Sneak Preview of Destroying Fantasies Part 3

This is a taster for patient readers who have been waiting for the final installment.


   "The rising sun made its presence felt with shimmering brilliance as it set first the dark shades of night on fire, a flicker of red here, a dab of orange, turning white hot as the veils of blue blanched and succumbed to a show of light that announced the start of day. 

Will never thought he would dread watching the sun rise. He was oblivious to the awe inspired in many by the majestic sight of the angry red orb as it turned the sea molten gold. The magnificent view offered by the presidential suite on the liner was apparently the reason why he'd paid the 30% premium demanded by the cruise operators for the suite compared to the next tier of rooms."

Destroying Fantasies Part 2 excerpt 2

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DF excerpt 1

Excerpt 1

Ashley sighed and leaned back in the bathtub. She needed the quiet time alone after all the pressures of work and the need to care for a young child. It was times like these that her thoughts and memories ran unimpeded.

Things hadn't gone the way Ashley wanted from the moment she discovered and announced her pregnancy. Bob and Cathy were happy for her though Bob had jokingly said it was another example of Ashley 's personal life intruding upon her work again. Ashley didn't appreciate the barbed reference to the scandalous affair she'd had months before her pregnancy. The rumours that had swept her neighbourhood and her as well as Will 's workplaces had just begun to die down when news of her pregnancy spread. She knew that people were speculating if Will was the father or not.

Exclusive preview from 'Destroying Fantasies'

The following is an excerpt from my latest work that is slated to post in a couple of weeks. Enjoy!


"Mr Everton, I assure you, Will is the real deal. The story as it stands right now is solid and I'm sure it will do well among readers. It's set to appeal across the gender and demographic divide, housewives, young career women, angry middle aged men."

Adam Everton looked coolly at the enthusiastic blonde trying to sell him her client's manuscript. He'd read it and was impressed but the publishing business was based on such razor thin margins these days, he couldn't afford to take the risk. Still, though he couldn't exactly place a finger on it but the book appealed to him. It struck a chord in that dark part of his psyche, the part that never allowed him to forget his dad's slow death over the years.

The old man had effectively died the day she left him. Till this day, Adam couldn't bring himself to refer to that woman as 'mom'. No, mom died the day that woman turned her back on the two crying kids held back by a sobbing man who was on his knees on their front porch begging her not to abandon their family, their marriage for that asshole who didn't even care what he was destroying. That woman had cried and professed her love for them even as she abandoned them.

Adam winced and blocked out the pain that inevitably followed those memories. The years of pain and anger that his old man felt and carried was all that Adam focused on. The many attempts that woman had made to reconcile with her estranged family only made Adam angrier when he recalled how his father lapsed into drink every time that woman contacted them.  She wouldn’t even let up when his  dad was on his death bed. Adam refused to acknowledge the fact that his father had requested the presence of his ex-wife or that the sad smile on the old man's face directed at his unfaithful wife before he closed his eyes for the last time.

The anger burning in his gut brought Adam out of the reverie he'd fallen into. That it reflected the pain he'd clearly felt in the words of the manuscript sealed the deal. Not a man given to impulse, Adam nevertheless decided to go with his gut feelings.

"Look, I'm going to be kind for once and give this guy a chance. Here's the advance," he said as he passed the cheque to the anxious agent.

He almost smiled as the blonde's eyes rounded at the amount stated on the cheque.


"Tell him, we need to see the rest of the manuscript within two months before we negotiate royalties and details. And,"he paused as his eyes narrowed menacingly.

"If he plays us for a fool, he'll be poison in this industry. Make sure he understands that."

"I will, I will."


"Good. Now let's think about some preliminary angles, it's based on a real life couple you say..."


Watch for the new work!

The year that was 2015 Food & Music

For the main review, please refer back to my main blog www.judithloewe.blogspot.com.

Here are my fave food indulgences that helped me get through 2015 with less craziness - ok ok fewer meltdown episodes and I don't mean the melted by the sun weather.

