(Checked #1)
Publication date: December 17th 2013
Genres: Comedy, New Adult, Romance
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Book Blurb:
Callie spends countless hours staring at appliances to make sure they are really unplugged. She wastes obscene amounts of time checking for murderers in various corners of her house and entire sleepless nights performing pointless checking rituals. Then every spare minute is filled with inspecting doorknobs, chairs, floors, etc. for minuscule traces of germs. Oh, and she does all of this as she counts to three over and over again in her head. She does this every day. Without fail. Dr. Blake just doesn’t fit into her schedule. Until he does. Until Callie begins to trust him. Until she starts to need him. And want him. And . . .
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Guest Post:
But we aren’t here to talk about me or my routines; we’re supposed to be talking about Callie, the main character in Checked. And Callie is in much, MUCH worse shape than I am in right now (I’ve been under treatment for OCD for about seven years – Callie is just starting).
Callie’s routines are very structured, very complicated, and VERY long. She vacuums, dusts, straightens, and organizes. She checks appliances, faucets, locks – everything in her house – over and over. Every task she does, she has to do in a specific order. If she messes up or is interrupted, she has to start all over again.
Her life is exhausting. And frustrating. And overwhelming.
What makes all of this even worse? Callie knows that what she is doing is ridiculous. She’s also embarrassed by it. But she can’t help it. She has to keep doing each task, going through with each routine. Otherwise she won’t be able to sleep, or eat, or work, or do anything at all – she’ll just drown in worries that something horrible will happen because of her negligence.
There’s much more to say about this – about Callie and her condition – but I’ll save that for future blog entries. I also will soon tell you a little more about her obsession with Dr. Blake . . .
For now, though, I’m going to sleep. I’m going to post this tomorrow, because I’m already in bed . . . and if I get up now to get my laptop (I’m writing in a notebook), I’ll have to start my night routine again . . .
About the Author:
She also directs a musical production each school year. Her most recent show was Beauty and the Beast.
Jennifer lives with her husband and her four-year-old son.
She, like the main character in her debut novel, has a rather hopeless case of OCD.