Book Blast: The Drake Equation by Heather Walsh @HWalshWriter

She’s a Democrat, he’s a Republican. She spends her days fighting
global warming at an environmental non-profit, he makes his living
doing PR for Bell Motors and their fleet of SUVs. But as soon as they
meet, Emily Crossley and Robert Drake realize they have encountered
their intellectual match. You’re never challenged, he tells her.
You’ve surrounded yourself in a cocoon of people who think exactly the
same way you do. She hurls the same accusation back at him, and the
fiery debates begin.

Despite both of their attempts to derail it, there is no denying that
they are falling in love. But their relationship is threatened by
political differences, Robert’s excessive work hours, and Emily’s fear
of losing her identity as she falls deeper in love.

Can their love survive? The Drake Equation is a tale of modern love
and all its complexities.

Excerpt

She noticed him first for his clothes. He was the only one in khakis

and a polo shirt—or not wearing sneakers, for that matter. She had

seen him watching her during the interview. Now he was scanning the

crowd, and because he was tall, it seemed like a natural movement for

him, the way someone else might casually scratch their nose. Emily was

not impressed. He struck her as one of those people who felt they were

deigning to even stand among hoi polloi. If there was one thing she

could not tolerate, it was arrogance.

But she noticed him next for his eyes. She had never seen eyes like

his. They were brown, which of course was nothing novel to her. Just

about everyone in North Prospect had brown eyes, except for the few

blue-eyed blondes who traded Most-Attractive yearbook ratings and

queen-of-the-dance crowns. But his were huge, these sunken-in eyes

that seemed to cut a swath across his face.

While her eyes were not as remarkable as his, Emily had always

considered them her best feature. There was nothing particularly

unattractive about her other features —she had her mother’s long,

elegant nose and her father’s wide mouth. But her eyes were hazel, and

she loved the way she could manipulate their color. It was a parlor

trick: watch, she would say. Hold something green or blue against my

neck and my eyes will turn green. And sure enough, the flecks of brown

would draw back as the green and yellows came forward, as if summoned.

She was purposely looking away, but she could tell he was coming to her.

“SUVs are the leading—” Emily said.

“You’re Emily Crossley,” he said.

“Yes.”

“You’re almost famous.”

“I am?”

“Sure. You and your rally are in the almost real newspapers. That

makes you almost famous.”

“Carson, I think he’s making fun of our pre-coverage spread in the Gazette.”

“Why would anyone do that?” Carson said.

“Should I bring Joe back here? He could provide us with the impressive

stats of his paper: two sections, one purely grocery store ads,” Emily

said.

He smiled. “I’m Robert.”

He extended his hand, but Emily reached over and picked up a pamphlet.

She pressed it into his palm.

“Well Robert, have a pamphlet on why you should give up your SUV for

preferably more than a day.”

“All right then. I think I’ll take one for my boss too.”

There was something lodged there in his sentence. Emily could smell

the bait, but she wasn’t certain if she should take it.

“Why, who’s your boss?” Carson said.

“I don’t think you’ll like my answer.”

“Well, tell us anyway,” Emily said.

“Some overpaid executive at Bell Motors.”

Carson held up his hands. He slowly extended his two index fingers and

then crossed one over the other.

“I’m going to have to agree. If I had any holy water, I’d throw it in

your direction,” Emily said. She tried to sound insouciant to mask

just how much his answer had knocked her off guard.

“I warned you.”

Heather Walsh grew up in North Haven, CT, fantastically close to Pepe’s pizza.

She received a B.A. in English at Mary Washington College, which has

been renamed to, drum roll please… the University of Mary Washington.

This was after a failed attempt to name it Washington & Monroe

University, because there aren’t enough schools honoring dead

Virginian men already. Heather graduated Phi Betta Kappa and summa cum

laude, which sounds kind of fancy but really means she took easy

classes.

She taught high school English in Brooklyn for one year, where she

loved the students but not the system. She then joined corporate

America and worked there for too many years as an IT trainer, project

manager, business analyst, and SQL dabbler (select * from

Drake_Equation).

Her favorite writer is Alice Munro, her favorite movie is The

Godfather Parts I & II (tied for first), and her favorite TV show is

The Wire. She has lived in some pretty neat places, including Brooklyn

(kind of before it was hipster-cool to do so), Manhattan, and San

Francisco. The unfortunate result of living in these locations is that

she has become an obnoxious foodie.

She currently lives in Brookline, MA with her husband, Mike DeLucia,

and her two children. Her first novel, Dented Cans, has sold over

5,000 copies.
 www.hwalsh.com

Twitter: www.twitter.com/HWalshWriter

Facebook: www.facebook.com/HWalshWriter

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