DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSIE
Looking for love in all the wrong places, Susie is lucky to be at the Candy Bar on a particular magical night. Born with a deformity, she was a major disappointment to her father. He’s a plastic surgeon and she became his work of art. Beautiful on the outside, she still feels flawed underneath. She longs for love and approval, but until she learns to love herself, happiness will continue to elude her.
With the help of magic, Susie is given a new sight and she can see beyond the surface, into people, and discovers this is where true beauty comes from. Art has always been her dream and passion, and now with the heightened sight she is able to view the world differently and her paintings, always good, become inspired.
Susie is becoming the woman she always wanted to be. She even has a hot new boyfriend, a firefighter, and maybe, just maybe, someone might love her, flawed and all. An explosion changes everything. He is badly burned, and now is the one who carries scars.
Her love for him is deeper than ever, but he pushes her away, encouraging her to live her dream of going to Florence to study art. Can the new Susie--strong, independent, courageous—stand up to his pressure and convince him that she is entitled to both?
Patrice we are pleased to welcome you to our blog.
Today Patrice tells us a story about having that part of us that calls for greatness. The part of us which seeks to accomplish. With the success of Patrice's books, there is no doubt that she is a champion! Patrice the blog is all yours.
Last Sunday, I got out of bed early, as I had spent the last couple of hours lying there, thinking to myself, how was Andy Roddick going to win Wimbledon. Now, if you’re not a tennis fanatic like I am, you might not know that Andy is from Florida and the only major title he has ever won is the US Open in 2002, when he was 21. Not because he doesn’t have talent. Not because he doesn’t have commitment. Not because he doesn’t train hard enough, or work hard enough, or care enough. He does all that and still doesn’t win. Why? Well, there is a little problem in his way. Possibly the greatest tennis player ever, was born a year before Andy. Roger Federer is the freight train that keeps running over Andy, the destroyer of all his dreams.
When I woke up last Sunday, I had thought of a way for Andy to beat Roger. All he had to do was ace him 90 times. Four aces per game, 6 games to win a set. That’s 24 aces, and he needed to win the best of five sets. I figured 90 aces should do it.
Well, Andy played his heart out and never lost his serve. He broke the mighty Federer twice, in the first set and in the fourth. They battled the fifth set, a record breaking 16-14 game, but still, after giving everything he had to the sport, his heart, his soul, his gladiator spirit and will to win, after all that he still came up short and Roger walked away with the winning trophy.
My heart ached for Andy, and it still does. What does it take to sit in that winner’s circle? Let’s ask all the writers that have been on the best seller list. Is that what it takes to be a winner? Or is selling one book enough?
For Andy Roddick, he is not content with being a top ten player, winning the small tournaments, he wants more. He wants the grand prize, to win another major title, but the same old Swiss keeps getting in his way and snatching his prize.
For us writers, we all have different dreams and goals. Some of us are content with writing for pleasure, others for publication. Some of us have set our goals on the majors, and nothing will satisfy us until we see our books on the shelves at Barnes and Noble. We are dedicated, we are talented, we work hard and we fight the fight, and don’t give up on our dreams, but sometimes that is not enough. We need a little luck, or the economy to be better, or for the young editor who is reading your magnificent story to understand how a forty-year-old woman might feel. We need the golden handshake that all successful writers share, we need to be brighter, funnier, sexier, scarier than all the other writers out there. We need to stand out. And when that doesn’t happen, we have to pick ourselves up again off the floor, dust ourselves off, and try again.
Like Andy, we can’t give up. We try, and try, and try again.
Patrice Wilton
SIMPLY ROMANCE REVIEWS
The one thing Susie Levine has confidence in is her painting; she has never felt confident in her appearance, frequently comparing herself to her friends and family and finding herself lacking. In Desperately Seeking Susie, Patrice Wilton let's the reader see from the beginning that Susie is the one searching, for herself. It is the reader's luck to join Susie on her search, observing all her steps and missteps along the way.
While trying to find out who she is, Susie also meets the man of her dreams; does he feel the same, and how Susie validates her feelings for him lead to many interesting situations. Ms. Wilton is a very descriptive writer; she does not shy away from the passion between her main characters, reminding us often that Desperately Seeking Susie is a romance, by including combustible, steamy love scenes between the main characters Susie and Brett. The reader is fortunate in being able to experience a variety of eccentric personalities in the secondary characters as well, just one more element designed to keep us entertained for hours. And luckily for us, this is an entertaining book to read: I definitely recommend picking up a copy and finding that out for yourself!
Thanks Patrice for blogging with us today.
Greatness is certainly in all of us. We just have to dig deep into our souls and pull out that strength. The strength that makes us keep writing despite all the rejections. Because one day a publisher will read our story and get it. From then on, we are what we were destined to be, authors.
