FIRE and ICE (2nd Edition)

After New York City, quiet Franklin, New Hampshire is just the piece of solitude the Beckett family needs. Twenty-year-old Emma, on break from college and emotional turmoils, craves the solace that rural life offers.
However, her meeting with glass artist, Charlene Campbell, creates more upheaval. The spark is immediate, but Charlie’s reluctance and Emma’s personal history make for a bumpy start.
As their dalliance turns to real emotional connection, a dark family secret is exposed, putting a halt to their love story, and destroying Emma’s tight bond with her mother.
Will Emma and Charlie’s love survive the secret’s exposure?
Does love really conquer all?

I don't really remember when I first thought of Fire and Ice. It was some time in 2009/2010, it started unfolding in my head like my stories usually do, like a movie playing in my head night after night until it's detailed enough for me to start writing it down. The 1999 movie "3 to Tango" inspired me my character of Charlie. Neve Campbell was a glass artist in that movie and I always had a picture of her in my head. I've always found glass work fascinating, so then I started doing some research on it, watching videos as well. But like most of my writing, what's important is the characters and their relationships, so the novel won't be a thesis on glass work. 

Emmanuelle Beckett (Emma) is 20, a Columbia College student, and has a deep relationship with her mother, Elisabeth. Following the attack of Emma’s younger sister, Jessica, 15, in Manhattan around Christmas, the siblings and their parents moved to Franklin, New Hampshire, to finish their school year by correspondence. The old family house and new landscape provide a solace for everyone, away from the fast pace and pressure of the big city. Emma takes this time off willingly as things had become really intense between her un-committed on and off boyfriend, and her overwhelming childhood friend, ex-boyfriend as well.

Upon a visit to Laconia, NH, she stumbles into color glass-made paperweights in the local junk store. Emma decides to go straight to the producer whom she is told is Charlie Campbell, owner of Shannon glass factory, on the outer limits of Laconia. At Shannon she is confused to find out that Charlie is a 24-year-old woman; Charlene Campbell.

Charlie is far less open and trust is an issue for her.  By force and somewhat safety, she is a loner. Between being in charge of such a business, and her own passion in making crystal pieces, the only tenderness she is willing to show is for her cats. 

Meeting Charlie leaves Emma perplexed but she knows that something happened between them. Despite the unknown and Charlie’s reluctance, the relationship grows naturally between them into something solid. However an unfortunate event of the past puts a halt--if not an end--to their budding romance. Can the girls’ love conquer the unconquerable? 

If you've read about my other novels, you must be used to this section by now which should be called "Haven't outgrown my teen years, hello!". 

So here they are; pictures of people I see when I "play" my novel in my head.