P.C. Zick – Behind the Curtain is featured in the HBS Author's Spotlight Showcase

The Showcase is a special feature of the Author's Spotlight. It is designed to highlight Spotlight author's NEW releases and their soon to be released novels.

The HBS Author's Spotlight SHOWCASES P. C. Zick's new book: Behind the Curtain.

Author Patricia Zick is an award-winning writer for her essays, columns, editorials, articles, and fiction.

Behind the Curtain

Behind the Love Trilogy

Author: P. C. Zick


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When Lisa Williams returns to her hometown of Victory, Florida, with a producer of reality TV shows, not everyone is happy to see her, particularly her sister, Susie. Lisa finds herself at odds with everyone in town, even her close friend Tommy who tries to understand and support her dreams of becoming a star. When Tommy is assigned to cover the show's filming as a reporter for the Tampa Tribune, he finds himself at odds with Lisa who he's beginning to think of as more than a friend. Sally Jean returns to the Behind the Love series as Lisa's best friend. But the show threatens to tear them apart as well when the producer wants to make Sally Jean the star rather than Lisa. As Lisa finds herself losing everyone in her life, Tommy struggles to remain her friend, hoping she'll realize that her actor boyfriend Jet isn't any good for her. If he can convince her of that, perhaps he'll stand a chance at winning her fragile heart.

Excerpt from Behind the Curtain

CHAPTER ONE

Lisa watched as Susie, her baby sister, exchanged vows with Reggie on the front porch of Susie’s house. Standing next to her smiling new husband, Susie glowed. Reggie patted his new wife’s protruding belly, and the crowd of friends roared with laughter.

Lisa smiled. At least one of them had managed to find love.

Sally Jean greeted Lisa when she stepped off the front steps to mingle with the folks gathered in the yard. Lisa had known most of the guests her entire life, and Sally Jean had been her best friend in high school.

“She’s a beautiful bride,” Sally Jean said. “I’m so happy for the two of them.”

“Not jealous?” Lisa asked. “I thought you had a thing for Reggie.”

“I liked Reggie, but Dean always had my heart. You know that.”

Lisa looked at her friend, remembering those days so long ago when Sally Jean dated Dean Davis and Lisa was set to marry Sam Rollings. Both those relationships ended on the night after graduation ten years earlier. She felt sorry for Sally Jean sometimes, but Lisa knew she was just as messed up when it came to relationships as her friend. What right did Lisa have to judge her?

“But you’re over Dean, right?” Lisa decided she’d better ask because Dean’s pregnant wife Leah wouldn’t be too happy if Sally Jean still harbored feelings for him. Leah was Susie’s best friend, and by extension, a friend of Lisa’s as well.

“Leah didn’t give me much choice. I like her, but I have to tell you if Dean asked me to be his girl again, I’d be hard pressed to say no.”

“I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that happening.” Lisa watched Sally Jean’s mouth turn down, and she immediately felt sorry she’d opened her mouth.

“You’re right.” Sally Jean smiled. “That ship sailed a long time ago. Let’s get some champagne and forget everything but having a great time tonight.”

“What are the two most beautiful women at this wedding doing over here in the corner without drinks in hand?” Tommy Jackson handed each of them a glass of champagne as if he’d heard Sally Jean’s suggestion.

“You better not let the bride hear you say that,” Lisa said. “Thanks for the champagne, though.”

“Of course, I meant after Susie. The bride is glowing today.”

“And growing.” Lisa giggled before taking a sip.

“Either of you need a ride into town for the reception?” Tommy asked. The reception was being held at the Victory Tavern, owned by the groom. “I’m happy to be the designated driver for the night. I fly to Miami in the morning for a story, so it’s a one beer night for me.”

Tommy worked for the Tampa Tribune as a feature reporter. His recent series on homelessness in Florida started right in their hometown of Victory with the homeless vets living on the banks of the Deer River on the outskirts of town.

