Fortunate Choices: A Novel

Fortunate Choices bring a rainbow of opportunity.
Fortunate Choices, A Novel
By Marlee Olsen
Fortunate Choices is a story of the Brenners, an affluent Northern Virginia family who find their way through challenging times, as the good life of peace and prosperity of the late 90's gives way to the economic turmoil and war on terror of the new century. The narrative insightfully portrays Blake's leadership in a high-technology strategic planning firm, and Alicia's interior design business venture. This novel explores the intricate interrelationships of family, social, and business life, as the parents and two teens make choices that will shape their individual and collective values and futures.
We meet the Brenner family in 1998 at their elegant new Virginia home overlooking the scenic Potomac River Valley, about 15 miles up-stream from Washington DC, in a fast growing community of over one million residents and a high-tech economy. Blake and Alicia are "boomers" with two high school age children living the rewards of affluence and unlimited opportunity.

Alicia decides that it the right time to realize her long-held ambition of getting a graduate degree and pursuing a career in Interior Design. Blake is initially apprehensive that Alicia's plan may disturb their "perfect" lifestyle of a strong nuclear family bound together by Alicia and might interfere with her social support for his demanding career.

Blake has a tiger by the tail with the global Internet boom presenting great opportunities but also great risk to the future of his firm. As marketing executive he develops break-through business intelligence technology and forecasts that the Info-Tech industry is in a classic bubble heading soon for a crash. Blake must find a way to re-invent his job and company if they are to survive his predicted implosion of the market and prosper in the future. The stress of these responsibilities endangers his health and the family's economic security as they ride a rollercoaster of the stock market crash, rampart bankruptcies, 9/11 terrorist attack, and Middle-East wars.
The narrative intimately brings the reader in, up-front and personal, as the family pulls together to face challenges and attempts to reshape their own relationships in ways leading to both individual fulfillment and an enduring family bond. They must make their own luck. As the Roman philosopher, Seneca, observed, "Luck happens when preparation meets opportunity."

About the Author

Marlee Olsen draws upon her extensive life experiences and financial planning career helping families realize their dreams to present this debut novel portraying careers and family life of the affluent at the turbulent turn of the 21st century. Since retiring from an 18-year career as a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) she has focused full time for five years writing two contemporary novels. Earlier in her career she was a Financial Analyst for senior corporate executives in diverse settings, including banking, architecture and high-tech firms. She and her husband have lived in Minnesota, Texas, and Arizona, and for several decades in the Potomac River valley of Northern Virginia near Washington, D.C., which is the setting of this novel, and is pictured on the front cover. They have extensively traveled the US and abroad for business and pleasure, and sailed the Chesapeake Bay, coastal US, and Caribbean Islands aboard their blue-water yacht Tradewind.

Visit the author's web-site at: www.outskirtspress.com/marleeolsenbooks

E-book version available