Check out the purdy! Purely Relative by Claire Gillian

Yes, I've been doing a lot of purdy reveals lately, but hey ... there's a lot of interesting looking books coming out this year.  :)

This one is from my Scribo bud, Claire Gillian, a sequel to her debut novel, The P.U.R.E. which I loved. 

On to the goods!

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Purely Relative

The P.U.R.E. #1.5

by Claire Gillian

Contemporary Romance, Romantic Comedy

Release Date: April 30, 2013

Back of the Book

Unemployed and living far from home, Gayle Lindley is nevertheless lucky to be alive after narrowly escaping her murderous ex-employer. She’s also thankful to the boyfriend gods for having blessed her with a former co-worker. Jon Cripps is brains, brawn and bedroom-certified, all in one delectable package. Life is finally on the uptick.

 …Or so Gayle thinks until Jon pops the big question—no, not marriage, but meeting the rest of his family. What he neglects to mention is his loose familial definition also includes the parents of his ex-fiancée. And too bad Gayle has already met one sibling while engaged in a vigorous mattress inspection with Jon. Everyone will think she’s a man-stealing hussy!

As Gayle tiptoes into the bosom of Jon’s extended family, she is deluged with more secrets than even her curious nature can absorb. But the drama hits hardest when Jon, mysterious as ever, drops a bombshell that threatens to unravel every single stitch of progress she has made with him and his ... ‘interesting’ relations.

Other books in the series:

The P.U.R.E.

What I had to say about The P.U.R.E. in my 5 star review found HERE: 

"Mystery, part thriller, & romance was all wrapped up with a light-hearted bow." 

About Claire Gillian

Claire Gillian is the pen name for a number-crunching executive by day and a darkly romantic curmudgeon by night. Her debut novel, The P.U.R.E. was released in April 2012. She also writes fifty shades naughtier stuff under the pen name of Lila Shaw, but please don’t tell her mother. No matter which name she uses, Claire is happiest penning romance drenched in humor with a dash of intrigue and loads of spice.

Claire lives in the boggy Pacific NW with her husband and two teen-aged sons.

Website  Goodreads  Twitter   Facebook

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In typical Ms. Gillian fashion, this cover looks like fun, just like The P.U.R.E. If you're in the mood for sparks, steam, & tension galore, this book will probably be IT. 

I'm off to find out ...

Leap Into Books Hop #Giveaway Hide and Seek by @AimeeLaine #PNR

Thanks to I Am A Reader Not A Writer for yet ANOTHER opportunity to share the love of my publisher, J. Taylor Publishing!!

Be sure to check out the linky list below for TONS of other prizes.

And now onto my giveaway ...



In celebration of Aimee Laine's Silent Echoes, Games of Zeus #2, releasing on March 11th, I'm offering an ecopy of book #1, Hide & Seek, the story of one of my most favoritest book boyfriends EVER, Tripp Fox. 

Can we say YUM, folks?!?!? 

Find my 5 star review on Goodreads HERE, and my review of the upcoming Silent Echoes HERE.

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Hide & Seek

Games of Zeus

by Aimee Laine

Release Date: March 5, 2012

Target Reader: Adult

Keywords: Paranormal Romance, Romance, Romantic, Thriller/Suspense

Back of the book:

Lie, cheat or steal, no one can catch Tripp Fox. Except one woman.

Lexi Shepherd’s knack for finding whatever is asked of her isn’t sheer luck. It’s a gift from the Greek god Zeus. 

That Lexi doesn’t use her ability to search for “Mr. Right” comes from one of many personal rules she has set for herself. Number one is not to let fate dictate her future. 

Falling in love with Tripp breaks all the others. 

Despite her principles, Lexi’s unable to stay away from the bad boy, and she finds herself toeing the grey line of the law for him.

Zeus, though, didn’t give Lexi and Tripp their talents to make their relationship a simple, easy alliance. He designed it to be exactly the opposite. Impossible. Always.

With their separation, Lexi expects Tripp to forfeit love in favor of destiny. He, on the other hand, intends to beat Zeus at his own game. With a plan in place, Tripp challenges Lexi to take the one action no one else can.

Find him.

The question isn’t can she ... but will she?

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Thanks so much for stopping by SS & best of luck!!

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Having To Say 'No' When I Don't Want To

I hardly know it all. Really. 

