This project started as an idea for a
romance series following a band. The original concept was to have five books on
the band, Chasing Cross, and each book would feature a member of the band.
Well, thanks to the readers support of the Brothers of Rock books, I have
officially gotten details worked out for five more books! Those books won’t
follow Chasing Cross but a new band. It’s been so fun and exciting writing
these novels. They can be read as stand alone books but they’re best enjoyed in
order as some of the plots are connected book to book.
Here’s the background on each of the books
featuring Chasing Cross along with an excerpt from the newest Brothers of Rock
book, Bitter Farewell (Chasing Cross #3) -
In the first book of the series – All
Access – it introduces the band and introduces leader singer, Johnnie. He meets
a woman who doesn’t know who he is and they fall for each other. The story is
flirty and fun with the undertones of what it’s like to be a successful
rockstar. Johnnie is sexy and rich, but he faces a lot of troubles. And with
Jess, he realizes anything is possible.
With the second book – Broken Sound – Davey
faces a real situation. A woman shows up at his hotel room with a baby claiming
he’s the father. The flirty and fun feeling from All Access is quickly shaken
away here. The book is deep as Davey tries to decide what the right to do is…
and on top of that, he falls for a woman who isn’t the mother of the baby.
There’s plenty of twists and turns in the book, including an attempted murder!
The release of Bitter Farewell brings
Danny’s journey back home after he and Johnnie’s father dies. (Johnnie and
Danny are blood brothers.) While Johnnie is able to make peace quick and the
band is eager to get back to getting ready for their tour and recording, Danny
can’t let it go. When he left town, he left a woman behind. And fate steps in,
bringing them back together. This romance book explores love through heartache
and proves the true power of time.
The fourth book will follow bassist, Chris,
as he goes back in time to follow through on a promise he made when he – and
Chasing Cross – were still young. And finally, the end Chasing Cross’s set of
books, drummer Rick will face a decision that can – and will – change the
direction of the entire band. Both those books will be released before the end
of 2013!
Excerpt from Bitter Farewell (Brothers of
Rock #3):
(1)
The
strap was too long, the cloth
frayed and ragged and Danny was too afraid to move it for fear of the strap
completely breaking. The strings were like pieces of barbed wire; there wasn’t
enough money to buy new strings... not for a ‘damn guitar’ as his father put it
all the time. There wasn’t enough electricity either. Danny could plug the
guitar into his amp, but he could never plug the amp in. Unless his father was
working. But he’d have to get up killer early to play then...
“Dad...
did you hear?”
Danny
looked up from the guitar... he had to look up to from the guitar because he
couldn’t play the chords without looking. Not like Johnnie. Johnnie learned how
to play chords without looking. It was seriously cool.
Danny
saw that his father wasn’t standing in the doorway anymore.
He
had been there a second ago.
Danny
put the guitar down and walked to the doorway. He heard the shower running.
‘Dad
must have had a long day...’
That’s
it, Danny told himself.
His
father walked away a lot.
But
he worked hard.
That
mattered, right?
Danny
looked back to the bed and knew he had about two minutes to plug the amp in and
turn it on. There really wasn’t anything quite like the sound of his guitar
turned on... and it certainly helped with the sting of loneliness.
“Dude, you
ready?”
Danny took his
eyes off the pearl diamond inlay neck on his guitar and looked up at Rick
standing, twirling drumsticks.
“Yeah,” Danny
whispered.
“Are you sure?
You look like hell.”
“I’m good, how
about you?”
Rick threw both
sticks in the air and caught them without looking. He stuck them - tip down -
into his front pocket. He outstretched his arms and smiled.
“I feel alive,
my friend, alive.”
“Good. How’s the
arm feeling?”
“Perfect.”
Rick held up his
cast and tapped it. He was still weeks away from getting the cast removed at
which point he could start practicing drums. Of course Rick insisted the second
the cast came off he’d start playing shows. Doctors tried to explain to Rick
the time it may take to get used to playing, not to mention the risk of
aggravating anything in his arm, but he insisted. Johnnie had already promised
Rick that once the time came to play again, he would. He’d start slow, two
songs a night and add more each time.
“I still can’t
believe you’re doing the show,” Rick said. “It’s... you don’t have to...”
