Remembrance (The Transcend Time Saga) (23 page)

Read on for…

An interview with the author, Michelle Madow.

A sneak peak of
Vengeance
, the next part of the Transcend Time Saga.

A super special sneak peak of
The Secret Diamond Sisters
, Michelle Madow’s newest hit series published by Harlequin TEEN.

You won’t want to miss
The Secret Diamond Sisters
, which Booklist calls, “Sexy and often electrifying ... 
Gossip Girl 
meets 
The Princess Diaries
 in a city that never sleeps!"

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

What was your inspiration for Remembrance?

Remembrance
was inspired by Taylor Swift’s “Love Story” music video. In the video, Taylor sees a guy while walking through campus, and the moment their eyes connect, the scene flashes to the two of them dancing at a beautiful ball dressed in clothes that appear to be from around the year 1815. After watching the video, the characters and story in
Remembrance
started to piece together in my mind. I started to write it down, and ended up with a finished novel!

What was the biggest obstacle you had to overcome when writing Remembrance?

I wrote
Remembrance
when I was a junior in college, and one of the first things I learned was that finishing a novel requires a lot of discipline. It’s a long project with no immediate deadlines and no daily schedule, so I had to learn how to make myself sit down and write every day, even if I wasn’t in the mood to do so. I was always a big procrastinator with my homework, but writing a novel taught me how to schedule my time in a more efficient manner so I was able to complete the assignments I needed to get done and still have time to write.

Do you have to do any type of research?

So much! I wanted to make sure I got the historical details accurate, so I researched Regency Era clothing, customs, activities women did then, jewelry, etc. Also, all of the objects described in the book are real things I found online (like the music box and first edition of
Pride and Prejudice
.) On my blog, http://blog.michellemadow.com, I have lots of
Remembrance
extras, where fans can see pictures of objects from
Remembrance
and read extra scenes.

What is your writing process like?

Once I have an idea for a story, I do preliminary research. Then I’ll create character bios and a basic outline—I like to know where my story is headed before I start writing. Once the basic outline is completed I’ll start the drafting process, where I try to write 1,500 words a day for 5-6 days a week. I keep my outline flexible though, because sometimes while drafting I’ll get a cool idea that I like better than what I had on the original outline. After drafting I do tons of rounds of edits, getting the opinions of my friends and family before sending the manuscript off to my agent!

What was your favorite scene to write in the book?

I loved writing the scene where Lizzie is with Drew in the car after the soccer game. It was an intense scene to write, and one of the first times they were alone together. Another of my favorites was the music box scene, because it was so sweet and romantic. An image of the music box and a clip of the song can be found on my blog.

Names are very important to a story, but not always easy to come up with.  How did you come up with the names of the characters in your story?

Lizzie parallels Lizzy from
Pride and Prejudice
, but since the two of them are individual characters, I changed the spelling to make it clear that Lizzie is her own person. I also liked that Lizzie is a shortened version of the British name Elizabeth, which is what she went by in her past life. Drew’s name originally came to me from Taylor Swift’s song “Teardrops on my Guitar,” but it also worked because it starts with a D (much like Mr. Darcy!) and is a shortened version of the British name Andrew. It was almost like their names were meant to be! 

Do you base your writing on your real life?

The majority of
Remembrance
is all from my imagination. There is one scene based on something that happened to me in real life, and that’s when Lizzie misunderstands a question in her French class and everyone in her class believes she thinks Hawaii is a foreign country. The same thing happened to me in my 9
th
grade Spanish class. It was my first month at a new school, and totally embarrassing! 

Do you believe we have been reincarnated, and if so what were you in your past life, or will be in your next one?

It would be so cool if we were reincarnated, but as cool as I think it would be, I'm not a believer of reincarnation myself. If I were reincarnated … I could see myself being from Ancient Rome around the time of the Golden Age, because I've always had a fascination with the art and architecture of that time. Or a time period with lots of pretty dresses and magnificent parties!

I read in another interview that you actually designed your book cover (amazing by the way!) Are you the girl on the cover?