But there's something about having 'published author' attached to your name that makes people think you do. In the past 2 years I've had a few things published and I signed a 2 book deal with J. Taylor Publishing for my fantasy series, Pool of Souls, but that does NOT make me a pro in the book writing field.

Giggle-inducing enough, some people believe it does.

A handful of people have contacted me since my journey to publication has begun to sprout little seedlings, wanting to know if I would write their stories - their memoirs, their unique journeys through this life. 

Now don't get me wrong. I'm not upset by this in the least! Quite honored, actually. BUT, I'm a fiction writer. I don't have a clue about memoirs or biographies, nor would I even know where to start. 

I've even had a few pitch their own ideas / plots to me in the hopes that I would write the book for them.

Gulp.

How the heck do you say no to these people? These family members and friends who would do anything for YOU should you ask them??? NOT easy. As soon as someone says to me, "I have an idea I want to share with you" or "I'm wondering if you would be willing to write my life story ..."

Yup. That's my reaction. On the inside, anyway. 

What do I say? How do I let them down gently? HOW can I even do either???!! The non-fiction idea peeps are easier to deal with, since I honestly don't know anything about that market. Even so, I always feel like I'm offering excuses when I should be jumping at the chance to help them.

*Smash head on table*

Oh, but the others - those folks who have a plot line that just needs characters, a world, flesh, voice, and WORDS. Le sigh.

I really have a hard time telling them that it's nearly impossible (for me) to write a story that wasn't inspired within my own brain. You other writers know what I'm talking about? Yes, there are anthology calls I've submitted to, but ONLY ones that triggered an idea of my own. One my muse ran away with.

If it's not my fictional baby, my own WiP, I find it impossible to say yes. 

So, what do I do? 

Encourage them to write it on their own. It's their story, it should be in their voice, their style. THEN I offer to take a peek at it when they're finished, or send them onto a rockin' critique site like Scribophile where they can hone their craft and spit-shine that manuscript for submission.

*big cleansing breath*

How 'bout you? Can you say 'NO' when you really feel you shouldn't / don't want to? Have any ideas on what I could say for the next time it happens??

#GuestPost : Vonnie Davis, #Romance Author #Excerpt

Welcome to my fellow SMP author, Vonnie Davis! She's here to promote her newest release, A Man for Annalee, an historical romance. Take it away Vonnie!

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Werewolves, corporate executives, special ops, English gentry…and cowboys. Contemporary or historical, cowboys snag romance readers’ hearts. As a relatively new writer with three contemporary and two historical Westerns published or soon to be released, I enjoy penning stories about this rare breed of man. I adore the cowboys’ love of animals, their code of right and wrong and their raw sexuality.

While Linda Lael Miller’s western romances are embraced by the NYT’s Best Sellers list at the time of their release, mine barely garner a blip on the publishing radar screen. And that’s okay for now, because I love doing research, especially when I’m working on a historical. Sometimes the personal satisfaction of doing what you find irresistible to your soul is worth being unknown.

I also include Native Americans in all my western stories. You see, I have a grandson who is half-Native and I do this to honor this part of his heritage. His grandmother, a member of the Mi’kmaq tribe, is my “go-to-lady” for all things pertaining to The Red Way. With her vast network of members of other tribes, she can add the authority of truth to any Indian references.

This week, my historical novella, A Man for Annalee, released from Still Moments Publishing. Set in a fictional town of Cicero Creek, it is full of quirky characters and its own brand of danger.

Here’s the blurb:

Annalee Gallagher loses her parents, home and business in the Great Fire of Chicago. When she travels to Cicero Creek in the Wyoming Territory to start a new life, more heartache awaits her, so do the attentions of several men—for good and for evil. Why was her stagecoach attacked and was the shot that zinged over her head one night, a wild bullet or a bad aim?

Boone Hartwell, the marshal of Cicero Creek, suspects someone is out to kill the new spitfire in town. She amuses him and touches a lonely part of his soul, but can he keep her safe? More importantly, can a white man raised as Cheyenne win her heart? Can he rise above all her other suitors? For one thing is for certain in his determined mind: He’s the man for Annalee.

