Wednesday, February 9, 2022

A Rose by Any Other Name by Alana Lorens

123rf photos

One of the things I like to do in my novels is add something personal, some small detail that comes from my own life. In A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME, this detail is the name of the fictitious high school where the 20-year high school reunion takes place in the also-fictitious town of Exeter, in northwestern Pennsylvania.

I’ve named it George F. Wright, Jr. High, after my father. He wasn’t an educator, at least not at that level. He did teach math when he was in the Air Force, back in the 1950s. But after he retired from his work as a personnel manager at a large Erie hospital, he began a long run of volunteer service to various governmental agencies, including the local school board. Now, this is not a job I would ever want, mind you. I saw the piles of documents he brought home every week, and he ACTUALLY read them. I can’t imagine everyone who takes on that position can say that.

George Wright and granddaughter Bethany at her graduation

He was an odd mix of a fiscal super-conservative and an ideological liberal. He’d never have banned a book, but definitely would have frowned at a second swimming pool.

And a job that’s more thankless? I think we can see by what today’s school boards are dealing with, that it’s not a place for the weak of heart. I’m sure he put in 20-30 hours a week between meetings, committees and reading. Did I mention it’s volunteer?

So, thank you, George Wright, for your service, even if you’ll never see this tribute. I’m proud of you.

Book Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8qEjPOBzds&t=3s

Blurb: Up-and-coming mommyblogger and single mom Marisol Herrera Slade returns to her old hometown in western Pennsylvania for her 20th high school reunion in 2005, reluctant and yet compelled to see her high school sweetheart, Russell Asher, who dumped her for the homecoming queen.

Russell's marriage to the golden girl, however, ended in a nasty divorce, and he has been systematically excluded from his sons' lives. In his Internet wanderings, he's found feminist blogger named Jerrika Jones, who glorifies single motherhood, essentially putting a stamp of approval on what's happened to him. His group of single dad advocates have vowed to take this woman down.

What Russell doesn't know, when he thinks to rekindle what he had with Marisol, is that Marisol and Jerrika are one and the same. When his group discovers the truth, will their drive for revenge derail any chance the couple have to reunite? Or will they find they have more in common than they ever expected?

Author Bio

Alana Lorens has been a published writer for more than forty years, after working as a pizza maker, a floral designer, a journalist and a family law attorney. Currently a resident of Asheville, North Carolina, the aging hippie loves her time in the smoky blue mountains. She writes romance and suspense as Alana Lorens, and sci-fi, fantasy and paranormal mystery as Lyndi Alexander. One of her novellas, THAT GIRL’S THE ONE I LOVE, is set in the city of Asheville during the old Bele Chere festival. She lives with her daughter on the autism spectrum, who is the youngest of her seven children, and she is ruled by three crotchety old cats, and six kittens of various ages.

Author Links

Website        http://Alana-lorens.com  

       https://alana-lorens.com/a-rose-by-any-other-name/

Facebook    https://www.facebook.com/AlanaLorens/

Goodreads   https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4829967.Alana_Lorens

Amazon Author Page  https://www.amazon.com/Alana-Lorens/e/B005GE0WBC/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1

Book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8qEjPOBzds&t=3s

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/alana-lorens

Twitter:  @AlexanderLyndi

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexander_lyndi/ 

Buy Links

https://www.thewildrosepress.com/book-post/a-rose-by-any-other-name

Ebooks - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09KQWTDPF/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i3 

Paperback  https://www.amazon.com/Rose-Any-Other-Name/dp/1509239294/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= 

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-rose-by-any-other-name-alana-lorens/1140380664?ean=9781509239290 

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/a-rose-by-any-other-name-25 

https://www.walmart.com/ip/A-Rose-by-Any-Other-Name-Paperback-9781509239290/182573222

 


3 comments:

  1. Enjoyed the excerpt, but I really enjoyed hearing about your dad. He sounds like an interesting fellow! Wishing you all the best.

    ReplyDelete