Author: Kristina Stanley

Watchers in Fiction: Guardians to Help the Hero by Donna Galanti

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 10 Comments

I’m very honored to host Donna Galanti today.  I’ve read A Human Element and A Hidden Element, and I can’t wait for the third in the trilogy to be published.  When you read below, you’ll see a special offer and a giveaway.

Better yet, have you ever wanted a character to be named after you? Now is your chance.

Don’t miss out.

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Watchers in Fiction: Guardians to Help the Hero
by Donna Galanti

Watchers. My favorite fictional figures that hover on the sidelines weaving in and out of the story. They change lives.

You may know them as guardians, guides, mentors, or allies. They help the hero on his journey by blocking them, guiding them, or even saving them. They can be a mysterious and dark overseer or a jolly and light eccentric. They ultimately save the hero or motivate him to save himself.

In my suspense novel, A Human Element, I created The Man in Black as a watcher. He is a A Human Element Book 1 Front.jpgguardian, a guide, and a hero. He connects to both the earthly and the other-worldliness in my characters. Sometimes he is there, like a lifeguard, and sometimes he’s watching and you simply sense his presence, more like a god. In the end he suffers and is a martyr-like figure for the greater good so his people can go on.

How did The Man in Black evolve and how do I perceive his function? He evolved as an instrument of light to help others survive so his own world would survive. His presence allows me to push the protagonist truly beyond the brink and eventually be saved. He also represents hope and acts as a catalyst to keep hope alive. He is like a god because he changes the destiny of others for a greater good (an entire people). And, like a god, he chooses not to always interfere unless it’s for the greater good. In a way he is a mythical figure.

My favorite mythical watcher in fiction is Merlin from the Arthurian legend. He’s a man of mystery and magic with roles as a sorcerer, prophet, bard, adviser, and teacher. In Mary Stewart’s Merlin Trilogy, Merlin is an ordinary mortal but one with intuitive intelligence and clairvoyance. He has foreseen that Arthur will become a great king who will unite all of Britain.

Just as The Man in Black’s mission in A Human Element drove him to facilitate a child’s creation to carry on the line of his dying people, Merlin’s vision led him to facilitate Arthur’s creation as well. I like the idea of connecting medieval to modern times knowing that Merlin and The Man in Black share the same mission. They both originate as earthly and mystical watchers who change destinies so their people may conquer. And don’t we, as authors, often look to the past to create something new in the present?

It appeals to me that often the watcher figure is a hero too, willing to sacrifice his life for the one he oversees. He gives the protagonist what he needs to finish his journey and outwit death, and in doing so may need saving himself.

Literature is full of such heroes whose actions require that they, too, be saved. Like Arthur “Boo” Radley in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. He’s a mysterious character we slowly get to know. At first, perceived as a dark, ghostly figure he ends up saving the children, Scout and Jem. He’s a self-exiled loner who appears as needed to save the children from evil. In the end Scout and Jem save him back, providing justice for Boo.

One of my favorite authors, Dean Koontz, is known for his watchers. In his book, Lightning, Stefan Krieger is a watcher hero who needs saving himself. He’s a time traveler and a guardian of Laura since she was born. He interferes when necessary to save her life many times. In doing so he changes the course of her destiny for good–and bad. His fate eventually interweaves with hers until they are caught in a life or death situation. He saves Laura, but in the end she saves him too.

I can’t forget my beloved animal watchers in fiction. In Watchers (great name!) by Dean Koontz, Einstein is a genetically altered golden retriever with human intelligence. He’s also saved by the couple he watches too. Escaped and on the run, Einstein acts as a guide to bring these two lonely people together and transform them. He becomes their guardian inspiring them to save him from his nemesis, who in turn watches him. Check out other fictional dogs in literature including my favorites, Buck and White Fang.

I didn’t realize I had an obsession with watcher figures until pulling book after book out from my shelves. And then I knew why. I adore tormented characters and that’s often what watchers are. And that’s why I write them. They are wounded heroes that travel with us to the dark side and help draw us back. They may not always save the hero by their own hand, but at that critical moment they drive the hero to take control of his own destiny. And sometimes the watcher needs saving right back.

Do you have favorite watchers from other books or movies? What “saves” you, as author, when you’ve spent too long on your dark side? Do you have a “watcher” to help pull you back from the dark side and save you?

