PIPER’S PURGATORY evolved from an old recollection. Really old. A million years ago—back when I was in high school.
Creative Writing was my favorite class. Our teacher was innovative and kept all the students engaged. I wrote an 8-page short story called WIDOW’S TALE in that high school course. Flash forward many years, and that short story evolved into a 300-page romantic suspense novel that finalized at the RWA’s Golden Heart awards.
But, let’s get back to that class. It was high school. I was young. Too young to appreciate the classics. We were assigned to read Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. And wow, love it, I did! But, this class was more than just about reading a classic. To help us fully grasp the characters, our teacher turned the class into Purgatory, and we held a trial on whether Heathcliff should head north or south. This wasn’t a philosophical or an inspirational class. The assignment was to dissect Heathcliff and delve deep into his motivations. Each student played a character in the book and took turns questioning the poor student who portrayed Heathcliff. I was Joseph, the old servant. It wasn’t a reach for me to portray an ornery old man.
For those of you who have never read Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, Heathcliff was a complex character. An orphan from the streets of Liverpool, taken in by the Earnshaw family. Heathcliff’s demise/temptress/fate is young Catherine Earnshaw. There were plenty of arguments to send Heathcliff ‘south’ from Purgatory. Cruelty. Vengeance. But the defense was steadfast. Love. For every mistake that Heathcliff made, as immoral as he might be, his defense was always for the love of Cathy.
Sadly, since that class was way too many years ago, I don’t remember the final ruling. I do remember the outstanding ad-lib performances of a group of students with no script and just the emotion of the literary characters they portrayed. Kudos to that teacher and the inspiration she provided. Little did she know that she was cultivating a romantic suspense author.
The last thing Piper Malko ever expected was to have her life snatched away so early. When she wakes up on the front steps of her brownstone to a rose-colored facsimile of her world, she is forced to come to grips with her demise. Why is she still trapped on her street, though? Was there a debate as to her final destination? Any attempt to ask the gauzy pedestrians passing by goes unheard. No one notices her. Until she sees him—over six feet of well-defined humanity staring back at her from across the street.
Russell Hughes is dead. He can remember the impact of the car. But there was no bright light. No portal to the beyond. Instead, everything around him is pink. Except for her. The attractive woman across the street.
Together, Piper and Russ try to piece together the crime that killed two strangers on the same road. If they can find their killer, then maybe they can escape this rosy limbo.
But will leaving purgatory tear them apart…just as they're falling in love?
Romance Paranormal | Romance Suspense [Author Self-Published, On Sale: April 11, 2022, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 2940160770123 / eISBN: 9798201908614]
USA TODAY bestselling author, Maureen A. Miller worked in the software industry for fifteen years. She crawled around plant floors in a hard hat and safety glasses hooking up computers to behemoth manufacturing machines. The job required extensive travel. The best form of escapism during those lengthy airport layovers became writing.
Maureen's first novel, WIDOW'S TALE, earned her a Golden Heart nomination in Romantic Suspense. Initially she wrote for Harlequin’s digital imprint, but when the little voices in her head called for her to write the young adult science fiction BEYOND series, it didn’t quite fit into the Harlequin world. So, she put on her big boy pants and went out on her own. The grownup in her still writes romantic suspense, but the adventurous girl enjoys young adult adventures.
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