February is always my darkest month. Winter is eternal and spring is nowhere near to being in the air. As I shuffle through the door, tracking slush and grit everywhere, I look longingly at my front porch and sigh. I’ve forgotten what it feels like to pop outside in shorts and bare feet, a gin and tonic lemonade in hand, to spend a lazy day lounging on wicker furniture as I write.
So I’ve never been a big fan of Valentine’s Day, is what I’m trying to say. (I also have TONS of issues with the commercial and normative aspects of the holiday, too. Mainly the weather, though.) Ironically, the holiday has proven to be an inspiration for some of my work, as I write about love and loss. (I’m also a total romantic.) Troubled Joy was just published today by Ealain. (And look for another story out tomorrow – more on that soon.)
Troubled Joy is a companion piece to Game Changer, which was published a few weeks ago (not online). So, if you didn’t get a chance to read Game Changer, you can see a different take on a similar situation in Troubled Joy. It’s another one of my adultery stories, which makes my husband both laugh and roll his eyes at the same time.
Troubled Joy ponders some of the same questions as Game Changer – the temptations of alternate paths and partners, the choices we make, and our responsibilities for living into those choices. It also borrows two characters – Nick and Joy – from one of my unpublished NaNoWriMo novel. I enjoyed taking them out of their previous context and seeing them wrestle with these questions, even if they didn’t have as much fun with it. Enjoy!