Good morning, lovelies.
It’s a tad warm this morning, or so it feels, here in Connecticut. What’s it like where you’re at?
Today, we’ve a lovely goody for you all. Donald Kemp’s newest story is due to hit the shelves on the 18th of June. We’d like to share the book’s lovely cover with all of you.
Enjoy!
TITLE: Trouble With Alice
AUTHOR: Donald Kemp
RELEASE DATE: June 18, 2021
PUBLISHER: Lysestrah Press
GENRE: Contemporary, Humor, General Fiction
BOOK DESCRIPTION:
The unknown always follows when we least expect it.
A trip to work soon changes Alice’s life. Trouble seems to follow her at every turn. Though she’s used to disappointments, she refuses to concede to the craziness she calls life.
Her aspirations are nothing more than a means of survival. Determined in overcoming the tragic death of her devoted father at the age of twelve and the influences of her drug-addicted mother, Alice manages to survive on her own. From the moment she’d lied about her age at an early age, she’s made do with whatever job has landed in her lap.
Alice often imagines what it would be like to live a different life. To have the little things she can’t afford. Life may kick her down, but she always gets up again. If she’s to succeed in moving forward, she’ll have to put her trust in someone else’s hands. Only then will she find the happiness that has always eluded her.
PURCHASE LINKS:
(Not yet available.)
EXCERPT:
CHAPTER ONE
BUS 86
WALKING THE SAME short distance home from the bus stop seems darker tonight. Perhaps it’s the overcast sky, or she is more tired than usual. Alice wants to hurry, but she’s too weary to change her pace.
She takes the two steps up to a very small landing in front of the door leading to her street-side apartment. Alice enters without looking, hanging her light blue coat on the hook, kicking off her shoes and slipping her feet into the pink bunny slippers that have been waiting for her since she left that morning.
Another day. Another night alone.
I should get a dog. Someone to wag its tail and be happy to see me. Nah, there’s no place around here to take him out.
I know! A cat. Yeah, a cat. They have a litter box and don’t have to go outside to do their duty.
You can’t have a cat or a dog, Alice. No pets allowed here.
Weighing almost a hundred and twenty pounds, like she did in high school, her figure is graceful and slim. Alice’s auburn hair is loose around her head and face, curling several inches below her shoulders. She uses very little make-up, primarily because her paycheck doesn’t allow for extra nice things.
Some say her auburn-colored eyes match her hair. Others say they’re hazel, or just brown. For Alice, it doesn’t matter. She’s who she is. Her father died when she was twelve years old, and her mother is an alcoholic. The last time she’d had news about her, she was somewhere in Mexico. Her highest grade in school had been a C, and that had been in gym class. It wasn’t because she was dumb. She wasn’t motivated to learn by spending time with one aunt and then another. Sometimes, she’d spend time with a complete stranger one of the aunts knew.
At seventeen, she’d hit the streets, getting an education on how to survive from other homeless people. She’d lied about her age and went to work at a local fast food place. Two years later, she’d gotten hired by Merchants, a baby crib manufacturer.
She closes the door and sets the lock. Alice glances at the queen-sized bed to the right of where she’s standing, obstructing part of the room’s small window.
“Can anyone tell me why I bought a queen-sized bed? Dummy, you’re all alone and those sheets cost more than a regular or twin-sized bed. It takes up more room than I have in the rest of my thirty-eight-fifty a week apartment. I’ve got to get a new curtain for this rod to hide things in the closet. But why bother? I don’t have guests coming here.”
She climbs over the bed, taking two small steps into the kitchen. Alice tugs open the fridge’s door.
A cup of blueberry yogurt sits on the top shelf. Two eggs lie in a dish below, alongside half a loaf of bread. A small oleo carton is tucked into the butter compartment.
I should have stopped for a pizza or something. I have the same thought every night and never follow through with it.
Alice, you need to get a life. You’re wasting your life, girl. That’s what you’re doing. Wasting your life. Come August, you’ll be thirty-one, for gosh sakes.
“Oh, well. I’m not hungry. Just worn out and ready for bed.”
She pushes the fridge’s door closed and moves toward the bed. Alice falls back onto the mattress.
I should take a warm shower.
Dismissing the thought, she rolls over, grabbing hold of a corner of the blanket and wrapping it around herself before she falls asleep.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Donald Kemp claims he was born and raised in Southern Michigan and lived in North Carolina for over thirty-five years. He graduated from a combination of high school and aircraft mechanics school. Two years later, he became the supervisor for the Michigan National Guard Air Section Maintenance Shop. He then married his beautiful wife, Gerry, and has three children, eight grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren.
Serious writing began with thirteen weekly articles in the Rochester City newspaper about his heart bypass surgery in the very early days of the procedure. Donald later published the book, I Live With A Mended Heart, and distributed it to doctors and hospitals all over the United States.
Donald wrote and directed three stage plays for a senior acting group in Southern California.” He has also written numerous short stories about his relative’s blips and/or accomplishments for the family archives. Several children’s books will hopefully soon be on the market. Nowadays, airplanes, helicopters, furniture building, and consulting for interior decorators have given way to writing novels and short stories based on his varied life adventures.
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS:
WEBSITE:
https://donkempauthor.com
FACEBOOK:
https://www.facebook.com/DonaldKempAuthor
TWITTER:
http://www.twitter.com/DonKempAuthor
GOODREADS:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14933726.Donald_Kemp
EMAIL:
don.kemp.author@gmail.com