New Release! THE ROAD AND BEYOND by Marilyn Brant

The Road and Beyond by Marilyn BrantI’ve been waiting for over a year to finally get to release THE ROAD AND BEYOND, which is the expanded book-club edition of The Road to You! Why is there a new version, and what’s in it, you ask?

Well, when I first released The Road to You, my coming-of-age romantic mystery published last October, the novel was chosen by a few book clubs (some in-person groups and some online). And I *love* book clubs! I love the clever people I’ve met through them, and I love the thoughtful and intriguing questions the members ask… During a visit with a wonderful Chicago-area club, the readers asked me some excellent questions about the heroine of the story, Aurora Gray (a lover of libraries and of Austen, of course!), who’d been in her teens during the time of the book — the late 1970s. They asked me if I knew what she would be like NOW, and if I could tell them what had happened to her in the decades since her road-trip adventure down Route 66 with Donovan McCafferty, as the two of them searched for their missing siblings. Did I know, they wondered, what became of all the characters in the original story?

I said, “Yes! In fact, I even wrote about it…” My characters are not so quick to leave me after I finish a novel, LOL, and I’d spent a fair bit of time pondering what Aurora would have been like as an adult, given the experiences she’d had at age eighteen. So, just to satisfy my own curiosity, I’d penned a parallel story (about 50 pages long) that took place in 2014 and, in my opinion, gave a certain resonance to the tale of her youth. I asked the club members if they wanted to read it. They said, “Ohhhh, yeah!” So they did, and their feedback was truly heartening and exciting 🙂 . As a direct result of their enthusiastic response to this addition to the story, I promised them I’d release it this year for book clubs and for anyone who might enjoy having the expanded edition.

This new book has the *entire* original story included but, in between each of the 1978-set chapters, there are also shorter present-day chapters set in 2014 with the modern thread of Aurora’s adult life woven throughout. And, because I’d always had a future-Aurora in mind, even while writing the first draft of the novel, I’ve also included two extra scenes (one at the beginning and one at the end) that take place in the year 2020, when Aurora is sixty. I’m so fascinated by the way the experiences of our childhood and adolescence influence our perceptions and decisions as adults, and this expanded story is my way of giving that kind of longer-range tale to readers who enjoy that perspective, too!

You can find THE ROAD AND BEYOND at:  Amazon US    Amazon UK    Amazon Canada    Barnes & Noble    iBooks    Smashwords    Kobo (coming soon!)

Here is the blurb from the novel and an excerpt from the new portion of the story:

The Road and Beyond is the expanded book-club edition of The Road to You. This novel contains not only the completed original story set in the late 1970s, but it also includes the brand-new present-day tale of Aurora, now a mature and married woman with two adult sons, who must confront her worst parental nightmare.

One Disappearance Had Been Enough To Last Her A Lifetime…

Aurora Gray is no stranger to tragedy. In the summer of 1976, when she was just sixteen, her world turned upside down when her big brother Gideon and his best friend Jeremy disappeared. For two years, there’s no word from either of them. No trace of their whereabouts. But then, shortly after her high-school graduation, she unexpectedly finds her brother’s journal and sees that it’s been written in again. Recently. By him.

There are secret messages coded within the journal’s pages and Aurora, who is unusually perceptive and a natural puzzle solver, is determined to follow where they lead, no matter what the cost. She confides in the only person she feels might help her interpret the clues: Donovan McCafferty, Jeremy’s older brother and a guy she’s always been drawn to…even against her better judgment.

The two of them set out on a road trip of discovery and danger, heading westward along America’s historic Route 66 in search of their siblings and the answers to questions they haven’t dared to ask aloud. The mystery they uncover will forever change the course of their lives.

…But Now It Was Happening Again

Decades later, in the summer of 2014, fifty-four-year-old Aurora receives a terrifying phone call—her adult son Charlie is missing—and this news inevitably brings the memories of her adolescent years rushing back. Haunting recollections she’d hoped to keep buried.

Were the choices she’d made in her youth responsible for her son’s disappearance now? And how on earth can she find him—quickly—so that she might be able to prevent the trauma of the past from repeating itself?

EXCERPT:
sm-Blue Swallow wallPasadena, California ~ Friday, August 15, 2014

No one else was home, of course, when I got the call that my twenty-eight-year-old son was missing.

“The Benson Plastics people are already here for the eleven o’clock presentation, but Charlie isn’t,” Gloria, the company’s secretary, informed me, her piercing voice tinged with an edge of hysteria. I’d only spoken with the woman on the phone twice before, but I got the distinct impression that her circuits were forever at risk of being overloaded.

“He’s not answering his cell?” I asked, surprised more than anything, actually, because both of my boys had their iPhones all but super-glued to their palms.

