A new novel by Anthony DiFranco
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— If by chance you’re a ballroom dancer – here’s a story about a world you’ll recognize. Tommy and Laurie are virtual strangers in mid-life when they meet at a Long Island ballroom dance. Each sees something mysterious but compelling in the other’s eyes, each takes a chance on a wild ride that begins at the hover point of a spin turn and may or may not sweep the rest of their lives into it. Their ride carries them across the gamut of dance experiences – the studios, the Latin clubs, the big social dances, the exhibitions, the dance weekends – all against the backdrop of onerous day jobs, aging parents, and troublesome ex-spouses. I wrote In My Blood after fifteen years of involvement in the dance world. I wrote it hoping to illuminate, through an imagined story, a number of personal experiences beyond the dance scene itself: the dynamics of love relationships, the madness of independent filmmaking, the meaning of my parents’ lives and deaths, the lost beauty of the past. I wanted to write about every passion that had gotten “in my blood.” I thought it would be fun, too, to comment on the psychology and the sociology and the history of ballroom dancing, and to weave all these elements into a single story that would sweep readers along just like a good waltz. The result is In My Blood. |