Thank you! You have no idea how many people ask me that; I didn't even realize we looked similar until people started pointing it out to me. But the answer is no -- the girl on the cover is a model from a stock-image website. The second I discovered the image I was like, "OMG, it's Lizzie in her gold mask at the dance!" and was instantly inspired to design it into a book cover. I've been so happy with the reception the cover has received!

How many books will there be in the series?

Remembrance
is the first part of the Transcend Time Saga, which will be told in three parts. The second part is a short story called
Vengeance
, which was released on December 8, 2011. The third part is a novel that will conclude the Saga, set to be released in the end of 2012.

Where can we find you online?

I love communicating with fans online! I also read all reviews posted on Amazon and B&N, so if you enjoyed
Remembrance
and decide to post a review on either of those websites, I really appreciate it.

On my website, www.michellemadow.com, there are links to my Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and all my other social media sites. Be sure to add me on there, because I love meeting and talking to people who enjoyed my books!

Here’s a peek at the first chapter of
Vengeance
, the second part of the Transcend Time Saga!

CHAPTER 1

“I’ll see you in school on Monday.”

I hated the casual way Lizzie said those words. She was acting like she hadn’t stolen my boyfriend, come over to apologize, and expected us to be best friends as if nothing had changed. It made me want to throw the stapler on my desk at her face. Instead, I glanced at my planner and shuffled a few papers around as if they needed to be rearranged. They didn’t.

“Right,” I said, refusing to look at her. I wanted Lizzie to leave. Every second I saw her made me angrier than the last.

She watched me like she expected me to say more—like she expected me to tell her I couldn’t wait to see her at school. When I didn’t, she turned around and left. I could tell she was disappointed, but what did she expect? She knew I was interested in Drew from the first time I saw him walk into our History classroom. I’d been honest with her about my feelings for him from the beginning. 

When Drew and I started dating, everything was great, like a fairy tale. Whenever we spent time together, whether we went out for ice cream, dinner, or watched a movie at my house, we had fun. At least I thought we did.

But apparently he enjoyed Lizzie’s company more than mine.

I pushed the red mask I wore to the Halloween Dance off the desk and watched it fall to the floor. Then I kicked it into the wall for added effect. Stupid mask. The night of the dance was supposed to be incredible. Then Drew cancelled so he could see his family in New York for the weekend, and when he came back he was distant. His mind was somewhere else—somewhere I couldn’t reach. No matter how hard I tried to get him to lighten up, it was impossible.

He broke up with me two weeks later. I saw it coming, but that didn’t make it less devastating. I didn’t understand what I’d done to make him so uninterested in me. When I asked, he gave me the “it’s not you, it’s me” excuse, as if that would make it okay. It was so lame, so cliché—he could have given me a decent reason. A real reason. One minute he was happy with our relationship, and the next he was done with me, tossing me aside like I never mattered to him in the first place.

Shannon pulled me aside a week later and told me she saw Drew and Lizzie together in a boat on the lake behind their houses. I didn’t want to believe her at first. But both of them were acting strange and secretive—it was the only explanation that made sense. I couldn’t help but wonder how long they planned on keeping their relationship from everyone.

Then there was the biggest, most hurtful question of them all: How long had they been seeing each other behind my back before Drew broke up with me?

I hated thinking about it.

I tried talking with him about it at Shannon’s party, but as soon as I started getting somewhere, Lizzie barged in and ruined everything. Drew ran after her, leaving me alone and forgotten. It was humiliating.

I walked up to the mirror in my room and glared at my reflection. What was so wrong with me that I wasn’t good enough for Drew? That he left me for my best friend—correction: my ex-best friend—without looking back?

I ran a hand through my long, dark hair, trying to figure it out. My nose had a perfect ski-slope shape that people went to plastic surgeons for, my skin was smooth and free of any blemishes, and my green eyes tilted upwards at the ends in a way that guys found alluring. I didn’t doubt that I was prettier than Lizzie. Her curly hair was constantly out of control, her skin was too pale, and she looked like she should be a freshman instead of a junior.

Despite all of that, Drew chose her. And Lizzie went along with it. She knew about my feelings for Drew—how I loved Drew—and she still took him away from me. Then she had the nerve to come into my house and tell me she thought Drew was her soul mate and she hoped I understood where she was coming from.

