Gracie - Sherry Foster Page 0,56
will tell you.”
“Am I making a mistake if I agree to stay?”
“Probably. Maybe. I can’t say. I want you to stay. But I don’t think I am a good man for you to know. You have to decide that.”
She reached up to cup his cheek. “I think you are a good man for me to know.”
Halo felt the tension leaving his shoulders. “I can’t promise I won’t be an ass hole, but I will try to make you happy.”
“You do make me happy. This is new and different and I can’t promise not to bitch about it and I can’t promise to always like it. But I will try because you make me laugh and I like that. Now, what are we going to do about Halo?”
So they do get their happy together…. But you know we have at least one more book so this isn’t the end of the series.
Author Notes
This book gave me so many problems. No one would fit in the mold I created for them and I deleted so many chapters and rewrote so much. Things happened. The world went to hell. The virus hit, lock-downs, protests, everything was crazy. I have no idea what even went on in the month of June because May ended with the death of someone dear to my heart. June started with the whirlwind of trying to help my best friend hold it together. I didn’t check facebook, I didn’t see the news, I didn’t check email. The world could have ended and I wouldn’t have known. I didn’t even get much opportunity to talk to my friend in North Dakota. (If I thought his bed was uncomfortable before we put a mattress topper on it, holy cow her mattress was worse. I put a mattress topper on that sucker also!)
As of the writing of these notes the book will be out in 5 days and I am excited to see what everyone thinks about the new developments. I want you to know the characters blindsided me. I had planned for Gammon Part 5 to be out well before this book since this book tells some of how Gammon got shot but leaves so much unsaid. I didn’t get to get part 5 out before this book. I didn’t get to write it before this book comes out.
These last few months have been hard on everyone and I think this book isn’t my best or even close. It was hard to write an exciting tale when the world was hurting so much. It is hard to be happy when there is so much pain around.
I think, in some ways, this book seems a little darker to me than the others. A bit more painful for the characters. Two people who love each other and can’t be together for whatever reason. Sometimes I write characters and have them interact in ways I know will tweak a couple of fans. I want them to feel for the characters. I have even gotten a message before from a reader and friend that said simply “I hate you.” I laughed. Rachael and I have known each other for a couple of decades but I had never done anything to make her hate me, especially not out of the blue like that. So I did what any innocent author would do--I tried to figure out which book she was on. I loved it because she got involved! Her feelings were engaged. But this book didn’t engage my feelings like I wanted and I don’t think it can engage others as much if my feelings aren’t engaged. Tears only came to my eyes once. I want to feel with my characters. I want to laugh and cry with them.
Halo was modeled after a guy I met while in North Dakota. He is a true DIVA. Outrageous with his gayness. Over the top you might say. Sitting in his apartment one night I asked him what he did for a living. And blinked… and blinked again at his answer. Because even though I know anyone can do anything if they set their mind to it, his divaness (Yeah, I know it isn’t a word but my god it fits him) anyway, his divaness did not prepare me for the job he did. I equated his job with big burly husky muscular men. But nope, he is a pipeliner.
I got a little negative feedback from Book 6 because I had a gay couple in the book and I killed off one of them. I was told this was a trope that needed to be done away with. (Killing off a gay character so others could live.) The only problem with it was, Nathanial wanted to be in a book, so I put him there. He told me I could kill him off, but his boyfriend was the one to die. I told him I would kill him in the next book then it became the next book. I finally told him recently that his character had run away from me and I would kill him as soon as I could manage it. I haven’t managed it yet. So that trope, totally my friend’s fault. And he will eventually die even if it is an overdone trope because Nathanial is a real life person and he is a close friend and he told me to!
Now I need to wrap this up, reread all 11 books and start of book twelve. I want it to come out on my birthday. That isn’t long.