Marilyn's Musings

My protagonist, Niki Alexander, is an ex-cop who quit after she had to shoot a teen before he shot her. Convinced that the only way she might find redemption was to save as many street teens as she could. To that end, she became a counselor for a teen shelter. But what did I know about troubled teens? I told myself I knew teenagers. After all, my three children were teenagers once. They were five years apart in age. As soon as one child passed through the teen phase, the next would present a whole new set of problems. As a single parent, I learned through experience. First lesson: Niki Alexander had to teach street kids how to fight and protect themselves to survive the perils they faced. My oldest daughter developed her strength from martial arts. She won tournaments while going to school and working part time to pay for lessons. At sixteen she worked at a Dairy Queen, a few blocks from our apartment. She would walk to work and back. One afternoon on her way home, s...