“Thanks, Tommy,” Lisa said. “But you’re not going to stay late are you?”

“Susie said I could sleep on her couch. I’ll drive straight to the airport from here, so you can stay as late as you’d like—I’ll bring you home.”

“That sounds like the perfect offer,” Sally Jean said.

“I think you’ve got yourself two designated drunks then,” Lisa said. The two women high-fived and then both reached up and kissed Tommy one on each cheek, which made the redhead blush a deep crimson on his very white face.

Later, after the toasts and too many glasses of champagne, Lisa sat at the bar of the Victory Tavern. Tommy sat next to her, drinking a glass of water.

“Ever wish it was you standing up there getting hitched?” Tommy asked.

Lisa sighed and took a drink of her wine. “Sometimes, but I think I need someone to stand next to me for that to happen.”

“What about that guy back in New York? Plane or something?”

Lisa laughed. “Jet. His name is Jet. We’re on and off, mostly off now, but he asked me to go out for dinner with him when I get to New York, so who knows what will happen. What about you? Ever wish it was you?”

“Sometimes, but every single woman I like ends up liking someone who’s going to end up hurting them. I hear about it when they come crawling back to me crying and telling me they didn’t know what a great guy I really was.”

“Do you give them a second chance?”

“Never. It’s made me leery of relationships and women in general.”

Lisa picked up her glass and offered it to Tommy as a toast. “Here’s to crappy choices.”

Victory, Florida, Lisa’s hometown, reeked of mostly bad memories for her. She left the day after her high school graduation, leaving her sister Susie, only thirteen, to cope with their mother and her subsequent cancer and eventual death. Lisa only came home when absolutely necessary. Despite that, she and Susie remained close, drawn together by the bond of their childhood fraught with a drunken father who liked to use a punching bag when soused. Unfortunately, that punching bag was their mother.

Ten years ago, Lisa’s future looked bright despite the dark cloud hanging over their house. She and Sam Rollings were the darlings of Victory, both beautiful and popular. They were going to be married after college, except life intervened, and Lisa left town after the mysterious death of her father. Only when Susie started to ask questions a few months back did the whole truth come out. To Lisa’s horror, she realized she’d been the one to tell Sam she wished her father dead. She said it after he once again beat her mother. Sam, wanting to be the hero in Lisa’s life, made sure her wish came true when her father walked into the path of Sam’s car. Only when Susie tried to uncover the truth did both of them learn what happened that night. Susie and Lisa decided to keep Sam’s role in their father’s death quiet because they wanted to move forward, not relive the past. And if Lisa felt any guilt at all, it was only because she wasn’t sorry her father was dead.

“It’s difficult to be back in Victory,” Lisa told Tommy. “Everywhere I look there are ghosts.”

Lisa saw those ghosts as they wandered the streets and echoes of Sam reverberated off the walls of the Victory Tavern as their friends enjoyed celebrating Susie and Reggie’s wedding.

“It’s sad the fearsome four couldn’t be reunited for the wedding,” Tommy said. “But then again, maybe it’s better that Sam and Trevor are elsewhere.”

Reggie, Dean, Sam, and Trevor—the four football stars who brought fame to the small Florida town when they won the state football championship ten years earlier—made quite a name for Victory. Trevor Carson was awaiting trial on an illegal gambling operation, and no one knew where Sam Rollings was.

“I didn’t mean to upset you,” Tommy said as Lisa stared sadly at her wine glass. “I probably shouldn’t have mentioned Sam’s name.”

“Just thinking about the night Trevor was arrested. And about Sam and all the rest. We had so much promise as we headed into our graduation from Victory High. The town held high expectations for all of us.”

“And most of you lived up to those expectations. Look at Dean—famous tat artist from Miami. Reggie is making a name for Victory all over the Tampa area now that he’s bringing in bands from around Florida. And you, Miss Lisa, are making a name for yourself as an actress in no less than New York City.”

