Abandoned, pregnant and bi-polar, Katie McGowan’s going crazy on that God-forsaken rock the Moon!
Blurb: Rock Crazy
Katie McGowan is bi-polar, and she’s run the gamut of medications, but nothing works anymore. Everyone says her she should have a microchip implanted in her brain that can regulate her mood swings. But Katie doesn’t want to be a robot. In a tough love move, her husband, Scott takes her to the Moon—and dumps her. Katie’s stuck on that God-forsaken “rock,” and thinks she’s space sick. But she’s wrong; she’s pregnant. Now the surgery’s too dangerous and she has to go off her meds until the baby’s born.
Scott’s elated that he’s going to be a father and assumes Katie will take him back. He has no clue how badly he’s hurt her, how thoroughly he’s broken her trust—or that he may not get her back at all.
Website: www.rochelleweber.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/RochelleWeber
Bio:
Rochelle Weber is a Navy veteran and holds a BA in Communications from Columbia College in Chicago with an emphasis on creative writing. Her non-fiction article, “Bulimia,” was featured in Hair Trigger 9 & 10, the acclaimed Columbia College student anthology. Her first novel, Rock Bound, is available at Create Space, Smashwords, Amazon and BN.com. She edits the Marketing for Romance Writers Newsletter. Rochelle fights her own battle with bi-polar disorder, quipping, “You haven’t lived until you’ve been the only woman on the locked ward at the VA.” Her song, “It’s Not My Fault,” won a gold medal in the National Veterans Creative Arts Competition. She lives in Volo, Ilinois, with her elder daughter and granddaughter. Her younger daughter lives in Paris, Illinois, and has a son and two daughters. Three cats and a bunny allow the humans to wait on them leg and paw.
Rock Crazy
Katie McGowan is a spoiled brat and to make things worse, she’s bi-polar. She’s run the gamut of medications, but nothing seems to work anymore. Everyone is telling her she should have surgery. A doctor on the Moon has developed a microchip that can regulate the hormones that cause her mood swings. But Katie doesn’t want to be an automaton. In an effort to force her to have the surgery, her husband, Scott takes her to the Moon—and dumps her the first time she “goes off.” Alone, 250,000 miles from home, Katie has to face her disease and learn to support herself, but she can’t shake the space-sickness that’s plagued her since she arrived on the God-forsaken lunar “rock.” She gets a job waitressing—until she passes out at work. Then she discovers that her space sickness is morning sickness. When the doctor tells her she’ll have to go off of her meds for the rest of her pregnancy, she agrees to have the surgery. But it’s too dangerous while she’s pregnant. She’ll have to wait until the baby is born.
Scott is elated when he hears he’s going to be a father and naturally assumes Katie will take him back. After all—he didn’t really desert her. He planned this separation with the help of her family as kind of a radical intervention. He’s always intended to take her back when she has the surgery. He has no clue how badly he’s hurt her, how thoroughly he’s broken her trust—or that he may not get her back at all.
How will Katie make it through nine months of no meds combined with the hormonal fluctuations of pregnancy? She still loves Scott—but does he truly want her, or does he want her back because of the baby? Can she ever trust him again? Can she ever trust any man again?
Red Rage
Champaign, Illinois
September, 2065
They were on Earth, at a bar near Champaign, Illinois, part of the Chicago metropolis, which had sprawled across the Midwest and even down to Cairo, Illinois, where it merged with the equally sprawling Greater Memphis Area. They were there to sing karaoke, and Katie McGowan was ‘sober,’ as usual. She was on too many medications to mess with alcohol.
She didn’t remember, later, what the woman said that triggered her. She didn’t remember deciding to react. She just remembered the hot, red rage. And the split. She watched herself do it as The Voice kicked in.
“You can’t do this,” it said. “This is inappropriate behavior.”
