Beautiful Wreck

For savvy programmer Gabrielle Alvarez, moving to Portland, Oregon means a fresh start with a blank screen. She wants nothing more than to erase the last traces of her old life, starting with an exotic tattoo to hide an old scar. Gabby’s instantly drawn to the enigmatic artist, who also happens to be her neighbor. Lucky she has no plans to date-especially sexy, brooding men. Last year, Bowen Landry was the king of broken promises. He made hundreds to his sister to get clean and hundreds more to his band and his boss. But Bowen’s sober now and determined to stay that way. The last thing he needs are complications, especially Gabby with her curves, dry humor, and independent spirit. Gabby spells danger to Bowen’s peace of mind, not to mention his personal promise to stay celibate for one year. Bowen is content keeping a firewall up between them until a stalker threatens Gabby’s safety. Alone in a new city, she has no choice but to turn to Bowen for help, moving into his apartment after hers is vandalized. While the two grow closer, Bowen can’t make any promises, and Gabby’s not asking. While the inexperienced Gabby can’t deny the charming, reformed bad boy, she’s unsure she can ever trust an addict again. If Bowen can help Gabby forgive her past and his, he may learn to believe in love again.

In a bleak future built on virtual reality, Ginn is a romantic who yearns for something real. She designs environments for people who play at being Vikings. But when her project goes awry, she's stranded in the actual 10th century, on a storybook farm in Viking Iceland. Heirik is the young leader of his family, honored by the men and women who live on his land. But he is feared and isolated because of a terrible curse. Ginn and Heirik are two people who never thought they would find a home in someone else's heart. When forces rise against them to keep them apart, Ginn is called on to decide-- will she give up the brutal and beautiful reality of the past? Or will she have the courage to traverse time and become more of a Viking than she ever imagined?

My Darling Wreck on arkeologinen mocktail ja Oulusta vuonna 2019 löydetyn Hahtiperän hylyn biofiktio. Tuhannen ja yhden männyn, luovuuden, omaelämäkerran, akateemisen kritiikin, mystisen fiktion ja oudon realismin yhdistelmä. Se on emotionaalinen ja lyyrinen tutkimusmatka akateemisen maailman steriilin horisontin taakse. Tarina vanhasta, nimettömästä hylystä. Runollinen selviytymistarina ja humoristisesti kuvitettu rakkauskirje mätänevälle muusalle - 300 vuotta vanhalle limisauma-alukselle. "19.6.2023 I went through my process diary entries. All of a sudden I noticed, that my emotions towards you followed a funny pattern. First there was a sudden burst of feelings, mixed feelings. A crush." MY DARLING WRECK is an extraordinary mocktail of archaeology. It is a biofiction of a wreck. A fusion of a thousand and one pine trees, creativity, autobiography, academic critique, mystic fiction and weird realism. It is an emotional and lyrical expedition beyond the sterile horizon of academia. It is a tale of an old, nameless wreck. A poetic survival story and a humorously illustrated love letter to a rotting muse - a 300-year old clinker built vessel discovered from Oulu, Northern Finland. It is a tar-scented testimonial of insecurity, taste of a touch and object attachment. "At the dawn of all these abstracts, articles, figures, affiliations and tables, what is left is the process. The rollercoaster of emotions, unlimited enthusiasm for that magical old wreck. I call it curiosity." This essayistic work can be regarded as fact or fiction, weird realism, autoethnography or an uncontrollable stream of consciousness. It displays creative methods, which can aid in a research process. In cultural heritage work creative verbal and pictorial output serves as a form of nonintrusive, creative conservation. The book plumbs the therapeutic value of a rotting vessel. This book asks, why don't we talk more about our feelings, aren't they the roots and must-have for curiosity and inspiration?