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AMAZON / BARNES & NOBLE / KOBO
/ APPLE
International bestselling author of the New
Adult Novel, This Much Is True and
the most recently released second novel in the Truth In Lies series of The Truth
About Air & Water.
Katherine Owen writes contemporary edgy
fiction, which translates to: she writes love stories that are contemporary in
setting and both edgy and dark. Some readers term her books emotional roller
coasters. She is not sorry. Owen writes about trust, love, and fate and how
relationships are often tested by all of these things in one way or another.
Love, loss, starting over. Yes, that about covers it.
Owen is
partial to commas, dashes, and plot twists & turns and the ampersand sign.
Apparently. With a degree in editorial journalism and English, she is aware of
the grammatical rules. She chooses to break them. Sometimes. For her complete
take on this, click here.
Connect
with her on:
***INTERVIEW QUESTIONS***
When did you
know you wanted to me a writer?
KO: I knew early on I
wanted to be a writer. It was a dream of mine (out of reach; it seemed) for a
long time. I won a poetry contest at fourteen and majored in editorial
journalism in college with a minor in English and took enough psychology
classes to major in that too. As it turns out, I went into high tech sales with
money and stock options as a draw and did a fair share of public relations and
marketing work as well. I had a very successful corporate career in high tech
sales and public relations and then seized the dream for writing full-time five
years ago. I spent the first three years taking classes with The Writers
Studio, (those assignments all wended their way into novels I’ve released) and
wrote a few long manuscripts that will never see the light of day. I started
out querying traditional publishing for an agent and came close with several
after winning the Zola Award for the romance category with Pacific Northwest
Writers Association in July of 2010. By then, I decided to self-publish and
released my first two books, Seeing Julia and Not To Us in May of
2011.
How long
does it take to write one book?
KO: It takes me about a
year to write a book. The only exception to that process is Not To Us
which I wrote start to finish in about six weeks. (That book is unique for
several reasons but there are fans of my work who love that one the best. It is
the outlier. The exception. From it, I take the encouragement for myself that I
can get her done when the deadline fast approaches.) So I know I can go
shorter, but the plotting and character development is what takes the most
time. There is a ton of thinking that goes into writing a story. I don’t follow
a pattern or normal trope for the storyline. All of that takes time to put
together in my head. Writing—when it all comes together, and I finally figure
out where it needs to go—comes rather easily when the story is complete in my
mind but that’s usually about ten months into the book. For example, The
Truth About Air & Water was half done in June of this year. It came
together by the first part of August. I wrote the ending two days before it
went to a few Beta readers; it was that fresh, but I knew I’d finally nailed as
I saw the characters arcs so clearly by then. Yay for KO!
How do you
deal with writer's block?
KO: For me, writer’s
block has more to do with being stuck with the plotting of the story. This last
round I really focused on writing tighter, avoiding too many tangents, staying
away from drama and making things more subtle in the subtext. Focusing in on
improving my structure with the story did tighten up the writing. I was only
blocked when I was unsure as to where to take it. I was stuck for months on the
initial plot line that would separate them. MONTHS. But once I put a structure
into place; the story came together, for the most part, and I was able to
write. Best thing I did for myself was view Dan Well’s seven-point story
structure over and over.
THIS is what helped me tighten the storyline and stay on a path.
Tell us
about your first book.
KO: My debut novel is Seeing
Julia, which is about a young widow who is saved from self-destruction by a
charming stranger only to discover that her life is not what it appears to be
at all. This is my first book where we get an early glimpse of Kimberley
Powers. Aha…the place in Malibu in The Truth About Air & Water
belongs to Julia Hamilton. See how that works?
Of
the books you've written, which are you most proud of?
KO: Two books are near
and dear to my heart: This Much Is True and When I See You. This
Much Is True is my breakout novel where I truly gained an audience (which,
of course, invited the snarkiest of readers as well). When I See You is
the just-about-guaranteed-to-make-you-cry kind of book in which I took a lot of
risks and created two of my deepest characters in Jordan Holloway and Brock
Wainwright. Tally is probably a younger version of Jordan on many levels; she
just hasn’t quite achieved the experience that 27-year-old Jordan possesses nor
reached that level of maturity yet.
