About Renee Wiggins

Renee Wiggins has mentored, trained and changed lives in the health and wellness industry for more than 20 years. A strong believer and encourager in living an authentic, healthy lifestyle, Renee specializes in designing customized lifestyle programs that are tailored to the clients needs, goals and habits. Renee Wiggins is a registered dietitian, and a certified massage therapist. She is the author of several books, “Can I Exercise Sitting Down?” and “ Stress Down and Lift Up”.

You can visit Renees’ website atwww.resultsbyrenee.com.

About Transformations: Give Up the Struggle

We all have had our ups and downs in our lives, some more than others. But, how we end up in the end, determines how we actually see the storms. .In fact, these storms makes us stronger, better and a wiser person.

Resisting change can make the obstacles, the hindrances and the storms become even more unbearable. However, if we choose to view them in a different light, change can moves us into a more rewarding position.

Renee shows how our life should follow our words. These words/affirmations presented in this book can be a turning point in your life. These affirmations helps us to break the chains of negative thinking and help us to release the past and move forward.

Read the Reviews:

“With wise words and positive effects from experienced author Renee Wiggins, `Transformations – Give Up The Struggle’ enhances personal recognitions, abilities and understanding.

Motivational, clean and easily read.

Recommended also as a gift book.

Read and enjoy – gift and wrap – present!

Eliza Earsman, author of “A Collection of Verse”

If you need to transform your life, pick up a copy of this book and let the transformation begin.

Quill Book Reviews

About Ann Putnam

ANN PUTNAM teaches creative writing and women’s studies at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. She has published short fiction, personal essays, literary criticism, and book reviews in various anthologies such as Hemingway and Women:  Female Critics and the Female Voice and in journals, including the Hemingway Review, Western American Literature, and the South Dakota Review.  Her recent release is Full Moon at Noontide: A Daughter’s Last Goodbye.  You can visit her website at www.annputnam.com.

The Interview

Could you please tell us a little about your book? Did something specific happen to prompt you to write this book? Who or what is the inspiration behind this book?

If I may, I’d like to answer these three questions together. I wrote a memoir about losing my father, Full Moon at Noontide: A Daughters Last Goodbye.
I’d like to reference the “Preface” I wrote for this memoir, which tells the story of my mother and father and my dashing, bachelor uncle, my father’s identical twin, and how they lived together with their courage and their stumblings, as they made their way into old age and then into death. And it’s the story of the journey from one twin’s death to the other, of what happened along the way, of what it means to lose the other who is also oneself.

My story takes the reader through the journey of the end of life: selling the family home, re-location at a retirement community, doctor’s visits, ER visits, specialists, hospitalizations, ICU, nursing homes, Hospice. It takes the reader through the gauntlet of the health care system with all the attendant comedy and sorrows, joys and terrors of such things. Finally it asks: what consolation is there in growing old, in such loss? What abides beyond the telling of my own tale? Wisdom carried from the end of the journey to readers who are perhaps only beginning theirs. Still, what interest in reading of this inevitable journey taken by such ordinary people? Turned to the light just so, the beauty and laughter of the telling transcend the darkness of the tale.

The writing of the book came out of a series of little notebooks of lines, phrases sometimes single words I carried with me like a talisman through the months when I lost my father and my uncle, my father’s identical twin. Those notebooks seem like relics to me now because I remember the places I carried them, where I sat when I wrote in them: hospital cafeterias, emergency rooms, ICU units, hospital hallways, elevators, lobbies. I carried the notebooks to keep me safe, to keep me from rushing out the doors of those hospitals and never coming back. Months after my uncle and my father die (six months to the day apart), I realized I had the beginnings of a book, and a book which I wanted and needed to write, not knowing how it would ever see the light of day.

During the final revisions of this book, my husband was dying of cancer, and he died before I could finish it. What I know so far is this: how pure love becomes when it is distilled through such suffering and loss–a blue flame that flickers and pulses in the deepest heart.

Who is your biggest supporter?

My husband. Although he didn’t get a chance to read this book, as it was published after he died, he was the one who protected my writing life and loved it most. He built a special room for me so that I finally did have a “room of one’s own.”

Your biggest critic?

That’s an easy one. Myself!

What cause are you most passionate about and why?

I suppose this would be gay rights. I have a gay child, and I know the slings and arrows of life that have already come his way. I want him to have a right to all the happiness everyone else is entitled to. Some day I will write about this.

