S.M. Stevens's Blog, page 26

Excerpt: Driving to Newfield

This is the final excerpt in celebration of TouchPoint Press‘s recent release of my #MeToo novel Horseshoes and Hand Grenades.

Thanks for reading, and I hope I’ve encouraged you to read the rest of the story as Astrid and Shelby struggle with past and present demons and try to rebuild their lives, friendships, romances and careers.

Horseshoes and Hand Grenades is available in paperback and ebook format on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and the following sites, or you can ask your local bookstore or library to carry it:

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In this scene, Astrid is driving Shelby to her childhood home in Newfield. Shelby narrates.

“Stop stalling and work on your notes,” Astrid demanded. 

“You’re such a taskmaster,” I grumbled. 

“You know how important preparation is. You don’t want to leave anything unsaid. You’ve got one shot at this. Now, get to work.” 

I sighed heavily and studied the blank sheet of paper in my lap. Closing my eyes, I wondered what I was doing. The only thing I knew was that it was not humanly possible to prepare for a sit-down with my mother and stepfather to discuss his sexual abuse of me. 

But thirty minutes later, that’s what I was doing.

(Photo by Alex Iby via Unsplash.)

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Excerpt: Hotel Suite

Today’s episode of Book Launch Week features a Horseshoes and Hand Grenades excerpt that is short but intense. Astrid has just arrived at the door of her former boss’s hotel suite, for a business meeting with him and another woman.

He backed up, allowing me to pass by him into the small living area. The space revealed another chair and a couch, both empty. Anger flooded through me, pooling in my feet, which were suddenly ice cold. I swung back to face him, fists clenched at my sides. 

“You lied!” I hissed, stretching up as tall as possible in my four-inch heels and trying to hang onto my earlier confidence for dear life. “Were you even planning to talk about the publicity campaign?” 

He smirked like he knew everything and I knew nothing.

To learn how this tense scene ends, purchase you paperback or ebook copy of Horseshoes and Hand Grenades today.

Excerpt: At the Police Station

Thanks to Don Jimmy Reviews for the recent publication of this excerpt from my #MeToo novel Horseshoes and Hand Grenades. As Book Week Launch week continues, I’ll let “Don Jimmy” do the talking.

I’ll just set up the scene by saying co-narrator Astrid is at the police station. The rest becomes clear as you read.

Click here to read the excerpt.

(Awesome photo by JR Korpa, @korpa, via Unsplash.)

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Excerpt: Shelby Reflecting

Book Launch Week should have ended, since my #MeToo novel Horseshoes and Hand Grenades was officially released on Friday, Sept. 27th. But I’ve got a few more excerpts I’d like to share. I hope you enjoy reading them.

Today’s excerpt is called Shelby Reflecting. One of our heroines is finally accepting that she needs to come to terms with her past.

Lying in bed that night, I had the strangest feeling I was back in Newfield as a girl. I sat on the back porch steps in the sun, which I did a lot then, rubbing my bare feet over the sand and small rocks that collected between the bottom step and the driveway. I sat there when I was little and everyone else went about their business inside. I sat there as a teenager, usually at ten in the morning when all self-respecting teenagers were still hours from waking. 

I remembered a permeating melancholy with no nameable cause. As a girl, I was troubled by a general sense that time was speeding up so fast that soon I wouldn’t be able to keep up. As a teenager, I attributed my malaise to a fruitless search for the meaning of life. 

Maybe it was neither of those things. 

Maybe those warm steps became a refuge after Norman started touching me. And maybe the melancholy was my soul shutting itself off from the world’s pain and confusion. 

(This beautiful photo is from Paige Cody, @Paige_Cody, via Unsplash.)

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Excerpt: Will & Pilsener

Every good book deserves a good dog. Horseshoes and Hand Grenades has two. If I had my way (authors are masters to their stories to some extent), the dogs would get a lot more “screen time” in the book, but I’ll make up for it in future novels.

For this Book Launch Week excerpt, we re-join Shelby, Astrid and Tina on Martha’s Vineyard. They are leaving an island party, the morning after, and getting a ride back to town with a guy named Will, who they have not met yet.

Shelby narrates.

Will waited in the driveway next to a rusty van, jiggling his keys. I hadn’t noticed him at the party last night. He was about five-foot-nine, Italian-looking, straight but shaggy black hair reaching his collar, a shadow of stubble on his face, and an adorable lopsided smile. Jeans, sneakers, and a T-shirt completed his rumpled island look. 

“Who’s this?” I cried as a small yellow Lab jumped out of the van. 

“This is Pilsener,” Will said proudly.

Astrid made a face behind Will’s back and grinned. She knew how much I hated it when people named their pets after alcohol. I mean, I loved dogs, and I loved alcohol, but how hard was it to be a bit more creative when naming a pet?

“He’s so cute,” I said, playing with Pilsener’s ears and burying my face in his fur. 