Having said all of
this, I stand by The Truth
About Air & Water and feel like I actually reached the summit of the
proverbial mountain called achievement with this book. I can look around
and see the view and enjoy the vista from up here. I paid my dues with all the
other books I’ve written, and I improved in the writing of this one. There are
so many subtleties to this storyline. I encourage readers to read it again to
pick up on all of them.
What are
the pros and cons of being a writer, a selling author?
Pros: If you’re truly a
writer, you cannot not write. It’s a calling. It’s not logical. It just is.
Cons: It’s also one of
the hardest things I’ve ever done from the standpoint that you spend a lot of
time with yourself and play host to self-doubt to say nothing of the critics of
your work when you put it out into the world. You have to overcome all of that
that plagues you all of the time it seems.
Cons: Some of the best
writers of our time you will never read because it isn’t about writing the best
work; it’s about who gets the visibility. In the traditional publishing arena,
this is who curries favor and who they believe will be a best seller—commercial grade—if you will.
In the self-publishing
arena, it is still all about visibility and who curries favor and who is commercial
enough to make those top bloggers and top online retailer sites some cash. I’ll
leave it at that.
THAT has been an
eye-opener for me. To the point that I do want to give it all up some days
because I can land a six-figure job tomorrow and deal with the machinations
that exist in high tech sales a whole lot easier.
But alas, I love the
writing too much and I intend to navigate the waters of publishing even if it
is rough and unsavory and downright disappointing at times.
Still glad you asked?
Hope so. I wrote a lot more on this question but decided to just say this much.
Tell us
about The Truth About Air &Water. What inspired this story?
KO: The idea of Tally
came to me about three years ago during a writing assignment for one of The
Writers Studio classes I took. In that assignment, she was an
artist—promiscuous, bent on self-destruction—when she comes across a guy, who
has everything going for him. Linc didn’t change too much from the initial
beginnings, but obviously Tally did. I wanted to write about two characters
that had been dealt their fair share of tragedy and show how it shaped their
psyches and influenced what they did and ultimately what they wanted out of
life. I don’t think of these two as being co-dependent. I see them more as
being whole and complete with the other. Enhanced. In reality, these two would
be perfectly fine conducting entirely separate lives on their own—away from
each other—because they put their all into their chosen careers of perfection.
Tally with ballet. Linc with baseball. However, I hope what readers come away
with is realizing that ballet and baseball are just a means to an end, part of
the fulfillment, but the true dream they long for is being loved for who they
are, despite being famous for ballet and baseball.
Did you
plan from the start to write a series? You state that these can be read as
standalones, can you explain?
KO: No. I never intended
to write a series with This Much Is True. I’m not a fan of series. How
many series have you read where the books get better and better? They usually
don’t. I read The Bronze Horseman and fell in love. I read The Winter
Garden and stayed in love, but have yet to finish the series with that one
because I just don’t see how she can top the first book. Series are tough,
tough, tough. Readers demand more, but it is REALLY hard to make them happy.
So, ultimately, as my husband recently counseled, you have to do it for
yourself. Ask the question: what do you want to do next, KO? That’s where I am.
Guess what that means?
I wrote This Much Is
True long. I knew it was long. My one and only beta reader hated Tally. I
had to pull myself out of a dark abyss and believe in the book enough to put it
out there all by myself and take the heat for making it one long-ass book. I
took inspiration from Paulina Simons for that. F*ck it, if you can’t handle the
long book. I abhor cliff hangers and I just couldn’t figure out where to cut it
that wouldn’t leave readers hanging. I wrote it, released it, and felt like it
was done. Received high marks and lots of four and five stars and after a
long-ass while, I dealt with the one-star drive by reviews quite admirably.
A writer friend told me
that everyone was doing series, and that I should think about it. The drumbeat
for more of Linc and Tally was quite evident in many of the glowing reviews I
received, so I spent some time on a plausible storyline and began the arduous
task of writing The Truth About Air & Water and attempting to top
the accolades for This Much Is True. The pressure for doing so was intense.
It never let up for me personally until late July when I finally felt like I
had nailed the second storyline and saw the character arcs for myself in The
Truth About Air & Water. Then, my Beta readers came back after reading it
with nothing but raves for the book and I suddenly felt like I achieved the
virtually impossible—I topped the first book.
