Welcome to this week’s Tuesday Tales and another scene from And Justice for All. Our word prompt is MASSIVE. Please remember that while the story may mirror current events, it is fictitious and a product of my imagination. Enjoy.
“I understand, Sergeant, but it’s critical that I see the crime scene as is. I can’t afford to have any of it contaminated. We’re almost there.”
“We’ll be ready to go as soon as you arrive.”
He ended the call and turned to Maggie.
“I can’t shake the feeling that our killer for hire has struck again. I’m damn sure we’re about to see victims ten and eleven.”
She nodded. “More dead female officers. So, is he a misogynist, or would any team of officers have done the trick? A lot of blood? That means they were shot or stabbed. How could two drunk jet skiers overpower them? Weren’t they armed?”
“They should’ve been, but we’ll have to wait until we see the boat to figure out what happened.”
As soon as the sign for the Rockport exit came into view, Harry turned off the lights and siren, slowed the car, and put on his left turn signal. The OPP cruiser was waiting for them at the top of the road, just before the church. Harry slowed the car and stopped beside them.
One of the officers got out of the patrol car and came over to them. Harry lowered the window.
“Inspector Collins, I’m Officer Grant. Sergeant Daniels and the others are waiting for you at Cornwall’s. If you’ll follow me.”
“Lead the way, Officer Grant.”
The man returned to his squad car and as soon as he closed the door, the vehicle moved onto the road. Harry followed, more than a little concerned about Maggie and what they would see. Had putting her on the task force been a mistake? Would seeing the murdered women remind her of her shooting and her vulnerability?
The village of Rockport was considered the gateway to the Thousand Islands and welcomed massive numbers of tourists each year. In addition to the tour boats that took people sightseeing through the islands, there was a motel, a restaurant, and an outdoor tiki bar for the pleasure of visitors. As well, the marina catered to boaters from both sides of the border.
He followed the squad car into the parking lot and parked. Fat raindrops plopped onto the windshield.
“I’ve got raingear in the trunk, a couple of hooded ponchos that should be okay for you. Wait here.”
Harry hurried around to the trunk and came back carrying not only the ponchos but the vests.
“Do you really think we need those?” She indicated the vests.
“I do. From now on, we go nowhere without them. Is that clear?”
Here it is, March 10, 2025, and it’s time to plan for this year’s Blogging A to Z Challenge. I’ve done this at least ten times, and last year was the most enjoyable one ever. I met some amazing bloggers who have become friends and followers, and I hope to make more this year. Like many others have noted, I love this year’s badge. It’s bright colorful and full of hope, just like I’m trying to be.
Since it’s the week to reveal my theme, I’ve thought long and hard about it and couldn’t really settle on anything in particular. There have been so many changes and upheavals in the world, and these have affected my life as well as yours. One of the blog challenge’s central themes this year is gratitude, and I will do my best to keep that in mind. That being said, I’ve opted to make my theme personal musings, and offer you a little bit of everything that makes me who and what I am. At the moment, I’m on a waiting list for hip replacement surgery. The call could come at any time, and when it does, I will be more that happy to have it done. So, if I can’t finish the challenge in the appointed days, I will finish it as soon as I’m able. This past year has been a difficult and painful one for me from the diagnosis in June to where I am now.
So, what I plan to do is just blog about my family life, my friends, my writing, my dreams and aspirations, my future travel plans, the weather, the world, whatever else tickles my fancy, and of course, the music I love. The music videos I posted last year were a big hit, and I’m sure I can find others for this year.
So, I hope you’ll visit me each day from April 1 to April 30 and see what I have to say. Maybe, just maybe, spring will show up while I’m at it. See you April 1!
Welcome to March. So far, 2025 has consisted of one political crisis after another, something that makes it hard for me to focus on anything creative. I keep hoping something will happen to make things better, but I feel I will be sadly disappointed before it ends.
March 5 question – If for one day you could be anyone or thing in the world, what would it be? Describe, tell why, and any themes, goals, or values they/it inspire in you.
