Authorpreneur Dashboard – Laurie Boris
Drawing Breath
Literature & Fiction
Art teacher Daniel Benedetto has cystic fibrosis. At thirty-four, he's already outlived his doctor's "expiration date," but that doesn't stop him from giving all he can to his students and his work. When he takes on Caitlin, his landlady's daughter, as a private student, the budding teen painter watches in torment as other people, especially women, treat Daniel like a freak because of his condition. To Caitlin, Daniel is not a disease, not someone to pity or take care of but someone to care for, a friend, and her first real crush. Convinced one of those women is about to hurt him, Caitlin makes one very bad decision.
Book Bubbles from Drawing Breath
Borrowed Time
For me, Drawing Breath is about borrowed time on so many levels. The man who inspired Daniel did the best he could with his borrowed time. Caitlin borrows time from Daniel to learn how to be a better artist and escape the life her mother fell into. It makes me think of the concept that we all have the same amount of time in a day. The difference is in how we use it. Thank you for taking some of your time to read this.
Taking Risks
It's tough enough to tell someone an uncomfortable truths about yourself. But as I wrote this, I tried to imagine how much more wrenching this would be for a man. Especially a man like Daniel, who has been rejected several times and pretty much written off finding a woman to share his life. (Note for readers: I've lost a few of the italicized phrases in the uploading process. We're working on it.)
Vibration Apparatus
Daniel, battling cystic fibrosis, evokes great sympathy in this book. Many readers have commented about this, and their words have touched my heart. I often think about his sister, Denise. Other characters paint her as the bossy, demanding, overprotective sister. But it must have been so hard to be the healthy sibling while they were growing up, and the only family left to care for him after their parents die. I can only imagine her feelings of resentment and guilt. So I cut her a little slack, knowing that she's acting out of love.
Don't Tell Anyone
Literature & Fiction
Liza’s mother-in-law once called her a godless hippie raised by wolves. Now, after five years of marriage to her elder son, five years of disapproval and spite, the family accidentally learns that Estelle has a fatal illness. And Estelle comes to her with an impossible request. A horrified Liza refuses but keeps the question from her husband and his brother. As the three children urge Estelle to consider treatment, their complicated weave of family secrets and lies begins to unravel. Can they hold their own lives together long enough to help Estelle with hers? A horrified Liza refuses and keeps the request—among other things—a secret from her furious husband. But she tells his younger brother, Charlie, a close friend from college with whom she shares her own confidences, despite Adam’s serious case of sibling rivalry. Armed with nutrition textbooks and her neighbor, a savvy nurse, can Liza win over her mother-in-law and convince her to consider other options before the cancer, the secrets, and Estelle's determination to end her life win out?
Book Bubbles from Don't Tell Anyone
Dialogue
When I start writing a novel, the dialogue comes to me first. I hear the voices of the characters, the conversations. I especially love when they get rolling on a good argument. Then I just back off and let them go at it. Here's one of my favorite exchanges from Don't Tell Anyone. A Jewish mother and her first-born son? What's not to love?
You're suffering for two now...
For me, this is a snapsnot of the family dynamic the characters are dealing with once Estelle's secret is out, a relationship that already is straining with sibling rivalry. I really feel for these characters!
The Jig is Up...
My grandparents believed in the Jewish Jinx. Okay, I'm sure it has another name in Yiddish, but this is what I've always called it. This means it's bad luck to talk about the outcomes of future events, especially if they're potentially good. Adam learns his lesson about that when he tries to con a recalcitrant Estelle into getting a biopsy by telling her his wife is pregnant.
"Bring the bottle."
Women of Estelle's upbringing and generation were trained to put themselves last, to shy away from anyone making a fuss over them. Part of my goal in writing this book was to gain a better understanding of why a woman in this position would actively ignore a potentially deadly condition. The humor...well, that was a little touchy. But it's how some characters cope. And we're all doing the best we can, right?
"Pull the plug."
Plenty of us joke about doing away with our in-laws, but what would you do if one actually asked you to be his or her angel of mercy? Liza Stanhope has the rest of the book to think about this, starting when her husband takes his brother off to update him about their mother's condition...
Sliding Past Vertical
Literature & Fiction
Sarah loves Boston. The feeling isn’t mutual. After a run of bad luck, she moves back to the college town where best friend Emerson lives. Still in love with her, he’d dreamed of her return. But well-meaning Sarah’s hasty decisions often end in disaster, so Emerson’s dream may become a nightmare.
Book Bubbles from Sliding Past Vertical
His Only Joy of the Season
Emerson’s relationship with Christmas is as rocky as the one he has with his college girlfriend, Sarah. It’s all so much worse for him this year, because they’re on the outs and she might be interested in someone new. When I wrote this scene, I could really empathize with him about the cheery gut-punch Christmas delivers, and how his bad memories were clouding what could be a brighter future.
I'd Never Write About You
Emerson and Sarah had a brief fling in college, broke up badly, but remained friends. That friendship is tested when Sarah lands in hot water...and then in the spare room in Emerson's house. I loved writing this scene, even though it made me about as claustrophobic and itchy as Sarah felt. And at the end, I really wanted a donut. The title of the excerpt is something Emerson has told Sarah: that even though he writes erotica to pay the bills, that he'd never write about her. She's not so sure about that.
