I love world building as much as the next person, but I have to admit to a certain amount of trepidation when it
comes to this week’s release of Finders Keepers. I can’t help but wonder what
readers will think of the not-so-distant future in which the book is set. It's a world that,
in some ways, might feel a little too much like our own.
You see, in my future, there are no flying cars—at least not yet. In
fact, the break-up of the United States (over by the time the book opens and
referenced only in passing) has resulted in a world with less new technology,
not more. The military has been fully privatized and now owns most of the more
expensive advances—like my bionic hero Caleb, who is the lucky recipient of expensive cell de-aging therapy that’s left him looking
like a man half his age.
Of course the average person would still have access to some
advances. My
heroine, Sally, for example, uses a thermotropic dye for hair that changes color like a mood ring. But the majority of
the population will be more like my second hero, Aldo, who drives a truck,
lives in a 100-year-old ski cabin (that's it on the cover) and cooks his eggs in a cast iron skillet.
This world is partially built on my hypothesis that, forced to deal with smaller, local economies, consumers aren’t going to be
able to support their current craze for the latest, greatest upgrades. Instead,
I see them developing an increased nostalgic appreciation for things from the past. And that just fits this story of love lost and
found so very perfectly.
Here’s a small
excerpt:
Aldo puttered
around the kitchen for a short while after the others left, but the ghosts of
Christmas past were haunting him today, making him wish he’d never mentioned
the damned decorations in the attic. The last time he’d used them had been
several years ago when Davis had decided he was in the mood for a white
Christmas. They’d come here then, and just like now, Aldo had handled the
cooking while the others had dealt with the decorations. He should have thought
about that when he’d suggested coming up here again this year, but they’d spent
Christmas here so infrequently, he’d honestly thought it would be better. Right
now, however, he was second-guessing a lot of his decisions. Maybe the fact
that he and Sally had made fewer memories here gave those few an added luster,
making them seem even more precious.
Finally giving in to
the inevitable, he went up to the loft. If anyone was going to mess around up
there with the boxes he and Davis had so painstakingly packed away, if anyone
was going to screw with his memories of that particular afternoon, it was going
to be him, damn it, and no one else.
The crawl space was
just what its name implied; one had to be on one’s knees to access it. The
whole time he was pulling boxes out, Aldo was remembering the afternoon he and
Davis had put them in there. Most particularly he was remembering—vividly—how
he’d spent most of that time ogling Davis’s ass and indulging in a harmless
little fantasy of what it would be like if he and Davis were the married couple
and Sally was simply their really close best friend. The three of them were
already so at-home with each other, very little would have to change. If he and
Davis were married, they would still be up here together packing boxes away
while Sally was busy downstairs, vacuuming up pine needles. The only
differences would be who got to go home together, which of them ended up
sleeping alone, who would have to keep his hands to himself.
Comment below and
tell me about some of your favorite holiday memories. Or use the form below to
enter this week’s contest.
Finders Keepers
Length:Novel
ISBN:978-1-62300-089-9
Sometimes finding what you want is the easy part.
Caleb is a bionic soldier with little-to-no memory of his past. He's seeking
the truth about himself and those missing memories.
Aldo's an undercover cop who just might have the answers to Caleb's questions.
But if Caleb's the man Aldo thinks he is, how can he let him get away a second
time?
Then there's Sally; she's an ER physician who used to be married to Aldo's late
partner, Davis. Sally's not dealing with widowhood very well. In fact, it's
getting harder, every day, just to find a reason to keep getting out of bed. If
the truth about the men's shared past comes to light, she could lose them both.
Along with her last, best reason to go on living.
This holiday season, chance will bring them together and give them an
opportunity to help one another find what they each want most. But every gift
comes with a price. And keeping what they've found once they've found it? Yeah,
that's gonna be the hard part.
