorado and the beauty of the Colorado National Monument. We'll chase around the topic of riding sport motorcycles. Get ready for an interview with an authentic Aikido sensei. Halloween is right around the corner--there will be Witches about and magik (not magic) afoot. And who are these real-life, shadowy figures, the "Sisters in Crime?"

Characters from Remover of Obstacles, the first book in the series, will also grant us guest interviews. And you get to help think up the questions! Ever wonder what Tommy Gallagher cooks for dinner? How about a look into Ming's closet? Want to talk about Jude's dogs, Rachel and Decker? What home was the inspiration for A.J. Pierpont's mansion? Are you a pilot--or have you ever thought about learning to fly? Got you covered. Let's talk!