In the last year have you learned or improved on any skills?

Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to point to something specific, and say, yes! This past year I’ve learned to write dialogue more authentically; I’ve learned how to create character beats, or write lavish description, or create tight, unerring plots. I can say none of these things. What I can say is that I have learned to endure. To just hang on, and go to the writing as to the well. I have learned to take long, cool drinks of water from that well.

Do you have any rituals you follow when finishing a piece of work?

In the olden days, let’s say 15 years ago or so, I would put a working manuscript in the freezer any time I left the house for any length of time. I was told that even if the house burned down, the contents of the freezer would be safe. I used to put my manuscript or work in progress in a safe deposit box but kept losing the key. So I guess toward the end of a work I get somewhat edgy and superstitious. Now I fear computer meltdown, so I try to back everything up and then have back ups of my back ups. I don’t always do this, but I worry a lot.

Often I don’t quite know I’m nearing the end of a work until I’m really there. That’s probably a self-protective device so I don’t frighten myself into silence.
I wish I could say I have some magical incantation that involves candles and chanting but I don’t. I just keep listening to the music that most inspires me and is most connected in my mind to what I am writing.

Who has influenced you throughout your career as a writer?

I gain inspiration wherever I can find it. I try to cast a wide net. Other writers, of course, and some beloved colleagues whose own writing life is a continual inspiration to me.

What is the most important thing in your life right now?

My children

What are you currently working on?

I’m currently working on revising a novel called Cuban Quartermoon. It’s a novel set in Havana, Cuba and comes out of six trips to Cuba I took over the years as part of a Hemingway Colloquium sponsored by the Cuban Ministry of Culture. I’m in love with this book, but it’s big and kind of sprawling and defies genre—part magical realism, literary, political thriller. I’m looking at it with an eye to what I should cut. Each time I went to Cuba I came home with another layer of emotion and experience. There is an old Cuban proverb, which says, “Believe only half of what you hear in Cuba and none of what you see.” So there were layers and layers of intrigue, beauty and sorrow to unfold.

Do you have any advice for writers or readers?
In Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott talks about this in her usual charming, disarming and hilarious way: publication is not all it’s cracked up to be. The joy—the spiritual, artistic, life-altering joy—is in the process, not in the outcome of that process, as that is so often out of the writer’s hands.
A poem that has great meaning for me is Marge Piercy’s “For the Young Who Want To.” I’d like to offer a few lines:
“Talent is what they say
you have after the novel is published…
Beforehand what you have is a tedious
delusion, a hobby like knitting . . . .
The real writer is one who really writes. Talent
Is an invention like phlogiston
after the facts of fire.
Work is its own cure. You have to
Like it better than being loved.”
I think the most I can say is that writing is a way of being in the world that puts us fully present in life rather than causes us to withdraw. While my husband was dying, I wrote the “epilogue” to my memoir. I do not know how or why this came to me, but it arrived unbeckoned, all of a piece.

“Writing this now in a rainy light after loss upon loss, a memory comes to me. When I was a teenager, I took voice lessons from Ruth Havstad Almandinger, who gave me exercises and songs I hardly ever practiced. I have wondered why this memory has so suddenly come to me now, and why this, the only song I remember, comes back to me whole and complete:
“Oh! my lover is a fisherman/ and sails on the bright blue river
In his little boat with the crimson sail/ sets he out on the dawn each morning
With his net so strong/ he fishes all the day long
And many are the fish he gathers
Oh! My lover is a fisherman
And he’ll come for me very soon!”

If only I’d known then that my true love would be a fisherman, I might have practiced that song harder and sung it with more feeling, which was what Ruth Havstad Almandinger was always trying to get me to do. If only I’d had a grown up glimpse of my true love when I was sixteen, I would have sung that song so well. If only I’d known he would have cancer and go to the lake for healing the summer after the radiation treatments were done. If only I’d known that I would be his fishing partner that miracle summer of the sockeye come into the lake from the sea. If only I’d known that the cancer would return and that I would do everything I could to save him, knowing all along that he could not be saved, and that my heart would break beyond breaking, then break again. If only I’d seen the sun coming up over the mountains and the sky shift from gray to purple and the pale smudge of light against the mountains turn gold just above the crest. If only I’d seen the sun glinting off those sunslept waters as my love lets down the fishing lines, and off in the distance a salmon leaps—a silver flashing in the sky as if to split the heart of the sun—before it disappears into a soundless splash, in this all too brief and luminous season, to spawn and to die—oh, how I would have sung that song.”

