From Volunteer to Author

Over the past week, more and more, the news has shown us the images and sounds of 9/11.  Sights and sounds that created fear, anger, and sadness in me 10 years ago.  But, now, those images have begun to dim in my mind.

Old movies started my love affair with New York, I attended college in DC, and I lived in Pennsylvania.  So, 9/11 touched my life on many many sides.

As I sit here, in a local coffee shop in TN, and count the number of police cars passing by my window, I can not begin to imagine the levels of heightened security elsewhere in the country.  And the sights and sounds that had dimmed are fresh and vivid.  The paranoia that consumed so many of us feels almost as strangling, now.

What would we do without the men and women who walk invisibly beside us every day protecting our ability to let the images we don't want to remember fade?

This week, my guest at Romancing the Pen, Nancy Lennea discusses a little bit about volunteering and how she worked as a 9-1-1 operator on 9/11 (maybe I can get her to visit again, and tell us more.)

Visit Romancing the Pen to read more about how Nancy's experiences as a volunteer shaped her new release from Red Rose Publishing - Love to the Rescue.

Here's more about Love to the Rescue:

The clashing relationship between tomboy Josie Miller and fellow paramedic-firefighter, Pete Thayer, escalates after he realizes Joe is not just one-of-the-boys. Pete has a sketchy history and has earned a reputation for one-night stands in the small town of Parmenter, New Hampshire nestled between the Mercy River, the mountains, and the state college. Since he arrived a year ago, Josie suspects he is hiding something. Something too horrible to share, even with her. Working side by side, Joe loves her job, and Pete.

They respond to accident calls, medical emergencies, and fast-moving forest fires amid sparks of another kind. Joe’s clumsiness and baggy uniform work against her when she yearns to be the kind of woman Pete wants like the pretty blonde they must rescue after her car hits a moose.

Outside influences come to play when the sister of Pete’s alleged victim shows up and accuses him of something even worse…her sister’s recent death. Once on track to be a doctor, the sister’s betrayal and lies caused Pete to run far away and keep women at a distance unless they agreed to share his bed…and nothing more.

Pete plans to skip town while Josie worries she has given her heart to a monster. His boss and the local police back off and he professes his innocence to Joe. After kissing her senseless, she lets him into her bed until her bothers intervene. Both keep an eye on Pete. A suicide note, some well-landed fists, stolen moments of love, and a desire to listen to their hearts lead these two heroes toward a climax filled with tension, pain, bloodshed, and atonement.