Playlist for your Coincidence experience

To get you in the spirit of the book, I've compiled a playlist for Coincidence.  Listen to some of these songs before, during or after reading the book.  Just for a little fun!

P.S. I claim no rights or ownership to these songs and am only suggesting them to complement the experience of reading the book.

If I Ever Leave This World Alive by Flogging Molly

Sweet Disposition by The Temper Trap

Get Low by Lil Jon and The East Side Boyz featuring The Ying Yang Twins

In Da Club by 50 Cent

One Love by Bob Marley

Waiting in Vain by Bob Marley

Dog Days are Over by Florence +The Machine

Mr. Rock 'n Roll by Amy MacDonald

Crazy World by Aslan

Be Mine by David Gray

Use Somebody by Kings of Leon

Meet some of the furry inspiration behind Coincidence

Yes, the book is fiction, but the two cats, Max and Jax, in the book are inspired by my own two fuzzy felines, Charlie and Fox Jeffrey.  Names were changed to protect the pawties involved :)

Charlie is a ten year old, multi-colored male tabby and is simply the best cat that has or ever will walk this earth. Period. 'Nuff said!

Fox Jeffrey is a five year old yellow male tabby and is the loopiest cat I've ever known.  His favorite toy is a stick and he loves to watch invisible fairies dance on the walls. 

A look inside Coincidence

I walked over to the bed and sat down and opened one of the nightstand’s drawers. It was empty except for one photograph, folded in two, right down the middle. I opened it up and saw it was a photograph of Sean and Kevin, both smiling ear to ear and they looked so happy. What happened to this family? I wondered what exactly had caused the rift. Based on the O'Conners’ argument this morning, it was evident that it was something bad. I just didn’t know what.

I gathered that I was sitting on Patricia’s side of the bed. Judging from what I heard Martin say this morning about Sean, I couldn’t imagine him having this photo in the nightstand. I looked at it, gently running my finger down the photo over Sean’s face. There it was—the face that had been in my every thought and dream since I had first laid eyes on it nearly three weeks ago.

I shoved the photo in my pocket and began making my way out of their private living space. Just as I walked out of their bedroom into their sitting room, I heard the front door open.

“Hurry up, Martin. I can’t believe ye left yer hat. Ye never go anywhere without that stupid hat!” Patricia called from the front door. Martin’s quick footsteps approached their room. I froze in fear and looked around for a place to hide.

As he got closer, I ducked into the bedroom just as he entered their sitting room.

“I’m jist gonna check on Samantha again to make sure she’s alright,” Patricia yelled.

Martin turned back towards the door. “Leave that poor gerl alone. Yer pesterin’ her ti death, Pat! Let her git some rest! Come here and help me find me hat, please.”

Grateful that their bedroom was on the first floor, I shoved open the bedroom window. Just as Martin finished yelling at Patricia, I fell to the ground below. “Ouch,” I whispered as I landed on a bed of shrubbery. I just barely made it away before seeing the light switch on from their bedroom. The prickly shrubs scratched my exposed skin; however, I didn’t dare move. I didn’t want Martin to hear or see me lying outside of their bedroom window. There would be no good way to explain this. As the pain of my new scratches from the shrubs added to the pain of my bruises from my fall from the attic, I wondered how much worse this trip could get.

Coincidence makes the paper!

As appearing in Monday's Herald Dispatch:

Local authors release novels

October 25, 2010 @ 12:15 AM
2010/The Herald-Dispatch
Herald-Dispatch.com


HUNTINGTON — A pair of area authors have completed their respective first novels.

J.B. Reed’s first novel was recently released while Lesley Hager’s is set to be released in November.

Proctorville, Ohio, author J.B. Reed’s debut novel “Deadly Shamrocks” is now available through PublishAmerica.

The story revolves around Vivian Clancy, a beautiful girl born to Irish immigrant parents. Vivian learned at an early age that you did not mix with those not of your own kind. Bigotry was deep rooted in those days. She also learned that even those of your own kind would hurt you if given the right opportunity. One day while working at Flannery’s Pub, Vivian met a handsome Irish stranger. He was kind and generous and very charming. Little did she know just how much this man would change her life…forever.

Reed tried her hand at writing when her daughter was young, but with the demands of a full time job, writing had to be placed on the back burner. Although still working full time, she finds that writing is her first love.

Reed will be promoting her book with an upcoming book signing at the Briggs Lawrence Library’s Proctorville Branch in November. She will also be at Taylor Books in Charleston on St. Patrick’s Day, 2011.

For more information, visit her website at www.authorjbreed.yolasite.com.

Hager, a Hurricane resident, will have her debut novel “Coincidence” released in November.

So, what’s the craic? Have no idea what that means? Neither did Samantha “Sam” Montgomery the first time she was asked that question. Little did she know on that hot, humid summer night, that it would be the question that would change her life forever.

“Coincidence,” reveals exactly what that question means as the main character, Sam, embarks on a mission that takes her to Ireland in search of love and answers to her family’s puzzling past.

“Coincidence is about experiencing the possibility of everlasting love and taking risks to make that love come true,” said best-selling author Suzanne M. Hurley of Hager’s novel, in a news release. “It is about being so taken with someone that you will search the world to find him. It is about two souls coming together as one, forever.”

Hager, who earned degrees in marketing and criminal justice at Marshall University, works for the Charleston Area Alliance and teaches Zumba fitness classes. She is already working on her second novel.

The book is available through Wings ePress, Inc., out of Richmond, Ky. For more information, visit www.wings-press.com.

Into the Wild: Our Alaskan Honeymoon

No wonder this area of the world influenced the great American author, Jack London. We took a seven day cruise to Alaska and British Columbia for our honeymoon in September. To say that it was beautiful, would be doing an injustice. You just have to see it for yourself and once you do, you may not believe you are still on planet Earth. Perhaps Jack London himself says it best:

"It filled him with a great unrest and strange desires. It caused him to feel a vague, sweet gladness, and he was aware of wild yearnings and stirrings for he knew not what."

- Jack London, The Call of the Wild, Ch. 7

 

Here are some photos from our trip:

 

Our amazing wedding!

 My brother, Joseph and me.

 Barry and I entering the reception.

 Barry and I saying our vows.

 All of the wedding party.

 Mom, Fred and me.

 My bridesmaids, Joanne and Aisling; My maid of honor, Kimberly; and my junior bridesmaid, Carrie.

Me and Dad

I couldn't resist!  I just had to post some pictures of our 1920's themed September 18, 2010 wedding at the West Virginia State Capitol.  We had the best time and I can't believe how smoothly everything went (being organized, even if that means a 7 page itinerary pays off!)!

Here's the video we made to suprise our guests.  A silent movie to fit the 1920s theme!

Cover for Coincidence is complete!

A big thank you to Alexander Devenport for creating this fabulous cover!  I couldn't be more pleased!

Coincidence will be released in November, 2010. Published by Wings ePress.