In the segment I’m about to share, people from surrounding ranches, as well as townspeople, have come to my heroine’s new home to help with repairs and cleaning. This gathering also serves as a social activity for these pioneers who lived an often isolated life. Annalee, my heroine, arrives and hears men working behind the cabin…

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       Annalee rounded the back corner of the house. Suddenly she stopped dead in her tracks and shrieked. There stood an Indian. A bloodthirsty Indian just like in her dime novels. Red skin, evil looking, with a hatchet in his hand. She backed up a step, her hands involuntarily rising to cover her hair.

       “Annalee.” Boone leapt from rafters over the porch. “Meet my brother, Two Bears. He’s making shingles for the roof.”

       Her gaze went from the hatchet Two Bears was holding to Boone’s face. “Sh…shingles?” Her voice squeaked as her heartbeat gonged in her head like the church bells in the tower of St. Francis Church back in Chicago.

       Boone spoke in a calm voice, his grin widening as reached her. “Levi, Two Bears, and I have been fixing your back porch. We decided on building a roof over it. We thought it would help protect you from the elements.”    

       “E…elements,” Annalee repeated lamely, quite unable to take her eyes off Two Bears. His long black hair was parted in the middle and braided. The braids were wrapped in what appeared to be otter fur, similar to what she sometimes used to trim hats and make muffs.

       Boone trailed a finger down her cheek. “Plus, I’ll string a clothesline between the poles of the porch, so you can hang laundry out to dry. Lee draped his clothes over bushes, but ladies have different ideas about that sort of thing.”

       She slowly nodded. “Hang…” Goodness, but the Native’s pierced earlobes  were hung with pounded silver coins on brass wire. Around his neck was a choker of white beads, four rows of them, and in the middle of the choker was a diamond-shaped medallion of turquoise beads. A man wearing a necklace and earbobs, who could have imagined such a thing? Sewn onto his deerskin shirt were rows of white and turquoise beads. He wore fringed deerskin leggings and moccasins, also intricately beaded.

       His entire countenance bespoke Native culture, violence, and hostility. She didn’t think her heart would ever beat calmly again. An Indian. On her property. A true-to-life Indian standing right before her, with bloodlust in his black eyes. And, dear God, he was holding a hatchet.

       Two Bears stared at her, too. “You are Red Badger?”

       “You can talk?”

       “Most humans do.” Two Bears glanced at Boone, and if she didn’t know better, she’d have sworn he smiled slightly. He gestured with his hands when he spoke, “You take hands off hair now. Me done scalping for day. Me scalp six people on way here this morning.”

       Annalee’s voice squeaked again, “S…Six…” The world spun and darkened.

****

       She fainted into Boone’s arms. He held her close, worried she was harmed in some way. “Now, look what you’ve done.” Boone scowled at his brother.

       Levi and Two Bears were laughing. Levi slapped the Native on the back. “Did you see the look on her face?”

       Two Bears nodded and laughed some more. “Sheer terror.”

       “You’re a lawyer, you don’t need to talk like that. You frightened her into another swooning spell.” Boone tightened his grip on Annalee, protectively drawing her near his chest. He was staggered at the depths of his feelings for this petite spitfire. Realization slammed into him that he’d go against anyone or anything to keep her safe. In his heart and soul, this woman was his.

       Two Bears stood at his elbow and studied the woman. “It’s the way Easterners expect us to talk.” His gaze lifted to Boone’s. “You’ve chosen well, my brother.”

PURCHASE LINKS:

Still Moments Publishing  /  Amazon

Find Vonnie online at www.vonniedavis.com and blogging at ww.vintagevonnie.blogspot.com

Follow me on Twitter -- @VonnieWrites

#CoverReveal : Tied (Fire Born #1) by Laney McMann #YAlit #PNR #UF

Fire Born #1

by Laney McMann

Release Date: September 9, 2013

Target Reader: Young Adult

Keywords: Fiction, Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy

 

Back of the Book

  

Normal people don't believe their nightmares stalk them. They don’t fall in love with boys who don’t exist, either. 

Seventeen-year-old Layla Labelle, though, is far from normal. Her delusions walk the earth. Her hallucinations hunt her, and her skin heats to a burn every time her anger flares. 

Or is that all in her head?

Layla doesn't know what to believe any more because if none of that’s true, Max MacLarnon must be an illusion, and her heart must still be broken.

