Today, I have the ultimate pleasure in showcasing this cover reveal of LEGACY: An Anthology.

A little backstory:

Last September- Allison @ The Book Wheel engineered a massive social media campaign called #30Authors. All month long, bloggers were showcasing different authors- who were in turn telling us and our readers about the authors they were reading/enjoying. To Be Read lists were exploding. #30Authors trended on Twitter. It was a massive under-taking and Traveling With T was pleased to be part of it (psst: Here was my small part- Ariel Lawhon talking about Helen Giltrow’s THE DISTANCE.)

But then- something wonderful happened. Allison and Velvet Morning Press teamed up for the new anthology- LEGACY. Many of the #30Authors are represented (along with some new faces!)

Before the reveal happens- here are some links for more LEGACY news- how it happened, who to look for in the anthology, links to their social media: An Inside Look at LEGACY: An Anthology, #30Authors LEGACY Tweeting Event Starts Today, A Month-Long Writing Challenge…And Anthology, and Legacy: An Anthology.

So have it got you chomping at the bit to see this cover?

Cover Reveal happening in 3, 2, 1………………………..

Photo Credit: Velvet Morning Press- April 2015

Hellllllllllllllllo! Aren’t you pretty?!

Here is the info about LEGACY- straight from VELVET MORNING PRESS:

What will you leave behind?

Long after we’ve left this world, our legacy remains. Or doesn’t. Or remains only in the minds of those who knew us, those whose lives we’ve touched. Those we’ve written to, or about.

If you had a choice, what mark would you leave? How should people remember you? Should they remember you?

Fourteen authors sat down during the month of January 2015, shut out distractions of the outside world and wrote about the subject. The resulting fiction and nonfiction stories fill the pages of Legacy: An Anthology. The book includes stories from Kristopher Jansma, winner of the 2014 Sherwood Anderson Award for Fiction, New York Times best-selling author Regina Calcaterra and Canadian best-selling author Marissa Stapley among others.

Within these pages, there is laughter, pride and hope. There is romance and rock and roll. Certain messages are eerie, while others bestow a sense of peace. The collection, through the discerning lens of each writer, runs the gamut of the human experience.

Author proceeds benefit the charity Paws for Reading, which pairs pets with children to improve reading and communication skills. Thanks for supporting the cause!

But.. wait- didn’t I promise you an excerpt? I did! And here it is:

The Monument

By Marissa Stapley

 The town hasn’t changed much, and Delia can’t figure out if this is what she’d hoped. She supposes it was part of the reason she and Anthony had been so charmed by it in the first place, all those years ago. They had found the town peculiar, but in a good way—and she probably still would, if she were in the mood to be charitable. But Delia is not, and never will be again, when it comes to this particular town. Even the name—Gananoque—is irritating to her. The memory of the way the townspeople called it “Gan,” as though it were a family member, or a dear old friend, or they were in a club that only the people who lived there year-round got to be in.

Arriving back in Gan (Delia calls it that in her mind too, and then hates herself for it, the way she might hate herself for inadvertently referring to her ex-husband by the pet name his lover called him, for example) is like being hit with a blunt object. When she drives through the archway that says, “Welcome to Gananoque,” she slows the car and rubs the side of her head. She considers making a U-turn and driving all the way back to Ithaca. But she doesn’t. She presses her foot on the gas and continues driving to the Holiday Inn Express, where she has booked a room because there is nowhere else to stay at this time of year. The girl at the check-in desk tells her the continental breakfast is “not to be missed.” Apparently, there is something called a pancake machine.

“We just got it,” the girl, who has straight but yellowed teeth, says. “You just push a button and out comes a pancake.”

“How exciting,” Delia says, but the girl either ignores or does not grasp the sarcasm.

Upstairs, Delia puts her valise on the bed but does not open it. Instead, she keeps her coat on, hoists her purse higher on her shoulder and leaves the room. She drives into town again and finds a parking spot. The piles of snow banked up beside the curbs make the sidewalks look like little tunnels. They had never been there in winter, she and Anthony. Only summer. So this is different at least, this snowy shroud the town is enveloped in. It helps dull the memories somewhat, and she is grateful for it. Or perhaps grateful is not the right word.

Why have I come?

She has thought about returning, so many times, over the years. But she did not come for her son’s funeral—she has regretted this, always—so why now? She can’t answer this. What she hopes to accomplish by coming never crystallized in her mind during the planning of the trip, or the hours she spent driving there, as she had hoped it would. And so she struggles as she stands on the sidewalk to come up with a reason not to get into her car and drive away, back through the arches. I could just go. Right now. She won’t even stop at the hotel to pick up her valise or check out. She’ll toss her room key out the window as she drives, feel for a moment like a criminal on the run. She’ll replace the luggage, the clothing and toiletries in the valise once she’s back in Ithaca. Or maybe she won’t. She has too much stuff anyway. She finds herself strangely elated by the idea of driving, unencumbered, out onto the highway again. Over the border and home. Safe. But lonely.

This is the answer. This is why she has come. Because she is so alone that even one glimpse of the girl has the potential to provide solace. Because it has taken her this long to realize that, and it is too late now, but she still has to see.

 Marissa Stapley is a National Magazine Award nominated writer who has contributed to many publications, including Globe and Mail, National Post and Elle. Her debut novel, Mating for Life, is a Canadian bestseller. She lives in Toronto with her husband and two children, where she is working on a new novel and teaching creative writing at the University of Toronto. Learn more about Marissa’s work at MarissaStapley.com.

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Read more about Velvet Morning Press:

And there you have it- cover reveal and excerpt! Look for LEGACY April 2015 and remember all anthology proceeds will go to the charitable organization- PAWS For Reading!

Happy Reading and Bookishly Yours,

T @ Traveling With T