“Aurora, I’ve tried to reach him for an hour and a half,” Gloria insisted, the shrillness in her tone rising like high notes in a chorus and dancing for dear life on the other end of the line. “There’s no answer at home. His cell goes straight to voicemail. And I even called his girlfriend because she’s his first contact. She has no idea where Charlie is either. You’re his second contact, so I hope you’ll know where we can reach him.”

For a long, uncomfortable moment I was distracted by something ridiculous. The fact that I was only my son’s second contact. Well, he was practically living with Cassandra, so I supposed it made sense that she was his first. But still…

Then the deeper meaning of the secretary’s comments seeped in. No one knows where Charlie is. I tried to be calm, reasonable, rational and not like some TV sitcom mother who’d overreact to everything. But, naturally, given my family’s history, that was impossible.

sm-Rt 66 DinerI fought back the panic and asked, “Was he at work yesterday?”

“Yes,” Gloria said. “He was here when I left at four-twenty, and one of the department heads said he saw Charlie still working at his desk when he left at five. Martin, the team leader, was going to give the presentation to the plastics people this morning, but his wife called in saying he was sick with bronchitis. So, Charlie is the one who should be leading the meeting, but he didn’t come in or call in an absence, and none of the managers here were told about any changes in his plans.”

I understood instinctively that Gloria’s first priority and much of her loyalty was to the company—Cornman, Grabher & Pressly—a financial firm my youngest son had worked at for these past three years. But it irked me that her focus remained on not disappointing “the plastics people,” rather than on my son’s safety.

“He never said anything to me about being gone from work today,” I admitted, my mind reeling with that ever-present parental worry, which spun a dangerous path from my head to my gut. It settled there and began its slow, painful twisting.

Where is he? Is he okay? Why didn’t he tell anyone where he was going? Unless, of course, he wasn’t able to tell because he was hurt or in danger…or worse.

The questions started, and it was like 1976 all over again.

“I’ll call his father and his brother,” I told the secretary. “If either of them know anything, I’ll contact you immediately.”

“Thanks,” the secretary said, but I could tell her attention was still fixed entirely on the wrong things, at least in my opinion. Then, finally, she added, “This just doesn’t seem like him.”

“No,” I said. “No, it doesn’t.”

I hung up. I knew my son. He was a risk taker, an adventurous type, the kind of guy who loved thrill rides and fast cars and extreme sports. Different from his computer-obsessed older brother, who played Xbox when he was in the mood for serious activity and read ebooks when he was tired of programming things on his PC.

But Charlie wasn’t irresponsible. If he was going to be gone from work, he would have told somebody. Maybe not me, but someone.

I thought back to when I’d spoken with him last—on Wednesday night. I’d asked him about his girlfriend Cassandra. She’s okay, he’d said. And about work. Yeah, it’s fine. And if he had any special plans coming up. Nope.

The ticking clock on the wall marked the passing minutes as my worry flooded the rest of my body. Ripples of dread meted out in sixty-second increments. Everything had seemed all right with him just two days ago but, then, kids often lied to their parents or, at the very least, withheld crucial information.

I should know.

***
Hope you liked the excerpt! I’d love to hear your thoughts on it 😉 .

 

30 comments

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    • Ceri on September 17, 2014 at 1:46 am
    • Reply

    Hi Marilyn, I already have Double Dipping, so please don’t enter me for the giveaway, but I just wanted to comment regarding your new book. I loved reading The Road to You so it was great to hear that you’ve done this expanded version. I’m interested to see what happened to Aurora and your excerpt is very intriguing. All the very best with it!

    1. Ceri, thank you so much for reading the excerpt, for your good wishes, and for all of the lovely things you’ve said about The Road to You 😉 . Truly, it’s a story that’s very close to my heart, and I’m just thrilled that you enjoyed it!
      xox

    • Anat on September 17, 2014 at 1:47 am
    • Reply

    I often wonder how a character will grow once the book has ended – thank you for this glimpse into the future of Aurora!
    I would love a copy of Double Dipping 😉

    1. Anat,
      I’m really glad to hear that this intrigues you, too!! For me, it’s always so fascinating…once I feel I know a character, I find myself imagining them well beyond the confines of the book… 😀

    2. Anat,
      Congrats again on being one of the DOUBLE DIPPING winners!
      When you have a moment, please email me with the best email address to send the PDF copy to, or leave me a message here on this post!!
      🙂

    • Jane Odiwe on September 17, 2014 at 5:47 am
    • Reply

    Marilyn, I just wanted to stop by and say good luck with this new release and congratulations!! Wishing you huge success-all the best!

