Just a reminder that on Monday, July 1, 2013, Google Reader will cease to exist. I am hoping you will take this time to follow me over on Bloglovin. It is so easy to use. Here's my button:
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Blog Tour and Guest Post: A White Room by Stephanie Carroll
A White Room
Stephanie Carroll
June 2013
408 Pages
Soft Cover: $14.99
eBook: $3.99
Publisher: Unhinged Books
ISBN: 978-0-9888674-0-6
eBook ISBN:
978-0-9888674-1-3
LCCN: 2013930913
Available in Print and
eBook (Kindle, Nook, Sony, e-pub)
Find Stephanie Carroll
Endorsements
“A novel of grit, independence, and determination ... An intelligent story, well told.”
—Renée Thompson, author of The Plume Hunter and The Bridge at Valentine
“The best historical fiction makes you forget it’s fiction and forget it’s historical. Reminiscent of The Yellow Wallpaper … the thoughtful, intricate story Carroll relates is absolutely mesmerizing.”
—Eileen Walsh, Ph.D. U.S. Women’s History, University of San Diego
About A White Room
At the close of the Victorian Era, society still expected middle-class women to be “the angels of the house,” even as a select few strived to become something more. In this time of change, Emeline Evans dreamed of becoming a nurse. But when her father dies unexpectedly, Emeline sacrifices her ambitions and rescues her family from destitution by marrying John Dorr, a reserved lawyer who can provide for her family.
John moves Emeline to the remote Missouri town of Labellum and into an unusual house where her sorrow and uneasiness edge toward madness. Furniture twists and turns before her eyes, people stare out at her from empty rooms, and the house itself conspires against her. The doctor diagnoses hysteria, but the treatment merely reinforces the house’s grip on her mind.
Emeline only finds solace after pursuing an opportunity to serve the poor as an unlicensed nurse. Yet in order to bring comfort to the needy she must secretly defy her husband, whose employer viciously hunts down and prosecutes unlicensed practitioners. Although women are no longer burned at the stake in 1900, disobedience is a symptom of psychological defect, and hysterical women must be controlled.
A novel of madness and secrets, A White Room presents a fantastical glimpse into the forgotten cult of domesticity, where one’s own home could become a prison and a woman has to be willing to risk everything to be free.
About the Author
As a reporter and community editor, Stephanie Carroll earned first place awards from the National Newspaper Association and from the Nevada Press Association. Stephanie holds degrees in history and social science. She graduated summa cum laude from California State University, Fresno.
Her dark and magical writing is inspired by the classic authors Charlotte Perkins Gilman (The Yellow Wallpaper), Frances Hodgson Burnett (The Secret Garden), and Emily Bronte (Wuthering Heights).
Stephanie blogs and writes fiction in California, where her husband is stationed with the U.S. Navy. Her website is www.stephaniecarroll.net.
A White Room is her debut novel.
The Following Excerpt is from A White Room by Stephanie Carroll
The moon was missing, and darkness crept into my room like
an intruder and disguised the white walls. I stared into the black,
waiting for something to happen. I intended to escape from the
bed, but I didn’t stir for a while. Each night, I would wait until Ella
or Margaret retired for the evening and sneak out from beneath
the covers and onto my feet. On the first night, I was desperate to
move, but with each night thereafter, the simple acts of moving,
standing, and walking were more and more like wading through
mud. How many days of nothingness and nights of skulking had
there been? I felt as if I had already spent an eternity trapped in
this room.
Everyone refused to confirm my diagnosis, but hysteria or not,
resting was certainly not a cure. The longer I rested, the more
fatigued I felt. I awoke exhausted. I languished throughout the day.
Rest was the only thing I was allowed to do. I wasn’t even permitted
books or pen and paper. If my visitors found any contraband, they
seized it.
~~~
At night, a part of me wanted to stay in bed and never move, but
my extremities were anxious, about to twitch if I didn’t force them
to carry out their purpose. I laughed at myself, pitiful. I owned no
will. The only freedom I experienced came with the footsteps I
stole in the night. I didn’t enjoy them, though, because I took each
step with trepidation for fear of waking the beings beneath or,
worse, the monster in the empty room next to me.
I opened my eyes to the dark and waited for them to adjust.
Finally, I raised the blanket and slid my lower limbs off the right
side of the bed. They felt wobbly, like the stalk of a feeble flower.
I placed my toes down first and lowered my feet cautiously. The
wood felt cool beneath my feet despite the warmth in the air. I
stood but didn’t expect the heaviness of my body, and I had to lean
against the mattress to steady myself.
