Writing
“A word after a word after a word is power.”
–Margaret Atwood
“A word after a word after a word is power.” –Margaret Atwood
The Acid Trip
A serial romance for subscribers of The Written RecordA good trip can turn bad in a heartbeat. The right company makes all the difference. Amidst the summer heat and unrest of Woodstock '99, Gettie forges a pact with Ray, the guitarist who fell off stage and onto her. Her solo status and his dose of LSD make their vulnerabilities evenly matched. He'll protect her from the beer-buzzed bros fueled by corporate greed and aggressive music. In exchange, she'll ensure that tripping balls remains memorable for all the right reasons. Falling for each other was not part of the deal.
Scars, Cars, and a Rock Star
Women's Fiction | Book Club | Contemporary RomanceLabels are confining, like knock-off Spanx, and Gettie hates most of hers. Scarred. Crone. Widow. Unemployed. The one she is trying on for size: artist. She rewards her cancer survival with a first-class ticket to LA to land gallery representation and a revenue stream because healthcare coverage is no longer a luxury. Her seat neighbor, Eli, the slightly younger, road-weary rock star, is headed home. The shared need to eradicate airplane germs and the banter it creates leads to an emotional connection. Gettie accidentally acquires another ill-fitting label: cougar.
The upside of canoodling with a hot musician is obvious. The downside is becoming tabloid fodder. Posts on gossip websites and viral TikTok videos are unflattering. Being mistaken for Eli’s mom is uncomfortable. But when the subject of parenthood arises, age matters. The label she and her chemo-ravaged body can't make stick: mother. Like with Spanx, Gettie and Eli's perfect fit and her California dream may only be an illusion.
Readers who enjoyed the emotional highs of music-lovers falling in love while songwriting, like in Holly Brickley’s Deep Cuts, and the emotional lows of media scrutiny negatively influencing one’s self-worth, like in Kate Stayman-London’s One to Watch, will connect with Gettie’s struggle to feel deserving of love in an aging body so heavily flawed.
Comparable Titles
Borrowed Bandana
Women's Fiction | Book Club | Contemporary RomanceEli is sure fatherhood isn’t for him. But when Gettie’s aging, post-cancer body throws the two a curveball, the miracle baby turns Eli’s reluctance into joy. However, premature labor leads to loss, rocking the couple’s relationship. Neither sees adoption or surrogacy as their path, yet Eli secretly desires another chance at fatherhood, knowing it was Gettie’s last.
Eli's tour supporting his GRAMMY-winning solo album coincides with Gettie's mural commission for a Midwestern media mogul. Their planned commitments become a full-blown separation when Gettie sacrifices their romance to give Eli the time and space to consider a new relationship—one that can give him a child.
Gettie's budding friendship with her celebrity client unfolds on social media. Eli battles jealousy and questions where his heart lies. And hers. A new motorcycle helps quiet his loud, circular thoughts, yet he quickly lands himself in trouble. Eli’s brush with the law and viral videos jeopardize his band's pending partnership with the LA Contemporary Ballet, a collaboration the band has long desired, while also causing Gettie concerns for his safety and doubt about a reconciliation. Eli finds himself at the intersection of his found family's future, his solo career, fatherhood, and true love. Choosing means losing.
Readers who enjoyed the drama of a hit song tearing its songwriters apart, like in Holly Brickley’s Deep Cuts, the age-gap and art themes of Akwaeke Emezi’s You Made A Fool of Death with Your Beauty, and the costs of career ambition, like in Sarah Seltzer’s The Singer Sisters, will connect with Eli and Gettie’s struggles with hidden desires, physical limitations, and the fallout from changing their minds.
Comparable titles