The last thing I wanted was to be friends with her. To top things off, it wasn’t the first time something like this had happened. At least it was forgivable all those years ago with Jeremy, since I never told Lizzie about my feelings for him in the first place. Jeremy was different from other guys—he was one of my close friends. I was afraid if I let him know I thought there could be more between us, it would mess up our friendship. So I kept it to myself. 

In eighth grade he told me he wanted to ask Lizzie to the Valentine’s Day dance. Not knowing how to respond, I froze and told him I thought it would be a great idea. They went to the dance together, and in less than a month they were an official couple. He never knew about my feelings for him, and I always thought it was best that way. He and Lizzie were good together. It was my fault for not taking action sooner, and I wasn’t about to get between them. I got over him a few months later.

But with Drew … this was a different situation. Lizzie knew about my feelings for him, but she went for him anyway. Everyone might think Lizzie’s an angel, but I knew better. She was selfish, and she was going to pay.

Still staring in the mirror, I made myself a promise.

I was going to get revenge.

SNEAK PEAK

The Secret Diamond Sisters
by Michelle Madow

"Sexy and often electrifying ... 
Gossip Girl 
meets 
The Princess Diaries
 in a city that never sleeps." 

-Booklist

CHAPTER ONE
: Savannah

“You’re definitely coming to the movies with us tonight, right?” Savannah’s best friend, Evie, asked as Savannah got out of the car. “And sleeping over again?”

“Of course.” Savannah shared a conspiratorial smile with Evie, knowing that “movies” was code for pretending to walk into the theater while Evie’s mom was watching, then having Evie’s current boy toy pick them up and drive them to the unsupervised party five minutes away. They could only stay at the party for three hours, but it was better than not going.

“Thanks for driving me home from volleyball, Mrs. Brown,” she said, waving to Evie’s mom. She was always glad Mrs. Brown didn’t mind dropping her off, because Evie was the only friend of hers who had seen where she lived. If the other girls on the volleyball
team saw the ramshackle apartment building where she lived with her mom and two older sisters that looked more like a run-down motel than a home, they would probably laugh about it behind her back.

“It’s no problem, Savannah,” Mrs. Brown said from the driver’s seat. She had the same strawberry-blond hair as her daughter, and the two could almost pass as sisters. “Are you sure you don’t want me to pick you up tonight?”

“I’ll get one of my sisters to drop me off.” She didn’t want to make Mrs. Brown come out of her way twice in one day. It was already more than enough that Evie’s mom drove her home every day after practice during volleyball season, and that she didn’t mind when Savannah stayed the night for two or three days at a time over the summer.

Anyway, her sisters owed her after making her come home now, when she was supposed to have stayed the rest of the day at Evie’s before they went out for the night. Life would be so much easier once she got her license. Of course, she would have to figure out how to borrow Peyton’s car. Convincing her sister would be difficult, because Peyton had saved up for years for that beat-up piece of crap whose engine sounded like it could die any day, but the possibility was better than nothing.

“See you soon, S!” Evie called as her mom pulled away from the curb.

“Bye, E,” Savannah replie
d, and they both made the sign-language letter for C with their hands. Savannah and Evie called themselves S.E.C., which stood for the “Savannah/ Evie Club,” and the letter C was their special symbol. “See you tonight!”

She walked down the sidewalk to the door with the peeling blue paint, wondering what was up. Her sisters never made her come home when she had plans, but Courtney’s voice on the phone had sounded so st
rained that Savannah knew something was wrong.

She let herself inside and f
ound Peyton and Courtney standing around the stained kitchen table, their grandma and a man Savannah didn’t recognize sitting in the two chairs. He wore a fancy brown suit that probably cost more than everything in Savannah’s wardrobe combined, and his expression was so solemn that he looked like he was at a funeral. Her grandma and sisters looked equally upset.

“What’s going on?” Savannah dropped her sleepover bag on the cracked linoleum floor. She hadn’t been home since yesterday morning, and had an awful feeling this had to do with the one person who wasn’t here—her mom.

