Charlie McQuade is on the move after her tumultuous first assignment in Clay City. Headed to the middle of Georgia for her next adventure, she continues to nervously assure herself it will go smoothly since she'll be working quietly undercover in an engineering company in the tiny burg of Punter Ridge. However, things are anything but perfect at Harrington Company. The reason for her trip centers around the proverbial glass ceiling in today's corporations, but what she uncovers instead is a diverse web of lies and deceit, ingrained so deeply in the fabric of the corporation that she ultimately fears it may shake the establishment to its core. Can she keep herself out of trouble as she not only explores a new relationship with a man with a questionable past, but also as she pulls embers of truth from the raging bonfire that is Harrington Company?
About the Author: She is no stranger to tragedy. Born just before the deindustrialization of Youngstown, Ohio, and facing down a tormented past ruled over by her sociopathic father and his iron fist, she first realized at the age of five what domestic violence does to a family. After witnessing firsthand her mother's forehead split open by the brutal acts of her own father, she made a pact with herself that she'd do whatever she could to get out alive. Flash-forward eight abusive years filled with hospital visits of her own, when her beloved mother is killed and her father is unsuccessfully tried for her death. Once again, she vows to develop a steely resolve to survive and she begins counting down the days with calendar pages on her wall. At age 17, after years of beatings, bruises and broken bones, she moves from her father's home on the eve of her 18th birthday and runs to the arms of her maternal grandparents. But tragedy strikes soon after as the grandfather she worshipped throughout her life dies of cancer merely two months later. Slightly more than a year after his passing, she becomes a mother herself to a little boy she names after her cherished grandfather, and it's finally then when she realizes she's strong enough to live her own life and to raise the boy with the strength to live his, too. It reads like a devastating work of fiction, one where the protagonist barely escapes with her life. Unfortunately, it's true and it's Tammie's story. Raised in a home where beatings were almost a daily occurrence, she grew increasingly wary of real life and began using her very vivid imagination to take her places she'd never get to on her own. Writing poems and stories from the age of 6 became a true escape from the tumultuous and harrowing life she and her two siblings lived. It was in middle school when her writings, submitted by her mother Karen, and in high school, submitted by teachers, won national recognition and awards. Joyously, she celebrated her achievements and continued to dabble with words. Now, twenty-two years after first making her escape, as her young adult son spreads his wings and moves into the world on his own, she's filled what was an empty nest with characters who have long lived in her mind. Accepting of a past she can't change, she uses those memories to give the characters life and meaning, in addition to a freedom she's always yearned for herself. The road ahead is never ending. Care to join her on the journey?