“Some actress, advertising insurance for poor schumucks who can’t even afford a vacation. I would say I’m a resounding success as a failure.”

“Lisa, pick up your chin and stop feeling sorry for yourself.” Tommy downed his glass of water. “I need to get up pretty early. Do you want to leave now, or do you want to ride home with Leah and Dean?”

“Thanks a lot, pal. Really like the support. I don’t really want to ride home with you. Besides what happened to you not caring when you left tonight?”

“It’s getting late, and you’re getting drunk and depressed. You don’t want to ruin Susie’s big day, do you?”

Dean and his pregnant wife Leah walked up to them, and Dean pulled out a stool for Leah to sit.

“She can’t keep up with me these days,” Dean said. “Poor thing.” Dean rubbed Leah’s small belly and grinned at Lisa and Tommy. “You two look like you’re at a funeral instead of the wedding of two good friends and family.”

“Lisa needs a ride home,” Tommy said. “Got room for her?”

“Sure,” Leah said. “I’ll see these two get home safely, but I expect them to return the favor after the baby’s born.”

“What about Sally Jean?” Lisa asked. “You promised her a ride, too.”

“She wants to leave now, but this is your sister’s wedding, so stay. But I think you should attempt to put a smile on your face, if only for Susie’s sake. She deserves tonight without any drama. Maybe lay off the wine, too.”

“Yes, master.” Lisa jumped off her stool and bowed deeply to Tommy, who shook his head and walked away.

“What in the hell was that all about, Lisa?” Dean asked. “I thought you’d be ecstatic that your sister and Reggie finally got married after all these years.”

“I am. Just thinking too much about the past, that’s all. And Tommy said some mean things to me.”

“I’m going to get a beer,” Dean said. “Do you want something?”

“A glass of red wine, please. Tommy be damned.”

When he left, Leah looked at her best friend’s sister. “Want to talk about it?”

“Nothing much to say. Dean’s right though. I am happy for Susie. She deserves to be happy.”

“So do you. We all do.”

“When’s the baby due?” Lisa wanted desperately to change the subject. She knew when the depression started she’d slide down a slope with little hope of pulling herself out for a few days.

“I’ve got a little longer than Susie,” Leah said. “Early October—maybe we’ll have a pumpkin.”

“That’d be fun. Imagine the birthday parties you can have with jack-‘o-lanterns.”

“Susie will have to help me with that. I’m not much for decorating.”

Lisa looked over at her sister, standing next to Reggie. Susie glowed. Lisa picked up her glass and smiled to think of her baby sister as a mother. Lisa hoped she could live up to her role as aunt.

Author Genre: Literature & Fiction

Website: P. C. Zick
Author's Blog: Living Lightly
Twitter: @PCZick
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Author Description: Best-selling author, P.C. Zick describes herself as a storyteller no matter what she writes. And she writes in a variety of genres, including romance, contemporary fiction, and nonfiction. She's won various awards for her essays, columns, editorials, articles, and fiction.

Many of her novels contain stories of Florida and its people and environment, which she credits as giving her a rich base for her storytelling. "Florida's quirky and abundant wildlife - both human and animal - supply my fiction with tales almost too weird to be believable." Her Behind the Love trilogy - contemporary romance - is also set in Florida, but she's now working on a series set in the Smoky Mountains.

Her fiction contains the elements most dear to her heart, ranging from love to the environment. All of her novels contain elements of romance with strong female characters and descriptive settings. She believes in living lightly upon this earth with love, laughter, and passion, and through her fiction she imparts this philosophy in an entertaining manner with an obvious love for her characters, plot, and themes.



Author's Book List
Minty's Kiss
When Molly retreats to North Carolina with Gracie, her ten-year-old daughter, she's surprised to find her childhood crush, Nick, still living in the area. Months before her retreat, Molly’s husband announces he’s leaving to sail around the world with his best friend. She divorces him and takes Gracie and Harold, her seventeen-year-old cat, to the Smoky Mountains where she spent many happy childhood vacations.

