Читать книгу The Other Soldier - Kathy Altman - Страница 4

Dear Reader,

Thank you for being here! I’m so glad you’re able to help me celebrate my debut with Harlequin Superromance! This series has long been one of my favorite lines, and having the opportunity to contribute a story is a dream come true. Pardon the cliché.

Let me get you a cup of punch and a slice of cake and I’ll explain how The Other Soldier is the book that almost wasn’t. All set? Here goes. I sold the story as a result of Harlequin’s online Memorial Day Challenge, a contest I very nearly didn’t enter. I was in the midst of revising a romantic suspense I’d already used way too many excuses to avoid editing, and I’d never written a military hero before (a tad ironic, considering I’m a civilian working for the air force on a navy base). Eventually I realized that getting feedback from the editors managing the very same line I wanted to write for was too good an opportunity to pass up. So I did a lot of research—what better pretext for watching four seasons of Army Wives?—drafted my 1,000-word entry and sent it in. Two months later, on Halloween, I received a voice mail from Superromance editor Megan Long—Harlequin wanted to buy my book!

(Cue Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus”)

I shared all of the above for a reason. Yep, I actually do have a point. The main theme of The Other Soldier is forgiveness, but there’s an underlying theme as well—hope. Reid hopes Parker will forgive him, Parker hopes she can keep her business afloat and Nat hopes Reid will become a permanent part of her life. Of course, this is fiction and none of those hopes are real, but I’m certain you have hopes and dreams of your own, and my wish for you is that they’re realized. The combination of dreaming and effort is a powerful one—heck, it brought us together for the next few hours!

May this story inspire you to have hope.

All my best,

Kathy Altman