This month’s question is a difficult one for me to answer. With my country under economic war from the US and their vile president’s threat of annexation, I’m feeling stressed. I suppose if I could be anything in the world, it would be common sense or whatever else it took to make people see that fighting and killing aren’t the answer to the problems we face. Greed must be replaced with generocity, and hatred with compassion.
As a planet, we need to work together. We’re destroying our home, and it isn’t as if we can just move into another one. I am dismayed by the attitude and some of the comments I see in social media. It’s dragging me down, ruining my joie de vivre, and aging me with worry.
As a species, we need to be more accepting, understanding, and loving. We need to care about the health and welfare of every person not just the rich and powerful. Race, gender, sexuality have nothing to do with what a person is capable of achieving. And as far as religion goes, there’s only one Bible quote that’s apt right now: Jesus wept.
Welcome to March and this week’s Tuesday Tales. Our word prompt is WHITE. I’m continuing with my Romance Suspense, And Justice for All. Please note that while the events in this story may mirror current events, the story is entirely fictitious and the product of my imagination. Enjoy.
“Harry, those questions you asked about Cliff … do you think organized crime and the cartels are somehow behind this? That it’s all about smuggling?”
“Things aren’t black and white, Maggie. Are the cartels and organized crime behind the drug and gun smuggling? Possibly. The CBSA has seized an incredible number of weapons coming from the US this year, but are they behind the murder for hire? I don’t know. I’m damn sure that if they know the service is available, they’ll be only too happy to take advantage of it. Smuggling is a very real problem and drugs and guns may just be the tip of the iceberg. It’s part of the price we pay for having the world’s longest undefended border, but walls aren’t the answer. Look at the mess the U.S. and Mexico are facing. Illegal traffic goes both ways, there and up here. A wall doesn’t make much difference if you tunnel under it.”
“True.”
“While the St Lawrence River is more than a thousand kilometers long, the two hundred and eighty-eight kilometers between Montreal and Kingston, the start of Lake Ontario are the hardest to patrol. We’ve known that for years. There are Indigenous Reserves, the Thousand Islands, and God alone knows how many other places to cross from the US into Canada and vise versa. Don’t forget. Highway H2O as they call the St Lawrence Seaway is 3700 km long. It’s harder to watch than people think. The Canada-U.S. border is the longest one in the world, more than 8,891 km long. It borders thirteen U.S. states and eight Canadian Provinces and territories, if you throw in Alaska and the Yukon. There are lots of places where illegal substances can come into the country. The Canadian Border Patrol Service, the RCMP, and local provincial police forces are the only things standing between them. Get rid of us, and it’s that much easier. That makes us all targets.”
“Then why are they going after women and visible minorities? Why not make it open season on all police officers?”
In five days’ time, Marina Fraser Mitchell will make her debut in the annals of fantasy novels when The Awakening,Book One of the Listen to the Stones Saga goes live for the first time. The book will be released in paperback and eBook on March 3, 2025, and will also be available in Kindle Unlimited.
This series is a leap for me, but one I felt I had to take. While I was writing a fantasy, instead of setting it in an imaginary world, I’ve set it in this one and in this timeline.
Marina, an all too human woman filled with self-doubts about herself and her future, is thirty years old, divorced, alone, and down on her luck. As she tries to find herself in a world filled with vicious nightmares, a phobia she doesn’t understand, and one bad luck episode after another, she has to weigh what’s happening to her against the possibility that she’s losing her mind. Discovering that she’s psychic comes as quite a shock, but is the ability real or just a sign of a deep-seated illness?When she discovers that everything she knew about herself was an elaborate lie to keep her from discovering the truth, she sets out to find it for herself. Help comes from the strangest places. The road is far bumpier than she expected, but the sooner she accepts that she’s more than she ever thought she could be, the closer she’ll be to discovering the truth and her destiny. The answer lies on the Isle of Lewis and Harris. Now that she’s accepting the truth, it’s time to go home.
