Thank you,
Kristen, for hosting me on Seeing Night Book Reviews today. I really appreciate
the opportunity to talk about The Kure, and to let your readers know
about my “Resolve To Read” promotion going on right now through Amazon.
A few
weeks ago, I was being introduced to some new folks who had just moved into our
neighborhood. As the conversation came around to what we did for a living, I
mentioned my writing and my new book, The Kure. The woman expressed an
interest and asked me to sum up the story line in a single sentence. It came to
me out of the blue: “Oh, the things we do for love.”
I started
to add an explanation about the paranormal influence, but she stopped me with a
wagging finger. “No, no. Remember,” she said, “only a single sentence.” She
walked away with a big grin, leaving me wondering if I’d sold a book or not.
But the
more I thought about it, I decided the description was probably the most
accurate I’d ever come up with. Because it was all there—trying to find
reasonable solutions to impossible situations, risking life and limb to save
someone you care about, and protecting the pure and innocent with the best of
intentions. And with a few surprises thrown in for good measure.
For
example, John Tyler, our hunky, good looking protagonist, learns that misery is
best shared with a large dose of honesty when his new love interest, Sarah
Sheridan, demands that he reveal the physical condition he has kept hidden from
her. Talk about a reality check . . .
In the
following excerpt, the main characters, John and Sarah, are on their way to the
village doctor to begin John’s treatment—a brutal and potentially damaging
leeching. Sarah has agreed to accompany John, even though she is convinced they
should use a healing spell she discovered in an ancient and demonic manuscript
called the Kure—a remedy that John has forbidden her to use.
Excerpt:
Trying to
stay upright on the seat had become a punishing ordeal. John grimaced as he
straightened his right leg, hoping a new position would lessen the pain.
Although he was thankful the damage to his wagon wasn’t serious, its track and
balance had been compromised, increasing the vibration. His small velvet pillow
could no longer insulate him from the jarring shock of the road’s unrelenting
assault on the wagon’s iron-rimmed wheels. Forced to keep the horse to a
walking gait, it would take over an hour to make the trip into the village.
As he
turned onto a particularly wide portion of the road, the mare’s pace quickened
from habit. John began inching back on the reins, pulling them taut.
Feeling
the horse strain against the restricted tether, Sarah leaned in and placed her
hand over his. “If you want, we could stop for a few minutes. It doesn’t matter
if we arrive late. If the doctor insists on keeping you, I’ll stay and take you
home in the morning. I can have one of the shopkeepers’ boys deliver a message
to my father, to let him know I’ll be staying in town overnight.”
“We’ll
see.” As much as her offer meant to him, he couldn’t allow her to stay,
regardless of the reason. There were a few in the village who always took
zealous delight in denouncing the moral infractions of others, and would
readily misinterpret Sarah’s act of kindness. “I don’t want your father worrying
about you,” he added.
“He’ll
understand. He once told me something I’ve never forgotten. Sometimes you have
to choose with your heart.”
The right
front wheel bounced over a small rock, sending a jarring tremor through the
wagon’s frame. Sarah ignored it, but John twisted in the seat as he tried to
control the burning spasm.
Sarah
brought a hand to his shoulder. “It’s getting worse, isn’t it?”
John tried
to deny it, but could only grit his teeth.
“It would
be awful to go through a leeching you don’t need, especially if there’s another
way,” Sarah continued. “It would mean a lot to me if you would just let me
finish reading the rest of the page to you. That’s all I’m asking. And then you
can decide.”
John spoke
slowly, timing his words between the piercing spasms that reached from his
stomach to his knees. “I’ve already decided. And I can’t—”
“Please
John,” Sarah interrupted. “I know you’re trying to protect me, but the old book
can’t hurt us if we both know about the danger, if we promise to take care of
each other.”
John
hesitated, trying to separate his discomfort from his building irritation with
Sarah’s insistence. “If I put off the leeching any longer, the poison could
take over, and there would be no way to stop it. I have to do something now.
You can’t imagine how bad it is.”
Sarah fell
quiet, her silence indicating her difficulty in understanding his predicament.
Finally, she said, “You’re right, I can’t.” She turned on the seat, facing him. “Stop the wagon,” she commanded.
John
obediently pulled the horse up short. “Why? What’s wrong?”
“I want
you to show me.”
His eyes
grew wide in disbelief. “What?”
“I’ll
never understand what you’re going through unless you show me. I need to see
it.”
John began
to shake his head. “No. Absolutely not. It wouldn’t be proper. Absolutely not,”
he repeated.
Without
warning, Sarah swung her legs over the side, and in one smooth motion, dropped
to the ground. “I’m not a child,” she scolded. “And we’ve long since passed the
point of treating each other as polite company. So when you’re ready to show
me, I’ll get back on. But not until then.”
“Sarah!”
John was frantic. He felt like a young boy, about to be punished for something
he didn’t do.
“Not
until,” she repeated. “I know you won’t leave me here, so you might as well get
it over with.”
There was
no point in arguing. Regardless of how many excuses he used, they would all be
inadequate for Sarah. John looked down at her, expecting her expression to be
firm with impatient defiance. But he saw only compassion in her eyes, and it
helped soften the determination in her voice.
“Get back
on.” He watched with resigned detachment as she boosted herself back up to the
seat.
He stood
slowly, widening his stance to improve his balance. Turning from side to side,
he checked the adjacent fields, and then took a quick glance at the road
behind. He had to be sure. Anyone who might see, even from a distance, could
easily misconstrue what he was about to do.
Unfastening
his belt, he carefully shifted his pants. He hesitated, his breathing short and
forced. Then, with his gaze locked on the blue-green horizon, he gently pushed
his trousers down over his hips and let them drop.
High
above, hundreds of songbirds chirped and warbled, each call sharp and clear. In
the background, John heard the rush of tumbling whitewater, even though the
creek was over a mile away.
Feeling
the joints in his fingers begin to ache, he realized his hands were clenched
into rock-hard fists, ready to strike out at the humiliation silently growing
within him.
Author and Book Links:
For a limited time, read “The Kure” for only
$.99 (kindle version)
One of my
resolutions for 2012 is to read more new authors – especially those whose books
normally fall outside my favorite genres. As I began to search reviewer’s blogs
for some ideas, I realized how many more people were reading books of all
kinds, primarily due to increased availability and choice of low-cost ebooks
for the kindle and nook. I often saw comments from readers who had decided to
read a particular author’s work because it was ninety-nine cents, or in some
cases, free. Realizing a lower price would motivate more people to read The
Kure, I decided to temporarily lower the price. I’m calling it “Resolve To
Read”, and it’s going on right now. The kindle version of The Kure can
be purchased for ninety-nine cents on Amazon. So if you were planning on buying
a kindle version anyway, why not take advantage of the “Resolve To Read”
promotion and save two bucks?
1 Kindle eBook of The Kure
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