You can imagine my excitement when I discovered Susan is now a published author herself! Her debut novel, Rocky Road just released this month!!. Today, Susan is generously giving away a signed copy of Rocky Road along with a $10 Baskin-Robbins gift card (good at participating Dunkin Donuts, too).!!!
Here's a bit about Susan and her debut novel!
Susan Lohrer grew up in more towns in western Canada than she has fingers to count them on. She currently lives in southern BC with her husband of more than two decades, their two teenagers who are still at home, three dogs, and far more aquariums than a reasonable household should contain. She believes life is always better with a healthy dose of humor
Sometimes the best road to love is a Rocky Road…
Physical therapist Nancy Anne Robertson has her sights set on her dream promotion. Problem #1: she’s engaged to one of her patients, and if her secret gets out, she’ll lose her job altogether. Problem #2: her ex-fiancé is back in town, shooting for the same promotion. Complicating matters are two mothers (and one fiancé) with alarming secrets, an autistic brother with a penchant for wandering off at the most inconvenient times, and four rings—the fake diamond kind, the stolen kind, the sticky wax kind that belongs under a toilet . . . and maybe, just maybe, the kind meant to make a girl say I do.
ENDORSEMENT:
“Susan Lohrer is a bright new talent who is going places.”—London Times best-selling author Katie Fforde
I've asked Susan to share with us today whatever is on her heart: (Isn't she adorable?)
Hi, MaryLu, and thank you so much for having me on your blog.
(For the record, I was all for chatting up MaryLu and her books, but she won’t let me do that today. So you’ll have to pretend you didn’t hear me when I say that Forsaken Dreams has the most beautiful cover of any book, ever. And you’ll pretend you didn’t hear that about a million years ago I saw the proposal for Veil of Pearls and knew instantly it was a winner. OK, you didn’t hear any of that, right? Good. Onward, then.)
Today’s topic is being the parent of a teen who has Down syndrome, and how that inspired my debut romantic comedy, Rocky Road. You see, I’m the mom of an amazing young woman who has Downs. From the day she was born, she’s been teaching everyone around her a new way of looking at the world. Most often, it’s a hilarious way of looking at the world. Like the time I explained to little miss grumpy pants that my job as her mom included waking her up for school, and she shouted, “You’re fired!”
One of the characters in Rocky Road, Will, faces many challenges as a person who has autism. While Downs and autism are pretty much on opposite ends of the spectrum, the crazy mix of emotions inside anyone who cares about, well, anyone—but especially about a family member who has special needs—is exactly the same.
Ancy, the heroine, faces her own set of unique challenges as a person who cares deeply about a family member who has autism. Do I shelter him? Protect him? Encourage him to do anything he wants to do? What if he fails? What if he succeeds? Every day, every decision, brings the question Am I making this choice for him… or to make things easier for myself? Do I have these same questions about my daughter? You bet I do. Every single day.
As a mom, I’m vigilant about my daughter’s safety, yet I don’t want her to feel like a child with no freedom. This requires a delicate balance and the cooperation of a team of people. And sometimes even an entire team isn’t enough. For instance, my daughter wants to be able to go from the school to her bus without supervision, yet one day her younger brother had to make the driver stop a block away from the school to pick her up—because she decided to walk home (apparently she doesn’t quite get that we live twelve miles from town).
And now she wants to get her driver’s license. What if she fails? What if she succeeds? Some teens with Downs have gotten their licenses. Imagine someone who’s developmentally seven years old, driving on public roads. Talk about a crazy mix of pride and terror in a mother’s heart!
I’m still trying to figure out how to get through that particular challenge on humor alone.
Does someone you love have special needs? Or has humor gotten you through many a day? Share your story in the comments!
Where to find Susan:
Website: http://www.susanlohrer.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/susanlohrer
Where to buy the book!!!
5 Prince Publishing: www.5princebooks.com/buy.html
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/320735
(Susan, why did I say about promoting my books, you stinker!)
Anyway, please leave a comment below with your answer to Susan's question, or just to say Hi, (along with your Email) and you'll be entered in the contest. I'll announce the winners next week on Friday the 14th!!
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