The Day That Changed My Life by Jan Brigden

I’m joined by fellow Choc Lit author, Jan Brigden as she tells us about the day that changed her life. Jan‘s new novel If I Ever Doubt You, a sequel to As Weekends Go is out on 28 April 2020 and is available for pre-order now. Over to Jan …

I believe fate had more than a hand in the day that changed my life, by reuniting me with the man I’m now married to.

Rewind to the early eighties when the two of us first encountered each other at a house party. Me, huddled in one corner of the lounge with my girlfriends, wearing my new red dress and sipping a glass of fizz. Dave, also in red, a V-Neck jumper which he insists to this day wasn’t patterned (it was!) camped in the kitchen (where else?) with several other blokes, clutching a can of lager. We locked eyes numerous times, exchanging little smiles here and there, but we never actually managed to speak to each other before my taxi arrived. I never forgot him though. I once spotted him from afar at a pub family fun day but felt too shy to go over and tap him on the shoulder in case he was with someone or didn’t recognize me.

Fast forward fourteen years from that first encounter and there we both were at the same party again. As were my parents, my older sister, her husband and a good few other people I knew. All there to celebrate the 60^th birthday of a long-standing family friend.

Little did I know that Dave also knew the birthday boy.

Spookily, I should have been at a music event with a friend that evening, but she’d cancelled the night before due to illness.

Free to now go to the birthday party, I wasn’t feeling particularly tip top in myself, having recently come out of a long-term relationship, and was worried I might feel like a gooseberry as it would mostly be couples going. My older sister talked me into it; said it was better than sitting on the sofa feeling sorry for myself.

The first person I saw when I walked into the party that night was Dave – very much single – having not long come out of a relationship himself. He recognised me straight away and we spent the whole evening chatting to each other and laughing about old times. Our fellow guests, necks craning our way, eyes bulging, couldn’t have been more delighted when we managed to sneak in a slow dance.

It transpired that Dave and I had been playing cat and mouse for years; frequenting the same pubs, clubs and restaurants, even staying at the same holiday park, missing each other by two days.

During the dates that followed I also learned that Dave had been born at home in the same road I lived in for part of my childhood. His family moved when Dave was two years old. I also share the same birthday as my late father-in-law.

Those dates soon led to me moving in with Dave who happened to live in the same road that one of my uncles had previously lived in.

Six years later we got married and I shudder to think that had I not gone to that 60^th birthday party, Dave and I may never have got together.

Unimaginable.

So thank you dear sis for talking me into going. It definitely changed my life.

About Jan Brigden

Jan lives in South East London with her husband and motley crew of cuddly toys. Jan’s written for pleasure from a young age; short stories for classmates, odes for workmates, fun quizzes for family and friends, progressing to the contemporary uplifting dramas she writes today.

The idea for her debut novel, As Weekends Go, sprang from a script she composed as part of a creative writing course assignment via The Writers Bureau. The novel went on to be published by award winning UK independent publishers Choc-lit after winning their Search for a Star competition.

Jan’s latest novel, If I Ever Doubt You, also published by Choc Lit, is the sequel to her debut.

An avid reader, reviewer and all round book devotee, Jan is also one eighth of online writing blog The Romaniacs who successfully self-published an anthology of short stories and flash fiction entitled ‘Romaniac Shorts: Fashionably Brief’.

Jan can be contacted via Twitter @JanBrigden or @TheRomaniacs

Facebook – Jan Brigden

Jan blogs at  https://janbrigden.wordpress.com/

Also at  https://theromaniacgroup.wordpress.com/

 

About If I Ever Doubt You

She might have scored a celebrity footballer, but the game isn’t over yet …

Rebecca Dunning should be blissfully happy – after a whirlwind weekend, she and top footballer Alex Heath are still going strong. But as the murkier side of the celebrity lifestyle reveals itself, so does the creeping doubt.

Rebecca finds herself isolated in the fake, flashy world of toxic WAG cliques and ruthless reporters, and when a mysterious online admirer follows Alex’s every move, she struggles to cope. Can she keep playing the media game for the man she loves, or will she have to admit defeat?

Sequel to  As Weekends Go.

Buying Link

If I Ever Doubt You – Amazon.co.uk

 

Thank you for telling us about the day that changed your life, Jan. How romantic! It sounds as if you were meant to be together.

I hope that all of my readers are safe and well. Watch out for a feature from Sue Fortin next week.

 

Thank you for visiting my blog – Morton S. Gray – Author. I hope you enjoyed this post. You can also find me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Christmas at Borteen Bay is available now as both an eBook and audio download – Amazon Kindle, Audio, Apple iBooks, Kobo and Choc Lit for other buying options.

The Truth Lies Buried is available now from all eBook platforms – Choc Lit, Amazon Kindle, Kobo, Apple iBooks. This will be available as a paperback and audiobook.

The Girl on the Beach published by Choc Lit is available as a paperback and from all eBook platforms – Amazon Kindle, Apple iBooks, Kobo, Barnes and Noble and Google Play.