THE GOODBYES

 

THE GOODBYES

Helen Gillespie

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GENRE: Women’s Fiction

 

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BLURB:

 

Struggling with becoming an adult in a small mid-western town, Dianne must confront family secrets, deception, and discovery during her last year of college. As she cares for her ailing mother, her world begins to unravel and she is challenged to navigate through lies, friendships, love...and murder.

 

Meeting the wrong person makes it possible for her to recognize the right ones and to find the strength she needs to survive. Realizing that she is responsible for her own destiny, she learns that to say hello to a new life, she must first say goodbye.

 

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Excerpt:

 

All living creatures hold secrets for basic survival. Humans keep secrets to preserve their image, hide their misjudgments, or protect those they care about. Only in the safest conditions, absolute trust or vulnerability, can humans feel safe divulging their secrets, laying bare their hidden selves. 

 

Katrina England and her husband did not keep secrets from Dianne or indulge in the usual childhood fantasies of princesses or fairy godmothers with her daughter. Even Santa Claus was introduced from a historical perspective rather than as a magical elf. The Englands were doting parents who disciplined their daughter when necessary and answered her questions honestly, only withholding information that surpassed Dianne’s maturity. Yet, despite this philosophy, Katrina did hold a few secrets, one very close.

 

As Dianne approached adulthood, Katrina began to share these secrets. By then, Dianne’s father had died, leaving the two women to navigate life together as a family with no other relatives living close by. Katrina often grappled with the lifelong weight of a childhood secret and her secret of late, a terminal cancer diagnosis. Both became weightier as her cancer took hold. When Dianne began dating the MegaMart store manager, Katrina’s concern of her daughter’s future turned to worry.

 

Dianne, nearing graduation while dealing with her mother’s illness, found herself facing unexpected challenges. When Michael D. Glossen entered her life, her challenges became problems. Oddly, she met “Michael D” when a cream rinse emergency arose.

 

Subject: THE GOODBYES: need guest post completed for your September 12 stop at Stormy Nights Reviewing & Bloggin'

Topic: author's choice of topic

URL: https://stormynightsreviewingandbloggind.blogspot.com/

 

Please Have Some Empathy

 

I encourage readers to have some empathy for Michael, the story’s antagonist. He is a self-centered goofy dude. After letting a smidgeon of empathy enter your heart, it’s ok to still hate him. I mean, really, he’s nearly 30 and only seems to care for himself. By this point in life, he should have overcome childhood shortcomings. That is, if he had ever considered the teaching, “Do onto others as you want them to do onto you.”

A little of his background:

Michael’s birth was the product of his father taking advantage of an innocent woman who lived in a town just outside of Springfield, Missouri. The senior Glossen wanted Michael’s birth mother to have an abortion before anyone knew of his infidelity. After all, the esteemed senior Glossen was a rising star politically. Michael’s birth mother decided against abortion when she discovered that senior Glossen was married. Instead of the abortion, she had a little chat with the Senior’s wife who was becoming one of Springfield’s esteemed lawyers, predicted to be a judge someday, a notable feat in the early 1990s.

As a result of the chat, a deal was worked out with Mr. and Mrs. Senior Glossen paying expenses for Michael’s birth mother and adopting Michael at birth. In a sly way, Mrs. Glossen wanted her husband to be reminded every day of his indiscretion therefore chose to do it this way.

During Michael’s childhood there was always an underlying resentment between Michael and his father. Michael’s mother unnaturally doted on him leaving an undercurrent of uncertainty within Michael that he could never identify. Michael knew that everything he attempted would be praised by the woman who he thought was his one and only mother while his father minimized his accomplishments, no matter how grand.

Physically, Michael was shorter than many in his class and he didn’t learn as fast as others which added to his lack of confidence and his father’s disdain. Through personal connections the Glossens secured a job as assistant manager, then manager when MegaMart opened in Marshfield, Missouri.

Dianne’s Attraction?

The real question gnawing at readers from the opening pages:  Why did a woman like Dianne give a second thought to a guy like Michael?

Here are some possibilities:

·         She thought it would be “one and done” with this goofball and thought it please her mother to accept dinner.

·         She wanted to be accepted in the Marshfield community and thought having a “beau” would help.

·         Dianne wanted to show to herself and others that she was dating a man, although her thoughts were aligning more with women.

 

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Review

This book takes you on a reality ride.  If you haven't lived some of the situations it's hard to understand but this book gives you a look into it.  The book is well written and easy to follow with a balance between characters and plot.  

 

 

 

 

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

 

 

Throughout grammar school and college, Helen Gillespie loved developing story sketches or full stories but kept them hidden within herself. That creative spark proved valuable in unexpected places, first on assignment as a musician in the US Army, and after leaving the Army, when she earned a degree in elementary education. After reentering the Army in 1981, she put pen to paper, or rather, “fingers to an Olivetti.” She officially learned the art of journalism to serve the Army, but it quickly became a personal passion. Interviewing fellow soldiers, exploring their jobs and personalities, and publishing useful information for the military community formed the basis of her skill and enjoyment. Those years of thought, training, education, and experience laid the foundation for crafting her first novel, The Goodbyes.

 

Social Media

 https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61565442142189

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/hgillespie/

Website:  https://www.helengillespiewrites.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hgillespe/

 

Personal Social Media

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/helen.gillespie/

 

 

 

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