The Mind's Eye - Giveaway and Character Fun!

THE MIND'S EYE by K.C. Finn

Release Date: April 1, 2014

Genre: Young Adult (Paranormal, Historical, Adventure and Romance)

Publisher: Clean Teen Publishing

A girl with a telepathic gift finds a boy clinging to his last hope during the war-torn climate of Europe, 1940.

At fifteen, Kit Cavendish is one the oldest evacuees to escape London at the start of the Second World War due to a long term illness that sees her stuck in a wheelchair most of the time. But Kit has an extraordinary psychic power: she can put herself into the minds of others, see through their eyes, feel their emotions, even talk to them – though she dares not speak out for fear of her secret ability being exposed.

As Kit settles into her new life in the North Wales village of Bryn Eira Bach, solitude and curiosity encourage her to gain better control of her gift. Until one day her search for information on the developing war leads her to the mind of Henri, a seventeen-year-old Norwegian boy witnessing the German occupation of his beloved city, Oslo. As Henri discovers more about the English girl occupying his mind, the psychic and emotional bonds between them strengthen and Kit guides him through an oppressive and dangerous time. 

There are secrets to be uncovered, both at home and abroad, and it’s up to Kit and Henri to come together and fight their own battles in the depths of the world’s greatest war.

MEET THE CAST OF THE MIND'S EYE:

Kit Cavendish (age 15) Dream-casted as Georgie Henley

Kit is the central character of The Mind’s Eye, a girl with secret psychic abilities who can step into other people’s heads, look through their eyes and feel their emotions. She suffers from what was known in 1939 as Still’s Disease, which is actually a form of juvenile arthritis. This means that she has suffered a period of physical deterioration, so when we see her at the start of the book she is bound to a wheelchair and wishing that her life could be very different to the situation she’s trapped in. The Mind’s Eye is just as much about Kit’s war with her body as it is about the actual war surrounding the story. Kit’s condition is based on my own debilitating long term physical illness (M.E.) which presents a lot of very similar symptoms and difficulties in my everyday life.

Henri Haugen (age 17) Dream-casted as Aljaz Skorjanec

When Kit first connects her mind to Henri’s she finds him in Oslo, Norway on the day that the Nazis first arrive to take control of the city. Henri is a kind and brave soul but he can be impetuous and make snap decisions without thinking; not a clever move to make when you’re surrounded by the occupying forces. Kit takes it upon herself to counsel Henri through his troubles and eventually help him to escape the terror in Oslo so that he can do his part for the war effort. During this time the two youngsters develop a strong bond of friendship and romance. I was inspired to create Henri’s character after visiting the Resistance Museum in Oslo, Norway whilst on a holiday cruise. I was amazed by the stories of very young men who took it upon themselves to traverse the frozen mountains of Norway in order to cross the sea and join the British Army via Scotland. 

Blodwyn Price (age 20) Dream-casted as Dominique Swain

Blod is not a character I expect you to like the first time you meet her, but I hope that as you read on in The Mind’s Eye you will come to understand her attitude and the life events that have shaped her into the moody, guarded young beauty that she is.

Steven Bickerstaff (age 29) Dream-casted as Dan Stevens

Doctor Bickerstaff forms a kind of enemy for Kit at the start of the tale, his harsh words and unsmiling attitude aren’t what she needs when she’s struggling enough already… or are they? Blod and Bickerstaff are my secondary main characters and I genuinely love the way their story unfolds as Kit learns to understand why they behave the way they do and discovers secrets about them she never thought possible. 

TAKE THE CHARACTER QUIZ:

Now you've got to know the main cast of the book, find out which one you're most similar to by taking the quiz!

Which character from The Mind's Eye are you?

I'm most like Steven!

