’Til Death Do Us Part is now out in eBook formats through JMS Books, LLC (and all the usual distributors), and will be available in print format this coming June. I’ve enjoyed reading the blog reviews since they’ve all been complimentary. There are five of them so far (click the cover image for links and quotes), with eight more expected, and feelers out for others.

One of the reviewers, Bethany at Rainbow Gold Reviews, made the comment that she wished the flashback scenes had been from Sam’s POV instead of from Henry’s. I didn’t do this in the book for a couple of reasons. One, I wanted all of those scenes to be from only one MCs POV so as not to be confusing, and two, I considered Henry to be the primary MC, and his POV seemed more relevant to many of those scenes.

That being said, though, the idea is intriguing. Certainly it would be very nice to get Sam’s perspective on these scenes, so I’ve decided to put together a little series where I’ll rewrite each of those flashback scenes and periodically post them here on my blog. I don’t feel like doing so would be any kind of a spoiler for the book, because they are all scenes that happen prior to the action that takes place in the main body of the book. Their purpose is to help the reader get and stay invested in Henry and Sam’s relationship during the stretch of time when they are separated. As Camille at Joyfully Jay put it, they “left me rooting for team Samry.” So success!

The flashback scenes chronicle the time from when Henry and Sam first began their courtship through to the night before Henry leaves on his ill-fated flight. The first one appears at the beginning of Chapter 2. Here it is, rewritten to be from Sam’s POV:

Dr. Sam Greene flinched reflexively as Dr. Henry Miller plopped down in the window seat beside him. Sam hated flying. In fact, “hated” didn’t begin to cover the emotions he felt when he thought about getting onto an airplane. He dreaded his coming reactions. He feared he wouldn’t be able to conceal his irrational anxiety from his colleague.

To make matters worse, Henry wasn’t just any colleague. Like Sam, the man was openly gay, and Sam had been drawn to his outgoing, cheerful personality. Despite Sam’s better judgement, he was strongly attracted to the man’s lovely brown eyes, which always reflected such passion in whatever he was discussing, and to his lithe, lean body, and his gorgeous thick, wavy dark brown hair. In short, he was personable and beautiful, and way out of Sam’s league.

Henry said, “I’m glad you thought to ask for exit row seats. The leg room is great.”

The leg room. Sam managed to avoid rolling his eyes in self-mockery. The leg room had little to do with his obsession for exit row seating.

“Sure,” he replied absently. “That’s nice, too.”

Henry lifted an eyebrow, inquiringly. Fuck. Why had he added “too” to that comment?

Sam felt his face heat up and forced himself to reply with as much composure as he could muster. “I hate flying. I feel better in an exit row.”

“You know, if the plane goes down we’re all goners anyway.”

Sam felt the blood drain from his face, and Henry quickly added, “It’s not going to go down, Sam. Flying is safer than driving, and you drive every day.”

How embarrassing. Well, at least Henry was forewarned, and he wasn’t the type of man to tease about such things.

“I know. It’s just one of those things. Don’t you have anything you’re irrational about?”

Henry didn’t answer the question. Probably because the answer was a resounding “no.” Instead he replied kindly, “Before you know it we’ll be on the beach in Honiara collecting data and soaking up the sun. I promise.”

Oh, dear. Bethany might be right after all. Well, I’ll reserve final judgement until after I’ve redone them all.