Anniversary Shenanigans: Author Visit + Giveaway - Eli Easton

Happy Sunday! Are you feeling exclusive? Well you should because Eli Easton has graced us with an exclusive look at the first chapter from her upcoming release, Falling Down!

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And she also has a prize for one lucky person...could it be you?

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Take it away, Eli!

Falling Down – Eli Easton

I was asked to help celebrate with BMBR as they turn three. Things change so quickly in this business, so it’s lovely to have blogs that are stable and stick around and become a real part of the community like BMBR.

For this post, I wanted to give readers a sneak peek at my current work-in-progress. It’s called Falling Down, and it’s set during fall, which is my favorite time of year. I began writing it in September hoping to get it out by end of October, but naturally the story decided to grow and become much longer and more complex than I’d planned.

Here’s the thing about fall. I’ve always loved it so much, as I know most of you probably do as well. I’ve tried to figure out why, and I think part of the reason is because it’s metaphorically comforting. Bear with me! See, in a sense, during fall the world of nature is dying (temporarily). Yet there’s such beauty and peace about it, and I like to think fall is nature’s way of telling us that death isn’t scary and terrible, but it can be breathtakingly beautiful and restful too. Maybe that sounds morbid, but it is comforting to me. And of course, nature comes back the next spring (which I like to think we do as well).

When I considered writing a fall-themed story, besides all the hot cider and crisp air and colorful trees, I wanted to play with that theme.  In my story, Josh is a homeless eighteen-year-old who is very messed up from the sudden death of his mother. Josh was raised by a single mom, and when she dies unexpectedly, he loses everything. He decides to travel from his home state of Alabama up to New England for October to see the leaves, because that had always been his mother’s dream. And then, when the leaves are done and the snow comes, Josh plans to find a place to lay down and let the snow claim him.   

His plans meet a hiccup when he arrives in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and is spotted sleeping under a bridge by Mark, a twenty-four-year-old ex Marine with issues and baggage of his own. Mark senses in Josh’s eyes that that guy is on a tragic course, so Mark invites Josh to work for him for a few weeks to help him finish painting a massive old Victorian house. Since Josh doesn’t have anyplace else to be until the snow falls, he agrees.

We get to see these two guys become more than friends in the space of a few weeks and have long conversations about the meaning of life. Will their budding relationship be strong enough to save them both? Since this is a romance, you can probably guess the answer, but hopefully I’ll keep you in suspense a little bit along the way.

Here is the first released excerpt from “Falling Down”.

FALLING DOWN by Eli Easton

Chapter 1

Orange leaves danced in the breeze outside the train station in Birmingham, Alabama. Josh stared out the window at the silent spectacle. The tree wasn't very big, and it was planted in a small circle cut out of the cement sidewalk. It was a rather ignominious place for a tree, a stingy little cache of dirt. But there it stood, its leaves still green at the base but a brilliant orange at the tips. It looked like the leaves were blushing.

The leaves penetrated through Josh's blank stare and general haze of disinterest.

"Look, Joshie." His mom was suddenly there beside him, a slight smile on her lips. "Fall leaves. Aren't they the prettiest thing?"

Josh blinked and shook his head. The space beside him was, of course, entirely empty.

What day was it anyway? Time had lost its meaning since he'd left home. The days of the week used to be a big deal. Dreaded Monday, back to school. Wednesday, midweek blahs. Friday, halle-fucking-lujah. Saturdays and Sundays treasured and usually wasted and slipping by way too fast. Now the days all blurred into one another like watercolors in the rain.

He glanced at a newspaper someone had left on the top of a nearby trash bin. Wednesday, October 1st.

Donny walked up to him with his usual nervous energy. "Hey. We can get to Tampa for thirty-nine bucks." His tone was both eager and bitter. Donny hated spending money and felt the entire world was one big conspiracy formed solely to rob him of the small trickles of coins and bills he got working odd jobs or begging on the street. This was a point of view Josh couldn't really argue with.

Josh didn't respond. He looked out at the tree. He could feel the glass of the window under his palm, but the sensation was remote, like Donny. The only thing that seemed real was the tree.

Someday, you and me are going to New England in October to see the fall leaves. Look here. Aren't they the most gorgeous things you ever saw?

His mom had shown him pictures on the computer. The photos were too beautiful to be real. There were narrow country roads passing through forests of tall, thin trees in brilliant shades of garnet and marigold. There were deep indigo ponds edged in fire. There were green mountains mounded like sleeping giants and dotted with swatches of paint. His favorite photo, though, had shown a man sitting on the porch of a log cabin sipping a mug of coffee. The steam rose from the mug into the misty morning air and beyond the porch had been a blanket of red on the ground and a host of magical trees.

What would it be like to sit on your porch and see that? Even for just one day? Even for just one perfect hour? Alabama didn't have trees like that. We'll go, just the two of us. Maybe next fall. She'd said that every year. Well, every year except this one.

