Since then she has branched into NA Contemporary Romance and released titles to include Stubborn Love, Only In Dreams, and Do Anything. Her next romance, The Luckiest is scheduled to be released in July 2014.
When she’s not writing, this dog lover can be found spending time with her tech geek husband, their three amazing kids, and two pups. She loves to cook and is a film fanatic.
My heart leaps into my throat, and time has lost meaning. The entire car leans up on two wheels as it travels to the left, rather than straight ahead. My body presses into my father’s, and I wish more than anything I could hold myself away from him. He reaches for the door handle, but his efforts are futile, as the water has already risen to his window. We continue to move with the current, until it completely picks up the car. The metal tomb flips and turns onto the driver’s side door, snapping off the mirror. I don’t think. I struggle to unbuckle my seatbelt with one hand, the weight of my body pulling the strap taut, and crank down the passenger window with the other. Like a seamless and rehearsed dance, everything happens perfectly. The window is down, the buckle releases its grasp, and I grab on to the edge of the open window. Using the edge of the steering wheel, and my headrest, I push myself up and out the opening.
The car slows, but it’s still moving with the flow of the water, rocking from side to side as the muffled sounds of metal scraping against the earth fill the vessel. “Addy Mae,” he cries up after me. It’s a tone I’ve never heard from him, or at least I don’t recall. I look down at him; his eyes are wide with fear. I feel sorry for him, the need to help him overwhelming me.
I drop to my knees, readying myself to extend a hand. The car jerks unexpectedly, and I fall to my stomach, gripping the rim of the window for support. A cracking sound echoes from inside of the car. I look down to see a large rock has wedged itself firmly into the windshield, cracked glass splintering outward.
“Goddamn it, Addy, you better get me the hell out of here,” he shouts. There he is, I think. The father I know. My hand is halfway extended when I pause and pull it back. “What the—” The windshield gives way, and the shards rush inward with a gush of water. His expression, his words—they all disappear in an instant, beneath the murky, churning waters.
Another excerpt perhaps?
“Do you ever feel like you don’t even know the people in your life?” I say from complete impulse.
Leo moves between me and the edge of the cliffside. “Are we talking family or friends?”
“Family, I suppose.”
He doesn’t answer me right away. He shifts his weight, even though there isn’t much of it to shift, from foot to foot. Finally, he lets out an exasperated breath.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m even talking about this, it really is nothing.” I take a couple steps back, waving my hands in the air. “I should probably just get back to class.”
"Life is a burden to me. Nothing gives me pleasure. I find only sadness in everything around me. It is very difficult because of the ways of those with whom I live, and probably always shall live, are as different from mine as moonlight is from sunlight.”
I looked down at my muddy shoes. If this is a movie quote, it is absolutely not from one I have ever seen. I can feel my throat tighten as I think about his statement.
Leo continues, “Napoleon Bonaparte said that at the age of seventeen. My father named me after him because he was a brilliant strategist. He understood the behaviors of men, and what kinds of actions would elicit what responses. As I learned about Napoleon, I came to realize we had more in common than just our names.”
“You’re a good general?” I snort a laugh through the snot.
“No, dork.” He smiles. “He couldn’t relate to his father, and, after being moved to France, he had trouble relating to his classmates as well. Burton is France.”
“I didn’t realize you hated it so much here.”
He shakes his head. “You don’t have to hate something to know it isn’t right.
I smile at the sincerity in his voice. “Thank you.”
“No, thank you for keeping the ghosts away. ”He’s no longer looking at me. Instead he watches our friends leap into the air, laughing and screaming as they chase the fluttering glow bugs.
I think about his words. That’s exactly what he has done for me … keep the ghosts away.
I lay down in the tall grass, my head tilted to the night sky, the moon full over our heads.
“Alrighty,” he says, filling the void next to me. “What are we doing?”
“Watching.”
“For?” he asks.
“God.”
His hand seeks mine through the blades of grass, our palms flat against one another’s. My heart starts to race. I’m listening to the song of the crickets mixed with our friend’s laughter, and in that moment I want nothing more than to crash into Leo and make the world stop turning. Instead, I settle for the moment, touching a friend’s hand, quietly keeping the ghosts at bay for one another.
