Here it is, the prologue to Catch and Release. Please note that this is NOT the final edit and is still subject to some changes.
Release Date: May 25, 2015
Prologue
Darby
I was four years old the day that I met Trace Chamberlain. An autobiography of my life would have two sections. The first part, the before, would likely be addressed in one or two chapters.
The second part, the after, could fill an entire library.
Trace is my most important person. My life, my memories, my heart- none of it would be what it is if I didn’t know him. Everything that I am, and all that I’ll ever be, can be linked directly back to that first afternoon in my backyard. Without a doubt I know that my life is far richer for having him in it.
Some people say that real love should never hurt. That’s not possible, and anyone that thinks that it is, has never loved with everything that they have. We’re all made up of things that are good and bad. We all have strengths and weaknesses. Some people are good at hiding them. Trace and I—we never hid from one another. The good, the bad, and the terrifically ugly—it’s always been out on display. True love is about loving someone enough to accept the things about them that challenge you.
Real love is sometimes painful. It isn’t just the highest of the high—it’s also the lowest of the low. It’s being on that bottom rung, holding on with half a finger as you struggle to breathe through the pain. There have been times that I hated things that Trace did almost as much as I loved him.
For all that, even in the darkest moments, a small spark of hope always existed. I learned that true love cannot be snuffed out. You can ignore or avoid it, but the spark remains. There is no cure for love—no medication or magic to make it go away.
Love is not perfect. How could it be? Perfection doesn’t exist. Even the most beautiful things have a flaw. Deep and abiding love sees the flaw—and continues to love in spite of that. Perhaps the love grows bigger because of it.
Love is pleasure and pain. You can find yourself going under because the pain is so intense that you’re no longer able to see the beauty. Believe it or not, hitting rock bottom can be a blessing. It gives you a place to kick off from in order to launch yourself back up.
There’s a feeling, just before breaking the surface, after being down for so long, that you falter. In those few seconds when you’re positive that you can’t go any farther and you won’t get to take that much needed breath—that’s the place where miracles can occur.
There’s nothing quite like feeling the hand of the person you grasping onto your own to pull you the rest of the way up.
That first breath when you break the surface and inhale for the first time changes everything. What seemed so difficult before that moment is suddenly crystal-clear.
Why?
Because that’s the moment that you know that your love is strong enough to survive. When you’ve gone through hell and your love endures, you know what you’ve had all along.
In anticipation of Catch and Release going live, Catch My Fall is on sale for 99 cents.
Amazon http://amzn.to/1LMr5M9
Barnes & Noble http://bit.ly/1ja8lOg
iBooks http://bit.ly/1jjkSzl
Kobo http://bit.ly/TZSUwq
Twist of Fate is also on sale for the first time ever. It’s 99 cents so grab it while it lasts.
Amazon http://amzn.to/1zMh8Zi
B&N http://bit.ly/1Dwd57i
Apple http://apple.co/1JSpCIp
Kobo http://bit.ly/1LOvmAx