Here is a scene from The Awakening
Marina sighed. According to the therapist, phobias had many different causes including anxiety, stress, or a traumatic personal experience as a child. Years ago, when she’d been trying to come to grips with her irrational fear, she’d asked her mother if anything had ever happened to her involving water, but her mother had said she couldn’t think of anything and had changed the subject.
The last possibility was that someone had planted a hypnotic suggestion deep in her subconscious. Every time she went near the water, the prompt reared its ugly head, and she panicked, but who would do such a thing to her and why? This wasn’t a joke like having someone cluck like a chicken when they saw an egg. The therapist had suggested hypnosis, but at two-hundred and fifty bucks a session, it was more than Marina could afford.
“I know how to fix what ails you,” Lenore interrupted her thoughts. “You need a little bump and grind. Nothing like great sex to clean out the pipes and put you on the right track again. You know what they say, all work and no play … if anyone ever needed to play and relax, it’s you, girl.”
Marina forced a laugh. “Lenore, I know you mean well, but believe it or not, for some of us, sex isn’t the answer.” Although imaginary sex with her phantom lover had worked well in the past, at least until last New Year’s Eve. “I’m sorry, but I’ve never been one to jump into bed at the drop of a hat, and I’m not going to change now and test your outrageous suggestion with a stranger. Even Bob had to wait a few months before I ‘loosened up’ as he put it.”
And the result hadn’t really been worth the effort, but she’d learned to fake it for a while—just not long enough. Maybe she was frigid as he’d claimed.
“Who said anything about a stranger? A lot of guys have been asking you out, but you keep saying no. You aren’t a nun, Marina, and you shouldn’t live like one. The world is full of decent guys looking for love and wanting a family. I’m not saying you should settle for the first one who asks—you’ve done that already—but as they say, if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” She giggled. “The trying can be great fun with the right partner.”
Even if he exists only in my dreams.
Marina shook her head and pursed her lips. Her friend meant well, but some things weren’t up for debate, and her sex life or the lack of one was included in that.
“I’m sorry, Lenore, but honestly it’s too soon. I’m just not ready.”
“Too soon, my ass,” Lenore snarled. “It’s been four years. He’s moved on, remarried, and is starting a family.”
Marina raised her chin in defiance and glared at her friend. Leave it to Lenore to rip off the bandage and expose the wound.
“What Bob has done or not done isn’t the issue. I’m the one we’re discussing here, and I’m not ready.”
Lenore threw up her hands in surrender.
“Fine! I won’t push, but you have to do something about your health. You’re my closest friend, and I’m worried about you. You don’t sleep, you don’t go out, and you’ve lost weight. Maybe you need vitamins or iron supplements. You’ve always been pale, but fish-belly white isn’t a good look on anyone. Maybe you’ve got Long Covid or something. Not being able to sleep isn’t normal, just like that buzzing in your ears. I’m sure someone used sleep deprivation and constant noise as an instrument of torture.”
Marina shook her head. “Leave it to you to see the worst side of things. The buzzing as you call it isn’t constant. If it was, I would see an audiologist. I’m not a fool. If things don’t improve, I’ll see a doctor.”
“Promise?”
“Cross my heart. Are you still coming tomorrow to help me go through those boxes Bob brought over? The ones he found cleaning out the garage before they start showing the house to potential buyers?”
“Definitely. It’s hard to imagine how three boxes managed to hide all this time. I was sure we’d dragged everything out of there when I helped you move out four years ago.”
“So was I. Bob’s call surprised me, but it’s not just the boxes. The footlocker he brought over has to have been my father’s. His name was Hugh Fraser—that’s why Fraser is my middle name—and he was a soldier, killed on a peacekeeping mission in the former Yugoslavia. Mom never wanted to talk about him. It was just too painful for her. Whenever I mentioned him, we inevitably ended up in the kitchen cooking or baking.” She shook her head. “Come down around ten. That will give me time to clean the place and do a couple of loads of laundry before we start. I’ll have a fresh pot of coffee ready.”
“With cinnamon?”