Pronoun Trouble
It was tough to write this scene—confrontation is hard for me—but Sarah needed to push her rock star boyfriend hard enough to get to the painful truth.
Stood up...again
When I first started writing this novel, it was Sarah's story. Then Emerson piped up and wanted to give his side of things. I'm glad I listened. It can't be easy to watch your first girlfriend, the first girl you really loved, dating jerk after jerk. Anyway, this is where it all begins...
The Arrangement
Arranged marriage is such a foreign concept for most Americans. Yet in some cultures, it's returning. It fascinated me to look at this from the male perspective in the story. Here, Emerson considers his housemate's upcoming union.
The Picture of Cool
Literature & Fiction
Television producer Charlie Trager spends his days working with beautiful women on a daytime talk show. But underneath his cool façade, there’s a hollow spot in his heart, waiting for the right man to ease his loneliness. Then he meets the show’s next guest, a handsome young politician with a bad case of nerves—and a secret that could turn both their lives upside down. (Short novella: 14,000 words)
Book Bubbles from The Picture of Cool
How it all began
If you've ever seen any info about plotting stories, catalysts are often mentioned. What's the incident that gets the conflict started? This one is staring Charlie right in the face.
Playing Charlie Cool
Gay & Lesbian
Charlie Trager knows he’s lucky to have a successful career as a television producer, supportive friends and family, and Joshua — the man he loves. But Joshua is struggling with an election and a spiteful ex-wife threatening custody of his children. Can Charlie’s plan save their relationship?
Book Bubbles from Playing Charlie Cool
Talk Talk
Melanie Washington, the lead host in the fictional talk show Charlie produces, is one of my favorite characters. This is the second story in which I've had the pleasure of her company. She's strong, smart, resilient, funny, and amazingly talented. Melanie has been itching for this fight since I put her on the page. So I let her have it. Sometimes, you just have to do that.
How Charlie Stays Cool
I dealt Charlie a rough hand in this story. A demanding job, a bumpy relationship, and some very hard decisions. Which was why I had so much fun writing the sports scenes with him and Xander, one of his best friends. It gave both Charlie and me an outlet for the stress. It also reminded me that as a writer, pretty much everything I've done in my life is fodder for fiction. Even all the bruises and ankle sprains I suffered as a mediocre but enthusiastic racquetball player.
In the Name of Love: Stories about Revenge, Redemption, and Rebirth
Literature & Fiction
A lonely neighbor tries to melt a widow’s reluctant heart. Bullying brothers threaten to spoil a young girl’s Halloween. Left at the altar once, a woman takes a gamble on a second chance. These are just a few in a collection of thirty short and shorter stories about growing up, growing older, moving out, moving on, revenge, redemption, and love in all its shades of bittersweet pain and joy.
Book Bubbles from In the Name of Love: Stories about Revenge, Redemption, and Rebirth
What is Flash Fiction?
At its essence...well, that's what flash fiction is. The essence of a story, told compactly. Capturing a moment. Like "traditional" short stories, they have beginnings, middles, and ends, and they are usually under a thousand words, often with a little punch at the end. This story, Paula, was inspired by a pair of pantyhose. I rarely wear them anymore, so the collection from my corporate days is kind of old. Dressing for a wedding, I rustled up a pair, and the elastic had begun to disintegrate. Then the "what if?" train started, and I began to write.
Catering Girl
Literature & Fiction
Frankie Goldberg, struggling actress and stand-up comic in Los Angeles, can’t keep her day jobs, thanks to her smart mouth and a lot of other bad habits. Now a thirty-something catering assistant on a movie set, she reluctantly agrees to bring a cappuccino to the resident diva. The young star Anastasia Cole is in tears, distraught about disturbing changes in the script. Frankie serves a side of common sense with the coffee, and excited to have an ally, Anastasia offers her the role of a lifetime. It’s not what Frankie had in mind–but being needed might be exactly what she needs. (Catering Girl is a prequel to the romantic comedy The Joke’s on Me.)
Book Bubbles from Catering Girl
Catering Girl
From the first moment the character of Frankie Goldberg popped into my head, I loved her sense of humor, her chutzpah, but even more than that, the vulnerability behind the tough facade. This is one of my favorite scenes. I hope you like it.
The Kitchen Brigade
Literature & Fiction
Jailed for rebuffing a soldier, having lost everything when Russia ousted the US government and killed her family, a young chef thinks only of survival. When she’s forced to cook for the general occupying New York, then is asked to join the resistance, she discovers talents that might help save them all.
Book Bubbles from The Kitchen Brigade
It began with licorice
Food is comfort. Food is community. Food...is creativity. I'm no great chef like my characters, but I love noodling around in my kitchen, dreaming up new dishes. Which was one of my favorite parts of writing The Kitchen Brigade. I could almost smell the dishes the characters were cooking. Sometimes I let them inspire me through the difficult parts. Bon appetit!
Recipes for Woodchuck
What do you cook when you've been tasked with providing five-star meals for a general occupying your country? Whatever you can. I will always remember this scene because I learned far too much about how to trap, skin, and cook woodchuck. Thanks for the nightmares, YouTube. I didn't include all the details in the book. You're welcome.
If you want to survive...
Svetlana is one of my favorite characters in this novel. She's resourceful, a survivor, but so human. At this point Valerie has to make a decision that might mean life or death.
