Release party excerpt & giveaway: A WHISPER TO A SCREAM by Karen Wojcik Berner
Have you ever wanted something so badly it hurts?
Annie Jacobs has dreamed of the day she would become a mother since the first time she held her Baby Tenderlove doll. Unfortunately, biology has not cooperated with her plan, and she finds herself dealing with a diagnosis of unexplained infertility instead of picking out baby names.
Across town, stay-at-home mom Sarah Anderson is just trying to make it through the grocery store without her toddler hurling a box of rice at a fellow shopper. She is exhausted from managing the house, a first grader and a toddler, all without any help from her work-obsessed, absentee husband.
When Annie and Sarah meet through a Classics Book Club, each thinks the other one's life is so much better than her own. But is the grass truly greener on the other side of the fence?
At 35 years old, Sarah Anderson discovered something quite shocking. She had Attention Deficit Disorder – she didn't get any. Men saw right through her, slightly noticing the children she was usually toting about – one hanging on her leg and one in her arms – but quickly dispelling her, as if the kids were somehow suspended in mid-air, like receivers on Monday Night Football. She wasn't sure if she had made this correlation herself or had seen it as a joke on the comedy channel, but what did her sleep-deprived brain know anyway?
As she neared the end of the grocery store aisle, her cart came to a screeching halt, barely missing the man wearing a business suit and cell phone who just cut in front of her. He continued his conversation, rolling over her foot as he passed.
"I'm in an all-day meeting on Monday. How's Tuesday look?"
"Asshole," she whispered, hoping her son would not hear. "C'mon, Alex. Let's get this over with."
The toddler was playing his favorite shopping game, throwing things from the cart at passersby. Alex had a small box of rice in his hands. Sarah mistakenly thought shaking it might amuse him, but instead the little guy was ready to chuck it at the pink-babushkaed head of an octogenarian when Sarah turned around from choosing a linguine. Spotting the just-released rice, she leapt across the aisle, caught it on the fly and tossed it in the basket. Alex cried at being thwarted. Sarah smiled, only to be admonished by the pink-scarved lady for not knowing how to keep her child quiet in the store.
"These kids nowadays. They run the show, not the parents." The little woman, oblivious to her near-miss, pushed her cart past Sarah's, who stared in shock as the pink head became lost in the crowd of shoppers. Alex cried louder. Sarah gave him some fish crackers and continued on.
At last, they were finished and headed for the check out lanes. "Hey! Record time. You were a pretty good boy in the grocery store. Mommy really appreciates that." Sarah kissed her son on the check. Alex responded by smiling and slapping her in the face.
Reprinted from A Whisper to a Scream by Karen Wojcik Berner, Copyright © Karen Berner, 2006
Buy the book: Amazon, Amazon UK, Barnes&Noble
You can find out more about Karen and her books on her website, her Amazon author page, and Facebook.
One lucky commenter will win an e-copy of Karen's A WHISPER TO A SCREAM. Comment on all 26 DRAGON BLUES Release Party excerpts for a chance to win more free books! Winners will be announced on Monday, Feb. 28. If you'd like to look at the schedule of events, click here.