GIVEAWAY:

One randomly-selected commenter to this post will win a ecopy of The Mind's Eye in the format of their choice! Simply interact with K.C. Finn: ask a question, tell her what you think of the characters, the book, what answer you got in the quiz, anything! :)
Deadline to enter: Midnight EST, April 10th 2014

There are 5 chances to win between April 6th and April 10th. Check out the other posts from K.C. Finn below to enter more than once for your chance at a free book!

http://goddessfishparty.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-minds-eye-giveaway-and-book-details.html

http://goddessfishparty.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-minds-eye-giveaway-and-multimedia.html

http://goddessfishparty.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-minds-eye-giveaway-and-excerpt.html

http://goddessfishparty.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-minds-eye-giveaway-and-guest-post.html

http://goddessfishparty.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-minds-eye-giveaway-and-character-fun.html

The Meatball Mistress Giveaway

Cara Manzoni flees Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, to the Jersey Shore after catching her fiancé cheating with her hairdresser. Problem is she has no clothes, no money, and no place to go. This is not where she thought she’d be at almost thirty years old.

 

Ryan Garridy is a diehard commitment-phobe, struggling to keep his Italian restaurant afloat. The last thing he wants is a high-maintenance woman in his life. So when Cara runs out on her check and then faints at his feet the next day, he knows she’s trouble with a capital T. It still doesn’t stop him from offering her a job and a place to stay. There’s something feisty and compelling about this woman, and no matter how hard he tries, he just can’t seem to say no to her. Or her Sicilian meatballs.

 

Since Cara has sworn off men, it’s no big deal that Ryan is sexy and charming—until she decides the only way to stop obsessing over her ex is to obsess over someone new. Ryan makes her forget about her ex a little too well, but falling for him could set her up for a whole new world of hurt. One man, one woman, both wounded by love. Will they be able to overcome their demons and learn to trust again? If the undeniable passion between these two doesn’t keep them together, the mouth-watering food will.

 

ANOTHER EXCERPT:

“Did you just call me … ” Her eyes became dark angry slits as her pulse raced. “A hooker?”

            “Aren’t you?”

            She had to bite her fist to keep from clocking him one. Jesus, her car was called the Pimpmobile for a reason, but not for that one.

“First of all, I am not a hooker, despite my appearance. And this happens to be my dead grandfather’s car. Second, I have never done any drugs in my life, so I am not a drug addict.

            “Okay,” Ryan said warily.

            Cara went to her trunk and unlocked it. “I happened to have run into some bad luck, is all.”

            Ryan glanced inside her trunk. “This is not the trunk of a woman on vacation.”

            She grabbed what few clothes and toiletries she had and shoved them inside her purse. “I’m not on vacation,” she said, slamming down the trunk.

            They headed back to the restaurant. “Are you on the run?”

            Cara stopped in her tracks. “Let’s see, you think I am a hooker, a drug addict, and now, a fugitive,” she said, ticking them off her fingers. “What about puppy torturer and child-slave broker?”

            Ryan cracked a smile. “I was getting to those.” He placed his hand on her back, urging her to start walking again.

            “If you think I’m such a horrible person, why didn’t you turn me in when you had the chance?”

            “I still might, unless you have a really good story for why you stiffed me.”

 

Want to win a free e-copy of The Meatball Mistress + a $20 Starbucks Gift Card? All you have to do is like my Facebook page and mention here in the Comments that you've done so. I'll randomly choose 1 winner by midnight April 9 EST! Easy peasy!

https://www.facebook.com/tiffanynyorkauthor

Hungry Heart - Love Hurts

I have two couples in Hungry Heart, both of whom work their way through to HEA by the end. I've already introduced you to Chico and Andy. Darcy and Harris, my other couple, are both professional chefs and both wary about commitment. When they finally take the plunge, it's a little scary for them both.

“So maybe I’ll hire you away from the Rose.” He rubbed his thumb across her palm, slowly, back and forth, a ribbon of heat against her skin.

Her throat tightened. “You can’t afford me,” she whispered.

“Sure I can. I’ll pay you in ’cue and loving. How can you pass that up?”

She glanced at him quickly. He was smiling, but there was something behind it. Hell, what do I do now?

She licked her lips. “’Cue and loving? Sounds like a plan.”

