Inside

Dear Reader,

I rarely watch TV. I don’t have anything against it. For me, it’s all about opportunity cost. If I’m watching television, I can’t be doing other things that are more important to me. So I miss out on even the most popular shows. For instance, I’ve never seen Seinfeld, Friends, Sex and the City, Survivor or Lost. I missed Prison Break, too, until I went to Utah to visit my daughter and she insisted on showing it to me on DVD. “You’ll love it,” she said, and she was right. I found the characterization, plotting, acting and dialogue fantastic. I was so captivated, in fact, that I rented every season and watched the whole thing. But, when it was all over, I decided there was one thing about Prison Break I would’ve done differently, and that was the romance between the two lead characters. The writers took a very minimalist approach and yet, for me, it was the most interesting part of the whole show.

So…I decided to write my own romance set inside the high-risk, high-conflict world of a maximum security prison, and I chose one of the most notorious prisons in America—Pelican Bay in Northern California (California’s Siberia). With such a backdrop, I needed some very special characters, and I think I managed that with Peyton and Virgil. Virgil is probably one of the most tortured heroes I’ve created and yet I fell instantly in love with him. I hope you will, too.

I always enjoy hearing from readers. Feel free to write to me at P.O. Box 3781, Citrus Heights, CA 95611 or via email at www.brendanovak.com. If you have a computer, be sure to sign up for my mailing list so I can alert you when I have a new book coming out and you can take advantage of all the monthly giveaways and other freebies. Every May I hold an annual online auction for diabetes research at my website, so log on and register for that, too. So far, together with all the generous people who have supported me, we’ve raised over $1 million—and we’re not done yet!

I’d like to extend a special thank-you to Michelle Thomas. Not only has she supported my writing, she’s been a huge support to my efforts to raise money for diabetes research. Her name appears as a character in this novel because she was generous enough to purchase the privilege in my last auction.

I hope you enjoy the story!

Brenda Novak