Blurb ~*~
Three Army veteran misfits, a college dropout, an unmotivated
high school graduate accused of murder, a controversial warden of a women's
prison, and a little girl with the gift of prophesy – these are the people
31-year-old Lara Kruger invites into her life after suffering a miscarriage, a
divorce from an abusive husband, and unemployment.
Excerpt ~*~
“Jesus,
Ms. Kruger, what have you gone done to yourself now? You been working on that old house again,
haven’t ya?”
Lara
closed her eyes and let the strong hands of the orderly gently position her
into the wheelchair. “Thanks, Ben.”
“I
told you to call me next time you needed something done and Mr. Kruger wasn’t
around to take care of it. Didn’t
I? Didn’t I say that?” He pushed her through the emergency entrance
and over to the sign-in window where an elderly woman smiled and handed her a
form.
“Back
so soon, Mrs. Kruger?”
Lara
stared at the piece of paper that had been secured to a clipboard, but her eyes
wouldn’t read the print. She couldn’t
pick up the pen anyway. Ben took the
clipboard from her and began filling in the information next to her name: Age, 31; Time, 1:15 p.m.; Insurance,
on file; Nature of Visit, cuts and bruises caused by accident. It was always the same.
Lara
and Jake had been remodeling the old Victorian home they bought when they moved
to Rocky Mount six months earlier.
Everyone knew they were doing it.
In a town the size of Rocky Mount, nothing went by unnoticed. Since they were doing a lot of the work
themselves, it was easy just to say she slipped off a ladder, a rotten
floorboard gave way, something had fallen on her – whatever. No one questioned her answers.
“My,
my. Looks like you got scraped up pretty
good, Mrs. Kruger.” The elderly
volunteer worker smiled sympathetically and took the form Ben had just filled
out. “What happened this time?”
Lara
tried not to grimace from the pain. It
felt like one of her ribs was broken. “I
yanked too hard on the door of that old shed in back we’re trying to convert
into a garage and it gave way.” The lie
came easily.
Author Info ~*~
In addition to being a frequent guest lecturer at
universities and writers’ conferences, Ms. Casey served as judge for the
Pathfinder Literary Awards in Palm Beach and Martin Counties, Florida, and was
the Florida Regional Advisor for the Society of Children's Book Writers and
Illustrators from 1991 through 2003.
Links ~*~
Giveaway ~*~
Barbara Casey will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B&N Gift Card to one randomly chosen commenter!
The more you comment along the way, the better your chances of winning!
The tour dates can be found here....
http://goddessfishpromotions.
Barbara Casey will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B&N Gift Card to one randomly chosen commenter!
The more you comment along the way, the better your chances of winning!
The tour dates can be found here....
http://goddessfishpromotions.
Thank you so much for hosting me today. I am really looking forward to spending some time with your bloggers.
ReplyDeleteBarbara
I can't wait to put all these excerpts together, so to speak.
ReplyDeletemarypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com
Thank you, Mary. I have tried to give everyone a taste of what to expect in THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO PRISSY without taking away from actually reading the book. So far we have talked about several of the characters that include Lara, the three men who once served in the Army and who have been floundering in life, but now have befriended Lara, Miriam Temple, the warden of the women's prison, Jake, Lara's husband, Bulah, Prissy's grandmother, and, of course, adorable Prissy. There are other characters who play key roles in the story, and today I am going to introduce you to Beth, the teenage daughter of Lara's best friend. Beth is just weeks away from high school graduation when she finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time. The result is, she gets arrested for murder. How is that for a teaser?
DeleteThanks for stopping by, Mary, and for your comment.
Every time I read this excerpt, I get angry and sad...knowing that there are women who suffer--in silence--from this kind of abuse and bystander complicitness.
ReplyDeletecatherinelee100 at gmail dot com
I know, Catherine. I wrote this so the reader would understand why Lara made the decisions she did. As terrible as this is, Lara does overcome it, and with the people she allows into her life, the story truly is beautiful. In fact, there is a lot of humor sprinkled throughout. The last thing I want is to write something that is a real "downer." THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO PRISSY is not--in fact, it is just the opposite.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for commenting, Catherine.
Wow...so does being a judge for the pathfinder awards have any influence in how you write?
ReplyDeleteandralynn7 AT gmail DOT com
Hi Andra. No, being a judge for the Pathfinder Awards has no influence at all on how or what I write. What it does do, though, is make me proud of the young people in high school. There is so much talent there. Normally we only hear about the bad stuff, but there are so many good kids in school.
DeleteI think most of what I write comes from the fact that I moved around so much when I was growing up. My father was in the Marine Corps, so we got transferred every 2 or 3 years. Because of that, I got used to readjusting, but also I learned a lot just from being in so many different places and meeting so many different people. And I learned to "observe." It's funny, because even today--many years later--I will remember a certain gesture a person made or an unusual way of speaking. Most of it eventually winds up in one of my books.
Glad you stopped by, Andra. Thank you.
Each excerpt is so exciting. Can't wait to read the entire book.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait for you to read the book either, MomJane. I don't think you will be disappointed. Thank you for your comment.
DeleteSounds like a very good book, I can't wait to read it.
ReplyDeleteKit3247(at)aol(dot)com
Thank you--I am glad you think so. I really would like to hear back from you after you read it. Catherine, one of the other bloggers, said that this excerpt makes her feel angry and sad when she reads it. It made me feel the same way when I wrote it. But THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO PRISSY will make you feel a lot of different emotions, and in the end you will feel happy.
DeleteI appreciate your comment. Please stop by again.
I have had a wonderful time today, and I really appreciate everyone stopping by. Thank you again for hosting me.
ReplyDeleteBarbara
Thank you for the awesome giveaway!
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome, Jennifer.
DeleteWow! I really can't wait to read this! Adding it to my TBR list!! I always wonder if the author has any life experience that they put into their books? Thanks for sharing with us and Thanks for the giveaway!
ReplyDeletemestith at gmail dot com
Hi Meghan. Thank you for your comment. Authors don't necessarily have to experience what they write about, but they do have to be good observers with a healthy dose of intuition. I am glad you stopped by.
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to stop back by and let everyone know that my book, THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO PRISSY, was just selected for the "2013 List of Best Summer Reads" by Conversations Live Radio/Conversations Book Club.
ReplyDeleteMy best,
Barbara