“I’m not kidding, Darcy,” he said slowly. “Which is rare, believe me. But this time it’s true. I’m not kidding.”

She exhaled a long, shuddering breath. “I don’t… What does that mean?”

“It means I love you, toots. What did you think it meant?” His hand closed more firmly on hers.

She took another deep breath. Suddenly her chest felt way too tight. For a scary moment she thought she might pass out. Terrific. Love means being unconscious.

“Darce?” He sounded concerned. “I didn’t mean to give you a panic attack. Just relax, okay?”

“How can I relax?” she said through gritted teeth. “You said you love me. Nobody has ever said that before. Hell, I’ve never said that before.”

He paused. “Are you saying it now?”

Oh god, oh god, oh god. “Yeah. Okay. Yes. I’m saying it now.”

There was another long pause. “It might be nice if you actually said it, you know.”

She took another deep breath, then blew it out. “I love you.”

He narrowed his eyes. “That sounds like you’re in pain.”

“I am in pain,” she muttered. “I’m scared to death.”

“Come here.” He held out his arms to her. After a moment, she pushed herself to her feet, then dropped onto the lounge chair with him, feeling his arms close tight around her shoulders.

“No reason to be scared, Darce,” he murmured. “It won’t hurt. I promise.”

It already hurts. But she didn’t say it. Instead, she sank deeper into his arms, closing her eyes tight. If this was a dream, maybe she’d wake up happy.

Kiss Me Goodnight One-Liners

Kiss Me Goodnight (Kiss Me #1) by Michele Zurlo

Blog Tour Coming Soon

Goddess Fish has put a tour together for me. Follow it to find out all sorts of tidbits and things about Kiss Me Goodnight, Lacey and Dylan...and Thomas. You can also enter for a chance to win an autographed paperback copy of KMG signed with my favorite purple pen.

In the meantime, you can pick up a digital copy of Kiss Me Goodnight at Amazon or Barnes and Noble. Here are some of my favorite quotes and lines from KMG: 

1. My name is Lacey Hallem, and it's been sixty-seven minutes since my last lie.
2. He oozed sexy badness, and whoever says they don't have a weakness for that has a serious case of the pants-on-fire syndrome.
3. I'd walked out on two men in one day. Both encounters had left me tingling, and neither was likely to result in anything. Hell of a Monday.
4. Fake emotion isn't difficult. It's the real stuff that bewilders me.
5. Lying was easy. The truth was hard.
6. I'd be lying if I said I didn't regularly check him out. I couldn't help it. When that much hotness is thrust into your face, I dare you not to look.
7. I’d finally met the perfect man, and he wasn’t in a position to make any fairy tales come true.
8. Even though I had a serious crush on Dylan, I couldn’t seem to look away from Junior’s penetrating hazel gaze. Hopefully he hadn’t come over to murder me.
9. His hand paused on my ankle, and he lifted his gaze to meet mine. I expected an apology, but all I got was a bit of a cocky smirk.
10. From that moment on, Alice was dead. I was Lacey. Always and irrevocably Lacey.
11. I tasted his lips once to banish the misery. Twice to obliterate the pity. Three times because I loved him, and I was too tired to fight it.

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Special Newsletter Update: Drawings Galore!

To celebrate Spring and the upcoming Exclusive Excerpt Tour for my latest release, Rhea Rhodan newsletter subscribers have a nice surprise in store: a slew of gift card drawings, including a special one exclusive to them. Sign up quick before you miss one! Instructions are listed at the bottom of any page on my website: http://www.rhearhodan.com/



What price will destiny demand?
Warding the Crossing has always been Cayden Sinclair’s destiny. With her beloved Gran growing weaker, it’s time the little witch took her place. Juggling substantial curves for her frame and an inconvenient inability to control her power has always been a serious challenge. But not until discovering her fated Keeper is the extremely hot, tragically clean-cut insomniac who’s ignored her for months, does she truly fear failing her legacy.

