Friday Feature: Fire and Snow by Andrew Grey

Fire and Snow – The Beginning

The Carlisle Cops series hits close to home for me, literally. I have set a number of stories in Carlisle where I live, but each of the Carlisle cops series is built around something that actually happened in this area of the country. When I started the series it was important to me that each of them center on an issue as well as the romance. The first was the drug issue that everyone in the US had to deal with, the second was a mistreated child, and the third was homelessness.

In this story we deal with loneliness. I know that may seem a little strange, but at almost any time of the year there are people who sit down at the town square. That’s what they seem to do most of the day. Everyone passes them by and I’m winning to bet most people don’t see them. But of course I’m a writer, so I tend to see stories everywhere. And one of those people sitting at the square was younger than most. Fisher is the result of asking why.


Title: Fire and Snow by Andrew Grey
Carlyle Cops Series Book Four
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Genre: Contemporary, M/M, Romance
Length: 200 pages

Summary:

Carlisle Cops: Book Four

Fisher Moreland has been cast out of his family because they can no longer deal with his issues. Fisher is bipolar and living day to day, trying to manage his condition, but he hasn’t always had much control over his life and has self-medicated with whatever he could find.

JD Burnside has been cut off from his family because of a scandal back home. He moved to Carlisle but brought his Southern charm and warmth along with him. When he sees Fisher on a park bench on a winter’s night, he invites Fisher to join him and his friends for a late-night meal.

At first Fisher doesn’t know what to make of JD, but he slowly comes out of his shell. And when Fisher’s job is threatened because of a fire, JD’s support and care is more than Fisher ever thought he could expect. But when people from Fisher’s past turn up in town at the center of a resurgent drug epidemic, Fisher knows they could very well sabotage his budding relationship with JD.


Excerpt

Once he’d showered, Fisher wrapped a towel around his skinny waist and pulled open the medicine cabinet. He pulled out the weekly pill container he set up each Sunday and opened it, groaning softly when he realized today was Sunday and his pills for Saturday were sitting in their slot. At least that explained the blues that had descended over him and the roller coaster he’d been on. It also accounted for the few hours he couldn’t remember from last evening. Oh, he remembered the restaurant with JD, Red, and Terry, and the food, the talking, the lightheartedness. But pretty much all he remembered about the hours before that was being cold and alone. The feeling stayed with him even if the exact memories of what happened were lost.

Fisher doled out his upcoming week of medications into their slots, then took his Sunday pills from the container, placed them in his palm, and chased them with a shot of water. Then he went back into the bedroom, dressed, and checked himself in the mirror as well as the time.

He had five minutes before he had to leave, and he needed to eat when he took his pills. He hurried to his tiny kitchen, pulled open the refrigerator, and grabbed an apple. There was only one but it would have to do for breakfast. He ate it as he left the house and got into his car for the four-mile drive to work.

When he pulled into the lot and parked, there were a lot of people heading the same way he was. They were saying good morning and greeting each other, chatting away. Fisher pushed his hands into his pockets and walked, head slightly down, the way he always did. Into the warehouse, punch in, check the systems, and then out to the yard-control booth near the entrance, where he’d meet incoming drivers and explain where they were to go. That was his day, every day the warehouse was running. He spent a lot of his time either speaking with the drivers or simply sitting and waiting. In his pocket was a small paperback that he could read on his break and lunch.

“Morning,” one of the men said as he passed Fisher. Fisher returned the greeting, then sat in his chair and began checking in the first of many trucks waiting to deliver their loads. By the time his morning was over, Fisher had spoken to dozens of drivers coming into the yard and an equal number waiting to be checked out with their loads to be shipped. He was the first and last line of defense in the yard, and Fisher took his job seriously. He was always meticulous and careful, checking each load against manifests and documentation.

“It’s lunchtime,” Ellen, his supervisor, said as she approached the booth. “I’ll take over for you so you can go in and eat.” A few months ago, after she realized Fisher was staying in the booth and eating a sandwich at his computer, she had started intervening, spelling him for lunch.

“Thanks.”

“You spend way too much time alone,” she told him as she settled in the seat. “I did this job for four years before you came, and there were times I wanted to pull my hair out. In summer it was hot as hell, and in winter, cold as blazes.”

“I don’t mind,” Fisher said. “I guess I’m a loner by nature.” He turned, waved once, and walked across the yard to the main building and down to the lunchroom.


Author Bio

A Greya mother who loved to read them. Since then he has lived throughout the country and traveled throughout the world. He has a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and works in information systems for a large corporation.

Andrew’s hobbies include collecting antiques, gardening, and leaving his dirty dishes anywhere but in the sink (particularly when writing) He considers himself blessed with an accepting family, fantastic friends, and the world’s most supportive and loving partner. Andrew currently lives in beautiful, historic Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Author Links: Website * Facebook * Twitter * Goodreads * Amazon Author Page * B&N Author Page * Dreamspinner Press * Facebook Group

4 Comments

Filed under Friday Feature, Spotlight

4 Responses to Friday Feature: Fire and Snow by Andrew Grey

  1. Timitra

    Thanks for sharing

  2. Nancy

    You can’take go wrong with an Andrew Grey book.

  3. regencyfan93

    I like the Andrew Grey books that I’ve read so far.