~~~
What were they doing down there unsupervised? I studied the
floorboards and gradually lowered myself. I positioned my hands
flat on the floor, brought down my right ear, and listened. There
was nothing but silence drumming in my ears. I tried to disregard
the constant hum of quiet and listen, but a startling thud sounded
from the wall opposite the bed—the monster. I lifted my head but
remained on all fours. I did not dare move.
I slowly rose, perceiving its stare through the wall. I concentrated
in the direction of the thud as I shrank back to the bed, taking each
step with caution. I lifted my limbs off the floor and buried them
under the bedspread, which I promptly drew to my chin. I eyed
the room. I wondered if anything was with me. It was so black that
something could be lurking about and I wouldn’t know. I wanted
to light a lamp, but I didn’t want to draw its attention.
I knew it had a plan for me.
They must have roused downstairs. I heard wood scuffing
against wood. In my mind, I saw the furniture. I saw the leg of
a table slide out from beneath it and drag its quadratic body out
from its position. Then the other tables’ legs started to move. The
cabinets noticed and began twirling their slender appendages. The
sofa, chairs, and tables all woke up and began to slink about the
parlor. The bugs on the dishes in the dining room took flight, and
the salamanders slithered off the spoons. The sitting room started
to contract and digest everything inside it. I could feel the people
down the hall, stirring in their rooms, scrutinizing me, judging.
The beast scratched at the walls like a sinister man scratching a
chalkboard long and hard without letting up.
It was too much.
The scratching stopped and a deep groan slowly rose up out
of the house’s gut—the dungeon. It started low with a rumble
and grew louder and louder into an inhuman wailing that seeped
through the cracks and crevices. I covered my ears and scrunched
down. The beast started to beat the wall again, and the furniture
wouldn’t let up clacking and clanking below. There was so much
noise. I squeezed my ears harder and closed my eyes. I didn’t know
how much longer I would last. How much longer could I last?
--Quoted with the permission of the author.
The Stories Behind The Insanity in A White Room
By Stephanie Carroll
There are a few stories behind the insanity in my novel – a classic story, a unique history, and my own personal feelings.
Much of the insanity in A White Room was inspired and modeled after Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s nineteenth century short story “The Yellow Wallpaper,” which is about a woman diagnosed with hysteria and confined to her bedroom where the wallpaper slowly drives her insane. In the end, it’s clear that the main character gained a level of freedom and even revenge by having gone insane.
After coming up with the initial idea for A White Room, I realized that “The Yellow Wallpaper” told a very similar story to what I wanted to tell. I have always loved that story, so I decided to model my book after it. However, instead of the wallpaper driving my character Emeline insane, I wanted it to be the literal embodiment of domesticity – the house and furniture – which comes to life. That’s why I spend a great deal of time describing the house and furniture in the novel, so that when it comes to life it will be that much more vivid.
I also wanted the history of hysteria to play a large role in the insanity in this book. Hysteria was a popular diagnosis for women at the turn of the century. It had so many alleged symptoms, doctors diagnosed thousands of women despite how different their complaints were. Many really did have a mental disorder, such as depression or anxiety, but many more women were simply rebellious, homosexual, or promiscuous. I show Emeline experiencing more than one scenario. At first she really is going insane, but later in the book she starts to be accused of inanity simply because she does things society considers unacceptable.
It was popular to diagnose women with hysteria at the turn of the century because women were believed to be the weaker sex and thus more susceptible to mental illness. It was also believed that the female reproductive organs caused mental imbalances. Treatments ranged from opium tinctures and the water cure to genital massage, strict bed rest, admission into an insane asylum, and surgical removal of the defective organs, a procedure termed a “hysterectomy.”
I focused on the bed rest treatment in A White Room, not only because it was a key element in “The Yellow Wallpaper,” but also because it really was comparable to torture. Women weren’t just confined to their beds. Doctors insisted they have no stimulation whatsoever, meaning that they were not allowed to read or write or even really talk. They were only supposed to rest. With nothing but time to stare at the walls and furniture, it’s easy to see how they might start to see such things come to life.
Although much of the insanity in my novel was modeled after a classic story and the history of hysteria, if you dig deeper, the story really originates with me and the fact that I often feel like I’m going nuts. I think everyone on occasion wonders if they are going insane, but sometimes I personally find myself wondering if things might be better if I gave into it. What if by submitting to insanity, I could in a sense experience freedom – freedom from obligation and expectation – even if only for a moment before my world came crashing down? I don’t think I am the only person who has ever felt that way, and that’s what I wanted to explore with A White Room. I wanted to take the reader on a bizarre, frightening, and at times liberating journey into the depths of insanity for the sheer delight of giving in to it.
