Welcome to my first novel.
More Than Anything is a murder mystery intertwined with fear, anger, homelessness and helplessness. Aspen Waters and the Silverados will show you the strength, laughter and love a group of people can share and use to overcome adversity. Oh, and to find the murderer.
Warning: The novel has not been reviewed by an editor. You are welcome to submit comments and constructive criticism via email to parker@fictionbymichelle.com or by snail mail (see “Contact link below” for my PO Box).
My first novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of my imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
If you are an interested Literary Agent, Editor or Publisher and you want to contact me about the novel, please send an email to parker@fictionbymichelle.com.
Thank you for visiting. I hope you enjoy...
More Than Anything by Michelle Parker
Chapter One
In a few months Andy won’t be here and the bathroom will no longer need to be my refuge.
I sat down on the edge of the bathtub and waited. A bottle of shampoo fell into the tub. Startled, I abruptly raised my head and took a deep breath. It reminded me of the two breaths I took the first time I jumped into the deep end of the plunge, the local public swimming pool. One deliberate controlled breath inhaled before I jumped. The second inhaled after finally breaking through the water’s surface following the jump. The breath I just took was similar to the second, which was actually more of a frantic gasp.
I had swallowed water and was coughing when the life guard grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the water. I was six years old, but still remember being reprimanded for jumping in the deep end without knowing how to swim. Here I am thirty-six years old with no life guard to pull me out of the deep end of a marriage I foolishly jumped into without the ability to swim to the edge. I was eighteen years old when I got married. I can hear my friends now, reprimanding me for only dating and having sex with one man. Experience life, they told me. I then foolishly, as they put it, married him.
So here I sit in the bathroom, my refuge from Andy, my husband, who has constipated my life with his control. When enthralled in an argument, why did I feel safer near a toilet and bathtub? I felt my heart beat in my throat and stared at the bottle of shampoo.
The sound of Andy’s footsteps was getting closer. I took a deliberate deep breath to prepare for the inevitable. Suddenly the door crashed open. I held my breath and tried to steady my left leg, which was shaking uncontrollably. I raised my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around my calves. This didn’t help.
Chapters One through Five
Click here to read chapters one through five
The chapters are in a PDF format. If you need Adobe's free reader, click here.
