Selena thought she had it all; a glamorous life and a storybook romance. But her charming husband hides a dark side, and running away isn’t enough. Settling in a small Georgia town, Selena must face danger, mysterious strangers, and a relentless past. Can she survive—and find love along the way? Tune in as PJ Ellis takes us on a thrilling ride in After You, My Dear, I Will Always Follow You.

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Welcome to this edition of Newsgram!

Sometimes, a single event can change the course of your life. Today, we’re diving into a work of fiction that might hit close to home for some of you. Think about those moments that challenge us—the ones that make us question everything we thought we knew; when life pivots and the world you once relied on unravels, leaving you standing at the edge of something new.

For Selena LaRoche, the glamorous international model at the heart of P.J. Ellis’s After You, My Dear, I Will Always Follow You, that moment comes when she makes the brave decision to RUN.

Here’s a sneak peek at the beginning of Chapter 1, titled SELENA:

A.I. Voice Actor (Emma):As my plane climbed to the stratosphere, I leaned forward past my seat-mate. Like a petulant child, I had taken an aisle seat to avoid seeing the mountain range. But as the first peaks appeared, I knew I had to say goodbye. The summit materialized through the cloud cover, majestic in its beauty but leaving me discouraged and depressed. The sight stalked us for many minutes. I leaned back and closed my eyes, but the image was burned into my lids. Stalking was a subject I knew something about. My ex-husband, Victor LaRoche, had pursued me for three years as though he had to consume me to survive. I ran for my life. We were still together when he received the separation notice I had filed. He gunned his engine and roared into the driveway, crashing into the porch and demolishing three steps. Slamming the front door so hard the frame cracked, he stomped up the stairs and strode into the bedroom within an inch of me. I was terrified but managed to hold my head up.He gripped my jaw with his left-hand prosthesis and slapped my face with the right hand that held the summons. The paper contacted me with a loud crack.”You will not do this, Selena,” he said softly but coldly. His voice rose, “As long as you live, you will never try to do this again.” He emphasized, and his voice roared, “As long as you live!” He crumpled the paper in his right hand, then drew his left arm back, and I screamed and ducked. The prosthesis bored through the sheetrock,  and  the  mechanism  disengaged,  embedding  the multimillion bionic forearm in the bathroom wall like someone had severed it from his body with an axe. I wanted to laugh at him but did not want to hasten my demise.

And so it begins. Selena LaRoche, a gorgeous, thirty-five year old model; a six-foot beauty, leaves behind the life she thought was secure—fame, luxury, adventure—and now…the difficult journey of reclaiming her independence. 

P.J. Ellis – I’ve known a lot of women who have been in this or similar situations. And I have been a little closer to this than I want to be. So, like Selena, when there’s a divorce, you not only leave the man, you leave a life behind, you leave your friends behind. And this is what happened to her. She has no remaining friends. I mean, she’s virtually alone. And it’s a fight for her self-determination and her independence

Selena’s journey takes her to Andersonville, Georgia—the site of a Civil War POW camp and while there is no comparison between her and the people who died there, she does feel imprisoned by her circumstances. 

She left behind a lot so r  ebuilding won’t be easy—but she’s not alone for long. Carl Rich, a widowed detective with his own troubled past, steps into her world. He becomes both protector and partner, offering insight, protection and dare I say the possibility of love.

P.J. Ellis – There is surveillance going on, there’s a crime in her backyard. And she meets a pair of detectives who want to try to solve some of these happenings that are going on. So one of the detectives turns out to be a romantic partner. His name is Carl. He wants to care for her and there is a marriage.

Selena also encounters Mia, a young girl trapped in a dangerous situation. The book is a romantic thriller, but it touches on social issues like abuse, control, and exploitation, showing how courage and compassion can make a difference.

P.J. Ellis – It’s a romantic thriller. I think it also addresses a couple of social issues in that Selena, you know, is in a common, unfortunately, a common place in a relationship that’s turned sour, where someone has become controlling and domineering. And that’s not exclusive to women, both physically and emotionally. And there’s also the child. She’s become involved in a porn ring and Selena is actively trying to get her, release her from that lifestyle. So there are a couple of social issues in addition to the entertainment value that I hope the reader comes away with.

Pam says, you have to have a plot but she does like to let her characters speak for themselves, letting each scene unfold naturally. There is a unique name for this kind of writer.

P.J. Ellis – Well, I am what you call a pantser in the writing world, which means that I write by the seat of my pants. So, you know, when I sit down, the curtains draw across the stage, and I’m ready to meet my characters. So writing is something I’ve always wanted to do. I guess I’ve always been writing in my head, but never had the time to put it on paper. So I’m retired now, and I have that time, and I’m really enjoying it.

It’s proving to be a good approach; it allows for authentic surprises, plot twists, and real emotion. 

P.J. Ellis – Some of the reviews I’ve gotten say that it’s a roller coaster ride, you know, but I really enjoyed it. 

Part of that is because every chapter had a tease at the end so the result is a thriller that’s both entertaining and socially relevant. 

P.J. Ellis – Well, the ending to After You, My Dear is things are kind of left in a toss-up. The sequel continues on Selena’s journey with the detective Carl she met in the first book. They build a life together. But they are still battling Selena’s past

In the book Selena leaves the life she thought was secure. She was married to Victor LaRoche; wealthy, charming, seemingly perfect until his narcissistic, abusive stalker side emerged. And while this is a work of fiction it mirrors real life in a sense because the journey to freedom is never easy. Along the way, Selena does learn some important lessons: a woman can successfully leave an abusive relationship; people can recover from a broken past and start over; and some of the people closest to you can betray you.

P.J. Ellis – Selena has made a regrettable choice and the book is about her bid for independence, because this guy is not going to give up. 

How far will Victor LaRoche go to reclaim what he thinks is his? And what about Mia. Can Selena save her? Just a couple of the many questions you’ll find answers to in After You, My Dear: I will always follow You by P.J. Ellis is an author that invites all of us to witness the power of starting over, the dangers of betrayal, and the strength it takes to reclaim your life.

And that will do it for this edition of Newsgram from Webtalkradio.com

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