About A White Room
At the close of the Victorian Era, society still expected middle-class women to be “the angels of the house,” even as a select few strived to become something more. In this time of change, Emeline Evans dreamed of becoming a nurse. But when her father dies unexpectedly, Emeline sacrifices her ambitions and rescues her family from destitution by marrying John Dorr, a reserved lawyer who can provide for her family.
John moves Emeline to the remote Missouri town of Labellum and into an unusual house where her sorrow and uneasiness edge toward madness. Furniture twists and turns before her eyes, people stare out at her from empty rooms, and the house itself conspires against her. The doctor diagnoses hysteria, but the treatment merely reinforces the house’s grip on her mind.
Emeline only finds solace after pursuing an opportunity to serve the poor as an unlicensed nurse. Yet in order to bring comfort to the needy she must secretly defy her husband, whose employer viciously hunts down and prosecutes unlicensed practitioners. Although women are no longer burned at the stake in 1900, disobedience is a symptom of psychological defect, and hysterical women must be controlled.
A novel of madness and secrets, A White Room presents a fantastical glimpse into the forgotten cult of domesticity, where one’s own home could become a prison and a woman has to be willing to risk everything to be free.
A White Room is Available in Print $14.99 and
eBook $3.99 (Kindle, Nook, Sony)
About the Author
As a reporter and community editor, Stephanie Carroll earned first place awards from the National Newspaper Association and from the Nevada Press Association. Stephanie holds degrees in history and social science. She graduated summa cum laude from California State University, Fresno.
Her dark and magical writing is inspired by the classic authors Charlotte Perkins Gilman (The Yellow Wallpaper), Frances Hodgson Burnett (The Secret Garden), and Emily Bronte (Wuthering Heights).
Stephanie blogs and writes fiction in California, where her husband is stationed with the U.S. Navy. A White Room is her debut novel.
Find Stephanie Carroll
Learn More About A White Room and Stephanie Carroll by Following the Blog Tour!
A White Room Blog Tour Dates
Weds, June 19 – Oh, For the Hook of a Book: Book Review and Giveaway (ebook)
Thurs, June 20 – Hazel the Witch: Interview and Giveaway (Print)
Sat, June 22 – Reading in Ecuador:
Guest Post: How to Write Suspenseful Fiction including A White Room excerpt
Thurs, June 27 – Momma Bears Book Blog: Giveaway and
Guest Post: The Story Behind the Insanity
Fri, June 28 – The Bookish Dame: Interview and Giveaway
Tues, July 2 – I am Indeed: Guest Post: Historical Accuracy in Historical Fiction
Mon, July 8 – Bookfari: Interview and Giveaway
Tues, July 9 – Hazel the Witch:
Guest Post – How to Write the Inner Thoughts of a Crazy Person - Finding Meaning in Insanity?
Weds, July 10 – Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers: Review and Giveaway
Fri, July 12 – Lost to Books: Guest Post TBA and Giveaway
Mon, July 15 – A Writer of History: Guest Post: Writing an Era – Where to Begin?
Weds, July 17 – Michelle’s Romantic Tangle: Interview
Thurs, July 18 – Oh, For the Hook of a Book: Interview
Tues, July 23 – Unabridged Chick: Review and Giveaway
Thurs July 25 – Ravings and Ramblings: Review and Interview
Tues July 30 – Reading the Past: Giveaway and Guest Post:
Writing and Historical Thought - They Didn't Think Like We Did 100 Years Ago
Sat, Aug. 3 – History and Women: Giveaway and Guest Post:
Guest Post: Victorian Women and the Mystery of Sex
Monday, June 24, 2013
Book Blast-Matt Archer: Legend- Win $50 Amazon GC or Paypal
Matt Archer: Legend
When Matt Archer was fourteen, he was chosen—by a magic, spirit-inhabited knife—to hunt monsters with a special paranormal division of the Army. When he was fifteen, he was thrown into a global war the rest of the world didn’t know existed.
Now Matt’s sixteen and the war has cost him more than he ever thought it would. He’s also learned that the knife-spirits have an agenda he doesn’t totally agree with. The only problem? The spirits have the upper hand, and they plan to control the fight—and Matt.
Then things get worse: the next lunar eclipse cycle is starting, a prominent physicist has gone missing, and Matt’s best friend is thinking about quitting the team. If he loses Will—after everyone else he’s lost—Matt’s not sure how he’ll fight alone.
As the source of his nightmares starts to creep out of the shadows, Matt knows he’ll need all the help he can get…because being alone could prove deadly.
