Family Treed

"Family Treed" is 1.5 in my Big Uneasy series. This short story is my amuse bouche, because it is a taste, a quick bite for my readers, a chance to check in on Nell and Alex (from Relatively Risky). Nell's not sure why the mob wants to have dinner with her. She is sure she wants a cop at her side. Alex wouldn't let Nell dine with the mob without him, despite much unease from his many siblings. But when Nell's newly found relatives start making threatening noises, Nell wonders if she's putting Alex's life in danger. Can they survive dinner with the killing cousins? This short story is about 13,000 words or 31 printed pages. When I started "Family Treed," I was determined to keep it a short story. The plot, the characters fought back, throwing complications at me like knives and bullets. I dodged. I ducked. And when they weren't looking, I trimmed out everything trying to turn it into a novel. And while I trimmed, I watched Top Chef. When they were asked to create an amuse...