I met him at a carnival, of all corny places. The summer I turned eighteen, in that chaos of neon lights and cheap thrills, I met a man so sweet, so beautiful, he seemed to come from another world. We had one night: intense, scary, real. Then I ran, like I always do. Because I didn’t want to be abandoned again.
But I couldn’t run far enough.
I knew him as Evan that night. When I walked into his classroom, he became Mr. Wilke.
My teacher.
I don’t know if what we’re doing is wrong. The rules say one thing; my heart says screw the rules. I can’t let him lose his job. And I can’t lose him.
In the movies, this would have a happy ending. I grow up. I love, I lose, I learn. And I move on. But this is life, and there’s no script. You make it up as you go along.
And you don’t pray for a happy ending. You pray for it to never end.
I was born in the 80s, which means I have fantastic taste in music and atrocious taste in hair. I knew at eight years old that I wanted to be a published author when I grew up. Of course, when I was eight, “published author” was a glamorous daydream where I spent all day in bookstores, signing hardcovers and posing for photos with fans. In reality, authordom involves lots of bourbon-scented tears and neurotic self-doubt. At least there are fewer mullets.
As well as being a writer, I’m a voracious and omnivorous reader. Seriously. I read everything from contemporary Young Adult to dense, doorstop literary fiction. Some of my favorite writers are Vladimir Nabokov (Lolita), Virginia Woolf(Mrs. Dalloway), F. Scott Fitzgerald (Tender is the Night), and Jeanette Winterson (Written on the Body). I’m a total poetry geek, too—my two absolute favorites are Emily Dickinson and Sylvia Plath.
All the pretty colors on this website were made by me. In my non-bookish life, I’m a graphic designer.
I’m from Chicago and have lived all over the world, from NYC to LA to Tehran, Iran. I currently live in the Windy City with my partner, Alexander, who’s very understanding about all this girlsmut business.
HOW TO PRONOUNCE MY NAME
It rhymes with “see ya later.”
I admit sometimes the student/teacher forbidden romance storyline is a little over done. Well mrs. Raeder literally out did herself with this one. This was a student teacher book that was so different then the norm and kept this reader engrossed from start to finish. All characters involved in this made this story flow so well.
This is Maisie's story. The story of a young girl fighting for a better life. BUT as we know before things get better comes the down right ugly and that's all Maisie has ever know. Her druggie drug dealing mom can give two craps about her and how she turns out. So the only person that cares about Maisie is Maisie, right?
Well her coping mechanism is sex, and I mean sex with older men. Some hot some just ok... Ok ok I'm sure you get the point. BUT one night at the fair grounds she sees the man of her dreams, yes someone looking for a quicky just like her but damaged as well, oh evan. This one night back seater turns into more the first day of senior year. Class please meet your new film teacher, again oh evan !!!
This is where this book got interesting. The character growth was amazing. Who knew making friends, finding family in the most unexpected places, blackmailing powerful people in the community and oh ya trying to keep a forbidden love affair a secret could be so EASY, lol. Maisie's story to find herself and take control of her life was an amazing read. Great job Mrs. Raeder I can't wait to read more from you.
Cheers,
Dr. books
5 stars