About A Human Element, book one in the Element Trilogy:
Evil comes in many forms…

Pageflex Persona [document: PRS0000040_00067]One by one, Laura Armstrong’s friends and adoptive family members are being murdered, and despite her unique healing powers, she can do nothing to stop it. The savage killer haunts her dreams, tormenting her with the promise that she is next. Determined to find the killer, she follows her visions to the site of a crashed meteorite in her hometown. There, she meets Ben Fieldstone, who seeks answers about his parents’ death the night the meteorite struck. In a race to stop a madman, they unravel a frightening secret that binds them together. But the killer’s desire to destroy Laura face-to-face leads to a showdown that puts Laura and Ben’s emotional relationship and Laura’s pure spirit to the test. With the killer closing in, Laura discovers her destiny is linked to his, and she has two choices—redeem him or kill him.

Praise for the Element Trilogy:

“Unrelenting, devious but full of heart.  Highly recommended.” —Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author of Code Zero

“Chilling and dark…a twisty journey into another world.” —J.T. Ellison, New York Times bestselling author of When Shadows Fall

“Fascinating…a haunting story…”—Rebecca Cantrell, New York Times bestselling author of The World Beneath

Purchase the Element Trilogy on sale through December 7th
Book 1 A HUMAN ELEMENT for $0.99
Book 2 A HIDDEN ELEMENT for $1.99

ABOUT DONNA:

Donna Galanti is the author of the paranormal suspense Element Trilogy (Imajin Books) and the fantasy adventure Joshua and The Lightning Road series (Month9Books). Donna is a contributing editor for International Thriller Writers the Big Thrill magazine and blogs with other middle grade authors at Project Middle Grade Mayhem. She’s lived from England as a child, to Hawaii as a U.S. Navy photographer. She lives in Pennsylvania with her family in an old farmhouse that has lots of nooks and crannies, but sadly no ghosts. Visit her at www.elementtrilogy.com and www.donnagalanti.com.

ENTER GIVEAWAY!
Prize Pak:
Win $15 Amazon Gift Card, e-book of The Dark Inside, Element Trilogy story collection, and become a character in the final Element Trilogy book!

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Mystery Mondays: Bill Engleson on Setting, Plot, Problem, Solution

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 4 Comments

Mystery Mondays has become such fun for me. It’s a place to discover mystery writers that I wouldn’t otherwise know about. This week, I have the pleasure to host Bill Engleson, author of Like a Child to Home and Confessions of an Inadvertently Gentrifying Soul.

So over to Bill.

Setting, Plot, Problem, Solution by Bill Engleson

cover-of-lacth-with-badgeMy novel, Like a Child to Home, is a telling, in a slightly noirish style, or so I tell myself, of the final working weeks of Child Welfare Social Worker, Wally Rose. As I was a recently retired Child Welfare Social Worker when I began the book in 2004, there is little mystery to my research style.

In Early 2004, I was contracted by my previous employer, the BC Ministry of Children and Family Development, to write a report detailing a framework for an MCFD Ethics Committee. That report, Through a Kaleidoscope, was completed in May 2004.

Like a Child to Home, or, as I called it then, Next of Kin, began with that report, with that intensive exploration of ethical practice. I am probably sounding too pompous here. What I wanted to do, in a fictional form, was describe, as best as I could, what my experience of working with at-risk kids and families was like. At the time, I had a long-shelved, since dusted-off detective manuscript, Bloodhound Days, whose main character was Wally Rose. I transposed Wally’s name into this new novel.

Borrowed character name notwithstanding, It wasn’t such a leap to view child welfare as having many of the key elements of mystery fiction.

People in crisis are the characters, humans in need. I hope I am not lessening the very real issues people face as opposed to the somewhat imaginary situations characters in novels find themselves.

Family, or loss of or estrangement from family, is frequently the setting.

The plot…how the lives of children and families are unfolding.

The problem…abuse, neglect, death, financial need.

And the solution…usually temporary…always open to interpretation.

So, with this rather generic similarity, I wrote my novel. Initially, the best I could do was write two character studies, two chapters. It was probably at this point that I actually decided to write a full-blown novel. Which I did.

Back Story of Like a Child to Home


November on the Canadian West Coast; it’s often wet, miserable and dark. Lives get messy; streets are unsafe.

