Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Good Karma, Good Books: When One Door Opens by JD Ruskin

Every Wednesday, I put on my pimp clothes (I favor feathered hats and zebra prints with a little crushed velvet) and help promote the new or old work of some of my favorite fellow authors. Be sure to stop by every week and see what’s new. 

This week, I’m recommending you try When One Door Opens, by the amazingly talented JD Ruskin.

Here’s what JD says about When One Door Opens:

"My central characters have very different backgrounds and very different life struggles. I liked the idea of them realizing they have more in common than they thought. My particular style of writing is an odd combination of humor, romance, and angst. I need all three to make me happy. Caleb and Logan have serious problems, but that doesn't mean there aren't moments for love and laughter.

"I have a personal connection to the character of Caleb, because I've experienced social anxiety and panic attacks, though not as severely as Caleb. It was really important to me to portray agoraphobia as accurately as I could. Love can't cure agoraphobia or alcoholism, but love can be the support people need to reach recovery. When I was researching agoraphobia, I read an article about a woman who died in a fire in Chicago because she refused to leave the building. The woman was agoraphobic. I remember being so shocked and saddened by this article. Imagine a fear so great that it can override your instinct for self-preservation. I'd never considered agoraphobia could be life threatening. Or how it can control people’s lives.

"I don't drink alcohol, which might seem strange considering Logan is an alcoholic. I made the decision not to drink when I was a teenager, because alcohol abuse runs in my family. I have no moral objection to adults imbibing, but you'd likely be shocked by the number of people who try to convince me to drink alcohol to this day. Many of them actually get offended when I turn them down. Logan has to resist the urge to drink while being surrounded by temptation. Ultimately, I believe we get our greatest strengths from those we love. Our will to fight for the life we deserve.

BLURB
Logan Sellers's parole officer has issued three commandments: stay sober, stay employed, and stay out of trouble. At first Logan thought those three simple rules would be easy to follow. But that was before he accepted a side job assisting his boss’s housebound agoraphobic nephew, Caleb. 
 
Caleb is deceptively normal for a guy who hasn't left his apartment in three years, and his friendly, caring personality tugs on heartstrings Logan didn’t know he had. But hitting on his boss’s nephew is asking to be unemployed. Logan has enough problems with booze on every corner and a supervisor trying to jump into his bed. He doesn’t need to work out how to free Caleb from the anxiety that keeps him in his apartment; he needs to keep his nose clean, attend his AA meetings, and make a fresh start--alone. 
 
If only his heart would get with the program.

BUY

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