Now that he’s finally on the road to the top with an offer from a big developer, Clint MacAllen can’t allow his struggling construction company to be threatened by a vicious nightmare, or his inexplicable attraction to a goth clerk working the graveyard shift at HandiMart—no matter how potent they are.

J. Milton Developments has its own agenda for Buchanan’s Crossing, and they’ll spill blood to get it.

Available at these and at other fine etailers:

Musa Publishing: http://musapublishing.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=35_27&products_id=673

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Legacy-Buchanans-Crossing-Rhea-Rhodan-ebook/dp/B00GCILY1I/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1383273856&sr=8-2&keywords=buchanan%27s+crossing

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-legacy-of-buchanans-crossing-rhea-rhodan/1117301392?ean=2940148890492

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/legacy-buchanans-crossing/id740310254?mt=11

All Romance: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-thelegacyofbuchanan039scrossing-1343256-149.html

Something to Lose - Fireworks and Symphonies

In Something to Lose, Camden is looking for the one, and is beginning to think that her standards are just too high. She wants fireworks and symphonies.

"I always wanted to believe that that’s what happens when you meet the one, but I’ve never seen any evidence to indicate that’s actually true. I wonder sometimes if that is just another impossible goal that we women create for ourselves, something that we will never attain, and therefore we feel inadequate when we don’t reach it. Then we end up alone in a bathtub drinking wine and eating cookie dough from a tube."

Then she meets Special Agent Seth Vendetti.

"His hands move behind my neck. He pulls me to him, and before I even know what’s happening, he’s kissing me and even more surprising, I’m kissing him, too. His strong fingers move up and down my back as his lips work their magic on mine. I thought I’d been kissed before, but never have I been kissed like this. I still don’t see fireworks, instead I am the firework. Heat explodes from my lips down my throat and to the rest of my body. This isn’t the warmth of fairy tales where the prince and princess kiss their happily-ever-after. This is the battle of the dragon and I don’t know what because my brain is no longer working."

How to contact me:

Email: Tamra.Lassiter@gmail.com

Website: www.tamralassiter.com

Twitter: @TamraLassiter https://twitter.com/TamraLassiter

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tamra-Lassiter/351740168279714

A Song of the Rain

Several of the suspects in my historical murder mystery, FLOATS THE DARK SHADOW, are poets.  To celebrate French poetry, a friend and I made a few poem videos.  I think this one is particularly charming, a bittersweet little song to go with Verlaine's poem and images of the era.

A Song of the Rain

The image is The Rue de la Paix, by Edouard Leon Cortes.

Be sure to check out the giveaway I'm running here today as well.  Your choice of a soft back, Kindle gift, or the new Audible audio book download of my debut mystery.

Special Interests: Teaser 2

My favorite scene in almost any romance is the first kiss. Special Interests is no exception. Millie and Parker are all wrong for each other: he's jaded and cynical; she's optimistic and idealistic. He works for a senator; she works for organized labor. He can't commit; she's a serial monogamist. And yet...

You can read the entire thing tomorrow! In the meantime, you can preorder it at Amazon, B&N, Carina, iBooks, Kobo, All Romance, and Google Play or add it to your Goodreads shelves. Learn more about it at my blog here.

Historical Romance Excerpt ~ Charming the Duke

Amazon

www.hollybushbooks.com


Matilda and the Duke are caught!

 It all supported her notion that the glasses, brown dresses, and scruffy boots separated the chaff from the wheat. Those that deemed her worthy enough to speak to when dressed that way, and those that chose this evening to address her. The Duke had apparently noticed her gown.

Thornsby stared at her as if in a trance. She wondered what was going through his mind. “Don’t make Altry to be any more the cad than you, Thornsby. You’ve never noticed me either. Unless to insult me.”

His eye twitched. “That is untrue.”

“Far from it,” Matilda said.

“Don’t presume to know what is in my mind,” Thornsby said and grabbed Matilda’s bare shoulders.

The moment was charged with sparks, shooting through the air, connecting him to her. Matilda felt, well, she didn’t know what she felt. Fluttery and female. Angry. Aware. The touch of his fingertips drifted down her arms leaving her hands numb. Her voice came out barely above a whisper.

