Phantom's Dance
by Lesa Howard
Release Date: 03/01/14
Summary from Goodreads:
Christine Dadey’s
family uprooted their lives and moved to Houston for her to attend the
prestigious Rousseau Academy of Dance. Now, two years later, Christine
struggles to compete among the Academy’s finest dancers, her parents are on the
brink of divorce, and she’s told no one about her debilitating performance
anxiety and what she’s willing to do to cope with it.
Erik was a ballet prodigy, a savant, destined to be a star on the world’s stage, but a suspicious fire left Erik’s face horribly disfigured. Now, a lonely phantom forced to keep his scars hidden, he spends his nights haunting the theater halls, mourning all he’s lost. Then, from behind the curtain he sees the lovely Christine. The moldable, malleable Christine.
Drawn in by Erik’s unwavering confidence, Christine allows herself to believe Erik’s declarations that he can transform her into the dancer she longs to be. But Christine’s hope of achieving her dreams may be her undoing when she learns Erik is not everything he claims. And before long, Erik’s shadowy past jeopardizes Christine’s unstable present as his obsession with her becomes hopelessly entangled with his plans for revenge.
Erik was a ballet prodigy, a savant, destined to be a star on the world’s stage, but a suspicious fire left Erik’s face horribly disfigured. Now, a lonely phantom forced to keep his scars hidden, he spends his nights haunting the theater halls, mourning all he’s lost. Then, from behind the curtain he sees the lovely Christine. The moldable, malleable Christine.
Drawn in by Erik’s unwavering confidence, Christine allows herself to believe Erik’s declarations that he can transform her into the dancer she longs to be. But Christine’s hope of achieving her dreams may be her undoing when she learns Erik is not everything he claims. And before long, Erik’s shadowy past jeopardizes Christine’s unstable present as his obsession with her becomes hopelessly entangled with his plans for revenge.
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EXCERPT:
I cast about. Was he behind me?
“Van,
are you messing with me?”
“Your
technique is flawless, but you stifle your gift with it.”
To
my left. He was behind the curtain to my left.
“Who’s
there?” The voice had a gravelly edge to it. There was no way it was Van’s
high-pitched, juvenile speech.
Rather
than answer me, the guy continued his critique. “You worry too much about your
form. You should trust your body to do what it’s trained to do.”
I
trod over and yanked back a curtain. “Who’s there? Are you one of the
Diamondbacks?” That of course was ludicrous, because the only formation they
knew was on a football field.
Then
it dawned on me. “Oh, you’re a security guard. Well, I was about to leave,” I
explained to him. “I was looking for Evander Woodruff, and I—”
“I’m
a dancer.”
“Pardon?”
“I’m
a dancer.”
“Oh.
A member of the company?”
“Not
this company.”
“What
company are you with?”
“I’m
not.”
“You’re
not making sense. And where are you?” I twisted my head like an owl.
“Behind
the curtains.”
“Yeah,
I got that.” It sounded like he’d moved so I did a one-eighty to follow his
path. “But why?”
He
hesitated. “It’s what works for me.”
“What?”
“Let’s
just say I have my reasons.” His tone was superior and sounded strangely
familiar. “But I saw your dancing,” he said. “And your technique really is
outstanding, but you’re uptight and it shows.”
“Excuse
me.” I sputtered.
“Don’t
be offended.” He chuckled. “I just think some of your steps were stiff and it
needed to be pointed out.”
“And
you think you’re the one to do that.”
“Well,
yeah. It doesn’t seem anyone at this ridiculous school knows how to help you.”
About the Author:
I'm not the typical author. I didn't always enjoy reading or writing. While in school, I found it to be a chore I'd just as soon skip. I would rather have been daydreaming, my favorite past time. It wasn’t until I grew up and didn’t have to, that I realized reading was fun. I soon discovered that reading fueled my daydreaming. So, remembering a short story I'd written in high school, I began imagining expanding that story into a book. Before long I found I had loads of ideas for not just the short story but other books and stories as well. Fast forward a few years, a lot of studying about writing, practicing my writing, studying some more, taking classes from people who knew what they were doing, studying and practicing yet more, and ta-dah, author! In the same way I had learned I loved reading, I learned I loved writing, too. It’s just that writing is a lot harder than reading.
I'm not the typical author. I didn't always enjoy reading or writing. While in school, I found it to be a chore I'd just as soon skip. I would rather have been daydreaming, my favorite past time. It wasn’t until I grew up and didn’t have to, that I realized reading was fun. I soon discovered that reading fueled my daydreaming. So, remembering a short story I'd written in high school, I began imagining expanding that story into a book. Before long I found I had loads of ideas for not just the short story but other books and stories as well. Fast forward a few years, a lot of studying about writing, practicing my writing, studying some more, taking classes from people who knew what they were doing, studying and practicing yet more, and ta-dah, author! In the same way I had learned I loved reading, I learned I loved writing, too. It’s just that writing is a lot harder than reading.
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