BLURB:
For
the last fifteen years, Rose “Manny” Mankowski has been a very good girl. Now, at the age of 45, she’s questioning her
choices and feeling more and more disconnected from her own life. When she’s passed over for promotion and her
much younger new boss implies Manny’s life will never change, something
snaps. In the blink of an eye, she’s
quit her job, sold her house, cashed in her pension, and she’s leaving town on
a six month road trip.
After
placing an ad for a travelling companion, she’s joined in her mid-life crisis
by Zeke Powell, the cynical, satirical, most read – and most controversial –
blogger for the e-zine, What Women Want.
Zeke’s true goal is to expose Manny’s journey as a pitiful and desperate
attempt to reclaim her lost youth – and increase his readership at the same
time.
Now,
armed with a bagful of destinations, a fistful of maps, and an out-spoken
imaginary friend named Harvey, Manny’s on a quest to rediscover herself – and taking
Zeke along for the ride.
Manny walked in her door,
looking tired and feeling worn out. She wondered ruefully why the only thing
not on a schedule was the time she could leave the office. She dropped her
purse on the table and hung up her coat and keys. With a tired sigh, she walked
into the living room and plopped into the armchair. She closed her eyes as
Harvey walked out of the kitchen with a glass of white wine and began to rub
her shoulders. He again looked impossibly handsome, this time wearing a sweater
and jeans. She sighed in imagined bliss, and looked at him with sad eyes.
You have no idea how
much I wish you were real.
In a blink, he was
gone–and the phone was ringing. For a split second, Manny considered not
answering it.
There’s your chance to
talk to a real person, Harvey
murmured.
Probably a
telemarketer.
Probably Rebecca. Or
Daisy. They’ll worry if you don’t answer.
All right, all
right.
Manny heaved herself to
her feet and walked to the phone.
Maybe I’m glad
you’re imaginary after all.
She caught a glimpse of
his grin as she answered the phone.
It was Rebecca, asking her
to go out the next night.
“I don’t know...” Manny
sighed.
“Oh, come on–you’ll have
fun! And seriously–you haven’t gone out with us in months!”
“I’ve been tired...”
“You’ve been tired your
whole life I think. You need to break out of this rut you’re in! Come out for a
few drinks and dancing with me and Daisy. Who knows, maybe you’ll meet a
good-looking guy and be swept off your feet into a red-hot love affair.”
Sounds like a plan to
me.
Yeah, ’cause that’ll
happen.
“I’d love to go dancing,”
Manny said to Rebecca, “but the guy is just a figment of your imagination.”
“Only because you don’t
put any effort into it. Seriously, it’s not healthy to do nothing but work and
go home. That’s how people go crazy you know.”
“Huh. You mean next thing
you know I’ll be talking to my imaginary friend?”
Harvey grinned wickedly and
Manny abruptly turned her back to him.
AUTHOR INFORMATION:
Victoria
Bernadine (a pseudonym) is, as the saying goes, a “woman of a certain age”.
After twenty-something years of writer’s block, she began writing again in
2008. She began with fanfiction about a (now-cancelled) TV show called Jericho
and particularly about the characters of Heather Lisinski and Edward Beck. From
there, she expanded into writing original fic and she hasn’t stopped since.
Victoria enjoys
reading all genres and particularly loves writing romantic comedy and
post-apocalyptic science fiction. What those two have in common is anybody’s
guess.
She lives in Edmonton with her two cats (The Grunt and The
Runt). A Life Less Ordinary is the first novel she felt was good
enough to be released into the wild.
Victoria can be
contacted through Love of Words Publishing Inc. (
loveofwords@shaw.ca)
or through her brand new blog at
http://victoriabernadine.wordpress.com/.
A Life Less
Ordinary is available for sale on Amazon in both Kindle and hard copy formats
at
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AMJBOSQ.
My Interview with the author:
“If you show
me yours, I’ll show you mine with author Charity Parkerson”
Tell me 3
fun facts about yourself
Oh,
dear – they need to be fun?!
1.) In a case of life imitating art, I did quit
my job and cash out my pension. Still
looking for a Zeke, though!
2.) I’m owned by two cats – one who is twenty
pounds; the other is about six. No
wonder my nephew calls them the Grunt and the Runt!
3.) I’m not-so-secretly addicted to true crime
documentaries, and I usually end up freaking myself out when I’m watching
them. I wish I was smart enough to write
a mystery novel!
If you could
bring one of your book characters to life for only one night, which one would
it be, and what would you do?
Only
one? LOL
Oh, dear...*ponders*...well, I’ll go for shallow and say Zeke, so I
could prove to him that older women really do make the best lovers. Well.
I’d do my best, anyway!
Is there
anyone you’ve always secretly thought of as sexy that other people might find
strange? If so, who?
Lorne
Greene – and I’ll be surprised if anyone even remembers/knows who he was –
LOL! Even before I hit puberty, I loved
his voice and thought he was very, very handsome.
What’s the
worst/oddest present that you’ve ever received?
In
elementary school, my best friend’s mother gave me a pair of underwear as part
of a Christmas present...which I opened up at school...I was incredibly
embarrassed (although they were very pretty).
Confession
time: What’s on your ipod right now?
...erm...I
don’t have an ipod *looks sheepish*. I
do use YouTube playlists, if that’ll work!
The Good: Let Her Go – Passenger – I just discovered this artist;
love, love, love his voice and this song!
The
Bad: She
Took It Like a Man – Confederate Railroad – it’s just a funny, silly
reverse-sexist song.
The Ugly: Star Trekkin’ - I don’t even know the artist – I suppose
it’s more hilarious than ugly, but...close enough – LOL.
Do you have
any tattoos?
Nope. I’m too much of a commitment-phobe to get a
tattoo!
What’s your
favorite snack?
Potato
chips. Flavoured are preferred, but as
long as they’re salty, I’ll eat ‘em. And
coke...as in coca cola.
What’s your
ultimate fantasy?
World
peace...a best-selling novel...a tropical island filled with gorgeous men who
adore me and are willing to provide me with an endless supply of books and cats
(not to mention potato chips and coke)!
At
least, that’s my ultimate fantasy for today!!
Victoria will be awarding a $25 gift card and two $15 gifts cards, to either Amazon or Smashwords (Winners choice) to randomly drawn commenters. For more chances to win be sure to check out all the tour stops. Here's a link to find those:
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