My next bestselling novel excerpt

I know, I know.  I just wanted to share an excerpt from my next bestselling novel, The Color of Black and Blue.

She did not even know that she was bleeding until she felt the blood trickle down the side of her head after she was already in the car. In fact, the only thing she was currently aware of was the realization that she was out of breath and her heart was pounding against her chest. With shaking hands, she tried to insert the key into the ignition. She missed, and it fell to the floor.

“Shit,” she whispered in a shaky breath. She bent down to retrieve the keys and had to try again. This time, the key barely made it in, before her hand started shaking so bad it seemed to drop to her side on its own accord. The engine roared to life, startling her in the quiet night. Putting the car in reverse, she stomped on the accelerator, but let off reflexively, as she starting shooting down the driveway. Be careful, Olive, her mother’s voice coaxed in her head, Do not let the neighbors hear you.

She took a second to glance at herself in the rear-view mirror. Her breath came out in a squeak. Her hair, blond and normally straight, was tangled up in itself. The right side of her head was dark and wet-looking. That must be where all that blood is coming from, she thought, dizzily. With a swipe of her hand, she pushed her blood-matted hair to the side. Her eyes were wild-looking, like a trapped animal, in the moonlight coming from outside. The area around her right eye was slowly starting to swell, already turning black and blue, the bruise already forming. She saw the lines on her face etched permanently in her skin, the reminder of the years she had lost. Christ, I am only thirty, she thought in alarm. But these things did not matter right now. Right now, she needed to leave.

She brought her foot hard down onto the accelerator, and the distant thought that she did not even put her shoes on, hardly registered in her mind as she was hurled back into her seat, the car screaming forward down the road. It wasn’t until she spotted the discarded, dismantled cardboard box in the middle of the street, that she finally felt safe. Tossing aside all reason, not caring if she woke the neighbors on their street, she pressed harder on the accelerator. Right before she drove straight into it, she imagined it was his body. Curled up on the road, helpless like her, as she had been for nine years. She could see his handsome face, his brown eyes, where hers were blue. She saw those eyes in her mind, so warm and charming when she first met him. His face was pleading. As the car drew closer, his expression changed. His eyes became cold and hard, and the smile crept to his face. She knew that smile. “Come and get me, Olivia,” the box growled.

“You son of a bitch,” she hissed, as the car barreled into the box, crushing it flat. She bounced a little in the seat. Then it was over. She glanced back only once, keeping her hands on the wheel, and continued down the street. She turned right and left down the different roads on their block, her breaths coming shallow, each inhalation a hitch in her throat. And it wasn’t until she turned onto the highway, that she finally allowed herself to cry.

I am so thankful I have NaNoWriMo to take my mind off everything.

Ok ok, geez.  Back to writing.