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I NEVER BELIEVED in it, love at first sight. It seemed foolish, like something you’d see in a romantic comedy or read in a book. Those standard happily-ever-afters that leave you crying yet grinning ear to ear as the “love interest” of the day declares his deep and undying devotion to the heroine of the story—the sun setting, a burst of doves flying above their heads at that precise moment when the director yells, “Cut!”
Or maybe it was butterflies.
I thought love was something you had to nurture, to grow. Falling in love with your best friend would be a prime example. So I looked to my parents as a model to what love truly was, being childhood sweethearts and all. What else was I supposed to do? Mom and Dad had been gaga over each other: whispering sweet nothings in each other’s ears day and night; writing love letters back and forth, and leaving them in secret places for the other to find around the house. Or simply holding hands as they strolled side by side in the middle of a park, me trailing after them from behind. All this was my inspiration for true love. That is, before each of my parent’s untimely deaths.
Tragic, I’ve been told.
My goal when it came to love was to mirror what Mom and Dad had. I thought that one day, I, too, would fall in love with my best friend—with Liam. Only this time, we would both live until our children and grandchildren stared back at us in awe.
So no, I didn’t believe in love at first sight. That is, not until I met him. After that, I would have believed anything—hand to God. And I would have followed him anywhere, even straight to Hell.
Passion, peril, and a scandal that will rock American politics.
Scottie Darden’s life is a disaster. Her marriage has become toxic, and her career as a photojournalist has stalled out. To attract the attention of the main players in the news industry, she needs a standout story with a unique perspective. What she finds is a scandal that could turn the 2016 presidential election upside down. But before she can release her damaging images to the media, Scottie must uncover the truth behind the photographs. She turns to handsome mystery man Guy Jordan for help. When they join the campaign trail in search of answers, their investigation quickly becomes deadly.
Hop on board for a wild ride of adventure where desire ignites, lives are threatened, and secrets are revealed.
I worked hard to make certain Breaking the Story is unbiased in terms of politics.
While my novel is a romantic political suspense, my message is more about the importance of integrity in journalism than anything else. With the 2016 presidential election on the horizon, I thought it’d be fun to give my readers a break from real-life politics—the debates, incessant phone calls, and endless stream of television commercials—with a sexy scandal within the political arena.
While I am a bit of a political junkie, I do my best to keep my opinions to myself. Nobody likes a know-it-all, especially when it comes to something we feel passionate about like politics, religion, and sports. I recently had the opportunity to attend the Mock Convention at Washington and Lee University in Virginia where my daughter attends college. Since 1908, every four years, student volunteers at the college have hosted a mock political convention, complete with roll call, for the non-incumbent party. The school holds an amazing record of accuracy in forecasting the party’s nominee. They have only been wrong two times since 1948.
For Mock Convention 2016, over the course of two days, student organizers brought in world-renowned speakers like Newt Gingrich and Dick Cheney to address conservative issues relating to the Republican Party. This inspiring lineup imparted their wisdom upon this impressionable group of young people, not by forcing their opinions on them but by empowering them to be good citizens. The universal appeal was for these kids to get out and vote, regardless of party. Educate yourselves on the issues facing our nation—the $19 trillion debt, the immigration crisis, foreign affairs.
I had an opportunity to talk with many of the students, most of them my daughter’s friends, while I was at the convention. Understandably, politics was at the forefront of everyone’s minds. Many of these students have listened to documentaries and news reports, read the continuous stream of social media tweets and Instagram post concerning the state of our nation. I was not surprised to learn that these students had mixed emotions concerning politics, but I was comforted to see how much they care. These millennials are the future of our country. They owe it to themselves and their future spouses and children to explore their options and make an educated decision before they vote.
Regardless of age, we each have the responsibility to pick the candidate that best represents our principles. Don’t take a candidate at surface value. Listen to the debates. Visit their websites. Find out what they really stand for. Voting is a privilege and every person’s vote counts.
About the Author:
Ashley Farley is a wife and mother of two college-aged children. She grew up in the salty marshes of South Carolina, but now lives in Richmond, Virginia, a city she loves for its history and traditions.
After her brother died in 1999 of an accidental overdose, she turned to writing as a way of releasing her pent-up emotions. She wrote SAVING BEN in honor of Neal, the boy she worshipped, the man she could not save. SAVING BEN is not a memoir, but a story about the special bond between siblings.
HER SISTER'S SHOES—June 2015—is a women's novel that proves the healing power of family. MERRY MARY—October 2015—a holiday novella, a young woman longing for a child stumbles upon a Christmas miracle.
BREAKING THE STORY is scheduled for release on March 17, 2016. A romantic political suspense. Passion. Peril. And a scandal that will rock American politics.
Kathleen Grissom's sophomore novel, a spin off of her debut, THE KITCHEN HOUSE, opens with silversmith Jamie Pyke in 1830s Philadelphia.
Now "passing" and living as a white man named James Burton, the first half of GLORY OVER EVERYTHING is dedicated to Jamie's travails following his near-deadly fleeing of the South at just thirteen years old.
We also meet and follow a host of new characters, including Jamie's love interest, Caroline—a woman who fills his adult life with complication; the Burtons—a loving couple who gives Jamie much more than just a new name; and Henry and Pan—a father/son duo that puts Jamie's deepest loyalties to the test.
The story also features the sad life and times of Sukey, a slave sold from Jamie's intricate past in the previous novel, who happens to be in the right place at the right time to enable a dramatic and tricky reunion in this one.
While the idea of following Jamie as he "passes" is a marvelous one, some readers may find the intrigue somewhat diluted by an ill-timed flashback. Once the narrative stops and flashes back to thirteen-year-old Jamie and his elevation in Philadelphia society, the reader already has so much information about his future that tension and conflict are essentially neutralized. As a result, the first half of the story may feel somewhat tedious and poorly paced where it could've been engaging and suspenseful if the reader knew far less about how things turn out for Jamie by 1830. The plot also relies quite heavily on coincidence to heighten its tension, which delicately undermines the plausibility of things to come.
Despite these observations, fans of THE KITCHEN HOUSE should definitely experience GLORY OVER EVERYTHING for its wonderfully researched historical ambiance, the notable insight to the grossly inhuman slave trade, the ravages of plantation life, the courage of the Underground Railroad and the sheer endurance of the human spirit!