“I do,” Danny
said. He looked back to the guitar. He fingered a ‘C’ chord but didn’t strum
it. He thought about being a kid, sitting on his bed, struggling to finger the
chord. It was so natural now, something he could do in his sleep, without
thinking.
“How are we
feeling tonight?” another voice chimed in.
It was Peter’s
voice.
“Ready to rock,”
Danny said, knowing he sounded monotone.
“How’s the arm
feeling?” Peter asked, gripping Rick’s shoulder.
“Good to go.”
“Yeah, right,”
Peter said. “Dr. Beretti is pissed you told him you planned on opening the next
leg of the tour playing a full set... he said if you overdo it, you’ll end up
needing surgery...”
“I don’t care,”
Rick said. “I’m playing.”
Peter looked at
Danny. Danny just blinked. Hiding
emotion was pointless at the moment.
“Danny... why
don’t I get Johnnie?”
“That’s cool,”
Danny said.
Peter tugged on
Rick’s shirt and they both left.
Danny let out a
sigh.
He hated this,
right now. The moment when everyone looked at him and felt pity. Their eyes showed it, their kind voices
proved it, and no matter what Danny did or said, the truth was present.
His
father was dead.
Maybe it
shouldn’t have hit him so hard, considering the seemingly always off
relationship he had with ‘Big John’ as everyone called him. But it mattered,
right? It was his father. Somewhere in Danny’s mind he believed that someday
things would matter. That after this tour, he’d head home and maybe have that
moment with his father. The one where his father would pull out a shoebox and
show Danny he’d been collecting pictures and articles of Chasing Cross all these
years...
“Little bro,
what’s going on?”
Danny looked at
Johnnie and swallowed. “I’m just waiting for the call... to take the stage...”
“You know, you
don’t have to do this. It’s just a benefit show. It’s more about the name of
the band being online and associated with the cause... and the donation we
made.”
“No, I have to
play this one,” Danny said. He gripped the neck of his guitar and squeezed
tight.
The guitar was
his life. His heart, his mind, his soul. His purpose, always and forever. From
the second he heard Johnnie drum a horrible sounding ‘G’ chord, Danny knew he
wanted to play guitar. It was that simple. A dream found, a dream chased, and a
dream lived.
Johnnie walked
into the room and shut the door. He crouched down in front of Danny, much like
he did when they were kids and the house got too loud... or too violent. He
took Danny’s face in his strong, brotherly hands and smiled.
“Don’t be a
stubborn ass about this.”
“I’m not,
Johnnie, I swear.”
As he looked
into his only brother’s eyes, Danny felt his own eyes fill with tears. He swore
he wouldn’t cry, not now at least, but looking at Johnnie brought it all back.
And there wasn’t a single regret. Because the path they walked, as brothers on
stage and brothers in life, was the best damn journey any man could have ever
had.
“You know, when
Peter called me last night about this show...”
“I know,” Danny
said. “You told him I would hate you if you said no.”
“That’s right. I
know you, brother, I know how it all works.”
“We’re flying
out in the morning,” Danny said. “This is our last show for a little while.”
“I know,”
Johnnie said. “Let’s give them a hell of a show...” Johnnie pointed up. “Him too.”
Danny half
smiled. The relationship with their father and Johnnie was so much different
than with Danny. Johnnie took everything on the chin and in stride, perhaps
trying to become the real man of the house. And how could that not happen?
Johnnie took care of everything and everyone. He was there to raise Danny. He
was there to console their mother, Barbara, who passed away of cancer a year
after Chasing Cross broke out and became huge. He changed light bulbs. He
killed spiders. He did math homework, even when Danny tapped his pencil on the
table, pretending he was playing drums, not giving a damn about math.
“I’m sorry about
this,” Johnnie said.
Danny closed his
eyes and felt tears trickle down his cheeks. “Me too. I don’t know why I’m even
crying right now.”
“Danny, he was
our father. Our blood. He created us... it’s okay to cry.”
“I know,” Danny
whispered. “Can I... can I have a minute?”
“Sure thing.”
Johnnie leaned
forward and kissed Danny’s forehead. Danny smiled as another tear fell down his
cheek. He knew that life would settle and be okay, as long as he had Johnnie.
And Chasing
Cross.
