*** I’m posting my weekly Elvis blog on Thursday instead of Friday this week ***
As everyone in the free world and beyond knows, today would have been Elvis Presley’s 80th birthday. He was born January 8, 1935 in Tupelo, Mississippi. He’s been gone for 38 years, but his legacy is thriving. Never has another entertainer had such a profound and lasting impact on the world. I often wonder, what would Elvis be like today had he lived? His hairdresser, friend, and mentor, Larry Geller, stated that, in the months preceding his death, Elvis spoke of turning his life around. He wanted to get healthy, he wanted to rid his life of some of the people around him who weren’t good for him, and among other things, he wanted to focus on making serious movies. I fervently wish he’d had that opportunity. While I would not have wanted him to stop touring (and I don’t believe he could have done so completely, he loved it too much), I would have loved to see what kind of new chapter he could have begun.
I have loved Elvis my entire life. He’s as much a part of me as breathing. I saw him in concert three times, I own all of his movies on DVD, my car stereo permanently remains on Sirius XM Elvis Radio, I named my son Presley, and my first ever romance, which I wrote at age eleven, was titled ‘Just Pretend,’ and my hero, who looked like Elvis, was named Lonnie Beal (after Elvis’ character in Tickle Me :)).
Today, in honor of Elvis’ 80th birthday, I am pleased to announce the release of ‘End of Lonely Street’, a Vintage Romance Short Story set in 1957, in the era when Elvis first burst on the scene. I have over twenty published titles, and I mention Elvis in almost every one of them, but this story is even more Elvis-oriented. It was so much fun to write it, and I hope it’s as much fun to read.
Who can tell me where the title of my story comes from? 🙂
Check out End of Lonely Street and enter to win GREAT prizes…
GIVEAWAY: – Entries accepted from January 8, 2015 through noon on January 22, 2015
Three prizes –
- Elvis Gift Basket including DVD, CD, plus more
- $25 Amazon Gift Card
- $10 Amazon Gift Card
First place winner has first choice, second place winner has second choice, third place winner receives remaining prize.
Click here to enter:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
*** 10% of all of Alicia Dean’s net royalties for End of Lonely Street will go to
The Elvis Presley Charitable Foundation http://www.graceland.com/epcf/ ***
Blurb:
Can she let go of the past, before it destroys her future?
All Toby Lawson wanted was to go to college to pursue her dream of becoming a teacher and to be free of her alcoholic mother and the painful memories of finding her and the guy Toby loved kissing. But when her mother nearly burns the house down, Toby must put her dreams on hold and return home to care for her. The only time she isn’t lonely and miserable is when she’s listening to her heartthrob, Elvis Presley. His music takes her away, helps her escape from everything wrong in her life.
Noah Rivers has always loved Toby, but no matter what he says, and even though she knows her mother initiated the kiss, and that he didn’t kiss her back, she can‘t seem to get past what happened. He soon realizes that the true problem lies in Toby’s belief that she’s not good enough for him and in her fear that she will be just like her mother.
What will it take to prove to her that she deserves to be happy, and that he would give anything to be the man to make her dreams come true?
Excerpt:
After work that night, Toby wasn’t ready to go home, so she sat in her car in the parking lot of Winstead’s, listening to the radio. “Love Me” by Elvis came on, and she cranked the volume.
Nothing else calmed her and lightened her heart like listening to him. She could escape into his music and all the bad just…faded away. When Elvis sang, there was no drunken mother, no failed dreams, no dying Miss Murdock. Toby didn’t only listen to his music, she felt it. It seemed to vibrate through her blood.
Although she was embarrassed to admit it, sometimes listening to him, watching him on television, made her all squirmy and hot—just like Noah made her feel. Especially that one night, when they had almost gone all the way.
Toby had been a senior in high school, and he’d graduated the year before. He picked her up and they drove out to the bluff, known as Make Out Row, overlooking downtown Mapleton.
The town was shrouded in darkness, but scattered lights shone, as though a starry sky were laid out below them. There were other cars around, but closed up in their cocoon, it was as though they were the only two people on Earth. Noah had kissed her, deep and long, whispering love words, telling her she was special, beautiful. She’d fallen in love with him at that very moment—wanted to be with him forever. He’d been the one to halt their make out session. She would have willingly gone all the way that night. She was helplessly under his spell…the feel of his lips on hers, his hand covering her breast through her thin blouse…
A tapping sound on the window made her jump. She looked through the glass to find Noah standing outside the car. Was he real, or just part of the fantasy world she’d drifted to? When another tap came, she blinked away the memories. He was definitely real.
**** Bonus Giveaway
I will draw one name from those who comment, and the winner will receive…
- A free ebook of End of Lonely Street
- Their choice of any other Alicia Dean title in their choice of any available format
- A $10 Amazon Gift Card
(Winner will be drawn on Sunday, January 11th. My books can be found on this page: http://atomic-temporary-24849064.wpcomstaging.com/books/ – Only residents of the U.S. are eligible to receive print books. Non U.S. residents must choose an ebook format)
Purchase End of Lonely Street Ebook for only $1.99
(If you do not have a Kindle, you can download a FREE Kindle App for your PC or other devices. Click Here: Kindle App)
Author Alicia Dean 