London. I love the U.K. in general but I absolutely
adore London. I’ve been there four times and will be heading back this
December. One of my favorite visits was when my husband surprised me with a
trip to the London Star Trek convention for my birthday. We’d already been
twice before and done most of the mandatory touristy things like Buckingham
Palace, London Eye, the arts museums and the Tower of London so the vacation
was just about the convention.
But, when you’re in London or
its outskirts there is always something amazing to see or do just around the
corner. “Oh look! Across the street from our hotel is an eleventh century
church, partially destroyed in 1941. Let’s take a look.” You can’t trip over a
Tribble without landing on a piece of history when you’re in London.
London, like NYC, my second favorite city, feels
instantly familiar because you’ve seen it in movies and read about it in books.
It doesn’t take much to see beyond the modernity and know you’re walking the
streets Charles Dickens, George Orwell, Virginia Woolf, and so many other
writers have traveled. The city and its energy are so inspiring and have indeed
influenced my writing, particularly in my Lizard Queen fantasy series.
I would say that my favorite area is the West End.
Besides hosting some of the best theatre in the world, it’s also jammed with
wonderful restaurants and shops. The best part, for me anyway, is that the West
End is an excellent place for people watching. Just find a pub - there are
plenty of those as well - and look out the window.
I can’t wait to go back!
***
The
Reminisce
H.L.
Cherryholmes
Genre: Paranormal
Date of Publication: June 7, 2017
ISBN: 1545307628
ASIN: B072QL4S46
Number of pages: 340
Word Count: 122,743
Cover Artist: Keri Knutson
Tagline: A detour down memory
lane wakes up the ghosts.
Book Description:
Curtis Aisling has literally
dodged a bullet. At least he thinks he has. But he wonders whether that bullet
still has it out for him when he leaves his ex-fiancé and Los Angeles behind
for Coronado, New Mexico to borrow some much-needed money from his sister.
The small dilapidated desert town
of Coronado has exactly one mansion, belonging to 92-year-old Veronica Meeks.
Curtis’s sister, Dia, and her partner, Araceli, are Veronica’s live-in
caretakers and while they are delighted to have a visitor, Veronica doesn’t
even know he’s there.
In the final stages of what the
locals call “the reminisce,” she is no longer aware of her surroundings. But
when Curtis starts seeing things that no one else does, he’s not convinced that
the old, unresponsive woman is as disconnected as everyone thinks. At times
what should be empty rooms within the huge house appear filled with furniture,
and music emanates from a dusty radio that has been packed away for ages. Tales
of Veronica’s associations and connections with the occult lead Curtis to
believe she is causing the ghostly occurrences.
But when people begin to appear
in those phantom rooms—people from her past including Veronica herself—he’s no
longer certain it is her doing. Each vision pulls Curtis further and further
back, each one detailing a consequential moment in Veronica’s long life, until
he begins to fear he could become lost in her past. And then there’s that
bullet…
Excerpt:
Dia returned her
attention to the old woman and took her bony, veiny hand. “Veronica, honey,
this is my brother Curtis. You’ve seen his picture in our bedroom, remember? He
came for a visit.” She looked up at Curtis. “Veronica was quite smitten with
you the first time she saw your picture. Couldn’t take her eyes off it and she
would just smile and smile.”
Curtis knelt
next to his sister. Greeting the old woman seemed pointless, since it was
obvious by her vacant stare that she wasn’t aware of her surroundings. But his
sister was right; introducing himself was the proper way to behave regardless
of her condition. “Hello, Miss Meeks. I’m Curtis Aisling.”
The old woman’s
wispy gray hair was short and pulled back by small butterfly barrettes. Her
thin face was pinkish-white, wrinkled, and haloed with brown age spots. The
eyes that seemed to be looking at something no one else could see were a cloudy
gray-blue. Her small frame was covered in a clean pink nightgown and she wore
blue slippers.
“How old is
she?” Curtis asked.
Dia stood up to
help Araceli gather the tray with Veronica’s barely touched lunch on it.
“Ninety-two.”
Remaining
crouched before her, Curtis continued to look at the old woman. He found it
difficult to imagine that the slack face in front of him had once been young,
but he searched for signs of it anyhow. If there was life in her dull gaze,
Curtis was sure he would find it there. A strong hot breeze rattling the palm
fronds behind the gazebo hit him in the back. That’s when Veronica blinked and
looked right at him.
“Finally,” she
whispered.
About
the Author:
H.L. Cherryholmes, author of The
Lizard Queen Series, The Reminisce, Come Back for Me, and A Slight Touch was
born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico but has spent most of his adult life
in California. He has a BFA from University of New Mexico and a Master's degree
in Playwriting from the University of California, Los Angeles. Currently, he
lives in SoCal with his husband, Ron Cogan.
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