Hi all,
Widow, Virgin, Whore
is the first novel I published in December 2011. Since it was my first attempt
at self-publishing, I decided it was time to make a few updates to it. The
original cover was sort of a make-shift cover, so I had Deborah at
Tugboat Design create a whole new
cover for Widow. (Read more
here.)
I LOVE the new cover. It gives the book a whole new feel and, I believe, gives
the reader a better interpretation of the story. I also went through the story
again to make sure there weren't any blatant errors in the story or typos that
just jumped off the pages. I found a few missing commas and a few sentences that
needed tightening or clarifying, but that was about it. But I was happy I took
the time to look over the manuscript one more time.
I am currently getting Widow ready to publish in paperback
through CreateSpace. It is time to have a paperback copy available, if not only
for readers who might enjoy it in paperback, then at least for my
mother-in-law who doesn’t own a Kindle, computer, or an iPad to read it on. At
least I know of one person who will enjoy Widow in paperback. J Deborah is fast at work at finishing up the
CreateSpace cover as well as adding page numbers and headings to my file, and
soon I'll be able to upload and publish it.
Until then, I'd like to share a new excerpt with you from
Widow, Virgin, Whore. Widow is a
dramatic tale of family and friends dealing with a devastating diagnosis of
AIDS. The story is not dark, it is not filled
with sex, and it is not just sad. While it has it's heartbreaking moments, it is also funny, uplifting and heartwarming.
If you read the many reviews on
Amazon or
Goodreads, you will see that the
majority of people love how real and human this story is while it also makes them
smile and cry at the same time. If you love a story full of real emotion – you will
love this novel!
Excerpt from Widow,
Virgin, Whore
This excerpt is from the middle of the book. Darla has
already been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS and has just recently found out she also
has cancer (very common in AIDS patients). Katherine and Darla have always had
a shaky relationship, and Darla doesn't make it any easier for her when she is
sick, as you can see from this excerpt.
"I hate this shit!" Darla
swiped at the cup of pills before her, spilling them on the kitchen floor. Katherine
tightened her jaw and stared hard. It had been a month since she was diagnosed
with cancer, and Darla had been on an aggressive program of chemotherapy, going
to the hospital for treatments twice a week. It had been hard on her body from
the start, and Darla had transferred her pain into anger, taking it out on
everyone in the house, especially Katherine.
"I hate all this shit,"
she repeated. "I hate taking these pills ten times a day, I hate chemotherapy,
I hate it all!" She grabbed her glass of orange juice and hurled it at the
wall. The glass shattered and juice trickled down the flowered wallpaper.
"Stop it," Katherine
demanded. "You're acting like an idiot!"
"I don't care. I can act any
way I want. I'm dying. I'm allowed to be an idiot."
"You're not dead yet, but keep
this up and I might help you along."
Two sets of eyes met and clashed.
"I might as well be dead than
live like this. All I do is throw up. If I'm not throwing up, I feel like
throwing up. I can't eat and I can't drink anything. And look at my hair! Look
at it!" Darla ran her bony fingers through the thin strands of orange left
on her head. "I'm going bald, for Christ's sake. Bald!"
She was ranting and raving so loud,
using what little energy her emaciated body had left, that Katherine thought
for sure she'd have a heart attack right on the spot.
"Calm down, Darla, before you
make yourself sicker."
Darla's eyes burned. "I don't
want to calm down. I'm sick of it, you hear? I'm sick of it all!"
Weeks of Darla's outbursts had
taken its toll on Katherine. Angrily, she snapped. "Fine then. Die. Go
back up to your room and hide from life, like you've been doing for the past
month, and just drop dead! You've been worthless the way you're acting anyway,
pouting, throwing fits one minute, depressing everyone in the house the next. Your
room is filthy, you stink, and your attitude is horse shit!"
"What am I supposed to do? Thank
God for making me miserable?"
"God damn you, Darla. You're
still alive. Be thankful for that. You can still walk and talk and think. Yes,
you feel like shit most of the time, but it could be worse. So instead of
sitting in your room, waiting to die, why don't you join in on life until you
do die? Dammit! Get off your dead ass and make something of the life you still
have left!"
Darla's eyes bulged out so far she
looked like she was going to explode. After a brief stare down, she turned and
went up to her room, slamming the door.
"Good riddance,"
Katherine muttered as she fell to her knees and began picking up the shattered
glass.
***
Katherine was at her computer working
on the last of her AIDS articles when she heard Chelsea shriek from across the
house. In a flash, she was down one flight of stairs, through the kitchen, and
up the other flight to join Denise, who had already responded to Chelsea's cry.
Chelsea and Denise stood with their mouths wide open, staring at Darla. Katherine
took one look at Darla and her mouth dropped, too.
Darla merely smiled back at them,
amusement in her eyes. Her hair was shaved off, leaving only a peachy film over
her entire head.
"Mom. Why?" Chelsea
screeched.
Darla ran a hand over the fuzz. "It
was falling out anyway, so I shaved it off. What's the problem? I think it
makes me look buff."
"But Mom, you're bald!"
Chelsea shrieked.
"It's no big deal. It'll grow
back, eventually. Besides, I was only doing what Katie said I should. Making a
change."
All eyes fell on Katherine.
"I told you to stop acting
like a jerk. I didn't tell you to shave your head," Katherine said
defensively.
Darla ran her hand over her head
again. "Well, this is a start. It makes me feel tough again. Like Demi
Moore in G.I. Jane. In control. And look, I cleaned my room. That should
make you happy."
Katherine and the others looked
around them. For the first time in weeks, they could see the floor. She'd piled
her dirty laundry in one corner, made her bed, and opened the windows to let in
fresh air. It was a major improvement.
"Now," Darla announced,
"the next thing I need to do is get out of this house. What about that
AIDS group you keep telling me about, Kathy? Do they have anything going on
tonight?"
Again, everyone stared at Darla as
if she'd just flown down from Mars. What happened to the moping, depressed
Darla from only a few hours ago?
"I thought you weren't
interested in being a part of any AIDS group," Katherine said.
"Well, now I am. Is there
anything going on with them or not?"
Katherine stared at the others with
raised eyebrows. Surely, Darla had gone schizophrenic. "I think they have
a fundraiser going on tonight," Katherine finally answered. "They
have Bingo every other week at a place in Fremont."
"Great, then that's where
we're going. Bingo."
"We?" Katherine asked,
surprised.
"Of course. You don't expect
me to go there alone, do you?"
"But I hadn't planned on
going."
"Well, now you can plan it. You
were the one who said I needed to do something, right?"
Katherine closed her eyes and
sighed. Me and my big mouth, she thought.
***
I hope you enjoyed this excerpt from
Widow, Virgin, Whore. If you'd like to read more, it is available
on
Amazon
Kindle and will soon be in paperback. In March, it will also be available
for Kobo and B&N Nook.
Cheers!
Deanna