As an
author, you seem to be unafraid of taking risks, is it difficult to write these
stories? What do your readers say?
KO: Yes, I do take risks with
my storylines and don’t shy away from writing about heavy issues in my work. My
character Tally Landon in This Much Is True and The Truth About Air & Water
is a complex one. She makes decisions that a lot of us could or would never
make. Here’s the thing though I love Tally. She is so different from me
and probably you as readers. She does things at seventeen that I would never
have done. She is deep and flawed and perfect and real. I f*cking love this
character. She considers herself the bad twin. The good twin in Holly is a
constant presence in Tally’s life because being good—like Holly was—remains her
ultimate goal. In The Truth About Air & Water, book 2, pay particular attention to the dialog exchange between Sam
Wilde and Tally Landon in chapters nineteen through twenty. There is SO MUCH
revealed about Tally and how she sees and views herself in life in these key scenes.
I’ll go so far to say that not all of this is resolved by the end of The
Truth About Air & Water. Perhaps, we ARE just getting started.
I am not afraid of tough
storylines. My goal in the last few novels has been to kill less people and
strive for a different resolution than offing them. I took some heat for things
that transpired in my third novel, When I See You. Now, I stand by that
book as well as Not To Us, but I did challenge myself to come up with
plot lines that don’t always lead to the elimination of characters. I’ve grown
as a writer in this way, and I’ve mostly succeeded with that. (But sometimes
people have to go. Just sayin’.)
Bad stuff happens every
day in real life. My growing fan base seems to appreciate that I take on
realistic bad stuff and deal with it directly. I don’t just throw stuff in for
the sake of extra drama. I think it through and decide if it works or not. I tried
to make The Truth About Air & Water better—focused and tighter—on
the issue at hand. There is a TON of stuff (300 pages worth) I left out. As I
said before, Sam Wilde gave me a hard time for more than half the novel. I
really really liked him. He was a distraction for me and for Tally. Linc
demanded equal time. I had to sort that sh*t out. And I did. But it took some
effort let me tell you.
Then there is Linc. He’s
spent the majority of his life making up to his dad for the loss of both his
older brother Elliott, who was perfect, and his movie star mother for Davis.
Linc has a lot to live up to, and Davis Presley expects this of his son. This
becomes even more apparent in The Truth About Air & Water. Davis,
Linc’s dad, has built his entire existence of what is left of his life around
Linc making it to the major leagues in baseball, and he has seen Tally as a
threat to this goal since day one. Baseball is all there is. For both of Linc
and Davis. (Until Linc meets Tally.) Davis Presley’s life force in Linc’s life
is one to be reckoned with. Tally is just beginning to figure this out in This
Much Is True. It dominates in book 2. Dominates.
As to the essential part of your question: Is it hard to write and address these tough issues.
What do readers say?
KO: I’ve spent enough
time on the first part of your observation that, in short; “no it’s not
difficult to write a story dealing with heavy issues.” I must have a knack for
that or something.
As to the second
question? I don’t really go in worrying about the feedback from readers because
I seemed to have garnered a growing fan base of readers who “get” me and in
turn “get” my work. They already KNOW I color outside of the lines. I’ve had
bloggers, who read nothing but smut, praise my work. They’re practically
suffocating because of the lack of sex scenes in my work, but they keep reading
because they are still avid fans of mine and they have a fervent need to know
what happens next. Most readers seem to know I write the dark, angsty love
stuff. I’ve adopted that tag line just to keep them aware. I don’t write light
fluff. I don't rely on endless sex scenes to fill out a novel. Instead, I focus
on deep, complex characters and twists and turns in storylines that most readers
are challenged to figure out and seem to love.
Is The
Truth About Air & Water
the last time we will see Linc and Tally? It seems like there is room for more
story, is there?
KO: The book just came out in late August but there has already been a
new drumbeat from readers for more of these two. So. I recently announced to my
readers that I've done some thinking around this and have come up with a
workable storyline. Yes, there will be a third book for Linc and Tally some
time in 2015. I don’t
write fluff, and I've put these two through their paces quite enough already
but there are some secondary characters around who can make life difficult for
these two, and I've come up with a plausible storyline and have an idea where I
want to take it. But alas, I don’t talk about my work-in-progress much more than
that.