“Do you think he’s there?” he asks.
“Who?” I forget what we’re talking about, distracted by his touch.
He doesn’t move his hand away. “God.”
I swallow. I’ve wondered that a lot, especially as a little girl, on those nights that Daddy would visit my room. “I don’t know,” I answer in barely a whisper.
“It’s a nice thought.”
“What is?”
“The whole heaven thing. That people are waiting for us,” he says.
“I guess.”
“What? You don’t believe in heaven?”
“I don’t know,” I say again honestly. “If that’s all real, it just seems hard to swallow.”
“What does?”
“Suffering,” I reply.
He’s quiet, and I wish I hadn’t rained on the moment. “Yeah, it is.”
I want to tell him I hope there’s a heaven because he deserves to see his brother again. I want to tell him that I hope hell exists because people like my father deserve to go there. I want to tell him that through all the bull, I still have hope it’s all real and this being is out there, loving me with all the blemishes others have placed onto me. But instead I lay there, content with the touch of his hand.
Now, would you like to read a character interview?
Interview with Napoleon Blake, featured character in Wash Me Away.
Interviewer: I’m sure a lot of our readers would love to know how a day in the life of Napoleon Blake looks. Are you an early riser?
NB: *laughs. You know what they say, early to bed, early to rise makes people suspicious.
Interviewer: Okay, so not an early bird. How do you like to spend your free time?
NB: Well there’s how I like spending my free time and how I actually do.
Interviewer: Meaning?
NB: Like most red blooded american teenage boys I’d like to spend all my time having sex.
Interviewer: With?
NB: Again, like most, any willing participant would be considered. But of course when I am not thinking about the obvious, I’m out riding my skateboard or hiking. Oh, and then of course movies, I’m always consuming quality films.
Interviewer: Speaking of films, I hear you’re a bit of a movie buff.
NB: Some might say that.
Interviewer: What are some of your favorite films?
NB: I really hate that question. It’s like asking someone which kid is their favorite.
Interviewer: Isn’t that usually what people say about something they’ve created.
NB: Well it remains true for this to. How can you compare the comedic genius of Airplane to the emotional toll of E.T.
Interviewer: Do you only watch older movies?
NB: Of course not, it’s just ... something resonates with me in their scripts. A lot of people think they’re cheesy in the way that everyone works together to reach a common goal or happy ending, I find it admirable and something we should embrace.
Interviewer: Is there one incident that shaped your life?
NB: *swallows hard. My brother’s death. It made me realize what happens to the people who are left behind after you’re gone. I made the decision I would live the truest and fullest life I could.
Interviewer: Is there one person who always makes you smile?
NB: Well I’m a pretty funny looking guy so whenever I look in the mirror, I tend to laugh.
Interviewer: I doubt much of our female audience would agree with that statement.
NB: Seriously though? I surround myself with friends who make me smile. I can always count on Miyagi for a laugh. I never know what will come out of Julia’s mouth. But if there is one person I had to pick that I would drop everything to hang out with, it would have to be Addy. My head is always spinning with thoughts and ideas, but somehow, when I’m with her it brings me a calm.
Interviewer: Thanks for spending a few minutes with us to answer some questions.
NB: Thanks for getting me out of class for it.
Wash Me Away
Blurb:
Addy Buckley is probably one of the only people in the world who is thankful for a tragedy wrecking her world. For her, the boogyman was real, until one day, she was free, or at least that’s what she believed. Monsters have a way of following you.
Now, immersed in a new world with her Aunt and Uncle, at boarding school, Addy begins to learn she’s not the only one with secrets. While trying to navigate the minefield of painful lies that seem to be rattling around in her family’s past, she meets soft on the eyes, and heavy on the heart, Napoleon Blake. Faced with the darkness, Addy must decide to sink or swim.
---- There is also a giveaway where you can enter for a ebook copy of Wash Me Away (on the left of this page). And you can comment below to enter to win a $25 Amazon Gift Card! (Giftcard Giveaway ends May 15)