No matter how much she wants to believe Max is real, doing so would mean everything else is, too. How, then, is that possible?

The answers lie in an age-old legend the supernatural aren’t prepared to reveal, and with a curse that could tear Layla and Max apart forever—if it doesn’t kill them both first. 

In TIED, book one in the Fire Born trilogy, learning the truth will mean fighting an arsenal  of demons, and being with Max will put Layla on a path toward her own destruction.

Just how far will Layla go to protect the one she loves?

The answer may never be far enough ... away. 

I don't know about YOU, but this cover looks FREAKY. Definitely grabs the attention! I'll be sure to check this one out.

What do you think? 

#CoverReveal : CassaStorm by Alex J. Cavanaugh #SciFi #SpaceOpera

Pleased beyond words to share in the cover reveal for CassaStorm by author & blogger extraordinaire, Alex J. Cavanaugh! 

On to the purdy ...

By:  Alex J. Cavanaugh

Release date: September 17, 2013

Science Fiction - Space Opera/Adventure

Print ISBN 9781939844002

E-book ISBN 9781939844019

A storm gathers across the galaxy…

Byron thought he’d put the days of battle behind him. Commanding the Cassan base on Tgren, his only struggles are occasional rogue pirate raids and endless government bureaucracies. As a galaxy-wide war encroaches upon the desert planet, Byron’s ideal life is threatened and he’s caught between the Tgrens and the Cassans.

After enemy ships attack the desert planet, Byron discovers another battle within his own family. The declaration of war between all ten races triggers nightmares in his son, shaking Bassan to the core and threatening to destroy the boy’s mind. 

Meanwhile the ancient alien ship is transmitting a code that might signal the end of all life in the galaxy. And the mysterious probe that almost destroyed Tgren twenty years ago could be on its way back. As his world begins to crumble, Byron suspects a connection. The storm is about to break, and Byron is caught in the middle…

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Other books in this series include:

CassaStar

AMAZON  /  AMAZON UK  /  AMAZON DE  /  BARNES AND NOBLE  

BOOKS A MILLION  /  AMAZON’s KINDLE  /  NOOK

CassaFire

Barnes and Noble /  Nook  /  Amazon  /  Kindle

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Looks like a nail biter for sure! Love the ominous clouds and bursts of lightening blowing spaceships to pieces.

What do you think? 

#YA #Paranormal Hop : Crux by @JulieAReece

Giveaway time!

Thanks to I Am A Reader Not A Writer for hosting yet another awesome hop.

Check out the linky list below for over 100 chances to win more prizes! 

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My Giveaway: An ecopy of Crux 

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YA Paranormal
by Julie Reece

She should have run. Now, she’ll have to fight.

Eighteen year old Birdie may be homeless, but she’s surviving, that is until a mysterious guy throws money in the air like a crazy game show host and she grabs some with the idea she’ll be able to buy dinner that night.

In that singular moment, unassuming Birdie becomes the girl in everyone’s viewfinder. Thugs want to kill her. Money-guy wants to recruit her. The very hot, very rich and very out of her league Grey Mathews wants to save her.

Birdie, though, wants nothing to do with any of them until she realizes fate didn’t bring them all together.

Her heritage did.

Now, with only twenty-one days left, she’s got to decide whether to follow in the footsteps of those before her or risk her life for people she’s only just met.

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 Thanks for stopping by & best of luck!

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Elementris (The Vangeretta Curse Series) by Christina Mobley #YAlit #Paranormal

Hi everyone!! I’m Christina Mobley, author of The Vangeretta Curse series. This past year I released the first book in the series, Elementris. This month I am kicking off the blog tour for book two, Exposure. We are having the Exposure blog tour and release party on Facebook this month. We’re going to be playing games, doing giveaways, and meeting some new authors/readers. I’m planning to give away a few e-book copies of both books, some Elementris inspired jewelry, and a few signed copies too. You are all welcome to join in the fun and invite your friends. The link will be at the bottom.  Thanks for having me Terri!! 

About The Vangeretta Curse Series.

Elementris is the first book in the series and available now. Ava Vangeretta is the main character. She’s a strong-willed, seventeen-year-old, with a big decision to make, and an extraordinary gift.  Think Mother Nature/teen witch.  It’s marked down to .99 right now on Amazon !!

There are people born in this world with a powerful connection to the earth itself...