Marina laughed, something she did rarely. Lenore loved cinnamon almost as much as she did.
“Of course. I might even still have a bag of those candy hearts you like.”
“Perfect. We can order lunch from that Greek restaurant you enjoy, too. My treat.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Marina smiled. “Now, I’d better check to make sure we have enough of everything for the last sitting. The new dishes seem to have been a big hit. I’ll have to consider adding some of them to the menu as regular Friday night features.”
“Your meals are always the best. I don’t know how you do it, but you can turn even the most basic food into something magical. It’s a gift. All that time in the kitchen with your mother really paid off.”
“Thanks, but I think the credit should go to Nana. After all, she’s the one who let me make stone soup.”
Lenore laughed. “Your grandmother was a good sport when we were younger.”
As a child, one of her favorite books had been Stone Soup, a folk story in which a man looking for something to eat convinced a selfish old woman who claimed she had nothing to give him to allow him to make soup using just a stone and a pot of water. Of course, as the story had gone on, he’d suggested the soup would be better with this or that, all ingredients the woman provided. In the end, when they ate the soup, the woman was amazed at how delicious it was considering it had been made from a simple stone. Marina had begged Nana to let her make a pot using the quartz stone she’d found in the back yard. She’d followed the recipe closely and even her mother had been amazed by its taste. From that day on, Marina had been the family’s number one soup maker.
She stood. “Time to get back to work.”
She went out into the kitchen with Lenore on her heels. She’d averted an argument about her health, but tomorrow was another day, and she just might not be as lucky. It was a good thing she hadn’t mentioned the watchers.
Here we are at the end of February. Winter is certainly erratic this year. Welcome to Tuesday Tales. Our word prompt is PERFECT. I’m continuing with And Justice For All, my Romance Suspense. Enjoy.
Maggie shut the door to Morris’s office. She was shaking, filled with a combination of anger, fear, and dismay. Harry Collins. In a perfect world, they would be married now with the two children she’d always wanted. But the world wasn’t perfect—far from it. It was filled with unspeakable horror, hatred, and broken dreams. In the battle between right and wrong, good and evil, wrong and evil were definitely on the winning side. If what Harry said was even half true … No. She wouldn’t think of that now, wouldn’t risk breaking down and humiliating herself in front of him again. There would be time enough for that when she was alone in her apartment tonight.
She walked back to her desk in the bullpen and let the rest of what had just happened surface. Transferred. Temporary reassignment. No matter how she put it, she was leaving the safe environment she knew and taking a giant leap into the unknown. To make matters worse, she would be working closely with Harry. If this was Fate’s idea of a joke, she didn’t think it was funny.
It was true that she could refuse … hadn’t she considered retiring only an hour ago? But wasn’t this exactly what she wanted? This task force’s sole purpose was to track down and bring to justice the bastards who had killed Cliff and eight others.
She suppressed a shudder remembering Morris’s words. You’re the third survivor, and my money says that was unintentional. Hadn’t she thought the same thing? Wasn’t that the real reason she’d sold the house and moved into the city, into an apartment building where neighbors were close by, and 9 1 1 would bring help within minutes if she needed it. Wasn’t that the reason she’d quit jogging in the park? The reason she never went out at night? The reason she was constantly on edge, watching everyone around her, avoiding crowded places, not sleeping at night, just waiting for him to strike again.
Thoughts like these were pointless. All she’d done since the incident was hide like an injured animal and lick her wounds. Wasn’t she made of tougher stuff than that? It was time to put on her game face as her mother used to say. To paraphrase Tom Hanks in A League of Their Own, there was no crying in police work. It was time to bite the bullet, get back to work and find this bastard.
Welcome to this week’s Tuesday Tales. Yesterday was Presidents’ Day in the US and Family Day in Canada. I enjoyed quality time with my family. Our word prompt this week is SLOW. I’m continuing with And Justice for All my Romance Suspense from the Protecting the Innocent Series. Enjoy!
