CLICK GOES LIVE!

My book is FINALLY live!!! After four years, yes FOUR years of blood sweat and tears (okay, not blood, but you get the idea...) My first baby is finally here, hopefully if I ever have human children they'll show up faster and easier. Here's a free preview of the book. The book is now available at:http://www.authorhouse.com/BookStore/BookHome.aspx
Soon to follow it will be available on Amazon.com; Barnes&Noble.com; Borders.com and Target.com within 30 days.

CLICK

Carrie Ann Alford
(Paperback $ 11.99)

I. I was sitting at the bar. I swirled the thin stem of my martini glass between my fingers, finishing off my third martini in an hour. The murmur of a hundred conversations in a dozen languages swirled around my ears like the current of a river. I set down the glass, and waving off the bartender, half-hopped, half-fell off the barstool.
I started to walk across the lobby to the door, trying to walk more or less in a straight line. I stopped in front of the full–length mirror. I tugged at my white satin corset top and buttoned my black satin jacket. Ugh, I’ve gained weight. My heels clack on the floor like horse hooves… My blue eyes peered back at me critically from the mirror. I tucked a lock of my hair behind my ear. The rest of my long, black hair was up in a bun. I leaned in close to check for hateful gray hairs. My attention turned from my reflection back to the lobby. I peered through the mirror at everyone mulling around. The lobby was thick with people in tuxedos and black gowns waiting for the American and Syrian motorcades to arrive so the partying could officially begin. It was an oasis of European culture in the midst of a burned-out Middle East.
The newly christened and baptized–by–fire Secretary of State was in Damascus asserting a new administration’s already thread–bare promises to the region. Everyone else was there to forget their dusty lives for one night. Usually, I thrived in these situations. I could mingle, ask questions and laugh with the politicians and glitt