Who should
read your books? What kind of reader?
KO: Readers who enjoy reading more of a dark romance with complex
characters and appreciate twisty plot
lines will enjoy my novels. I don’t write predictable storylines, and I don’t
write to recipe. If you’re looking for light and fluffy, move along, my stuff
is neither of those things. If you’re looking for sex scenes through the latter
half of the book, you’ll be disappointed because although I like sex, I don’t
think it should take up half the storyline. If you have an appreciation for a
little literary flair and don’t mind the propensity for the f-word every so
often or stories that will make you cry, read my work.
What are
your future book plans? What's in the works?
KO: There is going to be more of Linc and Tally in a third book. Yes,
I have committed to fans for a third book (yet to be named) in the Truth In
Lies Series. Caution: I’m
not a fast writer (or, is that fast thinker?) so it will be a little while.
Look for the third book some time in 2015.
I don’t do novellas. I don’t
do serials. I have a WIP called Saving Valentines that I really need to
get back to and two unnamed WIPs from my writing classes with The Writers
Studios that both hold exciting promise. Writing. I am always writing or
thinking about writing.
Who
is the most favorite character you’ve written about and why?
Tally
Landon has to be the most complex character I’ve written. After two books, I’m
not sure that me as the writer or readers completely get where she is coming
from and why she is the way she is. It’s not just Holly’s death that affected
her, there is more back history that probably needs to be explored. So, yes,
Tally is the most complex. Runner-up would have to be Jordan Holloway from When I See You. In some ways, Jordan’s
just a more mature version of Tally Landon. Huh. Interesting.
Do
you have more fun writing villains or more “morally acceptable” characters?
I
have way too much fun writing villains. I wish I had more of a villain in The Truth About Air & Water but
bringing back Nika Vostrikova for round two seemed too easy, so I went in a
different direction. By far, my most memorable and fun-to-write villain was
Savannah Bennett in Seeing Julia.
Boom. SHE was fun to write. My sister read a draft and said she was too mean
even for fiction, but I held to the notion that any woman can get like that
when threatened so I kept her as mean as originally written. Another great choice for fun was writing
Carrie in Not To Us. The taker best friend. Carrie impossible
to love but man she ran a good game on our heroine, Ellie.
- ABOUT THE
TRUTH IN LIES:
Who
is your favorite secondary character from this series and why?
From
This Much Is True, that would be Nika
Vostrikova. We don’t understand this Russian girl and what motivates her. Well,
we can guess. But there’s a lot of
back history to Nika that makes her the way she is and we haven’t yet
discovered all of that. Hmm…just writing that gives me an idea. Yay!
From
The Truth About Air & Water, it
would have to be Sam Wilde. Literally, this guy gave me a hard time half the
time when I was writing this second storyline because he was distracting me and Tally! There’s also a back history
to him that needs to be explored. Hmm…again.
One
of the pivotal secondary characters is Linc’s publicist, Kimberley Powers. She
is one smart, strong, calculating and at times ruthless woman. It was
questionable at times if she is more of a villain or one of the good guys,
another fact that makes her one of the most intriguing characters in the
books. Is there a chance that maybe we
could get a book with her as MC in the future too?
KO:
It’s most unlikely Kimberley will get her own storyline. She appears in several
of my books: Seeing Julia, Not To Us,
This Much Is True, and The Truth
about Air & Water where she actually played a major role like she did
in Seeing Julia. Her public relations
gig and image protection/consideration makes her an intriguing character to
write and she helps out so much with plot lines. You do know that I did public
relations for several years, right? Interesting.
I’m glad you like Kimberley.
Who
is the character you loved to hate and why?
KO:
I don’t really hate any of my characters. I will say there is a lot more to
Davis Presley than we know (that Tally and even Linc knows) so there might be
more story there as well.
Which
character was hardest to write about and why?
KO:
Sam Wilde was hardest to write in the sense that he kept trying to take over
the story line and Tally. I had to rein him in a couple of times. I REALLY
liked him and I had to center myself on Lincoln Presley and maintain my focus.