“What do you mean?” Maggie turned to Morris. “I am coming back here, aren’t I? You did say it was a temporary assignment.”
Lieutenant Morris pursed his lips and scowled.
“It is, Sutton, but I don’t know how long it’ll last. Take what you need, including your gun and your badge. You’re still a member of this department. Your desk will be there when you get back.”
She nodded and turned to him. “I’ll meet you at the elevator, Harry. It won’t take me long.”
Turning on her heels, she opened the door and closed it firmly behind her.
Morris faced him.
“Are you sure about all this? Are you certain that she’s the one you want working on this task force with you? She’s not 100 percent and still quite emotional. Maybe you need to slow down and give her more time to come to grips with … everything.”
“Lieutenant, if there was any way I could make this easier for her, I would. Maggie Sutton is not only the one I want, but she’s also the one I need. She’s the survivor of the most recent attack. You said it yourself. I’m not convinced that the person who shot her isn’t going to try again, but if he does, I’ll be there to take the son of a bitch down.”
“You’re going to use her to bait a trap?” The words exploded from Morris’s mouth. “No one said anything about that. I would never have agreed to it.”
“You’ve misunderstood. She won’t be bait in a trap, she’ll be in protective custody, mine.”
Morris nodded. “I don’t like it, and she sure as hell won’t, but since this came from up high, there isn’t much I can say about it. If anything happens to her—”
“Rest assured, I’ll protect her with my life.” Harry held out his hand. “Thank you, sir. I’ll be in touch.”
Before he could leave the office, his cell phone rang. He checked the display and frowned.
“I’ve got to get this.” He pressed the call answer button. “Collins.” He listened, his scowl deepening with every word he heard. “I’m on my way. I should be there within two hours. Don’t let them touch anything.”
He ended the call.
Morris sighed. “Do you want me to keep Sutton here until tomorrow?”
“No, she’s coming with me. Two OPP officers were just involved in an accident on the Thousand Islands Parkway.”
He hurried to the elevator to break the news to Maggie.
Happy Valentine’s Day! What better time to release a fantasy novel based on the power of true love? It’s official and it’s pre-order is live!
The Awakening Book Blurb:
An only child raised by a secretive, single mother who forever mourned the loss of the man she loved and an Irish grandmother who espoused a strange blend of Christianity and paganism, Marina Fraser Robertson Mitchell has eschewed all beliefs in magic and fantasy that made up a great deal of her early life, but doing so hasn’t stopped the vicious nightmares about monsters and a deep water phobia that have haunted her for years.
As her thirtieth birthday approaches, changes are happening within her, alterations to her personality that lead to psychic abilities she neither wants nor understands. She’s convinced that she’s on the verge of madness, an insanity brought on by some form of physical illness or mental illness inherited from her maternal grandmother.
When her ex-husband sends over three boxes and a footlocker that were misplaced after her mother’s passing, Marina discovers that everything she knows about herself is a lie. While her mother’s letter gives her some explanations, it doesn’t explain her ESP, her sense that she doesn’t belong here, and her phantom lover. She has more questions than answers.
At the suggestion of her neighbor, a friendly, elderly woman with a cat named Rosie, Marina visits a psychic on her thirtieth birthday, but that only increases her confusion. The unusual woman greets her with the words, my lady, and exhorts her to accept herself for who and what she is. She warns her that the choices she makes from now on will determine who wins the final battle for the fate of the world. Shaken, Marina leaves, well aware of that those words are similar to those her grandmother spouted in her dying days.
As the nightmares she’s suffered so long continue, she searches for answers and a reprieve, an escape from a life in which she has lost everything that matters. Her prayers may be answered when she discovers that she has inherited property on the Isle of Lewis and Harris, the place where she suspects the standing stones from her dreams are located, stones that speak to her in the dead of night, and may hold the answer to her future.
But can she accept what she’s becoming? Does she dare return to the place where she was born, a place her mother fled in fear? Everything she knows about herself is a lie. Is the truth waiting for her there? She has a choice to make. Will she make the right one? Only time will tell.
