Dream Dancing

by J.J. Lair

"Pushed into the gritty world of adult entertainment by her abusive ex-boyfriend, Abby Broughton works as an exotic dancer at Babe's Go-Go Bar. Abby doesn't feel as though she's capable of anything better in life until she meets Mark Winston, a self-employed truck driver who treats her like a princess. The two begin a relationship, a whirlwind courtship, and marry.

As they start their lives together, the lifeless body of one of her fellow dancers is found in a dumpster behind Babes West, another local striptease bar. The frightening reality of a killer on the loose causes the bars to lose business, and Jake Hersh, a down-on-his-luck security guard, helps track the killer. Then they find a second dancer murdered.

While Abby adjusts to life outside the entertainment industry, a dark shadow from her past emerges, threatening everything she holds dear. Could he possibly be connected to the murders? Is Abby's life in danger, too?"

220 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 30, 2007

About the author

I live near the historical part of the shore where I write blogs, short stories, that novel I want to finish and making to-do lists.

The setting around me is loaded with history open to explore whether it's in books or driving around. I could have any number of podcasts or purchased music to listen to while I explore this world.

Writing Critique groups are a big help when it comes to practicing my craft. I used to be part of the local Writer's Group, The Writer's Block, and the writers that met at the Barnes and Noble.

To start each morning right, I look up Sally Forth, Pearls Before Swine, Drabble, Pickles, Peanuts comics.

Music is important for inspiring creativity. The music I look to depends on my mood or scene. I have every Springsteen album and 1980s Blondie. There is always Moby, Ministry, Elvis Presley, Beach Boys, Miles Davis. Diana Krall is my chill music. The music library has over eight thousand songs, there is always something to listen to.

I always enjoy a Bond film, Billy Wilder directed movies, Harry Potter and the Marvel Universe. If the movie can do what it sets out to do, I may enjoy it. I liked Grease 2 just as much as The King's Speech.

To write, one needs to read. You can tell from my blog: mixtapeshistory.blogspot.com that I read Elvis Presley and Bruce Springsteen and musician bios. I've read a lot of Sophie Kinsella, Jeff Shaara, Joyce Carol Oates, Elmore Leonard.

Last year I was part of the local Arts Council.

Reviews

[J.J. Lair]

I wrote this book a few years ago.
At Babe's Go-Go, sadness mixes with success, people are used and people find what they need. Someone has gone too far and murdered dancers. Could it be a dancer, customer, jealous boyfriend? The girls of fantasy and the dancers of your dreams are Dream Dancing.

Mark is a truck driver in Central New Jersey and meets Abby at Babe's Go-go. Even though dancers don't date customers, she falls for Mark and they rush through a courtship and get married. They realize they don't know much about each other's past and present. Dancers are murdered at Babes and every dancer is in danger.
Secrets come out and everyone has a troubled past and present.
Every life is in danger.

[Curt Holman · Rating 5 out of 5]

J.J lair takes you into the gritty world of go-go dancing. The highs and lows of the women dancers, as they struggle to make sense of their lives. The people that become part of their profession, both good and bad. The men, who enter their world each night, some looking for entertainment, others looking for something far more sinister. As they struggle to make sense out of the madness, death lurks just outside the go-go bar door.

[Melissa Badamo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dream Dancing is not your average love story. Mark, 34, frustrated by the absence of women in his life, becomes a frequent visitor at Babes Go-Go where he meets his future wife Abby. I liked the way the plot unraveled and how it was accompanied with both Mark and Abby's character development; in the first half, how Mark helped Abby realize that she was more than just an erotic dancer; and in the second half, how the two were able to grow as a married couple and get through any obstacles that came their way. As I read I didn't want to put the book down, and I was very pleased with the way the story ended!