The New Kids on the Block!
First, a very warm welcome to my newest newsletter subscribers! We’re so happy to have you aboard. Amanda Bolen, Tonya Vining, Marty Saylor, Nancy Levine, Sarah Knapp, Wileen VandenOever, (a friend since childhood); Jessy Shields-Delaney, Sarah Fickling, Mary Long, and a childhood friend from many decades ago, Beth Noncent. If I omitted anyone, let me know if you receive this email and your name isn’t listed.
Letters from the Past
My sister, Joy, is cleaning out my foster parents’ home, getting ready to sell it. Imagine her surprise when she found a stack of letters I had written over the course of many years. They included letters from when I attended college five decades ago through the time I was navigating the life of a corporate wife, raising our two kids, along with my husband, Jim.
Joy sent the letters to me, and pouring through them is like interacting with a younger version of myself which, surprising, isn’t all that different from the person I am today. Here is the thing that surprised me the most: I have always told people that I was a ‘buddy’ to lots of guys in college. I complained that I rarely dated a guy for long because I always seemed to end up being his pal. I lamented that those fellows always chose another girl.
Imagine my shock when I read pages and pages of letters to my foster parent, complaining about guys wanting to get serious with me too soon. There was one guy who, on our very first date, told me how many kids he wanted. As I recall, it was three. As I continued pouring over these letters, I realized that, in most cases, I was the one who fretted about getting married too soon. I had too many things I wanted to do before getting saddled down with a husband and children.
The one thing that was not a surprise was how much I loved music—way back then! And most of all, I loved singing second soprano in a women’s trio out there in Nampa, Idaho. I was very complimentary about the other singers, and I liked to see that about myself. There are many singers who never sing the praises (pun intended) of the other people in a singing group, and that’s a missed opportunity. I think women should always lift each other up. My cozy mystery series allows me the opportunity to make that very point.
BOOK RELEASE on Valentine’s Day!
If you enjoyed Faded Dreams, my Alaskan based romance with Laney and Seth, you will love this sequel, which features Laney’s older sister, Bethany and Seth’s older, doctor brother, Logan Adams. This book is one hundred pages longer than Faded Dreams and has lots of angst in it, for you that enjoy family sagas.
I’m enormously proud of this because it shares with readers Bethany’s battle with cancer and how difficult a marital separation is during this trying time. You’ll see an honest look into blended families as Bethany’s children adjusts to her divorce and relationship with another man. The hero has problems of his own, struggling with the enormous stress of Covid. I think that of all the books I’ve written, this is probably the most honest and realistic regarding the complications of a blended family. I hope some of you consider this for one of your book club selections. I hope you’ll head over to Amazon on February 14th and order it. When people order on the same day, it really boosts my rating on Amazon.
At the end of this newsletter, you can read the very short prologue to this book.
I’ll be publishing another cozy mystery in the fall and am so looking forward to getting back to this genre. I already know that I’ll name it: Arson in the Alto Section. I guess you pretty much get the gist of what the book will be about!
Newsletter Engagement
As I grow my newsletter subscriber list, I plan to reward you, my readers, for recruiting new subscribers by word of mouth. If you know someone who might enjoy receiving my newsletter, consider asking them to contact me via email, (gaykiser@msn.com) and I’ll add them to my list. I never subscribe anyone without their permission. If they mention that you referred them, I’ll enter your name in a drawing and the winner will receive a print book. The more times your name is entered, the more chances you have at winning one my books. If you live outside the US, I will send you an ebook.
Downtown McKinney Event on April 5th
An enormous thank you to my friend, Sheila Williamson, for inviting me to an event at Gather where I’ll be selling books with fellow authors. I’ll be sharing more details in my March & April newsletters.
My Former Life . . . More to Come Next Month!
You won’t want to miss next month’s newsletter when I share tidbits about a male friend from my days in high school and college. Yes, this has been quite a month strolling down memory lane, hasn’t it.
All my best to you and don’t forget to share my newsletters with your friends!
Blessings & Peace,
Gay Ann
Prologue
Bethany Harrington smiled, shaking her head as she watched her sister, Laney, dart about the river front, introducing her fiancé, Seth Adams to the wedding rehearsal guests. The young bride-to-be appeared deliriously happy, and given it was the day before her marriage to Seth, she had every right to be this wound up, in the best possible way.
