I’m participating in the A to Z blogger challenge this year. Since April also is the anniversary month for the release of my novel, ’Til Death Do Us Part, I thought I’d use that for the theme of my posts. For each letter I will come up with a word that is pertinent to the story, and post a short excerpt featuring it.

In general these excerpts will bounce around the timeline (after all, the story isn’t told in alphabetical order). No worries, I’ll give a little context leading into each scene so it won’t be necessary to read the others to enjoy the snippet-of-the-day.

H is for Henry

Of course, H is for Henry. If you’ve been following along, you know Henry is a main character in the story. This is the opening scene to chapter one so you don’t really need much more in the way of context. It is told from Henry’s 1st-person POV:

“Call me when you land, okay, Henry?”

“It’ll be something like six-forty tomorrow morning, your time,” I replied. The summer class Sam would be teaching started tomorrow, but he still wouldn’t need to get up that early.

“Humor me. Please?”

I’d been infected with the travel bug years ago when I’d taken my first research trip as a graduate student. If there was an antidote, I didn’t want to take it. Now that I was married, I admitted that the weeks-long separation from my husband put a damper on my spirits for work-related travels, but it wasn’t strong enough to make me want to stop. It was just a few weeks, after all.

“I love you, you know.” I stared into his captivating blue jean-colored eyes and smiled, squeezing his arm in a manner I hoped was comforting. “Yes, I’ll call. I know you’ll worry if I don’t.”

Sam blushed and grinned sheepishly. “I know it’s dumb, but I appreciate it. Thank you.”

I looked over my shoulder at the security queue. “The line’s growing. I’d better jump in.” Turning back toward Sam, I added, “Thank you for coming in and helping me with the luggage.”

“It’ll be six weeks before I see you again. Of course I came in.”

“We’ll Skype tomorrow. Compare notes on Fiji’s weather with the rain we’re expecting here in Seattle.”

I got the laugh I was trying for out of Sam. “I know. It won’t be the same, though.” Then he sighed. “Well, I hope you can get some decent sleep on the plane. Thirteen hour flights are no fun.”

I nodded in agreement, then stretched up to kiss my husband goodbye. I knew Sam wasn’t big on overzealous public displays of affection. Hell, neither was I, but I needed one last taste before leaving him for so long. It was an airport goodbye kiss, not a make-out session, so fuck anyone who was still bigoted enough to be “offended” by the sight of me giving my husband a farewell kiss. Much as I looked forward to this research trip, since I was heading back to the South Pacific—as opposed to Greenland, where I’d spent time two summers ago— I was not looking forward to the long separation from Sam any more than he was.

Blurb

Henry and Sam Miller-Greene are living the dream. They love their careers — which afford each of them opportunities to travel to exotic locations — they love their home, Sam’s caring family, and each other. They disagree on the subject of adoption, but are fully committed to each other in marriage … ’Til Death Do Us Part.

The dream is shattered when Henry’s plane crashes, and he’s presumed dead. But four people — Henry, two other men, and a child — survive undetected on a remote, small, and insignificant island. Will Sam and Henry’s love be able to survive as well?

Henry fights to endure in harsh conditions, never knowing when disaster will strike. Sam struggles with his loss, but with help moves on with his life. Will Sam be able to put aside his new love when he reunites with Henry?

Info & Links: ’Til Death Do Us Part