Without
spoiling anything, can you tell us which was the hardest scene and which was
the most fun scene from this series to write about?
KO:
The hardest scene to get just right which can also apply to just writing it was
the scene with Davis Presley and Kimberley in meeting with Tally. There was a
fine line between making Tally the victim and making Tally stand up for herself
and even retreating which, on the surface, would be so unlike her. That scene
was tough to write. I had to make it believable. A few readers don’t believe it
which tells me they aren’t reading carefully enough because it’s right there
why she makes the choice she makes in all her inner dialog. Truly? All her
baggage weighs her down. I’ll leave it at that.
Can
you elaborate on a particular scene in This
Much Is True, book 1, which may shock a few readers? What inspired that
scene and why was it important for the plot?
KO:
This is in reference to a scene in This
Much Is True. I won’t spoil it for readers who haven’t read book 1, but I
think you have to come at this from the perspective of where Tally was—resigned to her fate at the time. She
wants things to work out with Linc but now there are so many lies between them
and the biggest one of all remains; and Rob knew all of Tally’s lies, most of
them anyway. Yet, Rob was there, loving her in his own twisted way and maybe in
Tally’s mind that all she had, all she deserved. This wasn’t about Holly at
this point. This was about Tally being the survivor and basically accepting her
fate. Circumstances had them at the cemetery—the one place she goes to be with
her sister—and the one place Rob knows to go and find her (and Holly on some weird-ass level). Yeah. I really didn’t get too caught up in where they were but the
fact that they were together should lead to readers understanding the why of it
all. She’s lost. He’s the one who showed up to find her (and maybe himself.)
Rob's deep; I’m not sure readers pick up on that. Perhaps there is more story
there, too. Huh…
NOW.
If you go to The Truth About Air &
Water and reread what Tally says to Sam in chapters eighteen, nineteen and
twenty, I think it becomes even clearer how this girl sees herself and where
she fits into the world even some time later. Or doesn’t.
What
would be your perfect casting for this series?
KO:
There are some looks to Megan Fox that are good reminders of Tally. Both her
eyes and her dark hair could easily be Tally’s. But casting Tally? That’s a
tough one.
As
for Linc? Hmm…Lionel Clerc (male model) is fresh in my mind and there is much
inspiration on my Pinterest page here as well as an avid fan of mine on Jamie Stokes’ Pinterest page. Check them out for inspiration and who you would
cast.
EXCERPTS from the Truth In Lies series
From This Much Is
True, book 1 – Chapter 2 - Linc
“There
was this girl. She would have been brought in a few hours ago? She was in a car
accident with her sister. Her sister…she didn’t…make it.”
I swallow
hard as I’m all too familiar with how to damp down this kind of painful loss
for myself, even though empathy attempts to wrestle with me now. I’m still
shaken by what transpired on the 101 just three hours ago. It was horrific for
everyone there but especially for the girl I swooped up in my arms and ran away
with from the inferno. The image of her beautiful devastated face and haunting
emerald green eyes stay with me.
The woman
behind the information desk has this long mane of silver hair that’s gathered
up in this huge gold clip and neatly pulled back from her surprisingly unlined
face. I notice the fashionable style because my mom used to wear her hair that
way, whenever my mom had a big interview with one of the entertainment shows or
a big spread with Harper’s or Vogue. Cara Sanderson Presley said it made her
feel young and fresh and put together. This woman looks like the same kind of
regal queen as my mother as she sits there behind this huge computer monitor
that makes it difficult to fully see her. This lady stares at me with her mouth
half-open, as if she’s trying to place me but isn’t quite sure yet.
For my
part, I pull my baseball cap forward because the last thing I need is someone
to recognize me, although that might help with the situation. Seconds
later, I decide to take off my cap and hold it in my hands and give her my best
I-need-your-help look, complete with a charming smile. “There’s this
girl. She has raven-black hair; well, it’s more the color of dark ground
espresso, I guess. It’s long? She was in a car accident about three hours ago.
