As some of you know, I’ve completed my second novel, working title, Taking Back the Fadeaway.  After working on it since 2009, I’m very excited to share it with you, but since I’ve only just begun the submission process, I have no idea when it will be contracted and eventually published. 

 Although I want you to wait until the novel is published to read it in its entirety, I thought of a fun exercise.  The novel is 301 pages.  I asked the fans on my Facebook book page to choose a number between 1 and 300 and for every number picked, I chose a paragraph from that page of the book to include in my blog post.  This way, you get a taste of the book which will, hopefully, leave you hungry for more.  I hope you’ll leave a comment and let me know what you think of the paragraphs and if you’d be excited to read the book from beginning to end. 

 Just so you don’t go in completely blind, below is a brief description of the book:

 “When twenty-six year old Jane Frank broke up with her boyfriend of nine years in a face-to-face conversation, no one awarded her a medal. One year later and ready for her second chance at love, Jane’s beginning to think she deserved the gold. Not one of the men she has dated since her re-entry into the single life has shown the courtesy of dumping her via phone call, email, text message, voicemail or even Post-it note, much less in person. They’ve simply disappeared. Convinced true love is a sham, and sick of being on the receiving end of the silent “fade-away,” Jane seeks temporary attention and ego strokes from any man who will offer them…” 

 Sorry, the rest is a secret for now!  

 So, without further ado, here we go!  

Page 9: I closed my eyes and imagined where Nate would take me on our first date, hopefully not Smiler’s Deli.  Later, I dreamed about swim-up bars and sex on the beach with Nate on our honeymoon.  The dreams were interrupted only once when I woke up in a panic remembering I had forgotten to study for the LSAT.  I made a mental vow to spend an extra hour the following night and fell back against the pillow, anxious to return to my dream.

Page 18: At first I missed sex terribly but I’d practically forgotten what it felt like at this point.  I let my hand wander to the front of my sweater and shook my head in disgust that no one had touched my breasts in over a year.  Was I considered a born again virgin by now?  What if I forgot how to do it?  Or what if it hurt again?

Page 33: I absently nodded my head at Lainie, who continued to call Randall various derogatory names.  But I was no longer listening.  And I had lost my appetite for spicy tuna.

Page 77 –

I turned to Cory.  “No pressure.  You don’t have to meet my parents if you don’t want.  At least not until she asks me directly.  For now I can play dumb.”

Cory shrugged his shoulders and said, “Set it up for whenever you want.”

“Really?” I asked.

“Really?” Claire repeated.

Laughing, Kevin said, “No.  Really?”

Page 85 – As I wondered where the hell Cory was and when he planned on calling me back, I shouted, “You’re a pig!” to Andrew who responded by tossing a box of condoms he apparently kept at the office onto my lap.  “Nail’em and leave ’em, Jane.  Trust me.”

Page 101:

Todd grinned.  “Great!  I’d hate my addiction to ruin my chances of a third date.”

Not a chance.  “I’m just happy you want to go out again,” I said sweetly.

The commercial break had ended and so, with one eye on me and the other watching the screen, Todd nodded.  ‘Totally.  The sooner the better.”

Page 127 – An hour or so later, I had switched my beverage of choice to water and my attention to Don, a shaggy-haired guy with kind brown eyes and a dimple on his left cheek.  He wore white jeans that until I met him, thought only worked on rock stars and Daniel Craig in Casino Royale. 

Page 215.  I pushed my plate away.  “Can we change the subject?  Is Claire coming?”  We hadn’t talked since we fought at my apartment and I really had no desire to see her except to bond over how annoying our mother could be.

Page 243 – Marissa smiled and finally took a bite of the cupcake she’d been holding the entire time.  “Yes we both have many fertile years left.  Thankfully.”

And there you have it, sentences from nine pages of my book!  It’s a really fun read and I can’t wait to share it with you!