String Boys is Live!

Seth Arnold learned at an early age that two things in life could make his soul soar—his violin and Kelly Cruz. In Seth’s uncertain childhood, the kindness of the Cruz family, especially Kelly and his brother, Matty, gave Seth the stability to make his violin sing with the purest sound and opened a world of possibility beyond his home in Sacramento.

Kelly Cruz has loved Seth forever, but he knows Seth’s talents shouldn’t be hidden, not when the world is waiting. Encouraging Seth to follow his music might break Kelly’s heart, but he is determined to see the violin set Seth’s soul free. When their world is devastated by a violent sexual assault and Matty’s prejudices turn him from a brother to an enemy, Seth and Kelly’s future becomes uncertain.

Seth can’t come home and Kelly can’t leave, but they are held together by a love that they clutch with both hands.

Seth and Kelly are young and the world is wide—the only thing they know for certain is they’ll follow their heartstrings to each other’s arms whenever time and fate allow. And pray that one day they can follow that string to forever… before it slices their hearts in two.

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I'll be honest. I'm not sure if I'll write another book like String Boys.

The book that follows two lovers from childhood through a troubled beginning to an adulthood where they have earned every good thing.

This book took a lot out of me--I put so much of my soul into it. 

Enough that I'm a little afraid. I mean, people don't like books all the time. And when they don't like something the cruelty on the internet knows no bounds. I know this. I've accepted it as a job hazard. Not every book is for every reader--I believe that with all my soul. 

But a book like this, where you see them as children and follow them to where they're happy--that sticks with you. That becomes a part of you. And no amount of logic or reason can divorce your heart from the things said about that story. 

It's not a healthy way to live, being afraid of what people will say about something like that. It's why romance writers love writing romance-- because they can write happy and even if they throw their heart and soul into happy, it's HAPPY and even the criticism has a different flavor. I've written happy books. When someone dismisses it as fluff, I take that to mean, "Job well done!" because, well, that was my intention. 

But when you write something like this and someone walks all over it, it takes a couple of breaths to recover from the hit.

I'll never stop writing. Mate and I joke about how my retirement plan will be for him to find me collapsed over my keyboard when I can no longer walk. (Mate and I have a sort of dark sense of humor--believe me, this cracks us up because it's true!)  

And I'm sure I'll be writing books that make people cry too. 

But this one ranks right up there with Locker Room, Chase in Shadow, Beneath the Stain, Mourning Heaven, Keeping Promise Rock, Paint it Black, Fish, Under the Rushes and Bobby Green in how many pieces of my heart are sprinkled in the mix, and authors only have so many of those in them to give. 

Never say never. 

I have more experiences, more insight, more people inside my head. Like I said, I'm not giving up writing any time soon.

But this kind of writing, the kind that ties you up in it's tendrils and doesn't let you back down to earth even when it's done, the kind that leaves you with a heartachy hangover for a good two months while you try to write something else--I'm not sure if I can afford to write many more of these.

I really hope you like this one. 

I can't even tell you what it means.