Pre-order your copy today from all Amazon locations.
Welcome to this week’s Tuesday Tales. Friday is Valentine’s Day and it’s fitting that our word prompt this week is HEART. I’m continuing with And Justice For All, my Romance Suspense that is the third book in the Protecting the Innocent series. Enjoy!
“If Cliff had problems with anyone from the Reserve, he would’ve told me. We were partners. We all want the same thing. Safety and security.” Maggie sighed. “If I’m wrong, and they were after Cliff, then what about me? I’ve often wondered why they didn’t shoot me in the head the way they did him. The gut shot gave me a fighting chance, although I don’t think they expected me to survive. What was I? Collateral damage? And since you want to play what if and possibly damage a good man’s reputation, what if they were hunting me, and Cliff was the one who was collateral damage? I’m female, and you did say some of the officers killed were women. The damage done to me and my body certainly destroyed my value as a woman.”
Harry shook his head, his heart aching for her, for them, and for what could’ve been. He knew the damage that bullet had done and understood the constant pain it brought her. They’d talked about the future, about having a family of their own … and then Becky had ruined it all. He wished he could give Maggie the answer and the reassurance she needed, but he just didn’t have them and wouldn’t lie to her.
“I don’t believe that’s true, and neither does anyone else. Things have changed for you, I won’t deny that, but don’t let them win by considering yourself to be less than you were. We’ll find them, Maggie, and we’ll get you the justice you deserve.”
She cut him off. “And just how is this task force supposed to do that?”
“By going over everything again. The answer is there. It has to be. That’s where you come in. You’re a fresh set of eyes. You may see something I’ve missed. I’ve been looking at the individual officers, the precincts, their cases, and their on-the-job profiles. I did find a few who’d locked horns with less than stellar individuals, but I didn’t see anything that stood out. Now, we’re just going to have to dig deeper.”
She straightened her back, and he didn’t miss the way she unclenched and clenched her fists.
“If you’re looking to see if Cliff or I have skeletons in our closets or we’re dirty in any way, then you’re barking up the wrong tree. Cliff was a man of integrity. He was a good father, a loving husband, and a great friend. He didn’t have a mean bone in his body. Everyone loved him.” She choked on the last word.
Most authors know that the story they set out to write and the story they end up writing are never exactly the same. No matter whether you’re a plotter or a pantser, life happens, and things change. Sometimes, the story just doesn’t work, and when that happens, you have to go back and figure out why. Writing involves putting words down, but it also means research, character development, rereading what’s been written, editing, and rewriting some more until the piece is as good as you can possibly make it.
Listen to the Stones was or rather is no different. My visit to the Standing Stones of Calanais touched a creative spark in me that I rediscovered only a few years ago–my love of fantasy. I had written a couple of novels dealing with mild paranormal, specifically reincarnation, but I’d only attempted a fantasy with its own mythos with Atonement. Looking at the stones, walking amongst them, and touching them set off a creative chain reaction I hadn’t expected. I had to write about this place and introduce it to my readers to it since I was sure that many, like me, had never heard of it and didn’t know such places existed.
My original plan was to write a winter love story set on the Isle of Lewis and Harris. My cover artist, who indulges all of my flights of fancy and changes of mind, had created a cover for that book, but as I started working on it, I realized that there was more paranormal in it than simple romance should have.
I was only a half-dozen chapters into the story when I realized it wasn’t working for me. The story needed to be more than a romance novel. So, I set it aside and worked on something else.
When Love at the Pickleback was finished, Listen to the Stones called me back, and I realized that the story needed to be about the incredible stones themselves, and how they’d come to be there, cursed as it were. So, I decided the focus should be on breaking the curse and releasing the souls trapped within the stones. The information provided at the site claimed the folktale was that the people living on the island had been turned to stone for refusing to accept Christianity.
That was all well and good, but I wanted something more, something that would allow me to create two souls separated by time and circumstance, making the book fit much better into the Timless Love series. Once again, my outstanding cover artist rose to the challenge and created a cover similar to the one for Beneath the Ashes my book which deals with lovers separated by the volcanic eruption at Pompeii and reunited in a new timeline.