And I was just wondering…”
“We can’t
give out information about our patients, young man. And aren’t you that
baseball player? The one the major leagues are clamoring to sign? Baseball
pitcher. What’s your name? A President’s name. Something Presley. I remember it
because I remember it was Elvis’s last name. The singer? Surely you know his
songs. Young people these days not remembering Elvis Presley is just a crime.
We watch American Idol sometimes, and I keep hoping one year they’ll feature
his songs because if you really want to know who could sing and dance—well, it
had to be Elvis Presley. Well, it’s a good way to remember your last name in
any case. I’m sure you get that all the time.”
“All the
time.”
“My
husband would be thrilled at meeting you. I am, too, of course, but…well, I’m
not much for baseball anymore.” She sighs. “We used to go all the time, but now
it’s just so darned expensive. Our son will splurge for tickets every once in a
while, and he takes Dickie—that’s my husband Richard, actually; but
everyone’s called him Dickie since…well, since we met in the eleventh grade
fifty years ago.” Her cheeks are flushed, and even her scalp that peaks through
her thinning silver hair is tinged a faint pink.
I swoop
in when she gives me a chance to speak. “My name is Lincoln Presley. Yes, I’m
actually playing on the Stanford Cardinal baseball team again this year. First
game next week. Now it’s practice pretty much all the time.”
“Oh.
Well, good luck—although I personally think you should stay in school.”
“Yes,
ma’am. I’ll finish up at Stanford this June. And the sports reporters are
covering the stuff with major-league baseball’s interest in me. I can’t really
comment about that. My publicist would have my head if I did.” Kimberley would
be so proud. I actually try to smile. “My dad’s Davis Presley. He played for
the Giants. Maybe your husband remembers him.”
“Oh, my
goodness, yes. Your father is Davis Presley? Then your mom was Cara Sanderson?
I remember when she up and married Davis Presley. I loved her films. I’m so
sorry she died.”
She makes
this sympathetic clucking sound while I hold my breath and strive for composure
by hanging my head to hide my face before it betrays all these emotions that I
don’t usually give into when people mention my mom.
“I
don’t…I don’t talk about my mom. I’m sorry.”
There’s
this awkward silence. She folds her hands into her lap and mumbles an apology
and manages to look disappointed at the same time. In me?
I’m a
little taken aback that even this woman demands I talk about my mother. I
have to tell myself to forget it, even though I feel bad for a brief moment
like I always do. I let the moment pass because, even though it’s been eight
years, I still hold on tight to the notion that I don’t talk about my mom or my
brother Elliott to anyone, least of all a stranger. My feelings about
their loss are mine, and I don’t tell anyone how I feel about that. I sigh
deeply and start again. “I’m looking for this girl. There was this girl. She
was in a car accident, and I was just wondering if you had any way of looking
up her information. I’d like to know if she’s okay. Her sister…” My voice
shakes. The woman’s blue eyes alight on mine. She looks sympathetic again. “Her
sister didn’t make it. I didn’t get her name.”
“Mr.
Presley, I’d like to help you—I really would—but I can’t give out
information about the patients.”
“What’s
the information desk for, then?” I ask gently and flash her one of my most
charming smiles as a last-ditch effort to disarm her enough to help me anyway.
“Oh, you
know.” She gets this little smile. “We tell people how to find their way
around. And when people know the patient’s name, we look up the room
number for them and direct them from there. That kind of thing. I’m just a
volunteer three days a week. It helps pass the time.”
“I’m sure
it does.” I sigh again and fidget with the baseball cap in my hand.
The woman
eyes me closer. “Were you there at the accident? It sounds like it was awful.
It’s all over the news, and that girl—the other twin—she was too young to die
such a horrible death. How sad. I just feel so sorry for the family. He’s one
of the best…here.” Her eyes get teary. “But there was just nothing he could do.
It was too late for his daughter.” She studies me for a few long seconds,
clearly aware of the small tidbit of information she’s just given to me. “You
really need to get the blood of out your clothes before it completely dries;
otherwise, it will never come out. She’s not going to want to see you like
this. You’ll scare her and remind her of the terrible tragedy she’s just been
through. Poor girl.”
“I don’t
think I’ll be wearing these again.”
“Why
don’t you sign for a nice bouquet of flowers with the gift shop? I can make
sure they get delivered. I can’t give you the room number, but I can deliver it
after you leave.”
