BEYOND THE SAMPLE -- AN IN-DEPTH LOOK AT WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO SEE FOR ALONG THE WAY (RE-POST)

 Hi everyone! Happy Tuesday! I hope you are having an amazing week so far, and if not, well, Friday is just a few days ahead. Because we have had some new folks join us, they may have missed this awesome Author Commentary for the Sample of Along the Way. So, today I've decided to go back and look over the sample you can download of my book, Along the Way. (For ease, if you click there on the book title, it will give you a download for it.) It's like a movie Bonus Feature Commentary for a book! If you've been around for a while (as I originally published this on Nov. 29, 2022)  you've read this but it's always good to go back and see if you've missed anything from the first time around. So, without further procrastination.... I give you Along the Way.

Our story starts out in 2008. Originally, I didn't have a year attached to it as it was written much earlier, and released much later, however lots of overwhelming life events have happened in the world since it was written, times have changed dramatically, and there is a tendency to judge based on life and times *right now* and not on when something was actually written or filmed.

So, just put yourself back into that "carefree" time of 2008 (compared to post 2020, 2008 seems very carefree, even though it really wasn't, but as I said, sometimes we tend to judge.) In 2008, some of you were probably kids, teenagers, or perhaps even in your early twenties just like the characters. You probably weren't working your dream job at that age, but you had your dreams and your goals, an idea of what you thought you wanted. You were probably in college, lost in debt, and eating ramen while saving all your money for Saturday night bar tabs or parties to meet people. Of course, some of you were probably older, had families and responsibilities and probably wish you could have been out having fun on a weekly basis. At any rate, that's where are characters start out at. 

Chris Enright is the first person we meet. We can identify with him. He doesn't have it all together like he thinks he does, but he is trying to do the right thing. He fancies himself as a leader, however, he still has the need for approval from his friends. He is a college graduate, he is smart, and he definitely has a good future ahead of him. 

Now, in Chapter One, it is months later, and we are introduced to Angelina Sutton as she focuses on her homework. She listens to classical music, which not everyone in their early twenties would. Yet, she's distracted about something. Her good friend and fellow dance teacher, Ashlie Wentworth, arrives and they begin to discuss their co-workers dilemmas before Angelina heads out to the main ballroom to speak to students. 

In the ballroom world, depending on the studio and franchises out there, it is frowned upon for students and teachers to be friends or to 'hang out' outside of the dance studio/ballroom. This is because sometimes they can take advantage of each other, where the student asks for free lessons or quits the studio to be taught for free, or for the teacher to take advantage of the student by getting them to purchase more lessons based on the lure of something more. Other studios don't care. Regardless, it seems that the students and teachers of Baldasarre's do keep separate. In the real world, students of the studios and ballrooms do come from varied backgrounds. They can be doctors, lawyers, judges, politicians, college kids, teachers, retired military officers, computer programmers, postal service workers, young couples, divorced adults, widows and widowers, etc. etc. The one thing they all have in common is that they want to learn to dance and then that they are bit by the dancing bug and love to dance. In my life as a student, groups of students would go out to various dance locations and invite new students with them to widen the number of people to dance with. Life revolved around dancing. It wasn't a meet-market, or hooking up, or anything like that, as everyone was respectful of each other, and everyone stuck up for one another. We were all ages over 21, multi-generational dancers taking over the dance floors all around the city. When I had transitioned to a teacher, often times dancing opportunities were usually a drive where students weren't, or were more likely bars that had techno music that didn't involve partnership dancing. Teachers occasionally went out as a group during the week, but usually it was a smaller core group of coworkers, and that is what we see there in Chapter Two with Chris's plans. Often times, though, on our Saturdays, a group of us teachers would hang out at someones house watching movies, doing a pot luck for those who could afford to, do outdoor activities like hiking or camping, or we'd head to a big city to shop or meet up with other teachers. We were just a group of friends, hanging out, not dancing.  

If you've watched those reality dance shows on TV, then you're probably familiar with the various dances. If not, I'll briefly touch on it. You have a variety of dance styles out there. Ballroom is often categorized into smooth dances and rhythm dances. Then you have Latin, Swing, Salsa, Country, and so forth. Foxtrot, the dance that Angelina is teaching her students, is a smooth dance. It is one of my favorites. In fact, all of the smooth dances are, because I like the flow and grace of them. They may not be flashy and fast, but the rise and fall, the slower pace, the rolling of heel to toe, it is quite the workout in itself. Do not be fooled! Yes, those smooth dances have the long flowing ball gowns that make you want to dream of princesses, men in tuxedos, and Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers movies. The three main smooth dances taught are Foxtrot, Tango, and Waltz. But you can learn the very complicated Argentine Tango, the Foxxy, and the Viennese Waltz (my second most favorite dance in the world.) 

