Dear Friend,
I’d like to tell you about my new book, New Parish. It’s a literary fiction, romantic comedy, about a young southern woman, Sarah, who feels like life is passing her by – well the life she wants to have.
Sarah is of course full of southern sass, spunk, and moxie, which comes out often throughout the story. Her independent nature has her living in the big city of Atlanta, working in her dream job, and doing volunteer work at a children’s center. She has almost everything she wants, she’s near enough to go visit her family whenever she wants – in Savannah, she loves kids and gets to play with them on a regular basis – at the children’s center, her dream job is as a graphic artist for a large publishing company – working on children’s books, lets her work from home. What she doesn’t have is a wonderful husband, and awesome children of her own… this becomes more and more of a bother to her as she gets into her later 20’s.
She’s dated, a lot! But hasn’t been able to find a decent guy to spend her life with… yet. She gave up on a knight in shining armor riding in on a white horse to rescue her long ago. She just wants someone nice, genuine, and not afraid to commit to a long term relationship.
Any who… her new friend Mary tells her about an option she hadn’t thought of before. Sarah goes from wondering if this new option is something she could really consider to wondering about her sanity for even thinking about it.
Hope you like my book… hope to hear from you soon…
Julie
P.S. Only about 3 more weeks till the book will be available!
Excerpt from New Parish:
From Chapter 5 – The Storm
“Stepping out onto the sidewalk made her feel alive and in control, she was a kid again going out to have fun, she loved feeling this excitement. The burdens she’d been carrying were slowly abating and she was finding a calm happy place inside.
She chose a table near the front of the very familiar restaurant and ordered the crab cake sandwich, which was what she always ordered there and quickly inhaled it. Being near the ocean always made her hungry. From her table she could see the beach and ocean beyond, something inside her longed to be there and feel the sand beneath her feet, so she didn’t linger at the restaurant.
Before stepping from the pavement to the sand she removed her shoes so that she could enjoy every second of the experience. Tying the strings of her canvas sneakers together she hung them over the strap to her backpack which she slung over one shoulder. Her oversized blue denim shirt was perfect for this time and place. There were a few white puffy clouds in the sky of brilliant blue, the sun was shining down warming her face with its touch. The light cool breeze from the ocean fanned her long white boho skirt that hung down around her ankles. She took a deep breath and stepped out onto the sand to begin her journey toward the decision that would affect the rest of her life.
Sarah had the beach mostly to herself, she could see a few sage gentlemen standing iconically on the pier fishing, but other than that she was alone with her thoughts and her decision.
The white sand made a slight scrunching sound beneath her feet and she couldn’t resist digging her toes in it as she walked. The waves gently embracing the shore carried her thoughts to a place where there was no ocean – New Parish…
Sarah sighed, “Living there would be so different, just the climate with its dry arid environment would be a challenge,” she thought. “I had to use loads more lotion when I was out there for just a few days. I could get used to that, and invest in tons of lip balm.” She pondered over the mountains and mesas of the surrounding areas of New Parish. She stopped her walk and stared out at the ocean waves in the far distance, some were creating little white caps. “It would be so far away from my family,” she thought. “I’m not one of those girls that needs to be near their mom, but living in Atlanta is near enough to go home any time I want.” Sarah sighed again, the “girl talk” session from her last night in New Parish came into her thoughts, “What if I get into a mess like some of those girls?” She walked on down the beach with her thoughts, feeling very heavy and worrisome now.”