    1. Jane, many thanks for your kindness and good wishes!!
      *Hugs!*

    • Carole in Canada on September 17, 2014 at 12:09 pm
    • Reply

    When one has a favourite book and wishes there was more you deliver! But then all our Austen Variation Authors do that with our favourite Jane Austen books! Congratulations and will be adding this one to my ‘wishlist’!!!!

    1. Oh, Carole, thank you SO much!! I really hope you’ll like it!
      And I agree that we’re especially lucky here at Austen Variations — so many wonderful releases happening all year long 😀 . As a reader as well as a writer, I appreciate that as well!! XO

  1. Congratulations and all the best. Mary

    1. Thank you very much, Mary!!
      Congrats again to you on your launch this week as well 😉 .

  2. Congratulations on your newest release, Marilyn. The excerpt is good and I feel for Aurora. I hope nothing bad happened to Charlie or she will not be able to go through this hell again.

    Double Dipping is the only book that I don’t have in my collection and I’m hoping to win it this time.

    1. Lúthien,
      First, I just have to say thank you! I can’t express how much it means to me to have readers who’ve gotten all (or nearly all 🙂 ) of my novels! Particularly as an author who writes across genres, I know this is no small compliment… *Hug*
      So glad you enjoyed the excerpt!!
      And you are most definitely entered in the drawing. Fingers crossed for you!

      1. You’re welcome, Marilyn. I forgot to include The Road and Beyond so that makes it 2 of your books to be added. 😉

        1. 🙂 🙂
          Still very impressive to me, and I’m honored, Lúthien!

        2. Congrats again on being one of the winners, Lúthien!!
          Thanks for emailing me. I’ve just sent the copy of Double Dipping to you — hope you’ll enjoy it! 😀

    • Deborah on September 17, 2014 at 2:21 pm
    • Reply

    Congrats on your new release. I enjoyed Road to You and am looking forward to reading the newer parts. Sounds just as mysterious as the original story.

    1. Deborah,
      You know how thrilled I am that you enjoyed The Road to You 😉 . Thank you for being so wonderfully supportive and for taking time to visit and comment here!!
      xox

  3. What a fantastic idea to expand your book into the present! I know what it’s like to have characters continue to haunt you after the book is done.

    1. Abigail, thank you!!
      To me, it’s been one of the great joys of indie publishing that we can take risks and try out fresh narrative ideas with our stories. Such a pleasure to get to experiment a little more creatively and give our readers what they ask for 🙂 .

    • Anji on September 17, 2014 at 6:23 pm
    • Reply

    Congrats on the new release, Marilyn! What a good idea to update your book with scenes from the characters’ future. I haven’t read The Road to You or Double Dipping yet (they’re both on my Wish List) but they both sound very interesting.

    Good luck!

    1. Thanks, Anji!
      I’m so pleased that you like the idea 😉 . It was a great deal of fun to write those future-Aurora scenes! And I really hope you’ll like both The Road to You (or The Road & Beyond) and Double Dipping when you have time to read them! <3

  4. I’m so excited about this! I can’t wait to read it and see what Aurora and Donovan are like as parents. Will it be available in paperback, too? Just curious. Wishing you lots of success – you know you’re one of my favoritest people in the world! Hugs.

    1. Ohhh, my dear Monica, thank you so much! And you’re one of my favoritest people, too!! XOX
      As for the paperback, I’m really hoping it’ll be available in print within a month or two. It’s a question of formatting — whether to keep the scripted journal entries (which are harder to format) or to just use italics (which is simpler but not a cool looking, lol). So, a few technical details need to be decided on and juggled along with the other projects at hand… Will keep you posted! 😀

        • Ceri on September 17, 2014 at 7:00 pm
        • Reply

        That was one of the things I really liked about the original, the scripted journal entries, I hope it’s possible to keep them 🙂

        1. Me, too, Ceri!! I spent a lot of time searching for just the right handwriting script for Gideon…so I’m definitely going to try to keep it in the paperback, if at all possible. <3

    • Diana Hall on September 17, 2014 at 9:49 pm
    • Reply

    Would love to read these! My hubs and I will be in Chicago starting tomorrow through Monday celebrating our 40th anniversary! WHAT??? Lol.

    1. Wow, Diana!!!
      HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to you and your husband! That’s a fantastic milestone. May the two of you have an absolutely amazing, well-deserved celebration (in one of my favorite cities in the world, btw 🙂 ).
      All the best to you both!
      And p.s. – thank you. I hope you’ll enjoy reading the stories!!

    • suzeja on September 18, 2014 at 7:51 am
    • Reply

    I read this story last year and found it very enjoyable. Thank you

    1. Suze~
      Thank YOU!!
      I’m *thrilled* to know that you enjoyed it!
      😀

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