So, I went back, reworked the beginning, and created a mythology of my own that explained where the stones originated and why the souls had been trapped within the rocks. I researched and drew from Celtic, Scottish, Irish, and Norse mythologies. I learned all I could about paganism, druidism, Wicca, witchcraft, and the supernatural as it affected Scotland. The more I discovered, the more amazed I was.
The story flowed from my fingertips. I fleshed out the characters and brought them to life, but as I wrote, new ideas flooded me, ideas that invaded my dreams and stayed with me long after. As I neared the end of the novel, I realized it would be a monster to publish. It was close to 700 pages! The cost of the paperback would be prohibitive and even the ebook would be expensive. So, I did what any other author would do. I went back to the beginning with the intention to slash and burn. I was frustrated. There was so much that needed to be kept for the story to make sense. At one point, I simply closed the file and went on to something else.
That’s when I decided to focus on A Case of Mistaken Identity, the first book in my Evie Chambers Mysteries series. I’d wanted to do something about the Empress of Ireland for years, and this seemed the perfect time since it was also NANOWRIMO. A shorter book in a month worked for me. I kept the story light and as factual as possible. It was well received, and i have several ideas for the next books in the series.
By then, the holidays were upon us and writing took a back seat. But, the stones kept calling to me. I discussed the matter with my best friend and sounding board, and she proposed making the book into a series. Initially, I couldn’t see how it could be done, but then, little by little, the idea grew. Each section would have to have its own focus. It would need to somehow be a complete story onto itself, like the books in The Harvester Files were, and yet it would need to be a stepping stone into the greater story, much like The Lord of the Rings, Outlander, and Harry Potter books. The focus would be on the fantasy aspects, so that I wouldn’t have to worry about getting the characters together right away. I could bring them along, tease at their connections, and embroiled my readers in my hero and heroine’s dilemma, giving my villain a voice as well. After all, if you’re going to have good and evil do battle, the reader needs to see evil for what it is.
Once I accepted the idea, I set about figuring out how to make it work. It would involve adding context, rearranging and moving some of what I’d already written, and delving more deeply into the fantasy aspect of the story, and as always researching everything to make in probable if not believable.
In the end, I did some brainstorming and came up with the four sections of the story, giving each one a separate title under the umbrella name Listen to the Stones. So, here we have the book descrition for the first four books of the series:
True love is the most powerful magic in the universe. For ten millennia, the world has waited but now, the time of reckoning approaches. When it arrives, the Chosen One will have a chance to break a curse and reverse an eons old spell. The choice is hers, to be made using free will, the gift given to all by the Mother of the Gods. If she makes the right choice, she’ll save her world; the wrong one will doom them all. But to do so, she has to believe in herself, her psychic abilities, magic, and the power of love.
“You must fulfill your destiny, find true love, and break the curse.” Those were Marina Fraser Robertson Mitchell’s grandmother’s last words, but Nana hadn’t been well for a long time. She’d lived in a fantasy world, filled with delusions, no doubt brought on by her unusual beliefs and the recollection of the folk tales she used to read to her as a child.
But if there was such a thing as a curse, Nana’s words were prophetic. Marina’s life has consisted of one overwhelming loss after another. Added to the sense of failure is the fact that she feels as if she doesn’t belong here. She spends her days battling fears and phobias, trying to downplay the way she can hear the thoughts of others, and her nights fighting off monsters in recurring nightmares that threaten her sanity. But these bad dreams feel more like memories than imaginings. At the heart of them, amidst the horror, are strange standing stones that speak to her in an ancient language, a faceless lover, and a red-eyed creature who terrifies her.
When she loses the last thing she holds dear and her world is crumbling beneath her, she’s distraught, convinced that she should never have been born. But things aren’t as dismal as she believes. Changes are happening within her, some as frightening as they are liberating. The answer may be within reach—an inheritance from a great-uncle she never knew existed. To claim it, she has to return to the Scottish island where she was born, but can she do so? Can she face the thought of living on an island, surrounded by deep water, the thing that terrifies her most?