"Josh," Donny insisted. "Dude. Tickets for Tampa. We'd better get in line. The train leaves in half an hour. You've got enough money, don't you?"

"I'm not going to Tampa," Josh said. He didn't know he was going to say it until the saying was done, but it felt right. The seeds of an idea were forming in his mind. More than seeds. A conviction. For the first time since he'd run away from home three months ago, he knew where he was going.

"Whaddya mean? We said we were going to Florida. That's what we said," Donny complained.

Well, Donny had said that yesterday, and Josh had felt too apathetic to argue, so he'd let Donny drag him to the train station. But things were different now.

Josh looked down at his shoes, not wanting to meet Donny's eyes. "Sorry. I changed my mind. I'm going north."

"North? North where?"

Josh shrugged. "Massachusetts. Vermont. Someplace like that."

"But it's going to be winter soon! We said we'd go to Florida. You can live on the beaches down there. And maybe we can pick up some work at fast food places and shit. You don't wanna be homeless in fucking Vermont in the winter, dude."

The warning stirred the ideas that were gaining hold in Josh's brain. October. Fall leaves in New England. Summer's sweet goodbye. The earth going into hibernation. And then?

Winter. Snow. An image of a thick blanket of snow in the woods came to him, maybe next to a pond like that one in the photos. That would be a good place. He could curl up in a snowbank and... let go. It wouldn't hurt probably. And it was a beautiful image—tragic and peaceful with the muffled fall of snow covering him like a blanket. It felt right.

"Josh?" Donny prompted in a worried voice.

Josh blinked. He picked up his duffel bag and slung it over his shoulder. The rank odor of it cut through his reverie. The bag contained his last earthly possessions and the last of his mother too. It had once been a nice bag, gray with a red Nike swoosh, but a few months of living on the streets had given it a patina of dirt and it smelled like seriously rank laundry. It would fit neatly in a garbage bin and no one would ever miss it.

"Sorry," Josh mumbled. "I promised my mom. So... guess we split here. I hope you find a job down in Tampa."

"Your mom?" Donny sounded so confused Josh risked a look at him. It was a mistake, because he saw the pleading, fearful look in Donny's eyes, and it made Josh feel like crap.

He'd only met Donny a week ago, but the kid--Donny was only sixteen, so Josh could call him a kid--was homeless too. He'd latched onto Josh with badly-hidden desperation. For a moment Josh second guessed his decision. Donny had unfortunately bright red hair, a fuckton of freckles, and braces. Josh worried about those braces. Didn't they have to be tightened or something? And eventually, they'd have to come off, right? But Donny had left his dentist and dental insurance far behind when he'd run away from home. What was going to happen to Donny's braces?

Josh would never know now. He felt guilty leaving Donny behind, but it was a momentary twinge. He wasn't Donny's big brother. And Donny didn't really know him, didn't care about him, not really. Donny just wanted company, anyone's company. The apathy Josh wore like a shroud crept back in, numbing his heart. Donny would be okay. In fact, he'd be better off without Josh. Most people were.

And there were fall leaves in New England.

"I'm sorry, but I gotta go. Good luck," Josh mumbled. On impulse, he gave Donny a hug.

Donny clung on for an uncomfortable moment. His fingers dug into Josh's shoulders as if they were pins trying to nail a butterfly's wings to a display card. "Promise me you'll be okay, Josh. Promise you won't do anything stupid." Donny's words were muffled against Josh's shoulder. They were so quiet they could barely be heard over the hum of the train station.

Josh pulled away. "Don't worry about me. I'm golden." He forced the ends of his lips upward.

"Promise, you bastard," Donny said in a fierce whisper.

"Take care, Donny. Be safe." Josh gave a little salute, and walked away

*** 

Are you as excited for Falling Down as we are?! Let her know what you thought in the comments!

The unicorns thank Eli for partying with us And sharing such bodacious treats. That's right...plural! There's more below!

Author Bio:

Having been, at various times, and under different names, a minister’s daughter, a computer programmer, the author of metaphysical thrillers, an organic farmer and a profound sleeper, Eli is happily embarking on yet another incarnation as a m/m romance author.

As an avid reader of such, she is tinkled pink when an author manages to combine literary merit, vast stores of humor, melting hotness and eye-dabbing sweetness into one story. She promises to strive to achieve most of that most of the time. She currently lives on a farm in Pennsylvania with her husband, three bulldogs, three cows and six chickens. All of them (except for the husband) are female, hence explaining the naked men that have taken up residence in her latest writing.

Eli currently publishes with Dreamspinner Press and has a few self-pubbed titles as well.

She also publishes thrillers under Jane Jensen.

Email her at eli at elieaston.com

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Enter Eli's giveaway for a chance to win one title from her self-pubbed ebooks or audiobooks, this includes Eli Easton's Christmas stories and the Howl at the Moon series.

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The giveaway is open until 12:00AM (Pacific time) on 11/13/16. Shortly thereafter, we will contact a winner! 

Please respond to the winning notification within 48 hours or we will choose another winner. Good luck!

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