I started Final Flight a few weeks ago, after reading a Christian Romance Suspense featuring some limited medical pieces. I’m a pantser, so my novels just “happen,” but this one, I fleshed out a bit first to help get the timeline and connections right.
Predictability will kill any writing, and I’m anything but predictable!
Chief Mel Wu, the main character, is a petite female MedEvac pilot with Ninja moves and an attitude to match! She carries more emotional baggage than most commercial airplanes can handle, stuffed deep in various compartments. Her skill as a chopper pilot is renowned, honed as a MedEvac pilot in Afghanistan.
Not only is the male character, Nurse Paul Shepherd, not a super buff, Navy SEAL type guy, but his injury early on in the book renders him more of a liability than asset in fighting bad guys. Or so it seems. He carries his own hurts, with little interest in forming a relationship.
The antagonist is a vet who suffers from PTSD and grief over the loss of his little brother, apparently at Mel’s hands. He’s a sniper whose intent is to kill her after several attempts to harm others involved in the Afghanistan pullout debacle meet minimal success. He has a secondary motive that sucks Paul into the melee.
Paul’s brother, a detective, is not only hog-tied by the protocols he must follow, but limited by the resources he has access to. Mel’s friend, a colonel with CID, becomes a vital part of the investigation, gaining access to files only a military inquiry could afford.
Not only are there multiple attempts on both Paul and Mel’s lives, but the antagonist also kidnaps Mel’s special needs little sister in an attempt to draw Mel out of hiding. Little does he know that the place he chooses as the backdrop for his final assault will create the perfect opportunity to derail his nefarious plans.
In the midst of the chaos, Mel finds her carefully erected walls melting at Paul’s tender caring and support. She unpacks most of her baggage, feeling lighter for it because of Paul’s encouragement, but keeps the secret compartment sealed. A comment made by their antagonist threatens to rip the lock off that steel safe, laying bare Mel’s most feared past. Will Paul continue his pursuit once that dragon is loosed?
Health Update:
For those of you following my health saga, the 2nd Cochlear Implant was a BUST! The implant site abscessed, causing the device to erupt out of the skin behind my ear. The surgeon did an emergency removal, intending to try again later, after everything healed. Since the vertigo and tinnitus was worsened by the CI, and my hearing not improved with it, and my body TIRED of being assaulted by multiple surgeries, I asked him to just remove it all! The vertigo has almost completely ceased! HALLELUJAH! Tinnitus overwhelming most days!
Recovery has been slow, with my hips deciding they want attention now.
Appointment w/audiologist (a wonderful, sweet Spirit-filled Christian lady!) this week to see what we can do to address deteriorating hearing in both ears.
Cardiologist says I’m fine! (He doesn’t live in my body!)
Face planting is my new hobby. Not a good one! Tore muscles in shoulder on last fall! Getting a Rollinator soon. Hate that, but better than continued injuries from falls!
Writing is my escape, especially since Joy and Larry are both working, and I’m fighting the “useless, unproductive” feeling after 35 years as the hyper control freak mom and teacher. I can’t believe I wrote Final Flight in about ten days! Now to find an agent when most want me to have thousands of followers first!
Wynne Loveless Writes 