Dear [name], In late May, I shared with you that Last Chance Rescue had been named a Finalist in the Romance category of the 2009 Next Generation Indie Book Awards. This gave me a much-needed emotional boost (and motivation to KEEP writing), and also helped me justify (ha) hiring a publicist to help promote not just Last Chance, but also my forthcoming novel. With this decision came a great sigh of relief. She is now handling media and speaking engagements. I, however, am still tasked with getting Last Chance into libraries. So please do me a favor: request a copy from your local library. Tell them it is available on amazon.com! Speaking of the next novel ... Although I've been too busy to work on it this month, I thought I'd share an excerpt with you (below). I hope you enjoy it! All my Best, Tracey Cramer-Kelly, Author P.S. Final Countdown to Taiko Recital: THREE days! (I'm getting just a little bit nervous!) Saturday, July 25 @ 7pm Sunday, July 26 @ 2pm Details here (you can buy tickets at the door). SPECIAL FEATURE: EXCERPT FROM NOVEL-IN-PROGRESS Major Aaron Bricewick awoke with a start, the pain returning abruptly. He lay still in the darkness, trying desperately to feel a presence again. But no...he was alone. I must be hallucinating, he thought. And yet he was thinking clearly now, more clearly than he could remember. How many hours -- how many days -- had he been here? How many more hours would he have to -- could he -- hold out? Surely the terrorists had figured out by now that his two charges couldn't give them whatever they were seeking. Cheryl was just a clerk, and Scott a civilian contractor with minimal access to military intelligence. What was happening to them? It was Scott who tended to Aaron's wounds after that first beating, tearing strips from his own clothes to fashion a makeshift bandage for Aaron's broken fingers. "Aaron, I must know." It was only a whisper, but the urgency was clear. "Do you have a personal relationship with Christ?" Aaron didn't know how to answer. All his life he'd been surrounded by people who professed to believe, and yet engaged in un-Christian behavior: affairs, lies, prejudice. He'd never, in his 36 years, known anyone like Scott, who was direct and frank about his faith -- who lived his faith each day. Before Aaron could answer, they'd been roughly forced apart. Aaron was taken to this dank, dark place to face new terrors without Scott's faith to help sustain him. Instead, it was all too easy to blame God. After all, where was God in this place? And why would He allow this? But now, in the wake of this strange dream, a sense of calm enveloped him. The thought of dying no longer terrified him. What difference did it make now? It was not for him to decide. Memories washed over him as he drifted in and out of consciousness. He had regrets: his estrangement from his father...not being there when his mom and Dick died...the failed relationships...the woman he should have married and made a life with. Holly. When he thought of her, he thought of Duluth, the snow falling soft and white against her black earmuffs, laughing at his first attempts to ski. When he thought of her, she was running on the beach in Hawaii, hair tossed carelessly by the wind…he thought of removing her barely-covering bikini and making love to her there in the surf... Sounds filtered into his reverie: scraping...grating...shuffling. They no longer cast fear in him. Was this the peace Scott spoke of -- the peace of Christ? Now louder: banging. And closer...very close...just outside the door. More scraping. Then noise like a firecracker -- someone kicking in the door -- made him jump. The sudden light hurt his eyes. "Oh, my God!" It was Scott's voice. "Aaron!" "Get the flashlights out of his face." Another voice. More figures and more voices. American soldiers. Scott knelt beside him, and someone else -- touching his forehead -- said, "He's burning up." Hands on his neck, his back... I'm rescued! "Major." That same voice again. "We've got to get you out now. Can you make it?" Aaron nodded, and he was pulled to his feet. White-hot fangs tore through his legs and he cried out. I will not pass out. I will NOT... The soldiers formed a human sling and carried him that way. How far, he didn't know, but then he felt the motion of a moving vehicle. A van, he realized. Words flowed over and around him: "Need an IV." "Cold compress." "Medevac." He tried to focus but the pain kept crowding out any logical thought. He wanted to form words but he felt himself slipping, slipping, slipping... "...Cheryl?" He managed. "She's okay." Scott's voice again. "Everyone is OK, Aaron. The nightmare is over." Aaron clung to that like a lifeline as they laid him on a gurney. His last memory of Afghanistan was of helicopter blades spinning above and an oxygen mask closing over his face... BRAGGING RIGHTS Last Chance Rescue was reviewed in Gripped: The Climbing Magazine: "Brad rediscovers his lust for life -- and Jessie. Anorexia, abusive boyfriends, Iraq veterans and sick horses all keep the melodrama at a level more intense than the average Himalayan epic." Read the full review here. SYNDICATED! Mamapalooza.com is a site for "women empowered, mom-branded business, entertainment and education." Quite a bit of mom rock/music, but in general, these moms are not your "typical" moms! And apparently they feel that I'm also a "non-typical" mom ... portions of MY blog will now be compiled on their site. Cool, huh? Check it out at mamapalooza.com. I hope to find more of this type of "partnership" in the future! MUSIC NEWS When I was younger I could arrange my life around singing live gigs; now it has to fit around my life! Thus it is that I STILL have not sung live with my old bandmates (and it's been over a year since we laid backup vocals). They do have a gig coming up, though: The "7 to 11 Concert Series" at the bandshell in Central Park (Owatonna). Date: Thursday, August 6. Time: 7-9pm. (Once again I'll miss out, as I will be working the Black Hills Motorcycle Rally in Sturgis.) FUN FACT!! Mark Cameron's song "Ambition" was recently used in a video from a Model-T club. Check it out here INSPIRATION: Margaret Sackville "Great imaginations are apt to work from hints and suggestions, and a single moment of emotion is sometimes sufficient to create a masterpiece." There will be one grain of truth to something I write ... one tiny piece of a scene that was factual ... before my imagination ran away with it... BLOGGER KARMA Ever wonder why certain people are brought into your sphere? I do...check out my blog to hear about some Karmic Experiences, as well as: How To "Go Solo" Fellow Author Book Launch Micro-Lending Global Warming Visit Last Chance Blog! WHY YOU ARE RECEIVING THIS You received this because you (or someone you know) signed you up on my Web site. You can always unsubscribe using the link below. CONTACT www.LastChanceRescue.com LCRescue@gmail.com NEW BLOG! Facebook Page SquiDoo "Lens" LinkedIn Page Order here or on Amazon.com! To unsubscribe please Click Here