Connie and Liz are right!

 It's time for me to stop whining and licking my wounds. Liz and I have a business to run, and Connie was right. Bud did release a boxed set of the first three Bluewater Thrillers, so I feel better. Of course, he couldn't have done it without Leslie. All he did was write the books. She's the one who knocked them into shape and packaged them in a presentable form. That old saying is right; behind every man, there's a ...

I'm not sure what happened there, but the keyboard quit working before I could finish that thought, and Bud's giving me that look he has. But I know he appreciates her help. We all do.

I was looking over his shoulder yesterday when he was reviewing the new covers for the early Bluewater Thrillers. I'm glad he's changing them; I never did like those covers with the girls in bikinis, and I know from sneaking a look at his incoming emails that some people think that's what Liz and I look like.

Not that we'd mind looking like those models, but even if we did, we'd rather leave more to our readers' imaginations. I know Connie feels the same way. It's what we do that people are interested in -- not how we look. Besides, who'd ever take me seriously if I flitted around almost naked like those girls?

Even though Bud's spending most of his time with Connie and Paul right now, I got a look at some of his notes the other day. He's working on another book for Liz and me. We're eager to ferret out what's going to happen on our next adventure.

I spotted a bunch of clippings about drones on his desktop. He's got me curious about that. I'm used to seeing him research stuff like how to forge passports with biometric chips, ways to break the encryption on secure communications systems, and details on small, portable nukes -- that kind of thing. But drones? Liz thought maybe he was looking for a gift for one of his grandchildren, but that's not the kind of drone he was studying.

I asked Connie about it, but she doesn't think drones are going to figure in her current story. She did point out that he's always throwing in plot twists, though. Nothing he does should surprise us, she said. She's right about that, but I have this feeling that drones will appear in our next Bluewater Thriller; Liz isn't too sure.

She's a little worried these days, if you can believe that. I know it's out of character for her, but she's got a soft heart when it comes to Bud. She's decided that the NSA probably has him on a list of some kind, based on his Internet search history and some of his Twitter followers. She thinks that line they gave him last month about following up on an update to his son's security clearance was some kind of smokescreen.

I'm not too worried, as long as they'll let him have a computer in his cell. He'll still be able to spin our yarns, and he won't get distracted by the pictures of the islands and boats, either, because they'll restrict his Internet access. It might do him good; at least he'll find out what he put me through in Bluewater Jailbird. Anyway, he's a lawyer. They never do anything illegal, do they? Not unless they're running for elected office, which he isn't.

I'd better go; a big black SUV with tinted windows just stopped out front, and there's a drone hovering in the backyard. What's Bud doing with that tin-foil-hat thing on his head? Come on, Liz; Bud may need a little backup here in the next few minutes.