Call Me Crazy

by Quinn Loftis

Synopsis

“I’m looking out from inside the chaos. It must be a one-way mirror because no one seems to be able to see back inside to where I am. The looks on their faces, the judgment in their eyes, tells me everything I need to know. The most frustrating part about the whole messed up situation is that even though I’m the one that they stare at in shock, I am just as shocked as they are. I know no more than they do of why I lose control. What they don’t know is that I am more scared of myself than they could ever be.” ~ Tally Baker

After a devastating turn of events, seventeen year old Tally Baker is admitted to Mercy Psychiatric Facility where she is diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. She has come to a place where she honestly believes that her life is over. Her mind tells her that she will never smile or laugh again, that she will never be normal again. It is in this unlikely place that she meets two people, different in every way, yet both critical to helping her realize that she has so much more living to do.

Candy, a cantankerous sixty year old Mercy Psychiatric patient, is hell bent on driving everyone as crazy as she is. Candy shows Tally that, regardless of her diagnosis, the ability to push on and live her life to the fullest is her choice and hers alone. In the midst of Tally’s oftentimes humorous, sometimes heart-wrenching, escapades with Candy, a new patient is admitted to Mercy—a Native American woman named Lolotea. Along with this new patient comes a daily visitor, her son, Trey Swift. At first glance, it is obvious to Tally that he is incredibly handsome and unbelievably caring. But what she learns through her second glance, and many thereafter, is that there is much more to Trey than he ever lets on. It is during these daily visits that Trey and Tally build a friendship far deeper than either of them truly realize. With Trey, Tally feels for the first time since being admitted that someone is looking at her as a person and not as a disease. Trey begins to make it clear that he wants more than friendship, but she knows that she can never give him more. How can she, when she won’t even give him the truth? Tally doesn't tell Trey that she is a patient at Mercy, and she doesn't ever plan to. Her plans go up in flames when she finds out that Trey is a new student at her school, the school where her brokenness was found out in the floor of the girl’s bathroom in a pool of her own blood.

I’m hunched down beneath the table like a frightened rabbit as I watch the tall figure kneelbefore the new patient across the room. I’m not sure how I came to be hunched down. All I know is that the moment he walked in the room, I felt the uncomfortable rush of something pouring through me. I’m not sure if I liked it or not.

He is Native American; there is no doubt in my mind about that based on his extremely apparent features. His long, black, amazingly shiny hair would have any woman envious of the obvious health in the locks. It flows down his back like a cascading waterfall. His naturally tan skin appears as smooth as silk and his piercing dark eyes don’t seem to miss a thing. He had even caught my movement and had glanced in my direction when I had so brilliantly decided to hide from a person I didn’t even know. I watch as he slowly stands and continues to look down at the woman before him. By the hesitancy in his movements she is obviously very important to him and I’m awed by the tenderness that such a large, imposing guy can show. After several minutes he turns to leave and my eyes never leave his retreating form until I can no longer see him. I feel a kick to my ribs and scramble up with a grunt.

“Crap Candy,” I growl at my snickering companion as I rub my side and glare at her. “What was that for?”

“A better question would be why were you hunkered down under the table drooling over Kemosabe?”

I frown at her. “That’s tacky don’t you think?”

“I’m sixty years old and crazy; I can do tacky if I want,” she snorts at me.

I can’t really argue with her there. Like pregnant women, old, crazy ladies pretty much get a free pass on crassness and eccentricity.

“So come on,” she pats the chair that I had so quickly vacated, “tell Candy all about it.”

I roll my eyes. “He just took me off guard, that’s all,” I lie smoothly.

Candy isn’t buying it. “He was hot, just admit it. Hot and he got you bothered.”

I cringe. “Candy, you calling a guy young enough to be your grandson hot is just not right.”

“Psht,” she flips her hand at me. “I’m old, not blind or dead. Besides, I didn’t say I wanted to jump his exotic bones.”

I groan as I bang my head against the table. “Where do you learn these terms? I mean it’s not normal for someone your age to blurt out crap like that.”

“Did you just use the term normal in a sentence describing me?” She raises her brow surprisingly at me.

I laugh. “Good point.”

“So, are you going to tell me why Pocahontas’ brother had you running for the hills?”

“There is something wrong with you, you know that, right?”

She smiles at me. “That’s what the voices in my head keep telling me. Now spill it.”

Call Me Crazy Trailer

Excerpt from Chapter 8

“For a brief moment I feel a strange kinship to the predators of the animal kingdom. I realize that I am not so different from the wolves, the great cats, or the bears. Like them I find that I am possessive of what I consider mine, I long to tear into one who would dare enter my territory and I have a need to provide for the female who belongs by my side. We men deceive ourselves when we claim civility. At the core of our being, we are animals.”

~ Trey

It’s been three days since I have been to the hospital, two days since I put a hole in my wall, one day since I worked for sixteen hours straight at the ranch. And still I burn on the inside. I have gotten in too deep, too fast. My father told me once that the men of our blood only know how to love one way; with our complete being; with the depths of our soul, with the beating of our hearts, with the marrow of our bones and with every thought that invades our minds—we love completely.

About Quinn Loftis

Quinn lives in beautiful NW Arkansas with her husband, son, Doberman and cat (who thinks she is a ninja in disguise). She is beyond thankful that she has been blessed to be able to write full time and hopes the readers know how much all of their support means to her. Some of her hobbies include reading, exercising, crochet, and spending time with family and friends. She gives all credit of her success to God because he gave her the creative spirit and vivid imagination it takes to write.

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Not enough flames to show how much I loved this book...

To say that this book is phenomenal still doesn't describe how wonderfully written and put together Call Me Crazy is.
Quinn Loftis has created a masterpiece and that has to mean a lot since I already consider her to be a magnificent author.

But, Call Me Crazy is a tale that when you start on that first page and begin reading Tally's story, you slowly feel the words seeping in to your veins. They travel along, overwhelming your mind and aching your heart, until you reach that last page and know that this book has consumed, captured, and latched on to the very fabrics of who you are. It is now a piece of me. Every time I think back to it, I FEEEEL it in my heart and soul. It is on the special bookshelf that you have set inside that will forever be a part of you.

So, lets meet the wonderful cast of Call Me Crazy. First up is Tally. WOW!! No matter what we see and hear in her thoughts, her actions prove the strength that she has. She is dealt such a harsh hand in life and to see her fight and and overcome those battles, I would do those victory dances right along with her. My heart ached, fluttered, and burst for her on so many levels. She is a character that I could never get enough of reading about...
Next we meet Candy...Oh goodness...was she a joy to read about. A sixty something year old woman that says what is on her mind and yet imparts so much wisdom at the same time. What she did for Tally and who she was for Tally is something special that we only hope to find in our everyday lives.
On to the hot love interest of this fabulous book...Yep...he is wonderful too!! Meet Trey...Native American, kind, hard-working, compassionate, and most of all, understanding. WHEW...he stole my heart. He was exactly the right guy for Tally. And boy was he patient...their relationship was not easy and yet it was perfect for them.

*Sighs* All I can say now is that I hope you take a chance and experience the journey of Tally in Call Me Crazy. Mind blowing, gut-wrenching, passionate, and *chuckles* downright humorous at times, Call Me Crazy is a MUST READ for 2013.

This giveaway is for anyone!
1st place winner will receive an e-Book of Call Me Crazy
2nd place winner will receive e-Book of written by Quinn Loftis (winner's choice)

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