Is there an author that inspired you to write?

Yes. But not just one. So many writers have touched my heart and awakened my sensibility. Ernest Hemingway was probably the first writer who really caught in a deep way for me. It’s interesting because I discovered him as a college sophomore and thought that he’d be an author I’d grow out of, especially with my changing work in gender studies. But wonder of wonders, this is exactly where Hemingway scholarship is going these days. So I continue to find him intriguing. I love any writer who is lyrical and so I’d also add Virginia Woolf and Toni Morrison, and I love several of Ann Patchett’s books. I’ve taught Bel Canto to my college students several times. Marilynne Robinson and Terry Tempest Williams are also beloved to me.

What do feel sets this book apart from others in the same genre?

There are a number of books about losing parents on the market today. Many of them seem to be “advice” or “how to” kinds of books. Mine is a literary memoir about losing my father, and a memoir about loss. But it’s also about losing my uncle, my father’s identical twin brother. So in a sense it was like losing my father twice. The connection between identical twins is an extraordinary one, yet it was just how my family was.

About Full Moon at Noontide

This is the story of my mother and father and my dashing, bachelor uncle, my father’s identical twin, and how they lived together with their courage and their stumblings, as they made their way into old age and then into death. And it’s the story of the journey from one twin’s death to the other, of what happened along the way, of what it means to lose the other who is also oneself.

My story takes the reader through the journey of the end of life: selling the family home, re-location at a retirement community, doctor’s visits, ER visits, specialists, hospitalizations, ICU, nursing homes, Hospice.  It takes the reader through the gauntlet of the health care system with all the attendant comedy and sorrows, joys and terrors of such things.  Finally it asks: what consolation is there in growing old, in such loss?  What abides beyond the telling of my own tale? Wisdom carried from the end of the journey to readers who are perhaps only beginning theirs.  Still, what interest in reading of this inevitable journey taken by such ordinary people?  Turned to the light just so, the beauty and laughter of the telling transcend the darkness of the tale.

During the final revisions of this book, my husband was dying of cancer, and he died before I could finish it. What I know so far is this: how pure love becomes when it is distilled through such suffering and loss–a blue flame that flickers and pulses in the deepest heart.

As I finish this book he is gone three months.

Reviewed by Tim Gleichner

I’m a man with a confession to make. I like to clean. There I said it. I LIKE TO CLEAN! I set aside one morning every weekend for cleaning our home from top to bottom. With this love of cleaning comes a need to have products that can do what I need them to do, and in the category of multi-purpose cleaners I give Fabuloso very high marks.
I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m only looking for a couple of things in a cleaner. Cleaning power and a great, long lasting scent. Fabuloso delivers on both of these counts. You don’t need an incredible amount of product to clean with, so you won’t have to use any more than you would with the big name cleaners, plus the price was $0.55 less.

As for fragrance, I used the “Passion Of Fruits” in my house and it smells fantastic is very long lasting. In comparison to other big name cleaners, it worked as well and for less money.

So, this guy who likes to clean is a big fan of Fabuloso and would highly recommend it to anyone who has a cleaning job in their future. Male or Female.

It was that time again.  My girls were both complaining that they were sick of their toothbrushes.  And, to be honest, they were probably due for a new one.  So, off to Walmart we go.

Having a 5 and 6 year old always ensures that either my husband or I are going to have to help them with their teeth.  There is no way they can be trusted to brush enough or to not spit out the big pieces of toothpaste and then continue to brush with the toothbrush and just a limited amount of water (and maybe a small amount of toothpaste still on it).  But, when we looked in the toothbrush aisle, they fell in love with this toothbrush.  And to be honest, so did I.

What’s not to love?  It is a My Way Spinbrush by Arm and Hammer.  The spinbrush helps them brush better by having the brush circulate with the push of a button (or in this case a purple jewel that you push).  And the fact that they can decorate it to fit their style and you have a true winner.  Each of my girls had so much fun decorating them and then couldn’t wait to use them. It comes with stickers that adhere well to the toothbrush, and include letters so they can put their name on it.   I thought this might be just the novelty of a “new” toothbrush.  But, we’ve had them for 4 days now and they still want to brush their teeth more now than ever.  So, it’s a win win for everyone.