1. Gelato/Sorbet/Ice Cream - Rum and Raisin and Pistachio/Lime Sorbet

2. Caramel Frappe - this is my go to for those mornings when I feel like bashing someone, so that's why I subject myself to pure sugar Starbucks style LOL

For the coffee snobs, try this video LOL

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/d240b5ebec/coffee-snobs?short_id=652h&_cc=__d___&_ccid=xvsymr.o084n6 

3. JL's healthy fruit and veg wrap - For the days I need to detox - like the last 3 days or so - sleep deprivation etc. 

Toasting to the year that was 2015!

                                                                                                                                                                   

Holiday Hop Prize giveaways!

Hey readers and friends! I'll be part of the following Holiday Hop event (https://www.facebook.com/events/1635874663353142/) on 25 Dec Christmas Day itself!

Please pop over, play games and win prizes! The prizes are a copy of my first 3 Kindle ebooks plus US$10 gift cards for 3 lucky winners! The giveaway will take place over 25 Dec - 27 Dec 10 am ET.

Like my book page https://www.facebook.com/A-Step-Into-Darkness-1085350821482 , follow my Amazon author page http://www.amazon.com/Judith-Loewe/e/B00YN4AY6Y and comment on the pinned post to be eligible. I'm solely responsible for the prizes, not Facebook.

Looking forward to you joining me for some holiday fun!

Exclusive Preview: Excerpt from Christmas Special

Aftermath of The Affair

The following is a sequel to deepemerald’s The Affair, an erotic couplings story which should frankly be in the loving wives genre. The cliff-hanger conclusion earned deepemerald quite a bit of flak and eventually a follow up was not pursued. Again, the story had me in knots and the following story is a response.

Thanks to my early readers whose suggestions were great and I’ve tried to incorporate as many as possible. The time sequence for the storyline is as follows:

Christmas Past Terry discovers Julia's affair and has to find a way to cope with it, a band of brothers is formed

Christmas Last - Terry reveals his knowledge of Julia's affair, confrontation ensues and payback is launched
Christmas Present - The Bs are burnt and Terry needs to decide some things, how it all ends after vengeance is had

 And before anyone asks, yes, I’m playing a joke vis-à-vis Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Heck, his novels tortured me as a kid and this is my payback :)
A note of caution: There is the possibility of reconciliation, so all averse to reconciliation in LW, please stop reading or rather, don’t start reading, why torture yourself? Everyone else, read on, gulping eggnog simultaneously is optional.


Chapter 1

It happened upon a midnight clear

Christmas Present

Terry sat quietly in the chair next to the fireplace as he sipped the mulled wine he'd ladled after putting the children to bed. His youngest, Chris, had been the most reluctant to retire considering it was really only his second Christmas ever.

It had been a trying year for the couple and the family. They were still in counselling and were still trying to come to terms with the events of the last year that had rocked their family to its very foundations.

Julia stood observing her husband from the entrance of the entertainment room. She shivered as she recalled the events of the last year that started with the words Terry had whispered in her ear regarding his knowledge of her affair with Dan Sullivan and the chain of events that followed. Where she had once taken Terry's quiet manner for mildness and saw no harm possible in him, she now knew better than to mistake his attitude for weakness. The hope that everything could go back to what it was before the affair was what kept her sane through the year that had been. Curious how it had been that the very boring, routine life that had driven her to seek excitement in the arms of another man and to prove her own attractiveness, was now the very thing she wanted more than anything else restored to her. The routine, monotony and obligation which she had been desperate to escape, she now wanted more desperately than ever

I guess you never really appreciate what you have till you lose it.

Her mind chastised itself. The irony was bitter and acerbic.


Terry was silent as Julia sat herself down on the chair next to his and reached over to hold his hand in hers. Her inability to read him after all the years of assuming he was an open book, boring but predictable, made her uncertain and anxious.

That anxiety made her blurt out the question without preamble.

"Is there still a future for us?"

Terry gazed steadily into the fire, his expression unreadable as he recalled the same question posed (to him) by his wife a year ago in pretty much the same spot.

Read more soon!