Sid Marneaux turned out to be a hard nut to crack. When he first stepped into my vision, I could see him very clearly: tall, dark, handsome, wearing a tunic–a kurta–with a head of shaggy black hair and deep brown eyes that, for the most part, expressed a calmness in spite of the circumstances surrounding his life. He cared for his friends so deeply that their needs eventually became the impetus for his fashion business. He cared for his dementia-riddled father so deeply that, at the onset of our story, he risks losing the momentum of his growing business by coming home and helping his sister care for him.
On the outside, his drive runs as smooth as a luxury car, but underneath it is all fueled by a love for his mother, a desire to always make her proud, to take the lessons she taught him and find happiness.
Sometimes, the road takes unexpected turns.
“You have someone in Chicago?” Eddie asked.
“No,” Sid said. “Something. Bastra.” … “It means ‘clothes’ in Bangla. I make classic menswear for masculine-presenting women, transmen—people who fall into the cracks of traditional gender identity.”
“Really?” Eddie sat up again, fully tuned in. “Did you sew as a kid?”
“Yeah. Ma taught me. I’d unwind from soccer games in the sewing room with her. Incense burning, the hum of the machine, the swish of fabric.” At Eddie’s visible interest, Sid let loose his passion. … “As I got older, I started noticing how clothes can transform people.”
Beneath the Stars, releasing on Feb. 16, 2017, is available now for pre-order. Enter now to win a free e-book bundle and a $25 gift certificate to my publisher, Interlude Press.
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