On Tour 03/01/27-04/07/27 “Bodies In Arabesque” by Terri Lewis

Release Date: March 9, 2027

About The Book:

When friends Gemma and Patrice receive their first lead roles in the Rocky Mountain Ballet’s Nutcracker, they’re on their way to the life of their dreams. Then Gemma discovers she’s pregnant. It’s 1972; abortion is illegal. Her lover, an opera singer, wants to marry, have the baby, and move to New York to continue their careers. Gemma has performed in enough ballets to recognize a fairy tale when she hears one, but Madame, the strict company director, whispers another story in her ear—one that hinges on Gemma leaving her lover entirely.

While Gemma decides what her future will look like, Patrice is botching her romantic pas de deux. Madame demands that she dance with authentic passion; Patrice has never had a boyfriend—her religious mother warned her against men—but ballet is her first love, and she’ll do almost anything to succeed. To her delight, her sexual exploration lifts her dancing up to Madame’s rigorous standards—until she too discovers she’s pregnant.

Secrets are revealed and careers are derailed as the two ballerinas face impossible choices and their meddling Madame. Will the young women struggle on, or will they give up on ballet—and each other

About The Author:

TERRI LEWIS’ first career was as a principal ballerina at the beginnings of the Colorado Ballet. She went on to dance with ballet companies in Würzburg and Nuremberg opera houses. Returning to the United States, she founded ballet companies at the Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock, and in Los Angeles. Her debut novel, Behold the Bird in Flight, A Novel of an Abducted Queen, was one of The Washington Independent Review of Books’ Favorite 2025 titles. When They Came Home, a lyrical telling of hardship and love inspired by family mementos from WWI, won the 2025 Miami University Press Novella Prize. Bodies in Arabesque will be released in March 2027 by She Writes Press. Her writing has been honed through workshops with Jill McCorkle, Laura van den Berg, and Rebecca Makkai, and she has published in several literary magazines. She lives with her husband in Denver, Colorado. Learn more: Award-winning Historical fiction by a former ballerina

Social Media:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/terri.lewis1

Book Blurbs:

“…an irresistible story of love in which the passions of the body and the spirit converge. Operatic and intimate, Terri Lewis’s novel is not just a great ballet novel (which it certainly is). It is a great novel. Period.”

—SARI WILSON, author of Girl through Glass, Long-listed for Center for Fiction First Novel prize

“…two young ballerinas at the beginning of their careers navigate their ambitions, romantic desires, and the demands of their Svengali-like ballet mistress. Set in the early 1970s, the novel is also a rumination on women’s bodies and women’s choices.”

—TAMMY GREENWOOD, author of The Still Point, Amazon Editor’s Pick and IndieNext Selection

Bloggers On Tour:

March 1st- Lindas Book Obsession https://www.facebook.com/lindasbookobsession/

March 3rd- Books and Coffee MX https://instagram.com/booksandcoffeemx

March 10th- Reading Is My Remedy https://instagram.com/reading_is_my_remedy

March 13th-Plains Reading https://instagram.com/plains_reading

March 18th- Art X Souls https://instagram.com/artxsouls

March 21st-Books Love And Understanding https://instagram.com/booksloveandunderstanding

March 23rd- Book Princess of Cali https://www.instagram.com/bookprincessofcali

March 24th – Tammy Reads https://instagram.com/tammyreads62

March 25th – CMT Loves Wine and Books https://instagram.com/cmtloveswineandbooks

March 25th- Marilyn Goncalves https://instagram.com/marilynjgon