Don’t Forget to be Brave

Don’t Forget to be Brave

Carmen Amato

Scorpions loved our house in Central America. Tails curled with spiky malice and clad in brown armor, they made soft rustling sounds as they scuttled along the tile floor in search of shoes and draperies and other unexpected hiding places.

Our housekeeper, whom I’ll call Doris, called my attention to the first one by screaming long and loud. 

I raced into the living room to see Doris empty a can of Raid at the thing. The scorpion slogged through a noxious puddle of bug spray and continued purposefully toward the sofa.

Now, I was not unprepared for what lay ahead. I’d researched the best way to kill scorpions. Google cheerfully advised that the exoskeleton must be pierced in order to cause death. Pictures showed the tip of a knife inserted with pinpoint accuracy behind the creature’s eyes.

Such a surgical strike called for both time and skill. I had neither, only the prospect of a deadly sting the next time someone sat down to watch television.

I grabbed my biggest chef’s knife from the kitchen, ran back to the living room, swung my blade and chopped that sucker and its exoskeleton in two. 

Doris stopped screaming.

As time went on, I became a one-woman army against this prehistoric home invasion. To my grim delight, scorpions weren’t all that fast on their feet. I could dispatch them quickly. One or two chops, then two halves disappearing down the toilet.

Two years later, we were back in the United States. My tall blonde daughter, having survived high school in Central America, happily went off to college in Vermont.

She came home with a tattoo on her calf. A scorpion cut in two by a knife.

“Why did you get a tattoo of that?” I asked.

“Because it’s the bravest thing I ever saw anybody do,” she replied.

Ahem. Bonus Mom points to me. 

Her words surprised me. I’d never thought of myself as particularly brave. I was just doing what needed to be done, using the tools at my disposal, in the most efficient way possible.

Fast forward to today. After 30 years with the Central Intelligence Agency, I am a full-time mystery author, with 16 fiction and 2 non-fiction titles to my name. Several awards and over a thousand reviews for the Detective Emilia Cruz police procedural series tell me that I’m on the right track. I’ve written for Publishers Weekly and Criminal Element and was interviewed on National Public Radio. 

Yet during the height of COVID, I needed a break from cartels and corruption. A new project based on my grandfather’s stories from when he was a deputy sheriff in the 1920’s became the Galliano Club thriller series. I hoped that my carefully built audience, primed for murder and mayhem in today’s Mexico, would follow me into historical fiction set in upstate New York.

Yeah. Not so much. 

The prequel and Book #1 came out to tepid sales. My joy in the series waned as I realized that a new genre required a whole new readership.

I was daunted. Scribbled lists of ways to expand my author platform, then lost the lists. Dragged my feet. Made excuses.

Instead of tackling the task, I signed up for an online writer’s conference. To my surprise, the other conference attendees were at the beginning of their author career. In every breakout session, I was far and away the most seasoned author, answering questions and passing along useful tips and points of contact. 

Despite inexperience, these new authors were excited to talk about their books. Books that weren’t yet published or were newly released. Books that had neither readers nor reviews. 

Their enthusiasm and energy made me realize that I’d stopped being brave. 

In his book CAN’T HURT ME, former Navy SEAL, endurance athlete, and best-selling author David Goggins introduced the concept of a mental Cookie Jar. It’s a place to store past successes so that the next time we are faced with a challenge, we can take out a cookie that reminds us of what we are capable of doing.

Look at how you did that tough thing. You can do this tough thing, too. 

What if each of us had a real Cookie Jar? 

Imagine a jar full of slips of paper listing personal victories, milestones, and successes. Now think of the power in those reminders. We’d never forget to be brave.

And if a scorpion gets in your cookie jar, chop that sucker in two.

—

About the author: Carmen Amato turns lessons from a 30-year career with the Central Intelligence Agency into crime fiction loaded with danger and deception.

The Detective Emilia Cruz series pits the first female police detective in Acapulco against Mexico’s drug cartels, corruption, and social inequality. Dubbed “A thrilling series” by National Public Radio, the series was awarded the Poison Cup Award for Outstanding Series from CrimeMasters of America in both 2019 and 2020 and has been optioned for television.

Her Galliano Club historical thriller series was inspired by stories told by her grandfather who was a deputy sheriff during Prohibition.

Originally from upstate New York, Carmen was educated there as well as in Virginia and Paris, France, while experiences in Mexico and Central America ignited her writing career. 

She is a recipient of both the National Intelligence Award and the Career Intelligence Medal.

Every other Sunday, Carmen’s Mystery Ahead newsletter unlocks her top secrets with exclusive announcements, sneak peeks at her next book and reviews of must-read mysteries.

 https://carmenamato.net/mystery-ahead

 

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Category: Contemporary Women Writers, How To and Tips