Katie tried to stop herself, but she couldn’t. Her arm rose, as if of its own accord, and poured the pop on the woman’s bleach-blonde, over-processed head. The woman came off the stool and shoved Katie. She flew across the room, seemingly in slow motion. Of course she threw her right arm out to break the fall, and she still hit her head on the floor. But the pain in her wrist was worse than the headache.
“I told you not to do it,” The Voice said. “Now, at least stay down. Don’t try to fight her. You’ve already lost.”
Katie lay there gasping for breath, smelling the old, stale, spilled booze and beer that had seeped into the floor. Someone helped her up. It was Scott, her husband, and she was wrapped in his arms while holding her wrist. The woman wanted to come after her again, but people restrained her.
The screaming started. Katie cowered in Scott’s arms screaming and screaming and screaming, while The Voice told her to stop acting this way, and people tried to restrain the angry woman, pop dripping from her soggy bangs.
“Get her out of here!” the manager demanded.
“Looks like her temper matches her red hair.” She heard someone comment.
Scott half-carried her outside. She was hysterical and still screaming. The other woman followed them out to the car.
“What the fuck’s wrong with you, you crazy bitch?”
Katie couldn’t answer. All she could do was scream. Just scream. No words, just that high-pitched wail that was a good octave above any note she ever managed to reach when she sang.
“Now why can’t you reach this pitch when you sing?” The Voice asked. “Stop it or you won’t be able to sing at all. Ever again.”
She threw herself across the hood of the sky-car, feeling its warmth. She kept screaming, and the pain flared in her wrist again. Her throat was sore, and her voice was going…gone. The screaming subsided, and she began sobbing, hoarsely. Damn it. Her physical voice really was gone! The Voice was merging into the background, but now her mother was there. Linda Snodgrass had been dead for over five years, but she still appeared and yelled at Katie.
“You stupid bitch! I told you ladies don’t fight. What the hell did you think you were doing?”
“I don’t know why I did it, Mama. I think I broke my wrist,” she mumbled.
“Serves you right.”
“I’m sorry, Mama. I’m sorry.”
“Quit whining, or I’ll give you something to be sorry for.”
Her mother faded away, and she started hearing what was going on around her again.
Scott was there, and the manager, and the woman who had shoved her, and several bystanders, but all she could do was cry and say, “I’m sorry,” over and over.
“Who’s she talking to?” the woman asked. “She really is fucking crazy!”
“Katie’s bi-polar.” She heard Scott explain.
“Get her out of here!” the manager yelled.
“I’m so sorrrrrreeeeeee,” Katie wailed hoarsely. Someone stayed with her while Scott went back inside to get her sweater and his keys. She was powerless to stop this stage, as well. The sobbing and apologizing would go on for another hour or so. It was part of the pattern. She would apologize to everyone she met. And she would cry until she dehydrated herself and ran out of tears.
Scott came out of the bar and handed her sweater to her. She reached for it with her right hand and dropped it. He picked it up and put it across her shoulders. Then he unlocked the sky-car and helped her into it.
“Your wrist’s swelling up fast, baby. I brought you some ice from inside.” He handed her a bag of ice wrapped in a bar towel. “Your eyes look more red than green right now, and you’re so pale your freckles really stand out on your nose.”
“I’m sorry, Scott. I’m really sorry.”
He was oddly supportive this time. “I know you’re taking your meds. I’ve been giving them to you myself. And you still went off.”
“W-why?” Katie sobbed. “W-why? I’m s-sorry. I’m s-so s-sorrrrreeeee!”
“I don’t know. I don’t think the meds’re working,” he said. He reached over to pat her hand, but she was holding her right wrist, trying to cushion it and keep the bag of ice steady.
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Tiny URL: http://tinyurl.com/museituprockcrazy
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2 comments:
Hi Rochelle, so great to have you here. Help yourself to the cyber buffet and enjoy the open bar. It's five o'clock somewhere, oh and there's coffee, tea, etc.
How did you come up with the idea for Rock crazy? I plan to add this to my wish list.
Wow. Crazy story line! How DID you come up with the idea for this one?
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