Jeffrey Stepakoff: FIREWORKS OVER TOCCOA

Today's guest author is Jeffrey Stepakoff whose debut novel FIREWORKS OVER TOCCOA is quickly becoming a bestseller. I met Jeffrey last week and liked him right away. We had one of those "small world" moments when you realize you know some of the same people and have probably unknowingly crossed paths in the past. As we talked I could see that Jeffrey was a rare breed. A guy that not only talks but actually listens. And as you'll see in this post, also one that believes in love (and will openly admit it!).

Do you believe in love at first sight? Or to put a finer point on it, do you think you know when you’ve met “the one?” I guess I’ve always been a bit of a romantic. Still, I never really believed in such things – until I met my wife. Or maybe I should say, met her the second time.

One beautiful summer night, when we were in our twenties and just starting our careers, we both went to a party and ended up sitting right next to each other outside on the patio of a restaurant in Atlanta. It was the first time we met. We talked that night, and there was a spark, but in the morning I left for Los Angeles to start a job, and she settled into a job and a life in Georgia.

Eight years later, through a series of entirely unforeseen events, she moved to Los Angeles, to an apartment right around the corner from me. A mutual friend gave her my number, which she held onto for six months. But she finally called me and we talked on the phone one night for over three hours.

We made a date for a few days later and when she opened the door, I remember thinking that I now knew what the word breathless actually meant. We sat together on her sofa for a few minutes and she showed me some photographs of our mutual friends. I just smiled and nodded, my heart pounding, as I realized that never in my life had I ever met a woman who made me feel this way. It was an instinctive involuntary thing, like breathing, only at that moment I was aware of it.

We had dinner at an Asian restaurant in Venice and we were so engulfed in conversation they had to kick us out so they could close the place.

There was a kiss, and not long after we were married.

My wife is convinced that we were meant to be together, that it was inevitable, you know, destiny. I can’t refute that. But I also wonder about why we met, but it then took destiny eight years to bring us together.

In FIREWORKS OVER TOCCOA, Lily wonders a lot about “the simple timing of things.” She wonders about how timing played a part in everything from what happened to her brother to when she met Jake.

Do you believe in true love? Do you think timing plays a part in our how things play out in our lives? How did you meet your partner? These are some great questions to consider, along with the others in the FIREWORKS OVER TOCCOA Reading Group Discussion Guide.

And when you do start thinking about these things, send me an email. I’d love to know your thoughts!

Here’s to always believing in fireworks!

--Jeffrey Stepakoff, Author ( http://jeffreystepakoff.com/)