Monday, August 31, 2020

Waiting to Fly - #Free for #OverdoseAwareness Day



 Lenore’s life was just beginning when one terrible night destroys all her well-laid plans. Scared and ashamed, she wasn’t searching for love, but Ford offered it anyway. His constant support not only wins her affection, he heals her bruised heart and together, they’re ready to fly into a new beginning.

Ten years later, Lenore never imagined anything could shatter their happily ever after, but taking flight always means there’s a chance to crash and burn. Lenore fights fiercely for her husband, but some demons are too powerful. Sometimes, even love isn’t enough to ground you when you’re waiting to fly.

Sunday, August 23, 2020

The Pathbreaker by Emma Kathryn



To some, Hannah Jones has it all. After all, she acts on the hottest tv show in the country. She gets to rub shoulders with the nation's biggest stars. She seems to lead a life of glamour and riches.
But few know the truth. Hannah, an underpaid casual actress, could lose her job at any moment. Furthermore, she is guarding a shameful secret. Autistic, Hannah has suffered years of unemployment. Acting is not only her dream job. It is also the only job she can do.


My Thoughts

The Pathbreaker is an exciting novel that centers around a women named Hannah Jones. She's a struggling actress and author trying to break out in her industry. While she has a steady income from her role as an extra in a popular soap opera, she lives with the constant fear of what will happen if the series ends. Although romance isn't her top priority, Christopher, a friend from her local theater becomes her champion after she is brutally attacked. Hannah isn't sure who to trust, but she has to figure out why she's being targeted before it's too late. 

In addition to being an exiting thriller with a healthy side of romance, this novel also gives readers up close and personal look at living life with high functioning autism. Hannah is diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome and this leads to struggles with finding a job that's right for her. All these different elements converge to make this novel impossible to put down.

Wednesday, August 19, 2020

He Was My Person - Losing Someone to Addiction #RememberMyPerson

For years, everyone has been telling me to watch Glee. At least a dozen people left reviews of my Dark Musicals series citing the similarities. I usually prefer reading to television, but I finally gave in. Yes, all the fun musical antics are delightful, but it wasn't the music that made an impact on me. Like the star of Glee, Lea Michele, I lost a man I loved  to addiction. Tonight, I watched the episode of Glee where the cast honored their fallen costar Cory Monteith. The entire show was emotional, but one of Lea's lines touched me more deeply than I can ever explain. Four simple words.

"He was my person."


Ever since he died, I've struggled with how to express my feelings about his loss and how it impacted me. Sometimes I wasn't even sure I was entitled to grieve for him. We were divorced. We both had other relationships. Even though we almost got back together a dozen times, even though he called me two days before he died swearing I was the only woman he ever loved, I can't call him my husband. Yet, he was so much more than an ex. He was my first love, father of my children, sometimes my lover, but always my friend.

He was my person. No other labels required.

Though the good and the bad -- and there was a lot of both -- he was my person. He was the person who sang Uptown Girl (badly) to get me to go out with him. He was the person who maxed out our credit card buying canned goods during Y2K. He was the person who held my hand when our children came into the world. He was the person who explored the deepest parts of my soul and still loved me.  He was the person who broke my heart a thousand times, but he was also the person who gave me twelve years of perfect happiness. He was the person who fought so hard, but who inevitably lost his battle with addiction.

Our world can be such a harsh and judgmental place. People often look down on those who lose their lives to addiction. For this reason, I recently published a novel called Waiting to Fly. This story is fiction.  As with all my work, there are always pieces of me in my characters, but the story line is enhanced for entertainment purposes. However, the emotion in this story is real -- the guilt, the anger, the grief, but most importantly, the love -- it's all real. I wrote this book because I want a piece of my person to live on. I want to share my person. I don't want my person to be forgotten.



When I released Waiting to Fly, I never intended to share that it was personal for me.  But fictionalized or not, this story is as personal as it gets. This book may never be a best seller, and it wasn't an easy tale to spin, but it was a story that needed to be told.  For those who lost someone to this terrible disease, I want you to know that you aren't alone.  For everyone else, I want you to understand our loved ones were more than their addiction. Everyone who dies from an overdose is someone's person, and those of us who are left behind have to face a lifetime without them.

Sunday, August 9, 2020

New Release - Waiting to Fly by Laura DeLuca



 Lenore’s life was just beginning when one terrible night destroys all her well-laid plans. Scared and ashamed, she wasn’t searching for love, but Ford offered it anyway. His constant support not only wins her affection, he heals her bruised heart and together, they’re ready to fly into a new beginning.

Ten years later, Lenore never imagined anything could shatter their happily ever after, but taking flight always means there’s a chance to crash and burn. Lenore fights fiercely for her husband, but some demons are too powerful. Sometimes, even love isn’t enough to ground you when you’re waiting to fly.

Friday, August 7, 2020

Get Demon, Dark Musicals Book 2 #Free on Amazon



When Justyn and Rebecca set off for the New York School of Performing Arts, they think their dreams are about to come true. To their dismay, they aren't in high school anymore, and the competition is steep. Rebecca must compete against accomplished singers for a role in the production of Demon Barber, including a stunning Gothic diva with her sights set on Justyn. It doesn't help that things keep disappearing from their apartment or that Rebecca's father refuses to accept that Justyn is an essential part of her life. Yet, all this seems minimal in comparison to the serial rapist terrorizing the campus. Consumed by fear and obsessed with revenge, Rebecca and Justyn start living the story of Sweeney Todd-both on and off the stage.




Be sure to read the other books in the Dark Musical series because the next one is released on October! 




Rebecca Hope-Patko and her husband, Lord Justyn, are living their dream. After a successful stint on Broadway, the super couple are heading down under for a special showing of Phantom Returns, where their son Erik will join them for his professional debut.

As soon as their plane touches down, they discover that a serial killer is stalking Melbourne. At the theater, a strange series of accidents leaves Rebecca fearing for the safety of her family. Rebecca struggles to unravel the mystery while coping with insecurities about her career which cause tension between her and Justyn.

It’s clear a very real Phantom is lurking among them, but Rebecca is no kid anymore. She’s tired of the villain getting the upper hand. This time, Rebecca is setting the trap. This opera diva will put her life and her marriage on the line to shatter the illusions surrounding Queen’s Theater, and stop the serial killer before they can strike again.