“What is on your mind then?” she asked.

“I’m thinking of kissing you, Miss Sheldon.”

Matilda batted her lashes. “Is it the dress?”

Thornsby touched his lips to hers. A feather’s touch. He inched back to gaze over her face. “I don’t know. But I don’t think so.”

His breath was warm on her cheeks. She’d never been this close to a man before. She could see the lines around his mouth and the bristle of his beard. He touched his lips to hers again.

“What do you imagine it is?” Matilda whispered into his mouth.

Thornsby slipped his hand around her waist and pulled her close. He tilted her head up with his finger. “I haven’t a clue,” he said. Then he kissed her. Really kissed her.

* * *

Matilda’s lips were open and guileless. Her skin was smooth and warm where he held her chin, and she draped her arms over his shoulders. Thornsby turned his head and sunk his tongue into her mouth.  She sighed and went soft in his arms. He ran his knuckles down her neck and lower still to the curve of her breast. He knew from experience this was no casual kiss. This was a lover’s kiss, a prelude to a bedding.

Thornsby released Matilda’s lips and opened his eyes. Her eyes were still closed and her cheeks rosy and her mouth in a lover’s pout. He was still breathing hard, but his blood was beginning to return to his brain.

What had he done? Why had he ignored Millicent and hurried to keep the wren from backing off a step? Couldn’t fathom why he’d asked her to dance or been so damn angry when Altry stared at her like a tasty, innocent morsel. And what on earth had possessed him to drag her into a dark room without a chaperone. Thornsby’s head flew up when the door banged open.

“Matilda!”

“Thornsby!”

TEASER FOR NIGHT MAGIC ~ PG

Release day is Wednesday, April 9. I wanted to give you a sneak peek at a PG excerpt from Night Magic.

Excerpt ~ Night Magic

“Meeting a woman like you calls for a celebration.” Jon slowly moved closer and kissed her gently on the lips, grazing her arm with his fingertips. She didn’t fight it. It felt natural and she welcomed his affection. Maybe it was the atmosphere, or his romantic gesture, whatever the reason, she was going for it. In the back of her head she wondered why he’d left so abruptly the night before. What had caused him to have a change in heart in the middle of the day? She had doubts of his feelings after he’d ended the night early, and found his complete change in demeanor suspicious. There wasn’t room in her life for games. Nevertheless, she’d give him the benefit of the doubt after going to the trouble of arranging a fabulous afternoon luncheon. A man who took the time for details couldn’t be all bad.

He turned on the stereo to a station that played classical piano music. “If it weren’t so warm, I’d light the stove. Maybe in the fall we’ll come here again.” Mention of the future made her nervous. She shook it off, knowing he meant no harm. He lit two white pillar candles and placed them on the table in front of the wood burning stove. In minutes, he’d arranged the food and added the wine glasses. After he poured the wine, he handed her a glass.

“Thank you. Everything looks delicious.”

“To a fresh start,” he said.

  Pre-order Night Magic here.

My Links

Blog http://kathleensplacetoreflect.blogspot.com/?zx=a7245435c3267ac9

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/kathleen.a.gallagher

Website http://www.kathleenanngallagher.net/

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The Mind's Eye - Giveaway and Guest Post: Writing About Imperfect People

THE MIND'S EYE by K.C. Finn

Release Date: April 1, 2014

Genre: Young Adult (Paranormal, Historical, Adventure and Romance)

Publisher: Clean Teen Publishing

A girl with a telepathic gift finds a boy clinging to his last hope during the war-torn climate of Europe, 1940.

At fifteen, Kit Cavendish is one the oldest evacuees to escape London at the start of the Second World War due to a long term illness that sees her stuck in a wheelchair most of the time. But Kit has an extraordinary psychic power: she can put herself into the minds of others, see through their eyes, feel their emotions, even talk to them – though she dares not speak out for fear of her secret ability being exposed.