“Come on, in the back,” Will demanded. I moved toward the van’s rear door. 

“Not you,” he said, cocking his head. “The dog. You can sit in front with me, like a person.” 

“I knew that,” I said as Tina and Astrid smirked at each other.

Coming tomorrow: Shelby starts to gain some insight.

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Excerpt: Astrid’s Secret

Book Launch Week continues with this brief extract from Horseshoes and Hand Grenades, in which Astrid has just been cautioned by her mother about maintaining professional relationships with the men at work, especially her boss Brad.

You’ll see where this is going…

Best not to tell her about the flirting relationship Brad and I had developed, I decided, or how he increasingly found reasons to drop his hand on my shoulder or waist. Or that I fantasized about dating him and becoming the ultimate power couple, even though I had a boyfriend already and had been warned a million times about workplace romances by my mother.

Tomorrow, we go back to Martha’s Vineyard to meet some furry characters.

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Excerpt: On the Ferry

Today’s Book Launch Week excerpt has our Horseshoes and Hand Grenades narrators Shelby and Astrid on the ferry to Martha’s Vineyard for a summer weekend. Our two heroes are joined by their good friend Tina, who doesn’t get much attention in snippets about the book, but is a very important figure in the lives of Shelby and Astrid.

Astrid is narrating.

“Men are truly a different species. It’s hard to know what they really want, from life and from us. I should write a book called What Men Could Tell Us to Make Us Better Girlfriends.” 

“Hm. Or how about, What Women Don’t Know About Men and Never Thought to Ask?” Shelby offered. 

Tina attempted to join in. “What Women Don’t Know About Men but Really Want to Know?” 

“Not exactly catchy, Tina, but keep trying,” I said, laughing with Shelby. “Try this one: What Women Don’t Even Know They Don’t Know About Men. No, wait—What Women Don’t Really Need to Know About Men, Even Though They Think They Should—” 

“—and What They Need to Know but Don’t Have A Clue They Need to Know, Never Mind How to Ask,” Shelby finished. 

Our laughs drew disapproving looks from the people next to us, which made us laugh harder. 

I sighed that end-of-a-good-laugh sigh. “Why do I feel like our IQs just  dropped twenty points?” 

“That’s okay. We’re going to the beach. Who needs an IQ?” Shelby asked. 

Tune in tomorrow, when we get an inkling of Astrid’s weakness at work.

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Excerpt: Carol’s Sex Advice

For today’s excerpt in celebration of Horseshoes and Hand Grenades‘ Book Launch Week, we lighten the mood a bit from yesterday’s short but dark passage.

Early reviewers of the #MeToo novel suggested that it was a fun and entertaining read despite the heavy themes. That makes me very happy, because that was my intent. Shelby and Astrid are much more than victims. They are two women strong of character but vulnerable due to age and position. They struggle to make things work in their jobs, with their boyfriends, and with their girlfriends, just like most people do in their 20’s.

In this scene, Astrid is having lunch in a restaurant with her mother, Carol. Carol is advising Astrid on her relationship with her boyfriend.

“One last piece of advice, and then I’ll stop mothering. Oral sex should be the last thing you give up. The final frontier. Don’t offer that too early. Then, when you do, he’ll be extra appreciative.” 

Aargh. I would write an article someday: The Ten Most Embarrassing Things to Discuss with Your Mother. 

I wanted to ask her if she withheld blowjobs from her boyfriend. “I’m going to the restroom,” I said instead, standing. 

She was my mother, after all.

Join me for tomorrow’s Book Launch Week post, when the women head to Martha’s Vineyard.

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Excerpt: Shelby Remembers

In today’s post for Book Launch Week, here’s the first of many excerpts I’ll be publishing to give you a glimpse of the plot for Horseshoes and Hand Grenades (and hopefully encourage you to buy it).

In this short but telling bit, Shelby is musing…

I was twenty-two when I let the memories in. They’d been fluttering around the edges of my brain like a bunch of random words straining to form a sentence. Once I gave them permission, they took shape.

And that was that. I went on with my life.

It’s not like what happened changed me or anything.

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Meet Shelby, #HAHG Hero

In today’s installment of Book Launch Week for Horseshoes and Hand Grenades, we meet fragile but practical, music- and animal-loving Shelby Stewart, our second narrator.

If you read yesterday’s description of Astrid by Shelby, then you probably picked up some idea of Shelby’s personality already. In this short bit, she is lamenting her looks upon meeting her very stylish boss at the PR firm, for the first time since the job interview.

Her trendy, short black hair made me wish for the hundredth time that I could pull off a short hairdo. You need a beautiful face for that, though. Other than one spur-of-the-moment close-cropped punk cut—a definite mistake—I kept my thick, light brown, not straight, not wavy hair long enough to distract from my boring brown eyes and the bony bump on the bridge of my nose.

Tune in tomorrow for another installment of Book Launch Week, when we get a glimpse of the demon haunting Shelby.

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