“Hi, sweetie.” Grandma always looked younger than her seventy-so years, but her eyes were so sad right now that her age shined through. “Sorry for making you come home early. I wouldn’t have asked unless it was serious.”

“Where’s Mom?” Savannah swallowed and leaned against the arm of the living room couch, expecting the worst. Her mom had always drunk a lot, but after she’d lost her job as a secretary last year, she had spiraled out of control. Her sisters tried to shield Savannah fr
om seeing what went on, but Savannah wasn’t stupid. She knew her mom was drinking all day, so much that she got physically sick at night and in the morning, and that she couldn’t hold on to a hostess or waitress job for longer than two months. They could barely keep enough food in the house anymore, since Mom blew all the grocery money on alcohol.

“That’s what we needed you here to discuss,” the man cut in. He looked like he would fit in better in a fancy office building than their crappy apartment in Fairfield, California.

“Who’s he?” Savannah asked Grandma.

“This is Mr. Webster,” Grandma said. “He’s a lawyer who works for your father.”

“What?” Savannah’s heart pounded. That couldn’t be true. Savannah had always been warned that her father was dangerous, that he didn’t want anything to do with her and her sisters. She hated that he felt that way, but it was how her life had always been, so she’d accepted it and moved on. “Am I missing something?”

“We all are.” Peyton’s eyes blazed. “We’ve been lied to for our entire lives.”

That was becoming clear to Savannah, but it was Courtney who caught her up on what had happened while she had been having a sleepover at Evie’s.

“Last night, Mom was pulled over for drunk driving on her way to work,” Courtney said, somehow managing to stay calm as she relayed the story. “They brought her to the
station, and she lost her license and job.” Was that the fifth or sixth job she’d lost in the past year? Savannah had lost count. “I called Grandma to get Mom out of the station, and then...” Courtney shrugged and looked at Grandma, as if she wanted her to continue.

“I hoped your mom would be able to keep a job and get her life back on track, but enough is enough,” Grandma said in her matter-of-fact manner. “I know it’s never been easy living with her, but I’ve seen what the three of you have gone through in the past year, and
I can’t sit back and watch anymore. I would take you in myself if I didn’t have so much on my hands with your Aunt Sophie’s chemo treatments.” Her chin quivered at the mention of her twin, who had been staying with Grandma in her one-bedroom apartment since her cancer diagnosis a few months ago. “So I did the only thing I could think to do—I called your father for backup.”

Savannah couldn’t believe she was hearing this right. “But our father wants nothing to do with us.” She turned to her sisters for support, but Peyton looked angry enough to shoot
fire from her eyes, and Courtney’s expression was blank, as though she was fighting to hold on to an inkling of control.

“Mr. Diamond has been aware of your living situation,
and was about to take action himself when your grandmother called him,” Mr. Webster said. “He made some calls last night and arranged for your mother to receive inpatient treatment at a rehabilitation facility in Arizona. She was flown there this morning and is settling in, but the facility has given strict orders that your mom not contact anyone from outside until her doctors feel she is healthy enough to do so. They hope she’ll be ready to switch to outpatient status in a few weeks, but they warned it could be longer.”

Savannah’s head spun. How had all this happened while she had been having a sleepover at Evie’s, gossiping about which girls at school they wanted to try to become friends with next year and what guys they thought were hot, while exp
erimenting with daring makeup looks?

“You didn’t let me say goodbye?” She looked at her sisters, unable to believe they could betray her like that.

“None of us were able to say goodbye.” Courtney came over and wrapped an arm around Savannah’s shoulders. “Mom didn’t want us to see her like that. She said it would be easier this way, and you know she hates goodbyes. We just need to focus on being thankful she’s finally getting the treatment she needs.”

“She was probably ashamed, and afraid we would ask her questions she wasn’t ready to answer,” Peyton said. “And she would have been right.”

“But with Mom not here, where are we supposed to go?” Savannah wiped away a tear that had slid down her cheek. She was grateful her mom was getting help, but they still needed her around. Sure, she wasn’t always the best at taking care of them, but she was all they had.

