by David Connor
“It helps sometimes. There are other messages like Justin’s.”
“I wonder if I can meet him somehow.”
“You can’t meet everyone who wrote to you,” Mathias had told me. “There are thousands and thousands of messages and comments.”
“I know. But that kid… Justin…. Maybe….”
Justin wanted to be a swimmer. I wanted him to be one too.
WE WERE moments from pulsating beats, colorful feathers, and gyrating hips. The opening ceremony show was going to be spectacular. Coach Keller stood beside me out in the venue, in front of the cheering crowd. I wanted to thank him one last time—for everything—for seeing potential in me, putting up with my moods, and never giving up, even when I almost did. It was far too noisy, though, so I just touched his elbow and nodded when he turned to look at me. We were at the Games. We were about to be a part of history. All sorts of stories would eventually come out of Rio, happy ones, sad ones, tender moments, celebrations, and defeats. There would no doubt be some surprises and maybe even a scandal or two. My mission—my truth—was that I very much wanted to return to the US and Mathias’s arms with the same feeling of pride I had right then. I knew I could do it. Coach Keller nodded back. He knew too.
DAVID CONNOR lives in a small town in New York with his cat Molly, and the spirits of Max, Mrs. Fat Pants, and those fur-babies that have left Earth before them. His grade school English teacher, after reading one of David’s stories, suggested David write for As the World Turns someday. Books, magazine articles (including the soap mags), the stage, and even radio, he has done just about everything except write for daytime TV. He is still hopeful—as long as there are still some left. David also enjoys playing in the dirt and long hikes in nature, listening to the sounds and talking to and creating new characters and stories in his head.
David’s vivid imagination refuses to shut down even when he sleeps. His dream life is far more interesting than his real life, and is often the genesis of plot lines for his stories. If you’d like to contact him, look him up on Facebook. He will update his status after his nap.
Facebook: www.facebook.com/mmromcomsinprint
Twitter: @DannyCinicic
E.F. MULDER has been an avid reader and storyteller since childhood. Whenever a book was assigned for class, E.F. would be thrilled, even as other students grumbled. Soon, that love of a good story expanded to creating them herself. E.F.’s mother received a ton of catalogs in the mail and E.F. would spend many a lazy summer afternoon or quiet Sunday envisioning the goings on of the men and women—or men and men—in pretty clothes or decorating their Christmas trees when the holiday books showed up in late fall. This creativity also came in handy when playing Barbie with her sister and sometimes her brother. Since E.F.’s mother was a soap opera fan, sitting down for half of Another World and General Hospital daily after work, E.F. came to appreciate that sort of storytelling as well, where love could be a struggle, but also a miracle that conquered all. This sort of yarn spinning led to E.F.’s Barbie and her beaus going through some very interesting plotlines and later came in handy writing romance novels where the road to happiness has plenty of bumps. To this day, E.F. and her writing partner, David, love to throw romantic soapy twists into their tales.
E.F. also enjoys rainy days, crisp autumns, Christmas decorations, her four kitty cats, Molly, Speckles, Tuxedo, and Mama Bear, and working on a virtual farm when not writing. It’s so much easier to clean under the fingernails when done digitally. A love of QVC means the kitties have a fresh rotation of new boxes to play in and the cute UPS man gets to visit often. Maybe there’s a story there….
Visit Edgy Romance Novels by David Connor and E F. Mulder here: www.facebook.com/mmromcomsinprint
By David Connor
Double Flip • Quadruple Flip
Herm I.T.
Orange You Glad I Said Kiss
Scrooged Over
Tidings of Comfort and Joey Down Under
With E.F. Mulder: Truth, Pride, Victory, Love
Published by DREAMSPINNER PRESS
www.dreamspinnerpress.com
By E.F. Mulder
#ChristmasHatesYouToo
With David Connor: Truth, Pride, Victory, Love
Published by DREAMSPINNER PRESS
www.dreamspinnerpress.com
Published by
DREAMSPINNER PRESS
5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886 USA
www.dreamspinnerpress.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Truth, Pride, Victory, Love
© 2016 David Connor and E.F. Mulder.
Cover Art
© 2016 L.C. Chase.
http://www.lcchase.com
Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.
All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press, 5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA, or www.dreamspinnerpress.com.
ISBN: 978-1-63477-687-5
Digital ISBN: 978-1-63477-688-2
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016910624
Published December 2016
v. 1.0
Printed in the United States of America