The morning after her arrival, Nick shows up on her porch, and he is even more handsome than she remembered. She feels the flush of her adolescent crush heating up. But first, they must find Harold after he runs out the cabin door and into the woods.

When Nick discovers Harold lying dead at the base of the tree where Molly always went to read as a child, they bury him. A broken-hearted Gracie and Molly return to the cabin and discover a gray furry kitty under the porch. Gracie names him Minty.

Gracie refuses to believe her father won’t come back for them, so she resents Nick spending time with her mother and tries her best to pull them apart. Can a small kitty named Minty help Gracie accept the love developing between Nick and Molly in time for her first Christmas in the mountains of North Carolina?

Minty’s Kiss is a sweet romantic novella, filled with holiday cheer brought to life by an adorable kitten.


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Third Base
When Adriana Moretti meets baseball star Tomas Vegas, she's surprised by his kindness. While Tomas puts all his energy into winning the World Series for the Pittsburgh Pirates, he's thrown off his game by the brilliant and beautiful Adriana, who owns a multi-million dollar business she started with her late husband. She’s determined to carry on his legacy, but she doesn’t expect to fall for the handsome Puerto Rican Tomas. His supermodel ex-girlfriend and Adriana’s tightly-knit Italian family threaten to tear them apart, which causes Tomas to disappoint his team and Adriana to ignore her business. The more they’re pulled apart, the more they yearn to be together.


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Behind the Bar - Behind the Love Trilogy
Susie and Reggie return to the Behind the Love Trilogy as the main characters in this romance. Susie and Reggie have been together since high school. When they watch good friends Dean and Leah find happiness, they both know something in their relationship must change. Susie believes that means marriage; she didn't expect it to be Reggie deciding they needed a break from one another.

While on break, a handsome publisher comes back to Victory to sweep Susie off her feet, while the voluptuous Sally Jean works her charms on Reggie. Meanwhile, the Victory Tavern owned by Reggie grows into a star attraction for the town. Dean and Leah help, and Susie’s sister Lisa returns home and provides Susie some much needed answers to the questions about their father. Reggie nearly loses everything in a bet that jeopardizes the Tavern.

Secrets revealed bring more questions. When Reggie realizes Susie is the woman he loves, Susie must decide if she can ever trust him again.

Before either of them can move forward to a life together, they must realize their past does not define them.


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Behind the Altar - Behind the Love Trilogy
Leah Bryant’s life satisfies all her needs. Her engagement to Jacob Davis, minister of the Sunshine Church, gives her the security she requires after living on the streets during her teenage years. She runs a food kitchen out of the church for homeless vets who are living on the banks of Deer River.

All is perfect until the day her future mother-in-law Geraldine tells her the church is shutting down the kitchen, and Dean”"Jacob’s brother”"rides his Harley into her heart. Leah’s world begins to crumble as she falls into Dean’s muscular and tattooed arms and discovers the passion she's never known.

??? Homeless vets, deranged mothers, and a tattoo artist collide in this story of true love.

Dean, who’s been away from his home for ten years, finds himself irresistibly drawn in by Leah’s natural beauty and genuine goodness. As they fight to stay away from one another, Leah and Dean keep finding ways to be together. The more they fight the attraction, the harder it is to stay apart.

??? Will Leah go ahead and marry Jacob despite Dean’s haunting her every thought?

??? Will Dean exact the revenge he came home to hand out?


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Odyssey to Myself - World Travel Guide and Memoir
Take a trip to Casablanca and Marrakech, Tuscany and Venice, Bocas del Toro and Panama City, and Santiago, Chile

Odyssey to Myself is a world travel guide for trips to Morocco, Italy, Panama, Chile, and down Route 66 in the United States. The compilation of essays show Muslim women dressed in hijabs and working in Casablanca. Moroccan history and food provide a colorful backdrop as the author explores her place in the world.