As Kit settles into her new life in the North Wales village of Bryn Eira Bach, solitude and curiosity encourage her to gain better control of her gift. Until one day her search for information on the developing war leads her to the mind of Henri, a seventeen-year-old Norwegian boy witnessing the German occupation of his beloved city, Oslo. As Henri discovers more about the English girl occupying his mind, the psychic and emotional bonds between them strengthen and Kit guides him through an oppressive and dangerous time. 

There are secrets to be uncovered, both at home and abroad, and it’s up to Kit and Henri to come together and fight their own battles in the depths of the world’s greatest war.

Writing About Imperfect People:

The Inspiration Behind The Mind's Eye:

If there was ever an embodiment of the idea of the ‘troubled teen’, then it was me, but probably not in the way you’d think. 

I wasn’t, for example, a smoker or a boozer; I didn’t stay out late or smuggle anything (or anyone) untoward into my room at home. In fact, I stayed in. A lot. I would come home from high school aged 15 and find myself crawling straight into my bed at four o’clock, out cold until gone six and still in my uniform with Mum calling me down for dinner. My entire life was a pattern of eat, sleep, school, sleep, eat and so on; not a scrap of energy or enthusiasm for life, waiting desperately for the time when I could throw off the shackles of the 9-to-4 school day and finally use what little pep I had to do something better with my life. A myriad of doctors and therapists told me that I was depressed and filled me up with drugs, packing me back off to school like that was the answer to my problems.

It took me a further four years to work out what was really going on.

At age 13 I developed what I now know to be called Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (M.E.), a debilitating physical condition that attacks every major system in your body from the nervous and digestive systems to the musculoskeletal, hormonal and beyond. Between the ages of 13 and 16 (what some would call the best years of your life) I went from being a spritely, bright child to a surly, aching, exhausted teen who saw every morning as just one more day of pain coming her way. I dropped out of school and spent eighteen months trying to recover from what I was still being told was depression and anxiety, but no matter what I tried I just couldn’t get better. I knew that there had to be another explanation; I just had to find a way to prove it.

For my 18th birthday I was taken away for a week’s holiday. I deliberately didn’t pack my anti-depressants, suffering a week of cold-turkey withdrawal in order to flush them out of my system once and for all. This is not a practice recommended by doctors and I don’t advocate it, but it was the only thing I felt able to do at the time. Coming home from that holiday I had a fresh perspective on my physical health, realising that I was never mentally depressed, but that my body was the one letting me down. I had an illness and it took me another whole year before I met a doctor who could put the label M.E. to my symptoms.

Armed with this knowledge I returned to college and then went on to university, all the while making my way through different doctors and different treatments until I could find one who would push to get the diagnosis I so desperately needed. I was 22 years old when the letter finally came to tell me what I had been suffering from for the last nine years. It was a relief, but also a sadness, the final confirmation that I am living with a condition that has no known cure and will be likely to affect me for the rest of my life. At the point when I received that letter in November 2011, I felt as though the life I had been wading through suddenly needed a new purpose and a proper direction, something I would still be able to achieve if and when my condition worsened. 

So I started to write.

I have written several self-published books in the last twelve months and it has been pointed out to me repeatedly that each one of them contains characters that are physically limited, pained and/or mentally scarred in some way. This is no co-incidence, but it is something that was creeping into my work without a definite conscious knowledge; I think I simply found it more engaging personally to write about imperfect people. That was until I sat down to write my first novel for Clean Teen Publishing, entitled The Mind’s Eye. In this book my central character suffers from Juvenile Systemic Arthritis, a severe and debilitating condition that presents many of the same musculoskeletal symptoms that I face every day. Whilst I am not always bound to a wheelchair, the immobility that my character Kit faces isn’t just about her legs not working. The Mind’s Eye is an exciting wartime adventure with paranormal fun, but at its heart it is also a story about a girl just like me, struggling to work out how to find a place in the world where she can feel valued and still be useful to the people she cares about.

