One Year Anniversary....And I Think My Book Is Cursed....

Yes, this month marks the one year anniversary of my Arbor U series being officially published:)  There have been some bumps along the way, plus I think the book has a slight curse on it.  But don't be alarmed; it only seems to affect my family and those close to me who read it!

A little back story:  Back when I was having no luck getting a NY publisher to even glance at it, even with the help of a (what I know now fraudulent) agent, I went the self-pub route in 2002.  And was thrilled to finally see my work in print.  The cover wasn't the greatest....and there was a tiny problem with a miscommunication between the editing board and myself....but hey, the book was in PRINT, and yes, people were reading it and liking it.

Fast-forward to July 2003.  I discover, to my horror, I'm pregnant again.  On my daughter's 9th birthday.

Promoting it was put on 'hold', due to financial and weight-lifting constraints, but I did keep writing.  After all, I figured by the time the kid learned to walk, I wouldn't be able to do as much.  And boy was I right!

Fast-forward to last year.  I'd subbed book #3 to Secret Cravings, and they graciously decided to re-release the first two books.  Love On The Rocks was scheduled for release Oct 24th, 2011.  But that very week, my seventeen y/o daughter came up pregnant.  And of course, while working through the emotion, my sense of humor kicked in when I put the timing together:

"It's that damn book!"

And now, a year after my daughter's best friend read the updated version, yup...you guessed it....she revealed to me the other day she's going to be a mommy next June.

I'm beginning to re-think my original 'order' of this series and write my adoption story line instead of the interracial one.  Lynne and Nick haven't spoken to me in over four years, but maybe Kathy will?  I've certainly witnessed enough teenage angst in the last year between all of the teens who have sought refuge at my house and asked my advice concerning boyfriends.

Since it's October, and there are no Halloween scenes until book #5, which releases next February (and not cover art yet), here's a deleted scene from book #3:  In this, Keri has just begun going out with Kyle, and knows about his separation from his wife.  But what she didn't count on was the wife showing up at the party, sparking their first misunderstanding.  Enjoy:)


Forbidden Love:  
Meet Keri Patterson, a sophomore at Arbor University, pursuing an Auto Technology career in the middle 1980s.  The college is located in the fictional town of Arbordale, Indiana, and Keri’s dream is to one day be a part of an Indy car racing team.  Along the way, she meets and falls for an older man, Kyle Sampson, who happens to be going through a divorce.  With the innocence of her first love, Keri tries to balance her ambition to be the first female member of a racing pit crew and her awakening femininity.  Will Keri and Kyle’s romance survive the hairpin twists and turns, or is disaster looming?

Kyle is not without problems of his own.  He wasn’t expecting to meet the girl of his dreams so quickly, before the ink is even dry on the divorce petition.  Trying to keep the two facets of his life separate, he discovers there is a fine line between love and hate, as well as deception and protection.  But life doesn’t always get wrapped up in neat packages.  Sometimes it blows up in your face.

Buy Link:
http://store.sweetcravingspublishing.com/index.php?main_page=book_info&cPath=31&products_id=4

Deleted Scene (unedited; sorry!):

Sid grabbed her arm and pulled her off the dance floor.

            "Just a minute," he told Tony.

            "What are you doing?" Keri demanded.

            "I've got to tell you," Sid said.  "Kyle and Lisa just arrived."

            "Lisa's here?" she squeaked.  "Why?"

                "Don't ask me," he answered.  "I just thought you should hear it from me instead of seeing her first.  There they are," he pointed.

            Coming around the partition was Keri’s boyfriend, dressed in karate clothes, and an attractive blonde woman in surgical scrubs.  Kyle whispered something in the other woman’s ear.  She laughed, then patted him on the back as Kyle made his way through the crowd.

            Keri was devastated.  She wasn't sure of what to do, so she stood her ground when he came closer.

            "Keri!  Thank God...Here you are," he smiled and touched her arm.

            "Hi Kyle," she answered stiffly.  "I thought we had a date tonight."

            "I'm sorry...Lisa got word of the party and arranged to have the night off.  I didn't find out until it was too late to call you."  He looked around to make sure she wasn't around.

            "She's pretty," Keri commented.

            "So are you."  He bent down to kiss her, but she pulled away.  "I'm going home."

            Keri retrieved her toolbox and went upstairs to the bathroom, letting the tears fall for a few minutes before composing herself and locating her coat.  She felt humiliated, hurt, and extremely angry.  She wanted desperately to take apart a car.

                "Kurt!" Keri called.  "Tell Steph I've gone home, will you?  Headache..." She continued through the house.  Dracula caught up with her and offered to walk her back.

            "No, I need to be alone," she answered hotly.  "My date's wife showed up, and I need to break something."

            "Whoa!"  He swung around to face me on the sidewalk.  "Your boyfriend's married?"

            Keri closed her eyes.  "Not exactly.  They're in the process of getting a divorce.  I'm not sure why she's here, and I don't want to talk about it!"

            Tony shrugged and continued walking with her.  Keri took off her cap and pulled the rubber band out of her hair, shaking her head from side to side.  "You really don't have to do this," she sighed.

            "Keri...you could get raped.  I veel protect you!" He did his best Dracula imitation and swept his black cape and right arm around her.

            When they arrived at the brightly lit Emery Hall, he released her.  Keri started up the stairs, then stopped.

            "You want to come sit in the lobby for a few minutes?" she asked.  "I'll go do a quick change and-"

            "Tell you what," he interrupted.  "I'll go put on some sweats and meet you out front in fifteen minutes, and we'll go for a walk or something."

            "Okay," she agreed, and went to her room.  She stripped off her costume and scrubbed her face clean.  The phone rang as she was pulling on her favorite pink and gray track suit.  Keri started to ignore it, then stopped.  It might be Gretchen or Stephanie.  Unfortunately, it was Kyle.

            "I have nothing to say to you right now," she choked, and slammed the receiver down.  She pushed her feet into her canvas tennis shoes, grabbed her sweatshirt and keys, and left the room as the phone rang again.