This
seems the best I’ll be able to do. Charm isn’t working today, and my
inexplicable quest for pursuing this whole thing begins to weigh upon me.
There’s nothing I could have done. I did all I could, and clearly it wasn’t
nearly enough. I push off the counter and head toward the gift shop. Within
minutes, I pick out white roses and baby’s breath, and a nice little blue and
white vase that I think my mother would have liked. I add a small teddy bear to
my purchase as an afterthought once I reach the counter. I manage to spend a
little over $120 on a girl whose name I don’t know and probably never will in
less than ten minutes. And it still feels like it’s not nearly enough. But I
have to do something. I lay out my Visa card, and the cashier runs it through
with a slightly dazed smile.
Ten
minutes later, I’m placing a nice little cardboard box containing the vase of
flowers complete with a white ribbon tied around it—because pink seemed
inappropriate, and red seemed too morbid—and the little teddy bear tucked in
next to it back on Mrs. Trinity’s desk. Times ahead were going to be rough for
this girl, and giving her some flowers is the least I can do.
Mrs.
Trinity beams at me. Women really do like it when you do exactly what they’ve
told you to do. It never ceases to amaze me even under these surreal
circumstances.
I can’t
even explain why I’m here. Why I felt compelled to check three hospitals in the
general vicinity of San Francisco and basically got the same answers from the
same kind of helpful women at each information desk I went to. This is the
first one who suggested the flowers, so I know I am, at least, in the right
place this time.
I flash
her a little smile and give her a slight wave, and she nods with approval at my
gifts. “She’ll be better tomorrow. Tonight, she’s just resting. Tomorrow,
she’ll wake up and wonder where her sister is for a few minutes before she
remembers.” The woman’s lips tremble as she says this. “It’s very kind of you
to do this. I must say, I’m impressed. Now, if you just stay in school, Mr.
Presley, and finish up at Stanford before you chase the money and that huge contract
for baseball, you’ll really make me and your wonderful mother in Heaven both
proud.”
Audacious. My smile
falters a little because she’s mentioned my mom again and Heaven in the same
sentence.
She waves
her index finger at me. “Get those clothes washed. I’ll be here again tomorrow.
Look for me then, and maybe she’ll be well enough to ask me about the flowers
and who sent them, and I’ll tell her. Oh, you need to sign the card.”
She
slides the little white card that the cashier placed in with the flowers over
to me. Thinking of You is printed in black script across the top of the
card. I’m not sure it’s the best thing to say, but it’s better than the other
card choice that said With Sympathy.
I hate
those cards.
I write:
Thinking
of you. This much is true,
Elvis
For some
reason, the anonymity with the name Elvis seems appropriate. She probably won’t
even remember that she called me by that name at the accident. I can’t be here tomorrow.
I won’t be here tomorrow. I’ll be on my way to L.A. to see my dad. I don’t
volunteer this bit of news to Mrs. Trinity because, for some reason, providing
her with that easy excuse and garnering her general disapproval is too much.
Truthfully, the idea of seeing the girl from the accident again scares the hell
out of me because there was something about her that captivated me at a soul
level. Somehow, I think this woman would pick up on that. The truth is this: I
can’t afford any kind of distraction, not even for the beautiful broken girl
with the amazing green eyes and long dark hair lying in a bed somewhere in this
hospital.
My one and only focus is baseball. That’s the way it’s been for
almost ten years, and every call from my dad about the upcoming season and
major league baseball’s June draft serve as constant reminders of that singular
focus and commitment to this one and only thing allowed in my life—baseball.
eE
From The Truth
About Air & Water, book 2 – Chapter 2 - Tally
“She’s got the story,” I say to Linc hours
later as we lie next to each other taking up only half of the king-sized bed
because our bodies remain intertwined at an all but intimate level. The money
shot photograph session took twice as long as the interview. After another
three hours, we finally told Candy we had to go. I had to pick up Cara from
preschool and Linc had a late practice.
We left Candy and her photographer while they were still
packing up their gear. By this time, the reporter had given up on asking us any
more questions. She had the money shot. She had the story. We weren’t going to
like it. The unsettled feeling nagged at me, but Linc didn’t seem to care.