“You know I love you and your sisters, and would be happy for you to live wit
h me if there were no other options,” Grandma said. “But you deserve more than sleeping on the couch and air mattresses in the living room, and I worry about the stress the changes would cause Aunt Sophie. Luckily, your father has generously offered for you to move in with him.”

“Are you serious?” Savannah didn’t believe this. She and her sisters had never met t
heir father. And now he was offering for them to move in with him? “Why now? I thought it wasn’t safe for us to be around him? And where does he even live?”

Mr. Webster was the one to answer. “Mr. Diamond asked me to provide as little information as possible, because he wants to personally answer your questions, but I can assure you that your safety is his top priority. He’s sending a driver to pick you up tomorrow morning who will take you to the airport. I know this is short notice to give you girls to pack, but do what you can and Mr. Diamond will arrange for the rest of your belongings to
be brought to your new accommodations at a later date.”

A plane. Which meant if it took her mom longer than a few weeks to get better, Savannah would start her sophomore year at a new school, with people she’d never met. How was she going to break this to Evie? And how would she get through school without her best friend by her side?

“What if we don’t want to go?” Peyton crossed her arms and glared at Mr. Webster. “I’m almost eighteen, you know. I should have a say in this.” Peyton’s birthday was in March, which hardly made her “almost eighteen,” but Savannah kept her mouth shut.

“As it is now, you’re still a minor, so you have no choice,” Mr. Webster said. “With your
mother unfit, it is in your father’s rights to insist you live under his care. You will pack your bags and be ready to leave by ten o’clock tomorrow morning.”

“What about the apartment?” Courtney asked. “What will happen to it while we’re gone?”

“Mr. Diamond will make sure it’s maintained,” Mr. Webster said. “I’m sorry to throw this on you all at once. I know this won’t be easy for the three of you, but he will answer all your questions when you arrive. Now, I imagine you need time to pack. Is there anything more you want to ask?”

“I think you have it covered, Mr. Webster.” Grandma spoke for them. “Now if you wouldn’t mind, I would like some time with my granddaughters.”

“Of course.” He nodded and let himself out.

“You can’t expect us to do this,” Peyton said to Grandma once he was gone. “All my life
you’ve said our father is dangerous and he doesn’t want us around. Now we’re expected to forget all that and move in with him? I won’t do it. I refuse.”

“Your mother has her reasons for wanting to distance herself from your father, and while
being around him can be dangerous for those close to him, he’s not a bad man,” Grandma said. “He’ll explain it all to you once he meets you. Just remember that your mother loved him once, and while it won’t be easy, I hope the three of you can find it in your hearts to give him a chance. Can you promise to do that? For me?”

When she put it like that, it was impossible to say no.

“Okay.” Savannah nodded, trying to swallow away the lump in her throat. “I’ll try.”

Her cell phone buzzed in her pocket, and she took it out to check
the text. It was from Evie.

Any luck convincing one of your sisters to drive you tonight?

Savannah stared blankly at the beat-up flip phone. The plans she’d made with Evie less than an hour ago felt like they’d happened in another life. She couldn’t wrap her mind around what she’d just learned, let alone tell someone else, even if that someone was her best friend.

Can’t go tonight. Something big happened. Not ready to talk about it yet but I’ll call you when I am <3

She pressed Send, then dropped her phone in her bag, not wanting to look at it again that night.

The next morning, they lugged their bags outside and tearfully hugged Grandma goodbye. The stretch limo that pulled up in front of their apartment looked foreign amongst the beat-up cars lining their street, and the sight of it sent Savannah’s ideas of who her father was out the window. He couldn’t be a homeless drugged-out loser if he’d sent a
limo
to pick them up.

As of last night, the most expensive car Savannah had ever been in was the Volkswagen Jetta Evie’s mom drove when she brought them home from volleyball practice or to the mall. Now, she climbed into the sleek limo, her fingers grazing the soft leather of the wraparound seat. Lights lined the ceiling, and there was a wooden minibar across from the long side of the seat, an open bottle of champagne chilling in the ice bucket and three glasses on display. The lab
el on the champagne read Dom Perignon, and while Savannah had never tasted Dom before, she recognized it as a pricey drink from the television shows she watched.