Here is a picture of my daughter Grace, holding up her brush.  Notice the missing teeth – 6 as of this weekend.  If you look you can see that she has her name on it (right by her hand, running up and down) – that way there is no fighting over which one is hers.  Happy Monday everyone!

Let me first start out by saying how great you guys are!  This is the most people that I have ever had visit my site in such a small period of time and I really appreciate it.  Thanks to all who entered, I used Random.org and the winner is:

Elise of Bookish Delights!  Elise, can you please shoot me off an email with your address and what kind of gift card you want?

But, for those of you who didn’t win don’t worry.  I plan on hosting another giveaway like this as soon as I hit 300 followers or 30,000 hits, whichever is first.  So, keep visiting!

Thanks again and have a great rest of the weekend!

Do I love books?  You know I do.  But, do I love the same books you do?  Odds are, although we may agree on some of the same books our tastes vary.  So, when I tried to decide what to offer for this giveaway I started to peruse my shelves to see what I could find.  And you know what I discovered?  There was going to be no way that I was going to be able to please everyone, and I wanted to make this a giveaway that would appeal to all.  So, I had an idea.

This giveaway is for a $25 gift card to the store of your choice, whether it is a book store, Amazon, Walmart, etc…I just am hopeful you use it on books.  You can also gain extra entries, just fill out the info  below.

Thanks for visiting my blog, good luck and have a great weekend!

For entries please:

Leave a comment – +1

Follow me on Networked Blogs – +1

Follow me on Google Connect – +1

Follow me on Twitter – +1

Tweet about this – +1 (make sure to leave the link)

Post on any other social media – +1 for each (please leave link)

Grab my button for your sidebar – +5 (make sure to leave me the link so I can see it)

About Soren Paul Petrek

Soren Petrek is a practicing trial attorney with a passion for studying World War Two.  He lived in England and France listening to people’s stories of struggle and sacrifice during the darkest periods of the war.  Soren’s debut novel, Cold Lonely Courage was inspired by the true story of a young Belgian woman who helped countless Jewish children escape from the terrors of the Nazi regime.  Soren lives with his wife, Renee and sons, Max and Riley, in central Minnesota. You can visit Soren’s blog at http://coldlonelycourage.blogspot.com. Cold Lonely Courage is Soren’s debut novel.

The Interview

Could you please tell us a little about your book?

An assassin born of death and violation is the most dangerous of all. Cold Lonely Courage tells her story.

The action begins during the German Blitzkrieg attack on France in the opening days of World War II. The heroine, Madeleine Toche races to the front to find her brother dying after his unit is destroyed as the Germans advance. Crushed, Madeleine returns his body to her parents.

In the months that follow, Madeleine is raped by a Nazi officer. Seeking revenge she kills him and flees to England to volunteer for duty with Britain’s shadowy Special Operations Executive. Trained as an assassin she clandestinely returns to France with Captain Jack Teach a veteran of the SOE ‘Dirty Tricks Department’. They find themselves in love but are torn apart by duty and the insurmountable odds of survival. Madeleine fights on terrorizing the murderous Nazi elite always only one step ahead of capture and torture.

Did something specific happen to prompt you to write this book?

I had completed my first novel, The Patience County War and wanted to continue writing about Madeleine and her adventures in World War Two. I thought about her character more and more and finally had to tell her story.

Who is your biggest supporter?

My family is my biggest supporter and my mother my biggest fan.

What are you currently working on?

I am currently engaged in the rewrite of, The Patience County War my first novel.

Do you have any advice for writers or readers?

Tenacity is important to getting your work published. It would be such a waste for gifted writers to give up on their dream. Moving forward, even slowly is progress towards achieving any goal.

Is there an author that inspired you to write?

Hemingway and many others. I enjoy living history through the eyes of writers who’ve captured the essence of the times in which they lived and wrote. Pictures and non-fiction explain in a manner that lacks meaningful dimension. Readers understand emotions through their own experiences and therefore fiction is personal to the reader and is therefore much more powerful.

What are some of your long term goals?

I would like to be able to write, full time. That may only happen after I retire from practicing law, but someday I will have that luxury. I can’t imagine what that will be like. I’m confident that I’ll get that chance.

What do you feel has been your greatest achievement as an author?