“She’s got the story.” Apparently, my fears need repeating.
“So?” He asks with
a laugh. “Come here.” He pulls me closer and trails his hands down between my
legs knowing full well this is my ultimate weakness for him. I cannot not
respond. His touch right there gets me to do just about anything for him. I
moan. He laughs again as he starts to make his move.
We put Cara to bed
fifteen minutes ago and left the bedroom door slightly ajar so we can hear her
but closed enough so she doesn’t hear us. Usually, we wait the agreed-upon
half-hour before commencing with doing the
deed as I still like to call it, but she was extra tired because I let
her stay up late to watch Entangled. I’m not sure she understands the
story line completely. I’m not sure I do either but she loves Rapunzel’s long
hair. We watched it together while we waited for Linc’s return from practice.
Cara played with my hair for most of the movie and kept running her little
fingers through it over and over, while I filled out endless wedding
invitations, imploring the ninety-five percent of strangers I do not know to
come witness our nuptials in the middle of October.
“The article won’t
run for weeks. Don’t worry about it. By the time it does, the season will
probably be over. We’ll be married. Settled. Nobody is going to care about how
we met or what happened in Moscow. They’ll be staring at your photograph, the Dirty
Dancing one, and be thinking how did that guy get so lucky and get a
girl like her? All those Sports Illustrated fans wishing they were me
and holding you up in the air just like Baby.”
“Even the girls?”
He laughs. “Even
the girls. When are you going to start believing we’re the two luckiest people
in the world?” I turn into him then and stroke his face and search his eyes for
solace and truth but I don’t answer. “When are you going to let go and let this
happen and believe in it? In me? In us?” Linc asks again.
I trace his lips
and kiss him. Lightly. Just a trace.
In the next, he
smothers my face with kisses of his own and eventually pulls me up beneath him.
“Come on, Tally. Let it go. Let it all go. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.
Don’t put a time clock on this. Don’t walk down the aisle toward me, less than
a month from now, still not believing that this isn’t real or this won’t last
because it will. I’m here. You’re here. So. Believe it. In me. In us. Now.” He
pulls away from me and studies my face. Guilt arrives right on time. I wince
along with it.“What is it? What aren’t you telling me? Because with that face?
It is definitely something.”
“Dr. Eldon
scheduled an ultrasound. I just…she’s optimistic and I just hope that we can
find a way to have another child. I want to give you a son because you’ve given
so much to me. And I want you to be happy. With me.”
“I am
happy with you. I love you because you’re my life. You’re my water. Don’t
forget that. I couldn’t survive without you.” He plays with a strand of my hair
and lets it slip through his fingers. “And I’m your air.” He sighs a little. “I
love you just as you are whether we have more kids or not. That’s why we’re
going to make it. But you have to stop believing that something bad is going to
happen. You have to believe in us as much as I do. We’re going to have this
great life together. We already do.
I love you. You love me. And believe me; love is enough. Our love
is enough.”
I hold my breath and gaze at him for a long
while. The commitment and compassion I see in the depths of his eyes begins to
steady me. All the doubt, and even the guilt, begin to fade away. Like a
protective shield, his love encircles me from all around.
Then when he pulls
me into his arm and looks at me as if I’m the only one that counts, just before
he kisses me, it is reassuring in the only way that matters.
Lincoln Presley, baseball star, is one of a kind.
And, he’s mine.
It’s a miracle really.
What an
unbelievable stroke of luck at having him in my life and loving me back. I kiss
him and let go of all my deep-rooted fears: falling, failing, even losing. I
actually feel them disappear as if a strange wind has come by and blown them
away.
I take in air—his
air—that allows me to live and breathe.
“Okay,” I
eventually say.
Then, I grab his hand and lightly kiss the
inside of his wrist, and then trail my lips along his broad chest. He leans
back against the pillows with a knowing look pulling me along with him, but
cedes all control to me. I start to smile, but then another errant thought
crashes in on me and threatens to undo all of these joyous declarations.
Everything breaks.
Thanks for featuring The Truth In Lies Series and my latest novel, The Truth About Air & Water, on your site. Best, Katherine Owen
ReplyDeleteSounds like an awesome series, thanks for the chance!
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