Join Bill Walker, author of the soul searching romance novel, A Note From an Old Acquaintance (iUniverse, June 2009), as he virtually tours the blogosphere in February and March on his third virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book Promotion!
About Bill Walker
Bill Walker is a graphic designer specializing in book and dust jacket design, and has worked on projects by Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson, Dean Koontz, and Stephen King. Between his design work and his writing, he spends his spare time reading voraciously and playing very loud guitar, much to the chagrin of his lovely wife and two sons. Bill makes his home in Los Angeles and can be reached through his web site: http://www.billwalkerdesigns.com/
A Note From an Old Acquaintance by Bill Walker (click on cover to order at Amazon)
Guest Post
I was quite unprepared for love when first it came to me. I was fifteen and attending a new boarding school in Western Massachusetts, renowned as much for its high academic standards as it was for its bucolic location nestled in a horseshoe of the Berkshire Mountains. It was my first day there and after meeting my roommate, stowing my gear and making my bunk, I decided to take a walk around the campus. The grounds were alive with students. You could tell the new ones. Like me, they strolled around in a semi-catatonic daze, trying to get their bearings.
It was later in the afternoon when I saw Claudia for the first time. I literally stopped in my tracks, watching her stride up the walkway toward the main building, where the new students were to meet for a brief orientation. The spun gold of her light blonde hair caught the rays of the September sun as it swayed across her shoulder blades, and the air grew thick around me, my breath catching in my throat. Her Caribbean-blue eyes shown with an inner light, set into a face while not supermodel beautiful, nonetheless struck me with its knowing innocence. Her body, however, was far from innocent, shaped in curvaceous ways no fifteen-year-old body should have been. I was captivated. And I had no idea what in hell to do.
You see, I’d always been very shy, and while I’d had crushes on girls before, none of them hit me with the primal force of nature that was Claudia. The emotions rushing through me every time I caught sight of her were so intense—so powerful—my heart raced and my tongue seized in my mouth, rendering me mute. Eventually, I worked up the courage to speak to her and we became friends, but I wanted so much more and lacked the courage to say or do anything about it. I watched, in agony, as she took up with another boy, their attraction to each other a palpable thing.
When she broke up with him a month or two later, I was hopeful again, but those fleeting aspirations were dashed, when one of the “big men on campus” swept her off her feet. He broke her heart shortly thereafter and I tried to be of solace to her, to be the friend she needed, in the hopes she would at last see the love brimming in my heart. I ached to declare myself, but feared ridicule, or worse, the dreaded “we’re just friends” speech. Alas, she found romance with yet another boy and after a few dark nights of the soul I finally realized she and I would never have that kind of relationship.
I only spent a year at the school, as my family moved from Connecticut to Florida that spring, where I attended a private day school. The truth was I could never go back to that school nestled in the mountains, could never walk those ivied halls again without being reminded of her. I still think of Claudia every now and then and wonder how her life’s turned out. I hope she’s happier now than she was then.
If you’re out there, Claudia, now you know the truth….
About A Note From an Old Acquaintance
Brian Weller is a haunted man. It’s been two years since the tragic accident that left his three-year-old son dead and his wife in an irreversible coma. A popular author of mega-selling thrillers, Brian’s life has reached a crossroads: his new book is stalled, his wife’s prognosis is dire, and he teeters on the brink of despair.
Everything changes the morning an e-mail arrives from Boston artist Joanna Richman. Her heartfelt note brings back all the poignant memories: the night their eyes met, the fiery passion of their short-lived affair, and the agonizing moment he was forced to leave Joanna forever. Now, fifteen years later, the guilt and anger threaten to overwhelm him. Vowing to make things right, Brian arranges a book-signing tour that will take him back to Boston. He is eager to see Joanna again, but remains unsure where their reunion will lead. One thing is certain: the forces that tore their love asunder will stop at nothing to keep them apart.
Filled with tender romance and taut suspense, A Note from an Old Acquaintance is an unforgettable story about fate, honor, and the power of true love.
“Please tell me why you’re doing this, Brian! Please!”
He tried opening his mouth, tried to tell her the truth, but the words
he’d always wielded with such effortless aplomb, failed him, slipping
away like smoke on a windy day. His throat felt as if it were gripped in
a vise, his mind a flat, cracked slab of flyblown desert; and her muted
sobs echoing through the phone’s earpiece made him want to take it all
back. Every word. But how could he do that, now?
“I—I’m sorry, Joanna…for everything….”
“BRIANNNN!”
THE PHONE JANGLED, RIPPING Brian Weller out of the dream. He sat
up, gasping, sounds and images jumbling in his groggy brain until
none of it made any sense.
The phone rang again, startling him.
He grabbed it, his eyes struggling against the darkness in the
room.
What time was it?
Jesus, it was only 6:00. It felt even earlier due to the late night he’d
spent at the computer.
Read the Reviews:
“Brian has been hit with life’s most devastatingly tragic event a parent can encounter. Not only did the horrible accident leave Brian to mourn the loss of his son, it also put his wife in a coma. Brian is left to face this life alone.
But then, one day he receives an unexpected email from someone in his past. This someone is Joanna, a woman he was once in love with. At that time the two were thrust apart by circumstances beyond their control. Fifteen years later the two are given a chance at a second shot at love. Will the past years make a difference and allow them to find happiness together or will Brian have to deal with yet another disaster?
A very touching novel that will make your heart ache. “
-bridget3420
“I can say with all candor I enjoyed the book thoroughly. I’m the novel reader in my family and I usually read an average of two novels per week. My taste runs the gamut. I read NY Times best sellers and books by lesser known authors purely because I’m intrigued by the description on the back dust cover. Mr. Walker’s book is a very entertaining and quick read. Love at first sight is something most of us can relate to, and I dare say that pretty nearly everyone that I know has a Brian or a Joanna in their past. The author’s combination of the torment of love lost with the elation of discovering that love can endure through the most trying of life’s events was very emotional and ultimately very gratifying. That most of us are, or have been, on a quest to find and capture our “soul mate” adds total credibility to the book. If I might be totally cliché, I really did find this book to be both heat-wrenching and heart warming. My husband and I have a fairly sizable library and the Walker book has taken it’s place on the shelf to be enjoyed again in the near future.“
-Carleen
