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Interviewed by Genene Valleau, author of SONGS OF THE HEART
LAUREN: I told you we'd be late.
ZACH: I'm not even awake yet. How can I be late if I don't know where I am?
LAUREN: My apologies for running late.
AUTHOR: Glad you could make it. Are you ready to get started?
ZACH: She wouldn't even stop for coffee. I hope the dog made some coffee and didn't drink it all.
AUTHOR: I think we can come up with something, then we'll get started with the interview.
ZACH: Ahh. Give me a minute and I'll be almost human.
AUTHOR: Then we'll start with a question for Lauren. You brought Geoff and Shannon together, didn’t you?
LAUREN: Well, I got Shannon into a party after one of Geoff’s concerts fifteen years ago.
ZACH: I should have known you started this mess.
LAUREN: I think it’s very romantic to work things out with your first love, even after a lot of years.
ZACH: Shannon was just after Geoff’s money.
LAUREN: Shannon was totally infatuated with Geoff, just like hundreds of other teenaged girls.
ZACH: Other teenaged girls didn’t paint themselves up to look years older and sneak into Geoff’s room to seduce him.
LAUREN: You were furious because Shannon wasn’t one of your hand-picked hussies.
ZACH: Our band didn’t use groupies like that.
LAUREN: So you’re telling me that you never took advantage of a fan who threw herself into your bed?
AUTHOR: Let’s get back to Geoff and Shannon’s first meeting. Zach, why didn’t you like Shannon?
ZACH: Like I said, it was obvious she was after Geoff’s money. Some fans just wanted to say they got to kiss a star, but Shannon’s old man went straight for the bank account.
LAUREN: Shannon didn’t know her father demanded money from you.
ZACH: That’s a matter of opinion.
LAUREN: When she found out, she mortgaged her house to pay back the money.
ZACH: Fifteen years later.
LAUREN: Exactly. She didn’t even tell her parents she was pregnant. They found out when Shannon almost died from the miscarriage.
AUTHOR: Zach, when did you change your opinion of Shannon?
ZACH: Well, it really looked like she wanted more of Geoff’s money, you know?
LAUREN: Is it so hard to say you were wrong, Zach?
ZACH: I reconsidered my opinion for Amelia. That little girl loved Shannon, and even I could see Shannon adored the kid. When Amelia decided Geoff should be her daddy -- well, the little girl had already been through enough pain. I wasn’t going to cause her any more.
LAUREN: You really can be a good guy, Zach.
ZACH: Don’t let that get around -- it would ruin my reputation.
AUTHOR: Zach and Lauren, thanks for being with us today. And if you would please draw the winner of our Beauty & Bath Basket.
Lauren, the woman who brought Geoff and Shannon together
and Zach, the man who wanted to keep them apart
Please join us!
AUTHOR: While the twins watch TV and we fix breakfast, Julia, tell me how long you’ve known Shannon.
JULIA: We started working at Talmidge Center for Children about the same time. I’m a child psychiatrist and Shannon was hired as a physical therapist.
AUTHOR: But Shannon’s dream was to build a music therapy program?
JULIA: Our boss led her to believe that would happen.
AUTHOR: In the meantime, Shannon incorporated music into physical therapy sessions, right?
JULIA: Yes. It might be as simple as teaching mothers lullabies to calm their children as the moms gently massaged their babies’ legs and arms. Shannon also worked with other staff to do this . For instance, she worked with the speech therapist to teach children to sing. When children sing, lisps or stutters and some other speech problems disappear. It gives a child self-confidence to know they can sound like other kids.
AUTHOR: But your boss wasn’t supportive of these efforts.
JULIA: He didn’t want to spend money on the programs we already offered, let alone to start new programs.
AUTHOR: Yet Talmidge held fundraising events to generate money.
JULIA: Yes. And each time, our boss promised Shannon that part of the money would go toward music therapy.
AUTHOR: Including the fundraiser where Geoff and Shannon sang a duet?
JULIA: That’s right. The duet was unplanned, but it brought Geoff and Shannon back together again. As their relationship developed, our boss saw the opportunity to use Shannon to get money from Geoff.
AUTHOR: And that put Shannon in the difficult position of asking Geoff for money or lose the opportunity to realize her dream of setting up a music therapy program.
JULIA: That choice became even more distasteful for Shannon after she found out her father got money for her teenaged encounter with Geoff.
AUTHOR: And we’ll find out more about that when we talk to our next guests at noon. Thank you, Julia, for spending time with us.
AUTHOR: We're here with special guests Julia Cabot and her 4-year-old twins. However, this time we’re going to draw the winner of the basket first. What’s in our Breakfast Basket?
JULIA: The ingredients for breakfast --
ANGELINA: Because Aunt Shannon only knows how to bake cookies.
ABRAHAM: Why can't she make other things?
JULIA: Maybe because cookies are what she likes to eat best.
ANGELINA: Me too.
JULIA: Now, let’s see what we have in the basket. Pancake mix --
ABRAHAM: I like syrup on mine.
ANGELINA: And shaped like teddy bears.
ABRAHAM: Can we have hot cocoa too?
JULIA: There's cocoa mix in the basket.
ANGELINA: Can we keep the basket of goodies?
JULIA: No, but you can draw the winner.
ANGELINA: I don't want to. I'm going to watch TV.
ABRAHAM: I'll do it.
JULIA: Thank you, Abe.
AUTHOR: And the winner is: Kathy C.! CONGRATULATIONS!
You can read an excerpt and purchase a download of SONGS OF THE HEART at <www.awe-struck.net>. I hope you take the time to visit Awe-Struck's Web site and look at all their fine e-books available for purchase.
Our next guests will be Shannon's best friend, JULIA CABOT, with her four-year-old twins. They will be drawing the winner of the Breakfast Basket.
You still have time to enter. Just post a comment or question on this blog, and your name will go in the contest hat!
MINDY M! Our Coffee Sampler basket contains samples of different coffees (naturally!), mugs and more. This basket of goodies will soon be on the way to you.
Congratulations, Mindy!
