Yikes! The past couple weeks have been so crazy I forgot to post the winner of the last Six Sunday sentences.
So . . . Alyse, if you'll email your mailing address and which of my Shelter Bay books you'd like (The Homecoming, One Summer, or On Lavender Lane) to JoAnn@Joannross.com, we'll get your book out to you next week. Also, unfortunately a couple other people fell through the chaos cracks we've been experiencing. If you haven't received your book, you'll be getting it soon, too. Sorry!
Back to Moonshell Beach (out July 3rd) and Marine captain J.T. Douchett, who's driving around in the rain, continuing to carry out the hardest mission he's ever experienced during all his years in the military:
The house was located at the end of a cul-de-sac where a white Ford Escape with a child’s car seat in back and a bumper sticker reading MY HEART BELONGS TO A U.S. MARINE was parked in the driveway.
J.T. pulled on his white cotton gloves and climbed out of the Suburban, the heels of his shiny shoes clicking on the concrete sidewalk. A pot of red geraniums on the small covered porch added a bright spot to the gray day while a blue star flag, signifying a deployed family member, hung in the side window.
He knew the sergeant standing beside him would be saying a prayer. Wishing he still possessed such faith, J.T. found his own peace by envisioning himself back home, willing the remembered tang of Douglas fir trees and brisk salt-tinged sea air to clear his head.
Although he’d rather be back in Afghanistan, facing a horde of Taliban, than be standing at this front door on this rainy California day, J.T. squared his shoulders and braced himself as he reached out a gloved hand to ring the bell and shatter yet another woman’s heart.
This time I promise I really will announce the winner here, on Twitter, and Facebook on Monday. Also, one commenter will receive an autographed copy of one of the Shelter Bays books. Winner's choice.
And as a special treat for March, celebrating my own Irish heritage, all four Sundays I'll be giving away a copy of A Woman's Heart, which is truly a book of my own heart and the first in my out of print (except as an e-book) Irish trilogy. So many readers have written to me over the years asking for stories about the children, so Mary Joyce, who was a teenager in that book is the heroine who's going to intrude on J.T.'s self-imposed exile once he returns to Shelter Bay. And boy will she shake up his life!
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28 comments:
I just want to hug him! Poor guy!
As always, great six, JoAnn! Makes me really NEED to know more about him!
Amy Durham
Oh, that is so sad. You really drew me in. :)
These are seriously bad times for this poor guy if he'd rather be facing the Taliban. You've portrayed his emotions very well, nicely done.
I hung on every word, Jo Ann. Toucing, sad, and so very real.
So sad. I want to reach out and hug him. Poor guy. Nicely done!
Thanks Amy! Yes, he does need a hug!
Jessica, the research for this book was one of the most difficult I've ever done. So sad. Right up there with the foster kid research for One Summer.
Cindy -- Unlike the Army, Marine notification officers stay with the families for as long as it takes for them to get better. It could be as long as a yr. This is a VERY hard duty he's got.
Thanks Layna! And yes, unfortunately all too real. Fortunately, Mary Joyce will arrive to help drag him out of his very deep sad.
Thanks Sarah! I'm hoping readers feel the same way. Because this is such a serious topic, the Shelter Bay part of the story is set around the town's first film festival, which adds some much needed fun.
I'm sure the next few sentences are going to bring heartbreak for everyone, not just the poor Marine widow. You really pull me into the story, like the hero very much. Terrific excerpt!
Veronica -- This is one of those scenes where I keep the door shut because it'd be too, too depressing. The next one is him back home in Shelter Bay, worrying friends and family because he doesn't exactly have PTSD. But he's just really, really sad to the bone. Fortunately, Kara, his sister-in-law-to-be and Shelter Bay sheriff has a plan. :)
This sounds like another heart wrenching book, looking forward to reading it. I can't imagine what these men and women go through, I think they're all heroes and should be treated as such.
I absolutely love this series and always look forward to reading the next one.
I can't imagine what it must feel like to be "that" soldier that has to tell someone that their loved one has died. Poor J.T.
I would hate to be in his shoes, having to tell a family their loved one is not coming home. As I read your sentences, I can't wait for the book to come out. Love the Shelter Bay series. I'm half way through Lucas & Maddy's story and loving the book. Would rather read than clean, but I have got to get my chores done first.
Have a great week JoAnn!
This Sunday Six, has me sniffing in my hankie... I feel so sad for what is about to happen..Great Six Sentence Sunday...
I am so, so wishing this book was in our hands now..
Contrats to last week winner...
Well, I almost had to stop reading at the mention of the car seat and the bumper sticker - such telling details and so moving. Glad I continued though. So much to love from the contrast with his colleague's faith to the memories from home to clear his head. Lovely stuff.
I am so eager to read this book. I can't imagine being the one to tell a family. I would be crying along with them.
Oh wow this sounds so sad it moved me. I can't wait to read more. I guess I will have to wait until next Sunday though. Thanks for sharing.
This just breaks my heart. Great six!
Oh my, so heart breaking. Very descriptive six which takes us right into the scene.
This sounds like great story, tars and all. Thanks again, Joann.
Sue P.
pennsdog@yahoo.com
Now I'm just hanging here waiting on her to answer the door.
I can't wait to finish the rest of the story this summer. I wonder if he will get a dog from Charity to help him recover?
PS - if you have not yet seen Act of Valor, hurry!! It was amazing.
That must really be a hard task indeed. On a happier note, your book covers are beautiful.
(Oy, your captcha gave me fits, I gave up trying my OpenID after 4 tries)
Thanks to all for the nice words. And no, we're not going to see the actual notification, but we do hear more details (such as all the scrapbooks J.T. had to look through, and buying bedding so a pregnant widow could spent the night before the funeral next to her husband's casket) as the story progresses.
Oh, and for those who enjoyed my Irish trilogy, we do go back to Castlelough for part of the book.
I'm signing in as not an owner so I can test the captcha that a couple people have said they had trouble with.
Lovely excerpt, and your covers are wonderful.
Loads of emotional impact in this deceptively simple scene. Great work!
Oh, what a heartbreaking 6. It tore me up. Poor guy. You conveyed so much emotion in just six sentences. Excellent!
Beautifully written and emotional six, JoAnn. I'm really enjoying On Lavender Land (and the mentions of JT in that) ;)
Thanks for your thoughtful comment. I really don't delve into the characters in this story. I have another one about six kids where I do. But I loved the thought.
That has to be one of the hardest duties a Marine can have.
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