Are you the kind of reader who likes to turn pages instead
of click arrow keys? Do you like to hold a book instead of a computer or eBook
reader? Do you prefer being able to use a real bookmark to mark your place? The
good news is that my coming of age novel, OUT OF THE BLUE, is now a “real”
paperback book!
How did I come up with the idea for this title? Well, it
involved a little jaunt across the ocean. I took some time off from work and
traveled around England for several months. Staying in London was too expensive
so I went north – to the Cotswolds. There I stumbled upon a small village inn
that served as a model for the Windrush Arms Hotel.
The village did boast a “television personality” a man
nearing retirement age who had once upon a time been in two long-running
British telly shows. I'd never heard of him but the way he was treated by the
locals clued me in that he was “a somebody.” The barmaid was a young Italian woman
who was also traveling around and improving her English. I later learned that
she took up with the “television personality” but I never learned of their
fate.
I wondered what if the actor was a little more known
internationally? And what if the young woman who was interested in him was
American? Thus, the beginnings of “Out of the Blue” were born.
Much of
the action takes place in a small, scenic village in the U.K. It’s the late
autumn of 1981, and the Princess of Wales was expecting Prince William. You'll
find no mention of cell phones, Prince Harry, i-anything, 9-11 … back then
people actually smoked in pubs and ashtrays were even provided.
OK,
without any more of an intro, here's the official blurb:
Sylvia
Gardner is a naïve cashier who lives with her psychologically abusive mother in
Richport, Illinois. Vivian Gardner repeatedly tells her daughter not to
trust men because they only want to use her. Upset with being dumped by
her first boyfriend; Sylvia later falls in love with an English actor after
watching him on a PBS drama. For two years, she researches Alexander Thorpe's
life and career, saving her money to travel to his Cotswolds village, intent on
meeting him. Staying in the village's only inn, she gets room and board in
exchange for working at the Windrush Arms Hotel.
Alexander
is going through a career crisis, as he wants to continue making art films. He
still hasn’t embraced the notion of “going Hollywood.” Additionally, the walls
of loneliness and booze are closing in due to a long stint between acting gigs.
Complications
ensue when the drunken hotelier, Harry Livingstone, takes a fancy to Sylvia. As
in her fantasies, Sylvia and Alexander get together—but with unexpected
results.
Amazon: Out of the Blue
Amazon
UK: Out of the Blue
