IF A BUTTERFLY SERIES:
Book 1 – Chrysalis
Book 2- Emergence
by
Michael Sirois
Publisher: Flio Widdix Publishing ** Date of Publication: December 11, 2021
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Nine Characters + One Butterfly = Chaos Theory.
The series, If a Butterfly, is a bit like Six Degrees of Separation from Kevin Bacon (if Kevin just happened to be a butterfly). A Monarch butterfly, during its epic migration from Canada to Mexico, intersects the paths of a few people, and their lives and the lives of others are altered forever.
In Chrysalis, the first book in the series, nine different characters embark on a variety of journeys, some of distance, and others while staying right where they are. What do a scientist, a married couple on a vacation, a woman who hears voices no one else hears, a grad student, a quilter, a radio deejay, a teacher, and an astronaut all have in common? A butterfly, of course. All of these characters want what most people want, “to earn a decent living, be respected for the work we do, have a good time, and get along with everybody.” Sometimes that happens, sometimes it doesn’t.
In the second book, Emergence, the journeys continue, with a different focus for some of the characters because of what happened in Chrysalis; but the continuation of their stories show how each of our lives can touch another life, and what effect a chance encounter can have on everyone around us.
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EXCERPT FROM CHRYSALIS,
BOOK ONE IN THE IF A BUTTERFLY SERIES
In this scene, Robert is remembering a joke email his friend, Charley had sent him a few days earlier.
The e-mail was an explanation of how to sing the blues. Among other things, it said that only certain cars can be in blues songs. Broken-down trucks or Cadillacs, sure. Volvos or Maseratis, no. It said blues songs could easily happen in places like Memphis or the Mississippi Delta, but never in Berkeley or Canada. Bad locations would be at the opera, a Nordstrom’s, or on golf courses. The most important item on the list was that you couldn’t be a blues singer if you have all of your teeth or a trust fund; and while cheap wine, whiskey, or muddy water were perfectly acceptable blues beverages, Perrier, Chardonnay, Snapple or an espresso would never make the grade. Charley was extremely competitive, so Robert saw the e-mail as a challenge. About ten minutes later, in clear violation of the “blues rules,” he had written, and emailed to Charley, “The Golf Course/Perrier Blues.”
My woman hit me with a Snapple bottle, and I spilled my Perrier.
Oh, my woman hit me with a Snapple bottle, and I spilled my Perrier,
So I shot her Volvo full of holes, and poured out her Chardonnay.
She kicked me in the teeth, but none of them fell out.
Well, she kicked me in the teeth, but none of them fell out.
And if they had, I got my trust fund to pay for a brand new mouth.
She’s got the finest bod in Ontario, but I know she’ll never be mine.
She’s got the finest bod in Ontario. I know she’ll never be mine.
She took up with the Nordstrom manager when I poured out all her wine.
I found them on the golf course, just about the thirteenth tee.
Well, I found them on the golf course, just about the thirteenth tee.
I think it was the thirteenth. They were stroking under par and I just couldn’t bear to see.
Not a masterpiece by any means, but he e-mailed it to Charley. It had been three days now and Charley hadn’t countered with another, so Robert considered that a win.
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Michael Sirois, after graduating from the University of Houston with degrees in drama and English, taught writing, drama, and technology in a Texas middle school for two decades. He still wrote, though, placing well in competitions like the Writer’s Digest Short Story contest and the HBO Project Greenlight series. He has published two books prior to this series. A novel, The Jagged Man, is temporarily out of print; but Aggravated, a non-fiction book about unjust incarceration, is still available.
An excerpt from If a Butterfly was chosen for publication in the Rice University’s Continuing Studies Writer’s Gallery in 2006, and a different excerpt from it won second place in the Gutsy Great Novelist’s Page One Prize in 2020.
Michael does know his characters. He has either done the jobs of his main characters (teacher, actor, radio deejay, tech geek); had direct connections to others (quilter, scientist, grad student); or wished he could have been one (astronaut). He has, however, never experienced some of the things that at least two of the characters had to go through in this novel. He won’t name names, but he’s very happy about not having to do any of that personally.
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GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY!
THREE WINNERS:
1st: autographed copies of both books in the If a Butterfly series;
2nd & 3rd: autographed copy of Book One, Chrysalis.
(US only; ends midnight, CST, 12/13/2021).
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CLICK TO VISIT THE LONE STAR LITERARY LIFE TOUR PAGE FOR DIRECT LINKS TO EACH POST ON THIS TOUR, UPDATED DAILY, or visit the blogs directly:
| 12/6/21 | Series Spotlight | Book Bustle |
| 12/6/21 | Notable Quotable | Chapter Break Book Blog |
| 12/6/21 | BONUS Promo | Hall Ways Blog |
| 12/7/21 | Author Interview Video | The Clueless Gent |
| 12/7/21 | Notable Quotable | KayBee’s Book Shelf |
| 12/7/21 | BONUS Promo | LSBBT Blog |
| 12/8/21 | Excerpt | It’s Not All Gravy |
| 12/8/21 | Notable Quotable | Forgotten Winds |
| 12/9/21 | Playlist | All the Ups and Downs |
| 12/9/21 | Notable Quotable | The Plain-Spoken Pen |
| 12/10/21 | Character Spotlights | StoreyBook Reviews |
| 12/10/21 | Notable Quotable | Book Fidelity |
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Thanks for the shout out about the series.