What would you like to tell readers about yourself?
* I grew up in Southeast Missouri, in what is known as the Bootheel, and dreamed of one day escaping small town living to explore the world. Eventually, I made my way back and forth across the US; I’ve lived in Paris, France, and seen the wonders of Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Scandinavia. But Missouri will always be home. I use settings I know to base my stories around, writing about the ordinary people thrust into extraordinary circumstances. I firmly believe in happy-ever-afters and enjoy spreading a little love in the world. I’m easy to find on the web and love to hear from readers.
Today Beth D. Carter will be talking about a deeply personal and emotional issue that affects many women, myself included, and how her journey with it lead to the creation of Between You and I.
* When I was a teenager, I was diagnosed with endometriosis. My gynecologist (at the time) put me on birth control pills to help treat the symptoms, but back in the nineties one couldn’t simply look up what endometriosis was. Or what it even meant. All I knew was that it gave me painful menstrual cycles.
* Fast track ten years later and I didn’t like how the birth control pills were affecting me. So I made the decision to stop taking them, not knowing what was coming my way. Without the birth control keeping the disease at bay, endometriosis took over my life.
* Endometriosis is not PMS, it is not just painful periods. It is a life altering rollercoaster of mood swings, back aches, and fatigue. I suffered with painful sex, bouts of nausea, and weight gain. It is not understanding why you have, maybe, five good days out of the month where you feel normal. And it is finding out that endometriosis means that you possibly will never have children from the scar tissue that it creates in your abdomen.
* I consider myself very lucky to have my little boy, who turns ten this year. I almost didn’t have a chance to be his mother.
* I lost my right ovary and right fallopian tube at age thirty-seven. I had a hysterectomy at age forty-two. Even then, even knowing I didn’t want more children, the thought of losing my uterus made me depressed. Less than a real woman. As I lay recovering in my hospital room after the surgery, Madeline’s story came to life.
* I’m not sure what other writers do, but I often use my writing as a way of dealing with my issues. It’s very cathartic. I’m very proud to have written about a woman who has gone through the same emotional turmoil I went through. I hope Madeline’s story helps others who might be struggling with the same type of uncertainties.
* The passion of the younger man nearly infects her until Hunter tries to articulate it with the three words she refuses to hear. When she pushes him away, wounding his heart, she finds her own broken all over again.
* Still, Madeline struggles to leave the past and accept that when Hunter said, "I love you," he wasn't just speaking for himself.
* “Off Silverado,” he said. “The Mustang Apartments.”
* Madeline nodded and a few minutes later she was driving out of the parking garage, easing into traffic to head toward his home. The entire time she was acutely aware of his presence in her car, the warmth that his body generated inside the small confines. Or maybe she was simply hot and bothered.
* All too soon she pulled in front of the gate that sealed off his apartment complex, and then slipped into an empty slot designated for future residents. She put the car in park and turned off the engine. For a moment neither one moved. She simply sat there, with her hands on the steering wheel, her heart pounding, and every nerve ending standing at attention. Waiting. Anticipating. He shifted and she felt his gaze on her, so slowly she turned. The overhead parking lights illuminated his face through the front window, highlighting his chiseled good looks. Suddenly the small confines of her car seemed hot. A bit overwhelming.
* “I had a great time,” Hunter murmured.
* Madeline wet her dry lips with her tongue. His head moved fractionally closer.
* “Me…” She had to clear her throat from the huskiness coming through. “Me too.”
* He smiled and their gazes met. Locked. She had this sense of free falling, just plunging head first into an unknown abyss. Had she ever felt like this with Kevin? With him everything had been easy. Simplistic. Nothing like what she was feeling now, with Hunter. He brought his hand up to cup her cheek, and she leaned into it, absorbing his heat. His eyelids narrowed a bit and his attention shifted to her mouth. All sorts of delicious tingles spread through her body because she knew he was going to kiss her. God! She wanted to kiss him back so much it was an ache deep in her gut. His head descended and her eyes fluttered shut just as the first touch of his mouth on hers brushed her lips. So gentle, like the dewy wisp of butterfly wings, and she wondered if he had kissed her at all.
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