Meet Dani Berger

Bud (That’s what his friends call C.L.R. Dougherty.) is really busy; he's getting Play Actor ready for some big voyage that he and his wife, Leslie, are planning for the Spring. Besides that, he's at the midpoint of Bluewater Rendezvous, the eighth Bluewater Thriller.

Liz and I are stuck in the middle of it. We're in another fine mess right now. I have no idea how he's going to get us out of it, but Liz reminds me that he always does. I'm annoyed with him about that, but as you'll guess if you've read our books, Liz is counseling patience. She reminds me that we wouldn't be here if he didn't write these books. She's such a Pollyanna, that girl.

Anyway, it's time for another of Bud's blog posts, and I've been fascinated by this whole writing business ever since I found myself in Bluewater Killer. I mean, how hard can it be to sit down and put a few words together? I saw a chance to help Bud out (He needs all the help he can get -- just ask Leslie!) and satisfy my curiosity at the same time. Liz wasn't so sure it was a good idea, given what she calls my impulsive nature.

She insisted that I give Bud the final say over what I post, so I agreed to that. If he knows what's good for him, he won't change anything. He's as much a risk-taker as I am, though; I'll just have to see what shows up online after he edits it.


So here's my first blog post. If you haven't figured it out by now, I'm Dani Berger, the skipper and co-owner of the charter yacht Vengeance. Thanks to Bud, that means I'm one of the protagonists in the Bluewater Thrillers. I share that role with my friend Liz Chirac, who is also the First Mate, chef, and co-owner of Vengeance. On top of that, she’s an artist — the sketches in this post are hers.

Now I'm stuck. With the introduction out of the way, I'm not sure what to say next. Maybe there's more to this writing stuff than I thought. Bud says just keep writing, and that everything will work out. Liz suggests that maybe I should say a little about how I ended up in this job. She means the protagonist's job, not the captain's job. You can read about that in the books.

I've wondered about that myself; it's been the subject of a lot of late night conversations between Bud and me over the years. He's sort of noncommittal on the topic, but when he's half-asleep and I'm running loose in his head, I pick up stray bits of information. Some of them, I drop like red-hot coals, but that's a topic for another post, if he'll even let me write it. I'm starting to like this writing thing, by the way. Bud just reminded me to stick to my topic and not wander off; I do have a short attention span. So about those bits of information: I've run across several women in his head who remind me of myself.

There's his daughter, who's a little older than I am. She's fearless and determined, along with being a marathon-runner. Smart, too. And did I say fearless? She's the mother of three little girls, with another one on the way. That takes more guts than I have.

Then there's a woman who was one of his earliest childhood playmates. She was a tomboy then, and she grew into one of the most self-assured women I've ever seen. She's succeeded at breaking the gender barrier in all kinds of ways, without losing her charm or becoming overbearing on the subject of women's rights. She's almost certainly a model for some of my traits.

He's also got a lot of memories of assertive women he encountered in his career in the corporate world. I'm sure elements of their personalities have helped shape my own. I occasionally catch glimpses of myself in Leslie, his long-suffering wife, but I think I see more of her in Liz -- that always-positive attitude -- they share that.

Me, I'm prone to these dark thoughts sometimes, suspicions bordering on paranoia. I think those come from Bud, along with my hair-trigger temper and tendency to physical violence. It's clear to anyone who knows him that he left that behavior behind long ago, but I haven’t had as much time to mellow as he has.

I think it's time to let Bud take a look at this. If he lets it go without major rewrites, maybe I'll get to write another post. This is great fun. If you like it, let him know, because I'm going to start pushing for my own blog, and I can't make that happen without your support. He listens to his readers far more willingly than to his characters. Thanks for your attention, and thanks for buying and reading the Bluewater Thrillers. Liz and I wouldn't be here without you.