They have an unbreakable and extraordinary bond. Every seven years, five people are born on the same day, at the exact same time. The elements bind them; earth, fire, wind, water, and spirit. They call them, Elementris.

Ava Vangeretta is seventeen years old and different. Unlike most born of the element, she was born alone. She has the power of all five elements. Ava is the first True Elementris to be born in many years. As her eighteenth birthday approaches she is faced with a choice. Give up this rare gift and live the normal life she has always craved or accept it and challenge the current True Elementris in a battle to the death! 

Ava's past haunts her as she struggles to decide. In her present, the seasons are colliding together, storms are destroying lives, and love is a dangerous curse. The current True Elementris is behind it all and she will do whatever necessary to keep Ava from making it to her eighteenth birthday. Ava's decision threatens the lives of the two people she cares about most. Can you choose between love and friendship?
Get ready for the storm...

What readers are saying about Elementris

“ I couldn't put it down, I kept wanting to find out what happened next. ” KandaceG  |  3 reviewers made a similar statement

“ I can't wait for the release of book #2. ” Summer  |  2 reviewers made a similar statement

“ This was a very unique story and I absolutely LOVED it. ” ldd6853  |  3 reviewers made a similar statement

Book two, Exposure.  Release date March 20^th!! The first day of Spring!! 

Hidden behind a continuous storm, in the heart of the Bermuda Triangle, there is a secret and powerful place. Element Island’s mysteries are as great as its beauty. Ava Vangeretta’s life changed forever after she arrived on the island; she became the True Elementris.

Now Ava is faced with a new challenge. The powerful gifts protected by those born of the element could be revealed. Temptation gives new life to an old curse, danger draws near, and the lines between friend and enemy are blurred as secrets are revealed. Ava will do whatever it takes to protect those she loves, but can she prevent exposure?

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 Christina Mobley is a married, mother of four, who spends her days caring for her children. She grew up in Florida, living on the banks of the St.Mary's river, and as a child always had a fascination for storms and the power they wield. The Vangeretta Curse series was inspired by that fascination.

I love to talk so don’t be afraid to ask any question. I’m on all the web sites, FB, Twitter, etc… Come over and chat. 

Blog  /  Twitter  /  Facebook 

Random Acts of Kindness Blog Hop #Giveaway #YAlit

Another awesome hop hosted by I Am A Reader Not A Writer! As always, be sure to scroll down for over 100 chances to win other prizes! Thanks for stopping by SS & best of luck!

My Giveaway:
  A signed paperback of Uprising (US ONLY)

Click on image for puchasing

The Divide Book 1: Uprising

AUTHOR: Kim Flowers

GENRE: Fiction • Futuristic • Interracial • Lesbian • Romance • Young Adult

During the Second Civil War, a new U.S. political party called the Family Protection Movement established The Divide, which separates Normal people from those who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender.

Seventeen-year old Serenity Blackwater lives in the normal Midwestern town of Mapleville, but she is not normal. She hacks into an illegal gay chat room and meets Dawn, a lesbian who lives in a gay community less than a mile away. Serenity discovers normal people can bribe their way inside the walls and decides to go, both to meet Dawn and check out what may be her future home.

Dawn is even more beautiful than Serenity hoped, and the two soon become a couple. But Serenity only has a few months before she must take the Normal Verification Test, and then she’ll be separated from her family forever. So she joins the Human Equality Organization, an underground group working to end The Divide. Dawn thinks the rebellion is too dangerous, and since Dawn’s ex-girlfriend Malaki is also a member, Serenity doesn’t tell Dawn about her involvement.

Serenity reveals to the HEO that her parents are leading a campaign to organize attacks on all Gay Communities. With her help, the HEO creates Project Jericho, in which all Gay Communities walls will implode at once. But after too many delays, and when Dawn discovers Serenity has been spending more time with Malaki than her, Serenity knows she has to start the revolution herself. She heads to D.C. to contact a group of senators secretly against The Divide ... or straight into a trap set by the Family Protection Movement.

EXCERPT:

I spit blood and sway, determined not to collapse.

The man in the three-piece suit punches me again. Thick clumps of dark, matted hair cover my face as I fall to one knee and force myself back up.

“Tell me about the confidential information you delivered,” he says calmly.

