New Novel: A Season in Lights

A Season in Lights A Novel in Three Acts by Gregory Erich Phillips
Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Synopsis

Passion, ambition and escape.

In the colorful artistic underworld off-Broadway, Cammie, a dancer in her mid-thirties, has just landed her first part in a show since coming to New York City. Yet the tug of familial obligation and the guilt of what she sacrificed to be there weigh down her dancing feet. Her lover, Tom, an older piano player, came to the city as a young man in the 1980s with a story eerily in tune with Cammie’s own.

Through their triumphs and failures, both learn the fleeting nature of glory, the sweetness of new love, and how a dream come true isn’t cherished until it passes. The bright lights of the stage intoxicate, while degradation and despair lurk close behind the curtain. Their sagas are marred by two pandemics, AIDS in the 1980s and COVID-19 today, which ravaged the performing arts community, leaving a permanent scar on those who lived through them.

The poignant intersection of their stories reveals a love affair unbound by time, reaching across decades through the notes of a piano’s remembered song.

REVIEWS

“A Season in Lights is an intimate, heartfelt ballad to creativity and the passion of the artist. Phillips’ writing is as lyrical as a love song and as uplifting as a dream. It is not only one of my new favorite books, but possibly one of the most important odes to New York City’s artists and the fragility of life since Rent.” – Nicole Evelina, USA Today bestselling author of The Guinevere’s Tale Trilogy and many other stories of strong women from history and today

“By drawing us into the glitz and glam of New York City’s creative scene, and by examining the gritty reality beneath the shine, Phillips taps all the senses while reminding us that, no matter what happens in life, the show must go on – especially for those who dare to dream. Want a sensual but poignant romp behind the curtain? This book delivers.” – Julie Cantrell, New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of Perennials

“Written by a true creative, A Season in Lights paints a moving picture of artists, dancers and musicians. Gregory Erich Phillips weaves together the heartaches and lucky breaks of two main characters, Tom and Cammie, and their friends and families. The vignettes culminate with the impact of coronavirus on NYC, and ends with a surprisingly tender and uplifting finale.” –Carol Van Den Hende, award-winning author of Goodbye, Orchid

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About the Author

Award-winning author Gregory Erich Phillips writes stories with strong characters whose lives, with their many challenges and joys, resonate with a wide audience.

Raised in a literary family, Gregory began writing at the age of fourteen. His debut novel, Love of Finished Years, won the grand prize in the Chanticleer Reviews International Writing Competition and was an Amazon bestseller in historical fiction.

It was praised by Publishers Weekly, which called it beguiling. His second novel, The Exile, won first place in mainstream fiction in the PNWA literary contest.

An accomplished tango dancer and musician, Gregory has impressed audiences from the West Coast to New York City with his drama and grace on the dance floor. Gregory lives in Seattle, Washington.