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.

S is for Sam

Sam is one of the two main characters in this story. At the beginning of most of the chapters where Henry and Sam are separated, there is a flashback scene chronicling their lives together right up until the night before Henry leaves on his ill-fated trip. This is the first of those flashback scenes, before Henry and Sam have even started dating, and is told from Henry’s 3rd-person POV:

Dr. Henry Miller plopped down in the window seat and grinned widely as he stretched out his legs. “I’m glad you thought to ask for exit row seats,” he told Dr. Sam Greene. “The leg room is great.”

“Yes,” Sam replied absently. “That’s nice, too.”

Too? Henry lifted an eyebrow, inquiringly.
 Sam’s cheeks reddened. “I hate flying. I feel better in an exit row.”

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

The color left Sam’s cheeks and Henry felt obliged to add, “It’s not going to go down, Sam. Flying is safer than driving, and you drive every day.”

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

Henry thought about the infatuation he harbored for his blue-eyed, sandy blond-haired coworker, sitting obliviously beside him. That was undoubtedly irrational, but Henry opted to ignore the question. Instead he replied, “Before you know it we’ll be on the beach in Honiara collecting data and soaking up the sun. I promise.”

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