Wally Rose is a brooding, sporadically up-beat, old-time social worker. Carla Prentice is an overwhelmed, single mother of two teenagers, one who has lost his way, another who may be losing hers. The Prentice family, paralyzed by fear and silence, can barely keep a lid on their out-of-control lives.

Wally is juggling a convoluted caseload of youth, each coping with more than their fair share of adolescent struggles, the taxing muddle of leftover family distress, and a baffling child welfare system they are submerged in. An old file comes back to bedevil Wally. A habitual line-crosser, he may have pushed his luck one too many times.

Wally has been “nurturing” kids and fellow workers for decades. He has little patience for red tape and is a thorn in the side of his employer. He is also running out of gas. He hopes he can fill his tank one more time, not only to save himself, and those he cares for, from a capricious system, but also to draw his career to a close on his own terms.

Since

I write daily. Something. Anything. Lately, Monday mornings have required the writing of a haiku. Admittedly, the output is numerically minimalist but the satisfaction is almost acceptable.

In the past couple of years, my regular weekly writerly routine has involved the creation of a number of pieces of flash fiction for a variety of sites. Some of these inspiring sites have closed, proving a burden to the hosts, most of whom are not only authors themselves, but working stiffs.

Aside from a prequel to Like a Child to Home, and the resuscitated P.I. novel (with my protagonist re-christened), and the occasional poem, my principal writerly activity at the moment is shepherding a second book, a humorous creation of literary non-fiction, Confessions front cvr1.jpgConfessions of an Inadvertently Gentrifying Soul, released in early October by my publisher, Silver Bow Publishing, along the path of success.

Additionally, a short story, Hell is a Holiday was included in the recent Centum Press anthology, One Hundred Voices.

A recent writing highlight has been the announcement in November’s online CQ magazine that I have won their 2nd Short Story Challenge. The story will be printed in the February edition. Here is a link in case people are unfamiliar with CQ. https://issuu.com/ramblingawaymagzine/docs/cqnov16v2

I am also part of my community. At the moment I am in my final year as Chair of the Hornby & Denman Community Health Care Society. It is a fine service oriented organization.

http://hornbydenmanhealth.com/about-us/people/

 

Awards

Few, I’m afraid.

This year, Like a Child to Home received an Honourable Mention at the inaugural Whistler Independent Book Awards.

Reading Inclinations

These days, I enjoy Michael Connelly, Philip Kerr and Lawrence Durrell to name but three.

Links

www.engleson.ca

@billmelaterplea

http://www.silverbowpublishing.com/confessions-of-an-inadvertently-gentrifying-soul.html

http://www.centumpublishing.com/product-page/5f32c1aa-3309-3fa5-8aa7-319051d5436f

AND A LITTLE MORE ABOUT BILL

Autobiography

bill-engleson-in-a-reflective-momentOn the day I was born, or thereabouts, my parents pulled into a dock at Powell River and made their way to the hospital.

I am pretty sure it went that way. They never actually spelled out the details and I never asked.

I can’t imagine we lingered more than a couple of days in that seaside town after I was delivered.

The next year and a half was spent on their fish boat. I am told I developed sea legs. I assume that is true. I never fell into the chuck. They never mentioned it anyways.

We finally came to shore in Nanaimo. A Pulp Mill had to be built. My father signed on.

I came of age in Nanaimo. In my later teens, I left, had a truncated Canadian military encounter in Kingston, a tail-between-my-legs return to High School to repeat Grade 12 (after signing a behavioural contract,) and a second, more permanent exit into my own wonky version of maturity and liberation.

I attended SFU as a charter student, dropped out whilst remaining within, immersed myself in student politics, had a six month flirtation with Frontier College and spent more than a decade living in the CRCA, a New Westminster Co-op/Commune which is celebrating its 50th Anniversary in August, 2017.

For a career, I spent twenty-four years with MCFD, initially as a family support worker and, post-Solidarity, 1983, as a child protection social worker.

In 2002, I accepted early retirement but after a couple of months of mind-numbing sloth, went to work, for 1 ½ years, with the Lower Mainland Purpose Society headquartered in New Westminster. Previously I had served on the Board of Directors for many years.

All along the plan, our post-work life plan, was for my partner and me to live in the country, preferably on an Island.

Devil’s Island or Denman Island. It didn’t matter.

Well, it mattered some.

Life on Denman has been full, mostly with writing, volunteering, table tennis and, of late, Pickleball.

