Kim Kasch Blogsite - A Writer's Blog: In The Context of Love

Saturday, February 20, 2016

In the Context of Love by Linda K. Sienkiewicz

Author Linda K. Sienkiewicz writes women’s fiction/ contemporary romance. Her debut novel In the Context of Love.

What makes us step back to examine the events and people that have shaped our lives? And what happens when what we discover leads to more questions? In the Context of Love revolves around the journey of Angelica Schirrick as she reevaluates her life, and its direction.

Returning with her children from their first visit with her now imprisoned husband, she tries to figure out where it all went so wrong. Can she face the failures and secrets of her past and move forward? Can she find love and purpose again? Her future, which once held so much promise, crumbled like dust after the mysterious disappearance of her first love, and the shattering revelation that derailed her life, and divided her parents. Only when she finally learns to accept the violence of her beginning can she be open to life again, and maybe to a second chance at love.

Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of #1 NYTimes Bestseller, DEEP END OF THE OCEAN, says: “With humor and tenderness, but without blinking, Linda K. Sienkiewicz turns her eye on the predator-prey savannah of the young and still somehow hopeful.”

Bonnie Jo Campbell, author of Michigan Notable Book MOTHERS TELL YOUR DAUGHTERS, says “Sienkiewicz’s powerful and richly detailed debut novel is at once a love story, a cautionary tale, and an inspirational journey. It should be required reading for all wayward daughters, and their mothers, too.”

Eggcerpt from In the Context of Love:

“I had everything under control, baby doll. You didn’t need to do that,” he said, opening and closing his fists.

“Oh, yeah, right. I could see that. Who is she?” My knees started to shake as if my body finally realized fear was the appropriate reaction.

“One crazy bitch, that’s who. She could’ve killed you.” He examined the side of my face, touching gently. “This might bruise. I didn’t know you had so much fight in you. What a little ball breaker,” he said, as if proud of me.

I scowled as I jerked my head away. “You told her you’re clean. What does that mean?”

“Just that. She’s looking for what I don’t have. Forget it. She won’t come back.” He led me into the bedroom and sat me on the bed, as if disruptions of this sort were common in his life, then got a wet washrag from the bathroom and held it to my face. The concern in his eyes was genuine. The stinging pain slid from my cheek down into the sorely beating muscle in my chest when I realized I cared about this man more than I should. I wanted to kiss him as badly as I wanted to clobber him.

I asked him how tight he and this Blossom person had been, and he said, “Like scotch tape on cement.” The cool rag was soothing. I liked the way he held it to my face. Weighted by vague allegations and indecisiveness, I felt like the wrong answer in an essay test.

“Don’t be mad. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me,” he said as we lay down. His skin felt hot and dry when he rolled on top of me. I took a quick breath, struck by the unexpected burden of his body moving on top of mine, as if he were ironing years of his mistakes onto me. He kissed my face where it hurt, as if to make it all better, like a daddy.

Who was I to question him? A model of truthfulness? So what if he had a few untidy relationships or loose ends? I wasn’t going to have his babies, for crying out loud.

In the Context of Love can be purchased in paperback or e-reader on Amazon http://amzn.to/1IiVWEs or Barnes and Noble http://bit.ly/1QFs340

Here’s an interview with Angelica Schirrick, the narrator of In the Context of Love:

1. Where were you born?
I was brought into this world by midwife Rose Rumble at my great aunt’s farm in Wisconsin, and my mother, young and unmarried, was supposed to give me up for adoption.

2. Do you have a nickname?
People have called me troublemaker, short stuff, hot stuff, cupcake (by my dad) Angel, hure (by my wicked German grandmother — don’t ask why), but most people call me Angie.

3. What’s your most embarrassing moment?
When I was a teen, I was furious with my parents and felt this sudden need to get away from them (who hasn’t?), so I snatched the keys to my dad’s Lincoln and took off. I don’t know what I was thinking. I didn’t have a license or much driving experience. I lost control and drove it into a fir tree in the Brecksville Metropark. I was okay but the car was not.

4. What is your job?
I’m proud to say I’m the marketing and community service director for Safe Harbor, a non-profit women’s domestic violence shelter in Cleveland, Ohio. I love my work.

5. What’s your favorite type of pet?
I grew up with a gorgeous fluffy collie named Cookie, so I’m awfully fond of dogs, but at this point in my life, I’d rather have something low maintenance, like a goldfish, canary, or a rock. Yes, a pet rock would be perfect.

Author Linda K. Sienkiewicz attributes her creative drive to her artistic mother, who taught her to sew, and her father, who let her monkey around with the gadgets in his workshop. Her short stories and poetry have been published in more than fifty literary journals in print and online. She has a poetry chapbook award from Bottom Dog Press, a Pushcart Prize nomination and an MFA from The University of Southern Maine.