~ Press release issued by the author
Swing Time II: Stardust in the Shenandoah, a novella by Austin Gisriel has just been released, and Luray’s Mimslyn Inn is the featured setting. The cover features a photo of the Mimslyn’s ballroom.
The novella focuses on Chance and Faith, two dancers who love to Lindy Hop, and who are attending a World War II commemoration at the famous Luray landmark only to discover that the hotel’s classic ballroom holds not only memories, but the Past itself.
A World War II veteran steps out of the past, seeking their help. The Past is indeed Present, and it is dancing that helps them navigate Time as it warps on itself.
The novella is the sequel to Swing Time: A Swing Dancing, Time Warping Story in which Chance and Faith first discover their unique relationship to Time.
“I enter these old ballrooms and dance pavilions, and just wonder at the joy they’ve known,” said Gisriel. “I imagine the first dances and last dances and first kisses that they’ve seen. The Swing Time novellas are my speculation about what happens to all that emotional energy, because I don’t believe that it just disappears.”
This is not the first work of Gisriel’s set in the Shenandoah. Safe at Home: A Season in the Valley follows the New Market Rebels for a season in the days when the Luray Wranglers were prime rivals.
Their Glorious Summer, a feature article-length story, available as a free download from Amazon and Smashwords, details the 1981 Valley League rivalry between New Market and Winchester.
Swing Time II is available through Amazon in both paperback and e-book form.
For Gisriel, the Mimslyn is more than just a setting for a great story.
“My wife Martha and I honeymooned there 42 years ago this August. Every time I’m there, I see the ghosts of our younger selves,” he says.
The Gisriels currently live in Stephenson, VA.
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