A firm believer in mysticism and reincarnation, archeologist and novelist Jerome Morrison can’t deny the power of the mysterious stone circle near Fraser Hall, stones that speak to him. The last few years, a woman has haunted his dreams, a woman he loves above all others, a woman he’s convinced was his in another lifetime but was lost to him. Now, he must find her, positive that his future lies with hers. But discovering that everything he knew about himself is a lie confounds the situation. When the dreams stop and strange things begin to happen to him, there’s a sense of urgency he can’t dismiss. Discovering that his mystery woman is none other than Marina Fraser, heir to the Fraser estate and the land on which the mysterious stones sit, comes as a shock, especially when she doesn’t recognize him and there is another, one who triggers powerful feels of hatred within him, vying for her attention, her love, and her land. How can he convince her that they are meant to be together when she doesn’t trust him or recall the love they once shared?
There’s a war coming, one they must fight united. The future is at stake, and time is running out. Each side must muster their forces for the final battle. Fueled by the hatred and greed in the world, evil has grown stronger than the gods anticipated. Three will fight, two will survive, but which two? The answer lies with the Standing Stones on the Fraser estate.
Will these two lost souls find true love, or will the demon-demigod’s rage and power keep them apart? Only as one can they prevent him from dooming the world to a living hell.
Each episode of the story has its own title. They are: The Awakening,The Homecoming, The Bonding, and The Reckoning. As she frequently does, my cover artist, Melinda de Ross has outdone heself with new covers for the series that fit my vision so well that it is as if she’s climbed inside my heart and soul to create them. The first book, The Awakening is almost ready and will go up for pre-sale in a few days. Watch for the Cover Reveal when it does, but here is the book description to tease your reading tastebuds.
Book Description forThe Awakening, Book One of Listen to the Stones:
An only child raised by a secretive, single mother who forever mourned the loss of the man she loved and an Irish grandmother who espoused a strange blend of Christianity and paganism, Marina Fraser Robertson Mitchell has eschewed all beliefs in magic and fantasy that made up a great deal of her early life, but doing so hasn’t stopped the vicious nightmares about monsters and a deep water phobia that have haunted her for years.
As her thirtieth birthday approaches, changes are happening within her, alterations to her personality that lead to psychic abilities she neither wants nor understands. She’s convinced that she’s on the verge of madness, an insanity brought on by some form of physical illness or mental illness inherited from her maternal grandmother.
When her ex-husband sends over three boxes and a footlocker that were misplaced after her mother’s passing, Marina discovers that everything she knows about herself is a lie. While her mother’s letter gives her some explanations, it doesn’t explain her ESP, her sense that she doesn’t belong here, and her phantom lover. She has more questions than answers.
At the suggestion of her neighbor, a friendly, elderly woman with a cat named Rosie, Marina visits a psychic on her thirtieth birthday, but that only increases her confusion. The unusual woman greets her with the words, my lady, and exhorts her to accept herself for who and what she is. She warns her that the choices she makes from now on will determine who wins the final battle for the fate of the world. Shaken, Marina leaves, well aware of that those words are similar to those her grandmother spouted in her dying days.
As the nightmares she’s suffered so long continue, she searches for answers and a reprieve, an escape from a life in which she has lost everything that matters. Her prayers may be answered when she discovers that she has inherited property on the Isle of Lewis and Harris, the place where she suspects the standing stones from her dreams are located, stones that speak to her in the dead of night, and may hold the answer to her future.
But can she accept what she’s becoming? Does she dare return to the place where she was born, a place her mother fled in fear? Everything she knows about herself is a lie. Is the truth waiting for her there? She has a choice to make. Will she make the right one? Only time will tell.
Watch for scenes from the story over the next few weeks along with the Cover Reveal and the pre-order date for The Awakening.
Living the Dream 