Cold Lonely Courage won first palce in the 15th Annual Writers Network Screenplay & Fiction Competition in the Fiction category. Fade In Magazine coordinates the competition. Recently, Fade In was named ‘best movie magazine’ by the Washington Post.

What is the most important lesson you have learned from life so far?

Anything worthwhile having or achieving requires a great deal of hard work and perseverance.

Is there anything you regret doing/not doing?

Being a front man in a rock band when I was younger.

What is your favorite past-time?

Cooking. My tastes are eclectic, but center around French cuisine.

Is there anything else you would like to share with us?

I encourage anyone regardless of your tastes in fiction to read, Cold Lonely Courage. It has a universal appeal and a little bit of everything that make a good story, love, hatred, camaraderie, determination, hope and desire. You won’t be disappointed.

Please visit my blog at: http://coldlonelycourage.blogspot.com.

About Cold Lonely Courage

An assassin born of death and violation is the most dangerous of all. Cold Lonely Courage tells her story. The action begins during the German Blitzkrieg attack on France in the opening days of World War II. The heroine, Madeleine Toche races to the front to find her brother dying after his unit is destroyed as the Germans advance.  Crushed, Madeleine returns his body to her parents. In the months that follow, Madeleine is raped by a Nazi officer.  Seeking revenge she kills him and flees to England to volunteer for  duty with Britain’s shadowy Special Operations Executive.  Trained as an assassin she clandestinely returns to France with Captain Jack Teach a veteran of the SOE ‘Dirty Tricks Department’.  They find themselves in love but are torn apart by duty and the insurmountable odds of survival.  Madeleine fights on  terrorizing the murderous Nazi elite always only one step  ahead of capture and torture.

About L.G. Bradshaw

L.G. Bradshaw lives in Minnesota.  He served in the United States Army and worked as a Minneapolis police officer for 14 years, witnessing a seemingly endless stream of human depravity, some of which has found a home in his writing.  ‘Dot to Dot’ is his first of many novels, and defies convention. Dot to Dot can’t be pigeonholed into any one genre.  It’s got a little bit of everything: drama, comedy, horror.  Even a necropheliac serial killer thrown in for good measure.”

Bradshaw has finished two other novles and is currently working on a fourth.  For more information on the author, visit his website: www.lgbradshaw.com.

The Interview

Could you please tell us a little about your book?

‘Dot to Dot’ has a little bit of everything: drama, horror, suspense, comedy, romance. Some of the characters are normal, everyday people, others are a bit over the top. I think it’s got something for everyone. Even a cannibalistic, necrophiliac serial killer thrown in the mix for good measure.

Who or what is the inspiration behind this book?

I wanted to write in my own style, not something that was a cookie cutter type novel. So many of those out there right now. Originality in writing these days seems to be in short supply. Fuck it, that’s not me. I write what I want. If you like it, cool. If not, that’s cool, too. Frankly, I don’t write for anyone but me.

What cause are you most passionate about and why?

I’m not passionate about any causes. I’m too lazy for that shit. What I am passionate about are relationships. Family, friends, my sons. Relationships with those people are what really matter to me, not some made up cause. If that’s your thing, that’s cool. Just not my bag, baby.

What is the most important thing in your life right now?

My sons! Love them more than anything. They have taught me the meaning of unconditional love. Outside of that relationship, unconditional love doesn’t exist. At least in my opinion.

What are you currently working on?

Finished two other novels, and currently writing a fourth. All are great! I think each one gets successively better.

Do you have any advice for writers or readers?

Write what you want. Write the way you want. Fuck what the critics say. Who the hell are they anyway?

About Dot to Dot

Dot to Dot is a literary relay race revolving around one central theme: we are all connected.  These connections may be seemingly insignificant – bumping into an old friend on the street or passing a stranger in a hospital corridor – but they have the potential to alter the course of our lives, some slightly, others in more profound and lasting ways.

The race begins with an embattled United States senator and moves from character to character like wildfire: the senator’s disgraced wife who decides to leave the public eye following the outing of her husband; the motley crew of movers tasked with transporting the senator’s wife and kids back home to New Mexico; a boy who takes matters into his own hands to save himself and his mother from her murderous boyfriend; a private detective who discovers that his past has come back to haunt him; a police chief who spends his own money to help a Mexican family; the Mexican family themselves who are desperate to get their kidnapped daughter back; a country music singer who stumbles on fame after heartbreak; and, finally, a serial killer who has the tables turned on him by a very unlikely avenging angel.

