Life Imitates John Steele

Some days I feel as if life is imitating art, instead of the other way around. In my rural detective story, No Signal, John Steele has a hard time solving cases without a good cell phone signal.

I can so relate.

The joys of rural life are plenty: quiet, less traffic, less people, more nature, etc. On the other hand, the tech savvy are usually two, three, or more steps behind their urban counterparts. For example until DSL came to our area we had to invest in satellite internet which my in-laws constantly reminded me was not really high speed compared to their cable internet.

When my wife and I moved, basically across the street, last year AT&T informed us we had moved nodes and switched us from our 2.6mbps stream to .765mbps. OMG. (And I'll try not to use that phrase again. Ever.) That was not even enough to check Gmail with.

There's a sad story about repeaters and boosters that I won't repeat here to get us a little faster.

In the meantime I'm getting closer to the end of the next book, Lucky Spaces. Here's a sneak peak:

“I am so sorry, sir,” she began, “there are rules that we can’t give out personal information like that. I--”

I cut her off quickly as inspiration struck. “Ma’am, let me put the reverend on, maybe you’ll feel more comfortable talking to him. Here’s Reverend McCollister.” And I handed the cell phone over to Gramps. 

At first he tried to refuse it, but I kept thrusting it in his face and mouthed, “Do it! Come on!” 

What would you do to solve a case? There's very little that John Steele wouldn't do. Especially if he can find a good signal.