Welcome to the first in what I hope is a regular feature in which Ninestar Press authors answer five questions about their work.
We start with VALENTINE WHEELER!
Who is the star of your book?
CHECKED BAGGAGE stars Faris, a guy on his way back from some family stuff who just wants to get home and lock himself in his apartment away from everyone! Luckily for him, his plans are foiled.
What is your story about?
It’s about family, and connection, and what it means to be from somewhere. It’s also about what happens when the hotel room has only one bed!
When is it set?
It’s contemporary, the week before Thanksgiving!
Where is it set?
Most of the story happens in the Beirut airport and a nearby hotel, with a special appearance by Boston.
Why this story?
My family is from the same area that my characters’ are, and it’s a place I’ve always felt a bit of a frayed connection to. Themes of family and what places mean have always been important to me, and I wanted to explore that!
BLURB:
When Faris has to take a trip back to his family’s home in Lebanon to handle his grandmother’s estate, he finds himself caught between the world he left and the world he’s built himself in the United States. After an exhausting stay with his boisterous extended family, all he wants is a quiet trip home and a chance to rest before Thanksgiving with his parents in Massachusetts. But the weather has different plans for him.
Charlie’s father left when he was a toddler, and he’s never gotten a chance to connect with his paternal roots. A trip to the village his grandparents left in the 1930s gave him the facts but left him yearning for a past he still didn’t understand.
When both men are stuck in Beirut for the night unexpectedly, can they make the connection they’re both missing and make it home in time for Thanksgiving?
Buy it on Amazon or buy it on Ninestarpress.com
Thanks for joining in, Valentine!