Mental Pause - Cover Reveal and Chapter 4 (excerpt)

Drumroll please!! After a lot of soul searching, re-reading many passages, input from amazing friends, colleagues and family and six sets of designs painstakingly created by my amazing designer Graham Booth, I have finally chosen the cover for Mental Pause!

I feel that the design I finally chose is a nice representation of the split personality that Abbie is dealing with... her contemplative, sweet self is somewhere in the shadows trying to figure it all out, while the outward persona becomes crazier and more unhinged as the story unfolds. Even her lipstick matches the background color and her red shirt matches the title!  Abbie is even sporting the dark roots like she complains about on a couple of different occasions. I hope it captures the essence of the novel and, more importantly, entices people to buy it! I've written a little more about cover design when self-publishing on my other blog so feel free to give it a read.

In the meantime, here's an excerpt from Chapter 4!

Mental Pause - Chapter 4 (excerpt) 
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The chairs were like the biggest, most comfortable lazy boys you’ve ever seen in your life.  Abbie sat in the middle one, with Rachel and Joan on either side, eyes closed, feet soaking luxuriously in a warm, bubbly footbath attached to each chair. The chairs had built-in roller massagers that could be adjusted to whatever pressure and speed your heart desired. Abbie had hers set on slow and steady. It rolled from the base of her spine, over her butt cheeks, and made its delicious way, pulsating along the muscles that flanked her spine up to her neck and shoulders, pausing on the base of her skull, where it vibrated gently, and then started its happy journey back down.

            Abbie squeezed the hands of her two best friends… one she had known forever and one who had just entered her life, just at the right time. She hadn’t had a second of irritation, or one irrational thought for at least a couple of hours. She wished she could bottle this feeling and take it out whenever she needed it.

            Joan squeezed back. “You know, if the rest of your family is anything like Winston, you’re a very lucky lady.”

            “They are,” Rachel replied for her. “Both boys are charmers and Conrad is as solid as the rock of Gibraltar.”

            “Yes, I guess I am…” Abbie didn’t want to talk about her family. She wanted to pretend the only person she was responsible for was herself… just for a few hours. She felt the irritation rising and swallowed it back.

            “This feels heavenly,” she changed the subject. “I can’t remember the last time I had a pedicure.”

            “Hmmm… I started having them regularly after my husband and I split up,” said Joan. “I figured if I was going to be out on the singles scene again I’d better get fit. And, have pretty toes. You know, the important stuff… like smooth legs because you never know when you’re going to be rubbing them up and down someone else’s!” Joan ran her tongue along her upper lip. Rachel laughed.

            “Right! I started doing a little regular pampering after I met Joan in our singles group,” she added, smoothing down her newly highlighted hair. “She made me realize that if I was going to survive as a single mother I had to find a way to relax once in a while. It’s actually easier now that Todd has the kids every other weekend and next week they’ll be with him for the summer.  I’ll be a free woman!”

            “You make it sound almost appealing,” said Abbie wistfully.

            “Actually, I miss them like crazy but I’ve gotta make the best of it.”

            “Do you mind me asking, how long have you been separated, Joan?” Abbie swished her feet in the footbath as the three technicians took their places on the stools at their feet.

            “No I don’t mind at all… as you heard from my phone call yesterday from my ‘husband’, he’s dragging his feet on the divorce but we’ve been separated almost six months now,” Joan shook her head and let out an exasperated sigh. “His lack of cooperation has made it really difficult for both of us. I guess I can understand. It was shocking for him when I finally came out of the closet, and it’s really sent him for a loop.” Joan picked out a deep red nail color from the tray of polish the nail tech held out towards her.