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Saturday, May 8, 2021

Weekend Writing Warriors: Tarnished Silver

 I thought I'd share one more excerpt from my work in progress Tarnished Silver. So far we know that Brittany-a private investigator- has been hired by Brad Silver's grandfather to find if Brad is taking money from the church that he pastors. This excerpt reveals a little more about Brad.


Brad threw his pen down on his messy desk and watched with a frown as it slid into the floor.  He hated to pay bills.  His student loan payment had come due, and he didn’t have the money to cover it unless he let his rent go for another week.  Sighing, he stood up and wandered over to the window.  The rain beat against the glass and made the landscape look as brooding and gloomy as he felt.

Imagine anyone with the name of Silver having the financial problems that he did!  Ten years ago if you had told him he wouldn’t be able to make ends meet he’d have laughed in your face.  Of course ten years ago I planned to become a lawyer too.

Why don’t ministers make more money?  Does God keep salaries low to put us through some kind of test?  If so, I think I’ve passed by now.  I wish that God would let up on me for a while.

If only his grandfather hadn’t minded when he decided to become a minister!  When his grandfather threw a fit, his parents had followed suit and refused to help him financially.  With a sigh, he moved to the dirty-looking beige chair sitting in a corner of his study and sat down there even though one of the springs allowed him to sink way down.

He had sold his stocks and used his trust fund to live and pay school expenses, and he had still had to take a student loan.  The loan proved one thing; he didn’t have Sharon’s knack of handling money.  She could make one dollar do the work of twenty.

Haru had said he would get a raise when they redid the budget next September, but he needed money now, and until then…

4 comments:

  1. It doesn't look good for him. Like...maybe he did steal what he needed?

    I added your post to the linky list only a few minutes ago. Sorry I didn't catch that sooner.

    No post for me this week.

    Happy mother's Day, Elaine. I hope it's a wonderful one.

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  2. Maybe he should consider changing denomination. I remember reading some years ago that Protestant ministers were paid extremely well. He just needs to find the right church.

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  3. I completely sympathize with him. My daughter's living paycheck to paycheck and has to take a second job to make ends meet (or almost meet). Maybe he needs to get a second job until he can get a raise. Although that last line certainly sounds like he's got his hand in the cookie jar. I hope not!

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  4. You can never get rid of student loans and the companies know it, so they're always willing to put them on hold if you can't pay (while interest still accumulates, of course). Speaking as someone who needed a master's to be a social worker, but almost no master's level social work jobs pay enough to cover loan payments.... Ugh, I feel his pain.

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