28 Oct 2012

When reality and two novels connect.



Liliha's mission is vital, but she can't help everyone at the same time or chose which people to assist. Whenever the moonstone ring whisks her away to someone in need, she holds herself ready with whispered suggestions.
The smell of lily, a swirling tunnel and she leaves her normal life behind.
Transported to another place, she enters the mind of a young woman intent on murder—Lisa, holding an SSG 69 sniper rifle.
Liliha once prevented an assassination in Paris. That was easy with a crowd around the ambassador when he left the car. She'd planted the idea of running forward into a nearby child, causing placard-wielding parents to give chase and shield the target. However, this time, Liliha's subject was alone.
Inside Lisa, a memory surfaces, too horrific to contemplate. The woman remembers her childhood—tortured, beaten and taken sexually by a guard in a sort of prison. Nobody came to her rescue.
Absorbing the horror of her abuse, Liliha issues empathy and understanding. Although she wishes it otherwise, she can't relieve the trauma of the past. Instead, she eases words into Lisa's tormented mind. "I understand. The man's actions were evil. But who has the right to judge? Who has supreme power to take another life?"
Lisa reminds herself, "This man kills children--for sport."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Normal life and two novels merge. Which is valid?  





Everything affects something else. Each thought achieves a reality of its own.

20 Oct 2012

A tribute to a wonderful woman.



I've been meaning to write about my friendship with a woman from across the sea for ages. Work got in my way. Revisions, editing and a book launch all took time. But now, I have a moment. My words will take so much more.
Where should I start this tale? Place: England.
Five years ago, I joined the Internet Writing Workshop with what I thought was a finished novel, Still Rock Water. I'd taken several online classes on writing and wanted to learn more. I didn't even know how much work my writing would need to reach a publishing standard. But I found out with the help of many other writers who all looked at each other's work, chapter by chapter over the weeks, months, years.
One of those other writers: Edith Parzefall with her Strays of Rio, reached out to me from Germany with such sound, gentle assistance that we became good friends. On the internet, it doesn't matter how far apart anyone lives. With a time difference of only and hour, our communication was easy, whereas someone in America might need half a day to reply in cyberspace.
Both of our books are now published after years of work and many rejections.
Edith gave her help without counting the cost. She's marvelous with working out a plot and knowing where a scene should be added or when one should be removed because it's boring or not needed. What greater gift can one person give another than their time and patience? Everything else pales by comparison.
Her generosity extended to sharing marketing tips and materials.
You see, we wrote a series of four books together, starting several years ago. I came up with an idea of using my characters, who'd been reincarnated into a future world after the great flood destroyed civilization. I started the first novel with a young couple, who met after a tragic event. Edith Jumped in and introduced other characters. She took over the men--she's good with action.

Then she wove the two stories together until each group met at the end. She entwined the stories with such skill that nobody would know they started as separate stories. That's writing!
Double Dragon Publishing released the first book, Wind Over Troubled Waters, months ago. The other three novels will follow every six months. Look out for Knights in Dark Leather in November.
We've planned a meeting for over a year—after all, we're not too far apart. On each occasion, something got in the way. I feel I know Edith and I'm saving a big hug for when I meet her in the flesh.

11 Oct 2012

Released: My book Still Rock Water.




At last my book has arrived for all to see instead of hiding like a shy babe too afraid to tread the shallows in an itsy, bitsy, teeny, weenie, bikini.
I waited a long time, hiding on the beach with a towel draped around my shoulders. But now I'm exposed and proud. And so is Liliha, my heroine in every sense of the word.
You can read the reviews of Still Rock Water here:  
 http://tinyurl.com/8uutmjb
Solstice Publishing have placed the novel in their paranormal category—and rightly so. It's also a love story. An tale about how a woman conquers her insecurities to find the strength within. How a woman can subjigate herself for the sake of someone she loves. How she can never help that person unless he wants her to. And how positive thinking can influence so much more than we know.