“I never looked at it,” I whisper. Screams have long ago torn my voice from my throat.

The man’s pale face shows no emotion as he uppercuts my jaw.

I can’t see him anymore; instead, a swirling universe sparkling with distant galaxies and suns fills my vision. Somewhere out there is surely another world where I won’t be punished for who I am. But then the illusion fades and I’m back in the gray room. Instruments of torture hang upon the wall, and even though the light is dim, I see bloodstains all over the floor.

“You are a liar,” the man says matter-of-factly.

It takes all my willpower not to beat the man with his own weapons. I’ve been standing here for almost an hour, unbound. But if I even attempt to defend myself, I’ll be executed immediately.

The man clasps his hands in front of him. "This is a godly nation. You were raised in the church. Don't you recall how the Lord is going to separate the righteous from the wicked in the end? The goats on his left; the sheep on his right. Why have you have deliberately chosen to walk the path of the goats?”

I say nothing, knowing it won’t matter either way.

He raises an eyebrow. “Answer the question. Why have you strayed from your rightful path? What Bible verse could you possibly recite to prove that flaunting authority is beneficial?”

I sneer. "‘Beware of wolves in sheep's clothing.’”

The man’s face reddens. “You’ve brought this upon yourself.” He reaches for the Peacemaker.

My breath catches in my throat. I have nothing to tell the government, but they don’t believe me. I’ve been taught in school that minors have special protection under the law, and can’t be imprisoned or tortured the way adults are.

But apparently, those rules don’t apply to seventeen-year-olds who sneak off to join the Gay Community.

I cross my arms over my ragged, filth-encrusted shirt as the man steps closer, holding a small black rod. I’ve lasted the whole session today without crying out in pain, even though I’ve been lashed with a leather strap and punched repeatedly. But the Peacemaker is the worst.

Tears fill my eyes. I back into the shadows and desperately wish for some way to delay what is about to happen.

The man lunges and presses the rod to my temple. My teeth clench; my skull sparks with electricity. It feels like I drift to the floor in a fog until I actually hit the ground and the back of my head slams onto concrete. He releases the charge only to jolt the other side.

I sprawl on the floor helplessly, and know I’ll be questioned again soon to see if my answers have changed. I’ve already been interrogated under multiple conditions using various techniques, but my answers haven’t made the government happy. The Peacemaker is their latest tactic.

After multiples shocks, I feel myself drifting. I try to force my brain synapses to function -- to secure my short-term memories, even as they fade -- but the Peacemaker causes me such confusion. I think the man hopes I’ll forget why I’m there, but not the long-term memories I’ve retained, so I’ll tell him what he wants. Fortunately for me, no matter how much technology or the study of medicine and pain advances, humans still can’t master the inner workings of their own brains, so I know that in the morning I’ll have my memories back, though the torture sessions themselves always remain blank.

Wait.

What’s going on?

“Where is the Human Equality Organization headquarters?” a pale man asks, swimming in and out of my blurred vision.

“I don’t know ... Dad?”

There’s pain in my head, followed by more questions, as I lie on the floor paralyzed. I have no idea what’s happening to me, but finally I am carried away to a scratchy cot in a cell.

There are no windows, and the room is dark. I don’t know what just happened, or why I feel so weak. I curl up and sob, feeling like a little kid.

“Mom? Dad?”

Why am I here? When will someone take me home?

I’m so thirsty.

I sob myself to sleep.

When I awake, I remember.

I step carefully across the cell. I know it’s morning now because a small cup of water and bowl of oatmeal have been set inside my door. I sit on the floor and try to savor the meal, in case I don’t get anything else for the rest of the day. After using the freezing metal toilet, I lie on my rancid cot, waiting for the torture.

Maybe I’ve been headed towards this moment since the day in third grade I realized I was a lesbian and decided not to confess and be sent to therapy. Or maybe it was my freshman year that changed things, when I began hacking into forbidden LGBT chat rooms. I’d tried to act the way I should my whole life, but it never made a difference.

Actually, it wasn’t until I met Dawn that I stopped caring about being the perfect citizen. Now I can’t help but wonder if there’s anything I should have done differently.

I roll to my side, surprised that the man hasn’t come to get me yet, and desperately replay my memories. Maybe today the Peacemaker will overcome me, and I will be left with nothing.

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