Although Bethany’s idea of a proper wedding wasn’t getting hitched beside a body of water in the tiny town of Hoonah, Alaska, on some level, she admired Laney for creating a wedding that took into account Seth’s vision of what a perfect wedding should look like. He seemed opposed to a typical wedding which tended to include a plethora of guests the couple wasn’t really on board with. Seth and Laney’s wedding would be more intimate; one including good friends and family members the couple actually liked. A bit cynical, in Bethany’s opinion. Of course, no one asked her, so she avoided injecting herself into the situation.
Bethany never thought this day would happen, based on her mother’s disdain for the laidback schoolteacher Laney was getting married to. To Seth’s credit, he was an incredibly likeable guy; one who had charmed their dad over several rounds of golf. Their mom, Emma, was a tougher sell.
But as gregarious and fun-loving as Seth was, his older brother, Logan Adams, was Seth’s direct opposite. According to Laney, Logan had a reputation as an upstanding, highly respected Connecticut doctor, but from what Bethany had seen, the guy appeared too serious for his own good. The two had been introduced twenty-four hours ago, and during all that time, she and Logan had barely spoken, which, given the two were members of the wedding party, proved awkward.
Logan Adams had a way of staring at you, his dark eyes blazing, as though what you said made little sense. Not that it mattered. Bethany wouldn’t be hanging around Hoonah for long. Her two kids were already bored to death.
Staring out into the water which surrounded the tiny island of Hoonah, Bethany admired her sister’s devotion to the residents of the island, mainly the Tlingit community, a Native American tribe that dominated the island. Laney had fallen in love with the people here when she’d begun her career as a visiting nurse. In Laney’s case, at the age of twenty-six, she’d embraced the citizens of the island, and never looked back. To trade in the lavish lifestyle Laney had in their Dallas suburb was, at the very least, impressive, in a crazy sort of way.
As Bethany watched her two children, Brandon and Becca, engage with the groom-to-be, her heart swelled with love. They appeared to adore their soon-to-be Uncle Seth, something she was grateful for. Their dad, Elliott, had opted not to attend the wedding. Not a big surprise, really.
Reaching down, Bethany hiked up the capris she wore, aware they were now at least one size too large. She hoped her mother wouldn’t notice the ten pounds she’d lost in three weeks’ time.
The minister’s voice was boisterous as he barked out orders. “Okay, people, let’s get this show on the road.”
Bethany stood quietly, watching the nostalgic expression on her sister’s face as Laney prepared for the rehearsal. Daddy stood beside Laney, his eyes welling up with tears. Although she’d never given it much consideration, Bethany wondered if her husband, Elliott, would cry when he walked their daughter down the aisle. Probably not.
Racing over to where her sister stood, Bethany prepared to walk up the aisle where the groomsmen stood at the front, along the shoreline. The only person who wasn’t smiling was Seth’s older brother, Logan.
As Bethany looked over at her kid sister, her heart swelled with love. Despite the fact Laney was ten years younger than Bethany, the two had always been close. Smiling, Bethany recalled the many times her kid sister had sneaked into her bedroom and stolen her makeup. In her wildest dreams, Bethany would have never done something as crazy as that, but, of course, Laney was the bolder of the two sisters. It was just a given. Laney was the plucky, adorable McLaughlin girl, while Bethany was the sensible, down-to-earth predictable one. Translation: boring.
Bethany continued watching Laney beam, gazing adoringly at her husband-to-be with what could be described as ‘the look of love’ singers sometimes sang about. She couldn’t recall the last time Elliott had looked at her that way.
By the time Bethany made her way to the front where the male members of the wedding party stood, she felt the emotions bubbling up inside her about to explode. Her kid sister, the one who always emulated everything Bethany did, was carving out a new life for herself. One which would not include Bethany, given how far away they now lived from one another.
Her knees began locking, and Bethany moved her feet about, wiggling her legs a bit, the heat of the afternoon June sun bearing down on her.
“Do you, Seth, take Laney to be your lawfully wedding wife. Do you promise to . . .”
The words now jumbled together as Bethany felt her face heat. The ringing in her ears grew louder, and when the words of the minister became muffled and all ran together, she felt her legs give way. When she heard several members of the wedding party gasp, she succumbed to the heavy pressure on her shoulders and felt the ground coming toward her.
A pair of strong arms broke her fall.
***
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