Welcome author Parker Williams who's here today promoting his new Dreamspinner Press release, The Spirit Key. Find out more about this paranormal romance by reading the exclusive excerpt below and be sure to enter in the giveaway for your chance to win a signed paperback of it too! Good luck!
Exclusive excerpt
“Hi, Mom.”
It took only another moment before we were hugging each other and both of us were crying. I was trying to find justification for leaving, and all my excuses were for shit. I left everything heaped on her shoulders and ran because I couldn’t handle things. Yes, I was young, and yes, I was scared, but what I did to her—to everyone—was unforgivable.
Tim was right—payback sucked.
“Where have you been? I was so worried.”
“Can we sit down?”
“Yes, yes! Of course.”
She guided me into the house. She’d redecorated, and it looked nice. She ushered me over to the couch, and we sat, her clutching my hand. “I missed you so much.”
“Missed you too, Mom.” The lump in my throat hurt to swallow around. “And I’m so very sorry for worrying you.”
She regarded me expectantly, and I knew I had to tell her something. It wouldn’t be the truth, though. I couldn’t do that to her, especially after everything I’d already put her through.
“I know, and I’m sorry. I went to Chicago for... help. I was so lost when I was at home, and I knew I was hurting you and Ryan, so I thought it would be better if I left. I know now that was a mistake on my part, and I’ll never be able to say I’m sorry enough.”
Her eyes were misty as she leaned in and hugged me again. “I’m sorry we couldn’t be enough to help you. You know I was going through my own problems. With your father leaving and trying to raise two boys.... Things just got to be too much for me. I started drinking and thought it dulled the pain, but it didn’t. Every morning when I woke up, the problems were still there.”
“We both needed help, and I should have been here for you.”
She scowled. “No. I mean, yes, I wish you had been here, but it wasn’t your job to help me. I had to choose to do it myself. And I did.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a coin that she handed to me. On the one side were two lions, and between them the words Wisdom, Courage, and Serenity. On the reverse was the motto “To Thine Own Self Be True,” and a triangle beneath with the words Unity, Service, Recovery.
I rubbed the coin between my fingers. “I’m glad you found someone to help you.”
“It wasn’t easy. The church group was too preachy for me, so I found a secular group who did the same thing but made me be strong for myself by helping others. I haven’t had a drop in four years.”
I wrapped my arms around her and squeezed hard. “I’m so proud of you, Mom.” She’d taken responsibility, gotten help, and was now helping others. I hid in Chicago, too fucking scared to have a life.
She bit her lip. “Did you get the help you needed?”
A deep sigh rolled out of me. “I thought I did, but I see now that it’s still a work in progress.”
“Your whole life you’ll be a work in progress.” She paused. “So you’re leaving again?” The pain in her voice was unmistakable.
“I have a job in Chicago, but I’m not going to vanish. Can I have your phone?”
She reached into her pocket and drew it out, then handed it to me. I programmed my number in, then called my phone so I would have hers.
“You look good, you know.”
Her cheeks pinked. “Thank you. So do you.”
We sat there for hours, with Mom telling me what she’d been up to. She was seeing a new man, and I couldn’t have been happier for her. And just when I thought things were going well, she dropped a bombshell on me.
“He has a gay son too.”
“He... what?”
“Has a gay son,” she repeated, looking at me like I’d grown a second head. “His name is Connor. He’s a sweet boy. You’d like him, I think. Though he’s not really your type.”
My head was spinning. “What do you mean?”
“I always saw you. Even when you thought I didn’t notice, I did. Maybe I was wrong for not telling you, but I hoped you’d come to me. Of course, I wasn’t the kind of mother who you’d want to tell that to, I guess.”
Oh fuck no. “Uh-uh, you can stop that right now. I didn’t run away because I was gay. I ran because.... Because I thought I needed to get help from a professional. My leaving had zero to do with you and nothing at all to do with being gay and.... How did you know?”
She chuckled. “The first place moms look for porn magazines is under the mattress. Boys have been hiding them there for a very long time. Though your brother was a little bit different. He used to hide his in a plastic bag that he velcroed to the underside of the lid of the toilet tank.”
My cheeks heated. “So you found...?”
“Yeah, I saw them. You have good taste in guys. I thought Simon Rex was a cutie. And, damn, that boy’s hung.”
I held up my hands to ward off the evil woman who had taken over my mother. “Oh my God, Mom! Never, ever say that to me again.”
Blurb:
Lock and Key: Book One
When he was eight years old, Scott Fogel died. Paramedics revived him, but he came back changed. Ghosts and spirits tormented Scott for over a decade until, thinking he was going mad, he did the only thing he could.
He ran—leaving behind his best friend, Tim Jennesee.
Scott’s had five normal, ghost-free years in Chicago, when the spirit of Tim’s mother comes to him and begs him to go home because Tim’s in trouble and needs him.
He isn’t prepared for what he finds when he goes home—a taller and sexier Tim, but a Tim who hasn’t forgiven Scott for abandoning him… a Tim whose body is no longer his own. The ghost of a serial murderer has attached itself to Tim, and it’s whispering dark and evil things. It wants Tim to kill, and it’s becoming harder for Tim to resist. To free the man who has always meant so much to him, Scott must unravel the mystery of the destiny he shares with Tim.
Pages, Words, or time (for audiobooks): 74,439 words
Book Categories: Ghosts/spirits/paranormal
Sales Links:
Dreamspinner Press
Amazon
Author bio:
Parker Williams began to write as a teen, but never showed his work to anyone. As he grew older, he drifted away from writing, but his love of the written word moved him to reading. A chance encounter with an author changed the course of his life as she encouraged him to never give up on a dream. With the help of some amazing friends, he rediscovered the joy of writing, thanks to a community of writers who have become his family.
Parker firmly believes in love, but is also of the opinion that anything worth having requires work and sacrifice (plus a little hurt and angst, too). The course of love is never a smooth one, and happily-ever-after always has a price tag.
Website
Twitter: @ParkerWAuthor
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artist: Reese Dante
Giveaway prize offered: Signed Paperback copy of The Spirit Key delivered anywhere in the world!
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