To keep as active as is befitting a retired social worker who writes, I maintain a blog, www.engleson.ca, and occasionally post both musings on writing and observations on the state of Child Welfare.

There is an intensity to rural life yet, all the while, a comfortable detachment exists, can exist. The community struggles, yet comes together.

I like to think that my writing hasn’t hindered its intermittent coalescence.

 

 

 

 

 

Canadian Writing Legends Praise the Stone Mountain Series

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 3 Comments

The Stone Mountain Mysteries are on sale. I wrote the books, so I think they’re great. But don’t take my word for it. Find out what Canadian legends, Barbara Fradkin, Joan Barfoot, and Gail Bowen had to say. And then check out the sale put on by my publisher, Imajin Books!

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DESCENT shortlisted for the 2014 Arthur Ellis Unhanged Arthur for excellence in crime writing.

“In this impressive debut, Kristina Stanley weaves a vivid, chilling tale of jealousy, secrets, and betrayal in a close-knit mountain ski village. Like its likeable young heroine, Kalin Thompson, DESCENT is both tender and tough.” – Barbara Fradkin: author of the Inspector Green Mysteries and two-time winner of the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel.

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BLAZE shortlisted for the 2014 Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger.

“Filled with entertaining characters and as fast-paced as the conflagration that gives Blaze its title.” —Joan Barfoot, Scotia Giller Prize and Trillium Book Award shortlisted author

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Praise for AVALANCHE: A mountain as deadly as it is majestic; characters far too familiar with the Seven Deadly Sins and murder−Kristina Stanley’s Avalanche has it all. This fast-paced mystery is as thrilling as a heart-stopping run down the slopes. ~ Gail Bowen, author of the Joanne Kilbourn Shreve mysteries

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Thanks for reading…

Farley’s Friday: Where Oh Where is my human?

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 5 Comments

Farley here,

Does anyone know where Kristina went? Every morning I get up and check the house. I sniff each room, I run around the backyard perimeter, and I even looked behind a big tree.

No luck.

I’m starting to miss her.

The humans taking care of me are great. Their only issue…They don’t allow dogs in the bed…

farley-and-piper

But you know me. Big brown eyes. A wagging tail. And I’m in. Piper, the border terrier, follows my lead. She’s in too!  I’m going to sleep here every night until I see Kristina.

Woof Woof

PS. In case you didn’t know, Kristina’s books are all on sale  I’m the star in BLAZE.

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STONE MOUNTAIN MYSTERIES ON SALE

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 2 Comments

Thanks to Imajin Books, all three Stone Mountain Mysteries are on sale. Why not buy yourself and early Christmas gift.

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But Imajin Books is even more generous…

The Author’s Guide to Selling Books to Non-Bookstores is also on sale for $0.99 USD.

AGTSBNB

Thanks for reading…

Mystery Mondays: J.P McLean On Writing Deeper Dialogue

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 15 Comments

Hosting an author on Mystery Mondays that I’ve actually met in person is a treat. Jo-Anne and I met at a writers conference in Calgary, Alberta last summer and became friends. We both write, we both live in British Columbia, Canada, and we’re bit on reading, too.  So, it’s very exciting for me to have Jo-Anne here today.

J.P. (Jo-Anne) McLean is the author of The Gift Legacy series, Awakening, Revelation, Redemption, Penance and, Betrayal. Reviewers call the series addictive, smart and fun. Within those pages, a young protagonist, Emelynn Taylor, tests the theory that what doesn’t break you makes you stronger.

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Writing Deeper Dialogue by JP McLean 

Putting words in your characters’ mouths can make for an entertaining day of writing. Your characters say things you never would, in a tone your mother wouldn’t approve of, and using language that would raise eyebrows. It’s a bit of a power trip. It almost makes up for all those times you thought up the perfect comeback … moments too late.

But dialogue isn’t just the words in a conversation: it’s language, it’s context, it’s nuance. Dialogue gives the writer the opportunity to show a character’s education, origins, ethnicity, wealth, temperament, age, mind-set and so much more.