Take a trip to Casablanca, Marrakech, Tuscany, Bocas del Toro, and Santiago as P.C. Zick writes about her experiences traveling outside the confines of her small world. Observations about life and culture bring to life the sights, sounds, and smells of the ancient alleyways of Fes, the masters of Italy, and the strategic location of Panama. The people of Morocco, Italy, Panama, and Chile come to life through the experiences of the author as she absorbs the cultures so different from her own.


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A Lethal Legacy
A fascinating study of human expectations, failings, and redemption

A Lethal Legacy takes the reader on a journey through Ed Townsend’s twisted family legacy. He complicates the familial connection even more when he falls prey to the siren of his much younger cousin Kristina, who is beyond saving as she plots to get her fair share of the Townsend family legacy. Ed’s best friend and cousin, Gary, struggles as he marries women he doesn’t love all because he knows his father will never accept his homosexuality. It takes divorce, disease, and murder for Ed to realize that acceptance only comes from within once he is ready to face the truth.


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Native Lands - Florida Fiction Series
Nature and Love Disrupted Always Find a Way Back

Murder, Sex, and Deceptions Threaten the Existence of a Tribe of Native Americans and Their Beloved Everglades

When their environment is torn apart by a conglomerate of international interests, a tribe of native Floridians thought to be extinct rise up and form their own oddly matched conglomerate, and with the assistance of nature, attempt to halt the destruction of the natural world they treasure. Cultural boundaries established centuries ago are erased as love and nature seek the balance lost in the battle for power and control of the last of the Florida frontier.


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Trails in the Sand - Florida Fiction Series
A Family Saga Filled with Love Triangles, Sea Turtles, and an Oil Spill

When environmental writer Caroline Carlisle sets off to report on endangered sea turtles during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the last thing she expects is to uncover secrets - secrets that threaten to destroy her family, unless she can heal the hurts from a lifetime of lies. To make matters worse, Caroline's love for her late sister's husband, Simon, creates an uproar in a southern family already set on a collision course with its past.

Using real-life events as the backdrop, Trails in the Sand explores the fight to restore balance and peace, in nature and in a family, as both spiral toward disaster. Through it all, the ancient sea turtle serves a reminder that life moves forward despite the best efforts to destroy it.


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Tortoise Stew - Florida Fiction Series
Small town politics take center stage in this novel about the development of Florida at any cost. Kelly Sands is a reporter covering some of the more controversial and contentious issues in the fictional north Florida town of Calloway. Dead armadillos and gopher tortoise carcasses are left as calling cards to those opposing the development as commission meetings erupt into all-out warfare. With the murder of one commissioner and the suicide of his wife, Kelly begins an investigation that threatens to topple the carefully laid plans of the developers and politicians to bring a movie studio and landing strip within the city limits of the small town. When a young girl is killed by a semi-truck from Monster Mart, the environmentalists become even more vocal against the developers' plans. Chaos reigns as both sides raise voices and fists in one cacophonous uproar until saner heads bring justice to all.


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Live from the Road - Route 66 Fiction
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Along the way, they are joined by a Chicago bluesman, a Pakistani liquor storeowner from Illinois, a Marine from Missouri, a gun-toting momma from Oklahoma, and a motel clerk from New Mexico.

Death, divorce, and deception help to reveal the inner journey taking place under the blazing desert sun as a Route 66 motel owner reads the Bhagavad-Gita and an eagle provides the sign they've all been seeking.

Enlightenment comes tiptoeing in at dawn in a Tucumcari laundromat, while singing karaoke at a bar in Gallup, New Mexico, and during dinner at the Roadkill Cafe in Seligman, Arizona.

The trip isn't always easy as laughter turns to tears and back again. However, the four women's lives will never be the same after the road leads them to their hearts - the true destination for these road warriors.


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