I was just offered a contract by Wings e-Press, Inc. to publish my first novel Coincidence. Publication date is set for November 2010. It will be released as an e-book and in trade paperback. Here is a sneakpeak:
Lifford, Ireland—1918
Wiping the tears from her face, Eileen gently placed the letter she had hastily written beside the paraffin lamp on the narrow table that hugged the wall of her family home’s foyer. She looked around recalling all the happy memories she had shared with her family here.
It was dark now—the only light flickered from the small lamp. The tiny blue flowers on the wallpaper danced happily in the light. As ridiculous at it sounded, Eileen felt a sudden, slight urge of jealousy rush over her—jealous that these blue flowers were dancing in such a free-spirited, care-free manner while she seemed to be carrying the burden of the world on her shoulders. She wondered if she would ever dance again. Or, if she would ever be care-free again.
The sun would be coming up over the small Irish town she had lived in all her eighteen years in just about an hour and her parents would be reading the goodbye letter she had just written to them; although Eileen wasn’t sure how upset they would be about what she had written. She thought they would actually be relieved to know that she was gone, that she would no longer be around to cause them any more pain and embarrassment.
Eileen took a last look around her home. She gazed into the sitting room at the old oak fireplace that she and her parents had sat in front of every evening after dinner. She peered into the corner of the sitting room where her father had put up the Christmas tree every year. Overwhelmed with sadness, knowing she would never again enjoy the warmth of the fire with her parents or laugh with them on Christmas morning by the tree, Eileen burst into tears so loudly she was sure she had woken everyone up.
After waiting a few minutes to make sure her parents were still asleep, Eileen pulled herself together and took a final look around. Everything looked ghostly in the flickering light of the lamp, which seemed appropriate—she would soon be just a ghost in this house.
She couldn’t believe she was leaving, that this would likely be the last time she would see her home and her family again, but there was no other choice now—not only did the town think badly of her, so did her parents. She shuddered to think of the pain she had brought upon her family—so much pain that they had in fact basically disowned her. Her heart broke and tears welled up in her eyes again.
She never thought her family would shun her—they had always been so close. As much as she was hurt however, she was just as angry—angry with her parents for turning their backs on her. She was their daughter after all. She couldn’t imagine ever turning her back on her own child.
She picked up her suitcase and slowly opened the old, creaky front door.
“Goodbye,” she said quietly to the house and her sleeping parents, as she stepped out into the cool, damp night. As she shut the door, even though she knew it was only the wind, she thought she heard the house whisper goodbye back to her.
James Montgomery was waiting on the gravel road in front of her house, still dressed in the only clothes he had—his dirty, worn soldier’s uniform. His wavy brown hair, gently tousled from the wind, looked oddly pristine against the dinginess of his uniform, which was stained from months of fighting in the war. As filthy as his uniform was however, James was still the most handsome and caring man Eileen had ever met. They had met just months before, and her heart fluttered every time she saw him. She imagined it always would.
“Come on, its going to be light soon, we need to go,” he said taking her bag from her hand. He leaned in to kiss her tear-stained cheeks. His strong, face was filled with worry as he looked at Eileen’s beautiful, sad face.
“Are you sure you want to come with me?” he asked, wiping the tears from her innocent face and pushing her long, blond hair behind her ears. Her big green eyes were not able to disguise the pain her face was so bravely trying to do. He would die if she didn’t come with him, but he hated to see her in so much pain. He just wanted to take it all away. If he could fix everything, he would. He would do anything for her.
“Aye, I’m sure. We couldn’t make a life fir ourselves here. No one wants us here anyway,” Eileen said, choking back the knot that had been in her throat for what seemed like weeks now.
The early morning fog was so thick she could actually feel it going in her body with each breath she took. Between the now constant lump in her throat from weeks of fighting back tears and the fog she was now inhaling, she felt as if she may suffocate all together. Then, James leaned down to kiss her and she suddenly felt as if she could breathe again. He had a way of bringing her back to life.
She was torn between leaving her home, her family, her country and letting the love of her life, James, slip away. However, with the circumstances now, there was no other choice but to go with James. He was everything to her and she knew that he would make everything okay. They were going to his home—to America to start a new life together.
James would be her family now.
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