Birthday Bash Open House: A Season to Dance by Patricia Beal

Our next honored guest for the Birthday Bash Open House is Patricia Beal. Her novel A Season to Dance, published on May 6, 2017, turns THREE YEARS OLD today! Help me wish Patricia and her book a happy birthday…

Happy Birthday, A Season to Dance!

ABOUT A SEASON TO DANCE
Available on Amazon

Ana Brassfield has her path to the stage of the Metropolitan Opera House all figured out until her first love, renowned German dancer Claus Gert, returns to Georgia to win her back. Despite a promising start towards her ballet career and pending marriage to landscape architect, Peter Engberg, Ana wonders if her dreams of dancing at the Met are as impossible as her previous romantic relationship with Claus. 

Then, an on-stage kiss between Ana and Claus changes everything. 

Convinced the kiss is more than a one-time mistake, Peter breaks off their engagement. With an old dog crippled by arthritis and dreams deferred but not left behind, Ana moves to Germany to be with Claus. But the ghost of his late wife, Ana’s own feelings for Peter, and the pressure of earning a spot in a large ballet company are a high price for a shot at success. Ana seems on the verge of having everything she ever dreamed of, but will it be enough?

About Patricia Beal

Patricia’s biography is a bit longer than I would usually include in a post, but hers is so fascinating that I think it’s all important! Get to know Patricia with me…

Patricia Beal is from Brazil and immigrated to the United States in 1992. She fell in love with the English language while washing dishes at McDonald’s, and she learned enough to pass the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). She put herself through college working at a BP gas station, and she graduated magna cum laude from the University of Cincinnati in 1998 with a B.A. in English Literature. She was the news editor of the university newspaper for two years.

After an internship at the Pentagon, she worked as a public affairs officer for the U.S. Army for seven years. She was a spokesperson for five general officers, providing statements for television, radio and print.

Patricia was in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, when the first Operation Enduring Freedom detainees arrived, and the stories she filed during the early days of the detention operation there gained national attention. Writing from Iraq in the first year of Operation Iraqi Freedom, she focused on feature stories for Army newspapers, and a feature on a day in the life of “Bad Luck Squad” won her a Keith L. Ware award in print journalism.

She fell in love with a handsome airborne infantryman during a stint at Fort Bragg, married him, and quit her special operations speechwriting job to have his babies.

Soon came the desire to have book babies, too. Gloria Kempton and Writer’s Digest author Jeff Gerke have been great coaches and mentors. Patricia is an American Christian Fiction Writers member, a 2015 Genesis semi-finalist, and a 2015 First Impressions finalist. She became a Christian as an adult and writes about searching for God with compassion, humor and understanding.

She has danced ballet since her childhood and has performed with pre-professional companies in South America, Europe and the United States. Her dance experience brings great flavor and authenticity to her first novel, A Season to Dance. She’s been stationed in Germany twice, and that experience, too, brings great flavor and authenticity to that story.

FOLLOW PATRICIA
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Birthday Bash Open House Giveaway

TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY:
On each Birthday Bash Open House post leave a comment. One entry per person, per post. The winner will be drawn at random and announced on June 1 here on the blog. 

*Sorry to international readers, but this giveaway is open to US residents only.