Scenes within The Mind’s Eye are a mixture of Kit’s psychic visions of the Second World War interspersed with her own struggles in her home life. I have a feeling that some people might consider those latter scenes to be the ‘boring bits’, the ‘filler’ that has to happen between the tense, exciting action moments. To me, however, I could take or leave the incredible and heart breaking scenes of war, because the real struggle that touches my heart is that of a lonely young girl quite literally trying to stand on her own two feet in a world where all the odds are stacked against her. When you read The Mind’s Eye, spare a thought for Kit and the life she has to lead every day, because her fictional creation represents countless other people out there who face physical and emotional struggles that ordinary folk can barely comprehend. 

The real story of The Mind’s Eye isn’t that of the glorious Allies beating back Jerry, but of Kit Cavendish beating back the sentence that life has handed her with the newfound love and support of the people around her. It is a story that is very important to me and I sincerely hope it will find a place in your hearts too. 

GIVEAWAY:

One randomly-selected commenter to this post will win a ecopy of The Mind's Eye in the format of their choice! Simply interact with K.C. Finn: ask a question, tell her what you think of the book or her personal journey, anything! :)
Deadline to enter: Midnight EST, April 10th 2014

Something to Lose - Importance of Family

My family is very important to me. My family is large, Polish, and wonderful (most of the time). My grandfather passed away when my mother was a child, leaving my grandmother to raise six children on her own. Six! She worked two jobs for many years to make ends meet. She was such an amazing woman. Family was everything to her, and I think it rubbed off on the rest of us.

Family is important to my heroine Camden, as well. In this excerpt, her family knows that she is upset, and trying to figure out why:

I steady myself against her gaze, which is not the curious gaze of Dad. Mom has a penetrating stare that somehow makes you spill whatever beans you’re trying to keep to yourself. She would be great in an interrogation room. Years of working to stay out of trouble under the continuing assault of her stare has turned me into an amazing liar. I don’t know where it comes from, but I can rattle off stories like you wouldn’t believe. I give details and don’t just try to gloss over the important part of the story. I am somehow able to spin these sometimes crazy untruths, and they work on everyone except my mother. I’m not that good, at least not yet. With Mom, however, I learned a long time ago that if I don’t want her to know the entire story then it’s better for me to spill the parts that I’m willing to divulge as quickly as possible. That kind of throws her a little as she thinks that you’ve told her the part that you’re trying to keep hidden, and then she stops looking for more.

I guess I sound like a horrible person, someone who lies all the time. I don’t. I don’t want to sound like a hypocrite, but I don’t condone lying unless it is absolutely necessary. I save my lying talent for when it’s really called for, like when I want to avoid talking to my mother about how I found my boyfriend kissing another woman last night. I get to have some kind of pass for lying about that, right? It’s not like anyone is going to get hurt. It will actually save me from being hurt by not having to relive the humiliation.

“Billy and I broke up last night.”

Mom’s penetrating eyes immediately soften. Her forehead crinkles causing the sides of her mouth to tip downward. “Oh honey. You really liked him.” Like I need the reminder, but I know she’s sincere. “Let’s go in the back. Tell me what happened.”

“I’m not ready to talk about it yet. I just need some time to digest everything first. Suffice it to say that we are very over.” Mom gives me a big hug, and I have to admit that it does feel good. We’re big huggers, too. Polish families have a lot of love.

“You will be over him in no time.” I wouldn’t have thought that to be possible, but based on how quickly I was kissing another man and really enjoying it, maybe it’s true. That was a complete disaster though. I take a deep breath to will my tears to stay inside. I will have plenty of time to cry later, after I get through my day.

She releases me and studies me again. This time with her regular Mom eyes, not the gestapo eyes. I appreciate that she’s not giving me her you’re almost thirty and not married so maybe you need to stop being so picky eyes. I’ve been seeing those a lot lately. Mom has green eyes too but a little lighter than mine. I take after her a lot actually. Her auburn hair is now grey, and she keeps it cut much shorter than I do. When we were kids, it was very noticeable that I looked a lot like Mom, and my brothers were miniatures of Dad. We were always quite the cute family.

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