Simply put, ‘Dot to Dot’ is a story about people, some extraordinary, some not, but all memorable and flawed in their own unique ways.

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.

SocialSpark

Have I told you before how much I love reading other people’s blogs?  Well, I do.  And I love it even more when I can get ideas from them that I feel may benefit me.  Social Spark is one such idea.  I just signed up for their services and it couldn’t have been easier.  Now I just need to wait and see what kind of offers I will be extended as a member.

What is Social Spark? From what I can gather after looking at the site (and part of the reason I signed up for their service) is they allow you opportunities to write reviews of products and get paid for them.  If you are unsure about signing up you can read their Code of Ethics here.   It will provide you with all sorts of information that you might want in order to form an educated decision.  I thought it really couldn’t hurt, you aren’t forced to participate in anything and if you do you can earn some extra cash.  In today’s economy I just couldn’t see the down side.  I mean, we can all use a little extra cash, right?  And a lot of these products you may already be familiar with or use.

To sign up, all you need to do is click here.  Hope to see you there!

About Rebecca James

Rebecca James was born in Sydney and spent her twenties teaching English in Indonesia and Japan. She currently lives in Armidale, Australia, with her partner and their four sons.

You can visit Rebecca online athttp://www.rebeccajamesbooks.com/.

Enjoying the Sad

On reading my book, Beautiful Malice, several people have asked me why I wanted to write something so sad. Why would you want to even think about, let alone write about, such morbid stuff? And when asked such a question I always confidently answer:

‘Ah…oh…um. I don’t know?’

As much as I’ve pondered and wondered and strained my brain to work out why I enjoy writing about sad stuff I can’t come up with anything better than I like things that move me. Some of my favourite books have made me howl. I love nothing better than curling up on the sofa with a movie and a box of tissues. Lots of my favourite songs make my eyes well up – and I play them over and over and over.

I don’t think I’m some kind of freaky masochist. Lots of us enjoy a good weep. But I do wonder why. Psychologically healthy people don’t welcome real tragedy into their lives. We don’t usually want to cry about real life, because when we cry about real life we feel bad, deep-down-inside bad, through-to-the-bones bad. It’s not the same when we cry in response to a book or a movie. What exactly is it about fictional situations that make a good wallow so strangely enjoyable?

I even used Google to try and find an answer. (I Google everything, everything!) One article I found suggested that we like movies and books that make us cry because it helps to release some of the repressed pain that is already there within us — reading and watching as catharsis. A certain blog I happened upon suggested that sad movies and books allow us to imagine our own worst fears, face them, cry a little, and move safely back into our comfortable reality without being truly hurt.

Both ideas seem feasible to me — and I reckon the real answer would involve a mish-mash of both plus a whole lot of other stuff that I haven’t even covered. The truth is that I don’t really care enough to investigate further because the important thing to me is that when I cry over a book or a movie or a song, it means I care enough about the characters or situation to have an emotional response. And that, to me, means that the book or movie or song works as a piece of art.

I’m not a cruel person but I have to admit that when people tell me that my book made them cry it always makes me smile.

About Beautiful Malice

An international sensation that The Wall Street Journal called a “publishing phenomenon,” this layered, poignant, and chilling novel of psychological suspense is the year’s most stunning American fiction debut. From its wrenching opening to its shocking climax, Beautiful Malice unfolds a haunting story in which people, motives, and circumstances are never what they seem.

Who is Katherine Patterson? It is a question she hopes no one can answer. To erase her past, Katherine has moved to a new city, enrolled in a new school, and even changed her name. She’s done the next best thing to disappearing altogether. Now, wary and alone, she seeks nothing more than anonymity. What she finds instead is the last thing she expected: a friend.

Even more unlikely, Katherine’s new friend is the most popular and magnetic girl in school. Extroverted, gorgeous, flirtatious, and unpredictable, she is everything that Katherine is not and doesn’t want to be: the center of attention. Yet Alice’s enthusiasm is infectious, her candor sometimes unsettling, and Katherine, in spite of her guarded caution, finds herself drawn into Alice’s private circle.

But Alice has secrets, too—darker than anyone can begin to imagine. And when she lets her guard down at last, Katherine discovers the darkest of them all. For there will be no escaping the past for Katherine Patterson—only a descent into a trap far more sinister . . . and infinitely more seductive.