It is the rhythm dances that get all the glory though. We primarily taught rumba, cha-cha, and the East Coast swing. We also did salsa, samba, west coast swing, single-time swing (think 1940s and 1990s), and the 4-count swing or hustle (yes, straight out of the disco days.) If you want an intense workout, I'd suggest the samba for you. Competition outfits for the women for these kinds of dances were often sparkling, shiny, next to nothing, and tons of movement. They wear strappy, seductive 3"(or more) heels and make it look so easy dancing in those foot killers while looking dainty. The men have it easier, as they are actually wearing clothes, granted it is a skin tight shirt, fitted pants with a flared leg, and often time dance shoes with a chunky heel on them.  

You don't even want to know how much those dance shoes and costumes cost that they wear. When I was teaching and buying my own shoes, I had several different pairs. I had at least two pairs of 3" heels, a pair of 2" inch heels, a pair of smooth shoes which were a pump, a pair of jazz shoes (flat shoes) and a pair of specially designed tango shoes, which had a chunkier heel. The regular dance shoes ran about $120 a pair back in the late '90s/early 2000s when I was there -- sometimes more. You also had to drive to the large cities to go to specialty stores to buy them in person as, way back then, your choices online were limited. Dance shoes have suede bottoms that you had to have a wire brush to scuff up before dancing, and you absolutely, positively NEVER EVER wore them outside or to a non-wood floor event.  You saved that for leather bottom dance shoes or your oldest pair of dance heels. Women could find used ballgowns from other competitors for several hundreds of dollars, or buy them new for upwards of a thousand or more. Then you had to have hair accessories, costume jewelry, and you also went through make up very quickly. Dancing can be a cheap hobby if you already know how, but not for teachers and competitors. 

As a teacher, you practice for hours during the week. Most of the time solo, but a good deal with a partner as you each work on your own individual thing. (Heck, you'd even catch us practicing as we went grocery shopping.) Imagine standing in front of a mirror, isolating your rib cage movements from your hips while rolling your hips in a figure 8 as you bend and straighten your legs, stepping forward with your toes, just so you can do the rumba basic. Or working on arm and hand movements as you bring your arms from in front of you, out to the side, your elbow gracefully straightening, followed by the wrist, then your fingers before reversing it back and then working on the other side. As teachers, we'd walk through steps as both the leader and the follower again and again, then getting it to music. Every time I see a good dancer on TV or in real life, I am appreciative of all of the work they have put into their craft and seeing the pure love of the dance in their faces. 

As a dancer, you do have friends who are not dancers. Yeah, you drag them out on the dance floor, try to teach them, but you just have to accept that some folks just aren't the dancing type. They do have their own lives and their own goals to accomplish and that is what we see in Chris's life long friends, Greg and Ryan. For them, I chose their jobs to be almost polar opposites of Chris's career choice. All three of them are driven and successful in what they do, however each one is his own worst enemy. I also chose different life experiences and family backgrounds for them, with one being so obviously different. Rich kids are usually entitled brats, confident, and emulate their parents, so I chose Ryan to be a humble only child who just wanted to have friends and be normal, while at the same time not shunning or being ashamed of his roots. People do judge and make assumptions of others, even having never met them, so that would be Ryan's burden and reasonings as to not wanting to be known as the "Carson Heir."

We also learn that there had been a relationship between Chris's good friend Greg and one of the dance teachers, Paige, and that it had not been a mutual decision to end it. It even may have had some outside meddling. Plus we get to know Chris's character a little better in Chapter Two, as well as Angelina's character.  We also start to see a little more of the things coming into play. Ah, yes, drama. There is always drama, often times created for no reason at all. As you only have the first two chapters, really, in this sample, you'll just have to find out how everything comes together. 

I hope you enjoyed going over the sample with me. If you haven't read the sample yet, what are you waiting for? 

Go get it here: Along the Way Sample

If you have any questions about Along the Way or any other of my novels, let me know! I'm easy to reach. 

Thanks for stopping by and hanging out with me. I hope you continue to have a wonderful week and we shall chat again on Friday!  -- Em Brooks

Liked this teaser? There’s more. Find out what happens next and head over to Amazon to get a sample of the first two chapters. OR, better yet, buy the book! It’s available as both an ebook and a paperback (and free to read if you subscribe to Kindle Unlimited)!!

 Along the Way On Amazon