A Word Please

My upcoming dark comedy / suspense novel The Cutting Edge will be available soon! I’m working on the cover design now and should have it all ready to go in another couple of weeks.

Here’s an excerpt from the start of the first chapter:

My name is Lilly Skye Destiny Summers. My parents thought it was a great idea to give me three names with the initials LSD to go with my last name. For years they called me LSD Summers. They lived in a commune and did way too much acid.

Most people call me Skye. Except my father’s parents, who always call me Lilly, and even that name is said with some disdain. They’re partial to my father’s sister’s kids. My cousins’ names are Victoria Marie and Benjamin James. Benjamin is a gay surgeon living his life in the closet and Victoria is a P.T.A. mom with a Princeton degree in bullshit and an addiction to painkillers. My grandparents are in their late eighties and live in a fancy housing complex for old people. My grandfather wears Depends and drool constantly dribbles from the corners of his mouth. He still puts on a tie before going down to dinner every night. The whole thing is rather comical.

I’m 37, married to an electrician who could have made huge money as a porn star. I’ve kept my maiden name for reasons other than my love of LSD Summers. My husband’s name is Scott Skyler. Had I changed my name, I would have been called Skye Skyler. Skye Summers is bad but Skye Skyler is ridiculous.

I work as a hairstylist in a salon called The Cutting Edge. When I started my career 17 years ago, I had visions of my unfettered creativity transforming ordinary women into sexy tramps or glowing goddesses. I was terribly naïve. Now I spend my days trying to explain to the round-faced Oreo-addict that, no matter what I do to her hair, she will not leave looking like Angelina Jolie. Try and pull that off tactfully.

At the moment I am contemplating murder. Today is Friday and I have been on my feet since 8 a.m. The clock above the desk tells me it is now 2:10. I have not eaten lunch. Have not even peed all day. The woman in my chair is speaking nonstop and I am thinking about killing her.
***

Read more! www.QuietFuryBooks.com/thecuttingedge.html

I have created a page for my upcoming dark comedy/suspense novel The Cutting Edge and posted the blurb that will be on the back cover! Soon I’ll be posting an excerpt and unveiling the book cover!

www.QuietFuryBooks.com/thecuttingedge.html

Here’s the blurb:

My name is Skye Summers. I’m a hairstylist and I can’t stop fantasizing about killing my clients. Not all of them, of course. I only want to kill the ones who irritate me, which, if I’m being honest, is most of them. My occasional fantasies have turned into chronic daydreams. They’re bloody and vivid, like watching a slice-and-dice movie on IMAX.

I also want to kill my husband’s ex-girlfriend. She’s not a client but she tops my list. Eighteen years ago, she gave birth to his daughter and she has tormented him ever since. I should be troubled by this growing desire to use my surgically sharpened shears for more than a haircut. Instead, I wonder how I can get away with it.

This morning, I received my manuscript for my upcoming book The Cutting Edge back from Bob, my editor and good friend! My next mission is to go over and make his suggested corrections. Then I’ll move on to formatting for the book and cover design. Soon my work-in-progress will become a published novel.

A huge thank you to Bob, whose friendship and expertise I treasure.

I’ll also be working on the blurb for the back of the book. I hope to have that ready to post soon!

Last night, I sent my upcoming novel The Cutting Edge off to Bob, my good friend and also my new editor! It’s a huge relief to have a professional editor to do the fine-tuning. This means I will not be forced to re-read my own words countless times, to the point of losing my last shred of sanity! Editing your own novels is tedious and difficult – and not something I’d suggest.

This will also be the first time someone else reads it. That always creates a bit of anxiety.

My mother also received a copy to read that night. But that doesn’t really count.

This novel is about a hairstylist with murder on her mind. Her clients are driving her mad and she fantasizes about killing them in gruesome ways. She crosses paths with a serial killer who believes she’s a kindred soul. Is she?

The first paragraph of my upcoming novel The Cutting Edge:

My name is Lilly Skye Destiny Summers. My parents thought it was a great idea to give me three names with the initials LSD to go with my last name. For years they called me LSD Summers. They lived in a commune and did way too much acid.

The book is about a hairstylist who fantasizes about murdering the clients who irritate her. Along the way she crosses paths with a serial killer, who then begins to fantasize about her.

I’m hoping to have The Cutting Edge complete and available sometime in mid summer. I hope you’ll all join Skye on her journey!

Ever wonder what your hairstylist is really thinking? In my upcoming book The Cutting Edge, I’ll be revealing some secrets from my 15 years in the business. You may never feel the same way about getting your hair done!

Skye is a hairstylist with murder on her mind. She’s burned out and people are driving her crazy. She fantasizes about what she could do with her scissors while smiling at her clients. Then she runs into a real-life serial killer who believes that Skye might be a kindred spirit. If given the oppportunity, would Skye really kill someone?

I was hoping to have The Cutting Edge complete and available by summer. Health complications have set me back a bit, so I’m shooting for late summer / early fall.

I’ve been working on my next novel, titled The Cutting Edge. This will be my first novel written in the first person. I’m having a lot of fun with this one. The main character is a hairstylist (which I was for 15 years) with murderous fantasies. If any of my past clients are reading this, let me say that, no, I did not fantasize about killing you!

I’m hoping to have The Cutting Edge complete by early summer.

I have posted the opening scene from Miami Snow on my website. The book is on target to be out in January!

www.QuietFuryBooks.com/miamisnow.html

Here is the cover design for my upcoming novel Miami Snow! (Providing the feedback is positive and the proof looks good.)

I just finished the final edit of my upcoming novel Miami Snow! WooHoo! Time to celebrate! You’re probably thinking champagne, a night out on the town. Nah. I’m leaning toward a big bowl of ice cream and book shopping!

Later I will put the finishing touches on the cover design. Then I’ll move on to the dreaded formatting. Providing I can motivate myself and get the formatting done, Miami Snow should be available in late January.