  • Is your character gonna or going to?
  • Is your character speaking in an east coast accent or a southern drawl?
  • Is your character late because she was dealing with an incompetent sales woman at Holt Renfrew or teasing bubble gum out of her two-year-old’s hair?
  • Are your characters using short, truncated sentences, or are they long-winded?
  • Are your characters speaking in a clipped tone, or with the patience of a nun?
  • How your characters describe something says something about them. Do they describe the homeless person as a rumpled waste of breath, or an unfortunate soul.
  • Where are your characters situated while they have their conversation? You can keep your readers grounded in the scene by occasional references to place. Will your characters gaze upon an original Picasso or a McDonald’s Ball Pit? If you’re referencing clothing, are they smoothing the nap of a fine wool overcoat, or picking burrs from an old pilled sweater?

And a few final notes:

Make sure you are punctuating your dialogue correctly—a quick refresher never hurts.

Read your dialogue out loud to double check that it sounds real—people rarely speak in full sentences, or use grammatically-correct English.

Use simple dialogue tags (he said/she said). Readers expect “said” and therefore it doesn’t get in the way or pull them out of the story. I’m not saying don’t use other tags (whispered, rasped), but use them sparingly, and let the dialogue and body language convey the sentiment.

Make sure the reader knows who’s speaking. You don’t need to tag each line of dialogue if there are only two people speaking, but in lengthy conversations you may want throw in a character reference to keep readers on track.

You can also use what are called “beats” to identify who’s speaking. In a bar scene for example, if only one of your characters is drinking beer, then we know who’s talking in this line: He downed his beer. “That’s it for me.”

And that’s it for me as well. Now go stir up some mischief and put words into your characters’ mouths! Best of luck with your writing.

Who is J.P. McLean?

Jo-Anne and her husband live on Denman Island, nestled between the coast of Britishjpmclean-headshot-1034x1034 Columbia and Vancouver Island. J.P. holds a degree in commerce from the University of British Columbia, is a certified scuba diver, an avid gardener and a voracious reader.

The first book of her Gift Legacy Series, Awakening, received Honourable Mention at the 2016 Whistler Independent Book Awards. In 2016, J.P.’s body of work was included in the centennial anthology of the Comox Valley Writers Society, Writers & Books: Comox Valley 1865-–2015.

She would love to hear from you. Contact her via her website at www.jpmclean.net or through her social media sites. Reviews are always welcome and greatly appreciated.

You can also find her here:

Betrayal 3D-Book on xparent.pngSign up for her Readers Club JP McLean’s Book News

Read and follow her blog www.jpmclean1.wordpress.com

Find her on Goodreads www.goodreads.com/jpmclean

Follow her on Twitter www.twitter.com/jpmclean1 @jpmclean1

Like her on Facebook www.facebook.com/JPMcLeanBooks

Farley’s Friday: Where Do Humans Go?

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 3 Comments

Farley here,

Something weird happened last week. Kristina and Mathew left the house, which they do on occasion, but late in the day, I started to get concerned.

Farley on couch

My bedtime is 9 PM. I like Kristina to tuck me in. She rubs my back until I fall asleep on the floor beside her bed. Sometimes I sneak in her bed once she’s asleep. She never seems to notice.

One night, it’s been dark for hours. I’m getting tired. I want to go to bed, but I can’t find Kristina. I sniff each room. Her scent is in the house, but she’s nowhere to be found.

Kristina’s brother and sister-in-law are here. They feed me and walk me, but I think Kristina forgot to tell them how to tuck me in bed.

I poke my nose at Kristina’s brother. He pets my head but doesn’t follow me when I leave the room.

Next, I try Kristina’s sister-in-law. She loves dogs. She might help. I snuggled up to her, rest my chin on her knee, and turn my brown eyes up at her. She pets my head, too.

I give up on being tucked in, but there’s no way  I’m sleeping alone. I sneak by them, head up the stairs to their room, and hide between the bed and the wall. I’ll be really quiet and they won’t notice I’m in the room.

Someone please tell me where humans go at night. I’m not sure how many nights I can stand tucking myself in.

This is how I started my life with Kristina. I’m used to certain standards.

Farley with Stuffy

Woof Woof

 

Feedback For Fiction | Self-Evaluating Scene Openings and Novel Structure

~ Kristina Stanley ~ Leave a comment

Self-Evaluating Scene Openings and Novel Structure

There are times when a person has the luxury of sitting down and reading a novel in one session. Wouldn’t that be nice if we could all do that? However, most of us read a novel in multiple sessions.

screen-shot-2016-11-23-at-10-11-46-amWhen you’re rewriting your draft, dreaming of creating a novel readers will love, it’s critical to think about how readers read.

