Saturday, August 30, 2014

The Suckiest Month of the Year So Far

Was what August, 2014, was for me (and many people I know).

I don’t mean to whine, but I had to have a dog put down, my cousin’s daughter committed suicide, two dear, dear friends are battling cancer, and my plumbing stopped up twice on two consecutive weekends. Okay, so that last one isn’t as bad as suicide or cancer; it was a pain in the patoot and extremely expensive. And Robin Williams killed himself. What’s up with that???

Very well, so life is life, and you never know when it will hit you upside the head with a brick, but this August seemed particularly cruel to many of the people I know and love. I don’t like it.

About the only good thing to happen all month was the release in audio format of A PERFECT STRANGER, the first book in my post-Titanic historical romance series. A PERFECT STRANGER tells the story of Isabel Golightly, a young single mother from Yorkshire (actually she came from Upper Poppleton); her six-year-old genius daughter, Eunice; and the hero of the piece, horticulturist Somerset Fitzroy. Ha! And you didn’t think horticulturists were hero material. Well, he is. The book takes place in San Francisco, California, in 1912 (cuz that’s when Titanic sank). The narrator, Lisa Baarns, did a lovely job reading the book, and Melissa Alvarez created a fabulous cover for the audiobook. The couple on the cover are Isabel and her dance partner at the Fairfield Hotel, Jorje Luis Savedra. Jorje is definitely not hero material. But he sure can dance.



I’m holding a contest for audio copies of A PERFECT STRANGER (originally published under my pseudonym Anne Robins, in case you missed it in print form). I’ll get in touch with the folks who won paperback copies of DARK SPIRITS as soon as I can.

Here’s hoping September will be better to all of us. Oy. I just remembered that September 11, a date that will live in infamy thanks to Osama bin Ladin, is also the second anniversary of my lumbar surgery. Gah. Maybe September will suck, too. I sure hope not.

Please visit my web site (www.aliceduncan.net) and my Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/alice.duncan.925) Thanks!