R eady to turn up the heat in your reading?🔥😉

In my novel, Radical, the sexual tension has been building up between for Thomas Bridger and Leesha Dormont for about 280 pages.

We’ve been secretly wondering when it was going to happen.

How is it going to be different for them?

And interesting for you.

After all, you’ve read lot of love scenes before.

1. Turn up the Heat: Amtrak Trains and Ghost-Walks

This particular scene takes place on an Amtrak train that’s on its way from Cary, North Carolina to Washington DC.

But romance is the least of the tensions going on.

Bridger and Leesha are on the run from the government.

Up until recently, Leesha’s been a ‘Ghost Walk’ tour guide in MLK’s Selma, Alabama.

A minimum-wage bottom-feeder?

Hardly.

2. Turn Up the Heat: The Killer App

Seven years ago, she wrote a radical—some say treasonous—document.

The first chapter cross-pollinated all over the Internet and fired-up more feelings than the Unabomber Manifesto.

And Bridger?

He’s a computer geek, and the government’s looking for him, too.

Why?

Because he’s created the killer app: the security code that would make it safe for people to vote in political elections using the Internet.

Who cares?

For starters, the President of the United States, the FBI, and the local police.

3. Turn Up the Heat: The Actual Narrative

Ready to turn up the heat?

Let’s have a look at a portion of the actual scene:

RADICAL by Lewis Faulkner

“Without looking at him, she continued. “There’s three bathrooms up there. I’ve been watching number three since I left. It’s the one furthest away from where we’re sitting right now. Come to number three. If somebody’s watching, pretend the other two are full, and you’re waiting for someone to finish up in number three, and just keep standing there. When you’re sure no one’s looking, knock real easy on the door to number three. Two knocks. Then a pause. Then two more knocks.”

–She didn’t look at him.

–Just got up and went down the aisle toward number three.

–By the time Bridger was inside the bathroom, too, Leesha’s bra was on the floor…”

4. Turn Up the Heat: Actuality for the Author

I think I know what your next question is going to be.

Did the person who wrote this novel actually have sex on an Amtrak train? 

The answer is ‘no.’

But I have had sex before. And my wife and I did take an Amtrak train from Cary, NC, to DC to visit my daughter, when she lived there, as research for the novel.

And, I did use the bathroom (alone) on the Amtrak, just to be sure what it looked like in there.

Also, we had about 50 unexpected stops and delays on the way there, just like the two characters in the novel.

5. Meet Some of the Other Weird Characters

Hopefully, you’ve decided to get a copy of Radical and see how this whole thing turns out.

If not, at least check out the plot.

When you get to the scene where we turn up the heat, let me know what you think.

I’d love to hear from you!