Many writing books talk about the importance of the first line, first paragraph and first page of a novel. If you don’t grab the reader then, you might lose them for good. There is a lot of pressure on a writer to produce an extraordinary first line for a novel. If your reader has put your book aside for a while and picked it up at a new scene, that scene opening has to all the things the opening of your novel does. So much pressure…but we have a process to help you.

When your readers start a new scene, they must be immediately be engaged in the scene. To ensure this happens, work through your revision as if you…

READ MORE at: Feedback For Fiction | Self-Evaluating Scene Openings and Novel Structure

Mystery Mondays: Linda Barton On Being An Indie Author

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 9 Comments

It’s Monday again, and we welcome Linda Barton, author of  Saying Goodbye: The Christmas Gift – A Christmas Novella. So let’s hear what Linda has to way about her life as an Indie author.

THE WORLD OF INDIE PUBLISHING by Linda Barton

The day in 2011, when I decided to dive into the world of Indie Publishing, I must admit that I had no idea what I was doing. I spent hours doing my research online and started asking questions. I was surprised at all the so-called Professionals who promised the world for a fee. They said they would get your masterpiece ready and out there for the readers to enjoy. However, I have never trusted someone selling a product or service that sounds too good to be true.

When you spend, endless hours writing your book, the last thing you need is to hand it over to someone who doesn’t have your best interests at heart. Over the years, I have heard so many horror stories of first-time authors paying thousands of dollars on the promise their book will be the next bestseller. Then only to learn it was all a lie. So often, I’ve heard of long fights to get the rights to their book back, only to have to hire someone to edit and reformat the book before they can publish it on their own.

Now, I’m not saying that being an Indie Author is a cakewalk. No, it’s hard work because everything falls on your shoulders. It’s your responsibility to see the book is properly edited, formatted, and you need to have a killer cover. However, having been in the beginner shoes myself, I know it’s something worth doing. Nowadays, there is so much help available for the first-time author. There are groups all over Facebook for Authors. Some are helpful more than others, but I know you’ll find one that suits your needs.

Another bit of advice to save yourself some money is to learn how to do as much of those things needed to publish your book as possible. To save myself some money, I have learned how to format and create my own covers. However, if you’re not so inclined, there are people such as myself who will perform those duties for a reasonable price.

So, there are some pearls of wisdom for the person wanting to take the path so many others have today. Don’t let anyone tell you cannot be an Author. With platforms, such as Amazon, B&N, and iTunes, the literary world has opened for those who have dreamed of sharing the stories swimming around in their minds. So, sit at your computer and just start writing.

WHO IS LINDA BARTON?

author-pbotoLinda L Barton is a Multi-Genre Author. Publishing her first book in 2011, Linda started out by writing Dark Thrillers. Since then she has branched out by writing YA Fantasy, Women’s Romantic Fiction, and even Children’s Books.

One of the high points of Linda’s writing career was when Next Move, You’re Dead: The Trilogy Bundle was chosen as 1 of 100 pre-loaded Kindle Fire ebooks given away in the 2013 Emmy Awards VIP Swag Bags to over 600 of those in attendance at the awards that evening.

Linda is also the Founder of Deadly Reads, Deadly Reads Author Services, and the Host of the Deadly Reads Radio Show – Journey into the Night, which airs live Thursday evenings on Blog Talk Radio.

Linda is also blessed to be married to a wonderful man, Bob for more than 30 years. Bob is her writing muse and has created several of the plots for her books. Together they have a daughter and son, as well as 5 beautiful grandchildren; all of whom are the joy of their lives.

Linda never thought she would become a published author, but now she cannot imagine doing anything else.

book-coverSaying Goodbye: The Christmas Gift – A Christmas Novella

Sometimes life doesn’t go in the direction we’ve planned for ourselves. We believe we have everything all figured out then something happens to flip our world upside down. Molly had always believed her life was on track. She figured she would graduate from Medical School and then go on to have a fulfilling career. However, life sometimes has other plans for us. Saying Goodbye takes you on a journey of discovery as Molly learns a powerful lesson we all try to avoid. As Molly comes to terms with her painful past, she finds the joy of learning how to say goodbye.

Where you can find Linda:

Facebook
Link to blog http://lindalbarton.blogspot.com/