Buy Links for Matt Archer: Legend
Matt Archer: Blade's Edge
When Matt Archer was fourteen, he discovered monsters are real. As if that wasn’t enough to go on for a few decades, Matt also found out that he’d been chosen to hunt those monsters--with a sentient, supernatural knife. Now fifteen, Matt has spent the last year working with a clandestine military unit, trying to rid the world of monsters, demons and other vicious creatures, all while keeping it a secret from nearly everyone he knows back home in Billings.
Including his mom.
Add in a new girlfriend, family secrets, sibling drama and enough homework to sink an aircraft carrier, and Matt’s life has become more complicated than he ever imagined. Worse, the knife has developed some very definite opinions about Matt’s personal life and it interferes in his business whenever it wants. More and more, Matt’s coming to realize that sharing brain-space with a spirit kind of sucks.
When stories of decimated towns and hordes of zombies start pouring into the Pentagon from Afghanistan, Matt knows he’ll be called up soon. Between the new mission and the knife’s increasing control over his mind, Matt wonders if he’ll survive long enough to take his driver’s exam.
Buy Links for Matt Archer: Blade’s Edge
Matt Archer: Monster Hunter
Fourteen-year-old Matt Archer spends his days studying Algebra, hanging out with his best friend and crushing on the Goddess of Greenhill High, Ella Mitchell. To be honest, he thinks his life is pretty lame until he discovers something terrifying on a weekend camping trip at the local state park.
Monsters are real. And living in his backyard.
But that's not the half of it. After Matt is forced to kill a strange creature to save his uncle, he finds out that the weird knife he took from his uncle's bag has a secret, one that will change Matt's life. The knife was designed with one purpose: to hunt monsters. And it's chosen Matt as its wielder.
Now Matt's part of a world he didn't know existed, working with a covert military unit dedicated to eliminating walking nightmares. Faced with a prophecy about a looming dark war, Matt soon realizes his upcoming Algebra test is the least of his worries.
His new double life leaves Matt wondering which is tougher: hunting monsters or asking Ella Mitchell for a date?
Buy Links for Matt Archer: Monster Hunter
Author Kendra C. Highley
Kendra C. Highley lives in north Texas with her husband and two children. She also serves as staff to two self-important and high-powered cats. This, according to the cats, is her most important job. She believes chocolate is a basic human right, running a 10k is harder than it sounds, and that everyone should learn to drive a stick-shift. She loves monsters, vacations, baking and listening to bad electronica.
Book Blast Giveaway
$50 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash
Ends 7/9/13
Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer http://iamareader.com and sponsored by the authors. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.
a Rafflecopter giveawayFriday, June 7, 2013
Book Blast: Evertaster: Buttersmith's Gold-Win $50 Amazon GC or Paypal
The Buttersmiths' Gold
BATTLES. BLUEBERRIES. BOVINES.
TORBJORN AND STORFJELL’S HISTORY UNFOLDS IN AN EPIC EVERTASTER NOVELLA.
Everyone knows the most coveted treasure of the Viking Age was blueberry muffins. Blueberry muffins so succulent that if you sniffed just a whiff, you'd want a whole bite. If you bit a bite, you'd want a batch; if you snatched a batch, you'd stop at nothing short of going to war just to claim them all.
Young Torbjorn Trofastsonn comes from the clan that makes them. He's a Viking through and
through – he's thirteen winters old, larger than most respectable rocks, and most of all, a Buttersmith. That's what he thinks anyway, until a charismatic merchant makes Torbjorn question his place among the muffin-makers. When Torbjorn lets the secret of his clan's muffin recipe slip, he calls doom and destruction down upon his peaceful village and forces his brother Storfjell and his clansmen to do the one thing they are ill-prepared to do: battle for their lives.
Purchase on
Amazon
About The Buttersmiths' Gold
The Buttersmiths' Gold is a spin off novella in the Evertaster series that tells the story of two Viking brothers and their adventurous past. The Evertaster series (Book #1 released June 14, 2012) is about Guster Johnsonville, who goes searching for a legendary taste rumored to be the most delicious in all of history. Along the way he meets a slew of mysterious characters, including two Viking brothers Torbjorn and Storfjell. The Buttersmiths' Gold is their story. 124 pages. By Adam Glendon Sidwell. Published by Future House Publishing.
Evertaster, Book #1:
A legendary taste. Sought after for centuries. Shrouded in secrecy.
When eleven-year-old Guster Johnsonville rejects his mother’s casserole for the umpteenth time, she takes him into the city of New Orleans to find him something to eat. There, in a dark, abandoned corner of the city they meet a dying pastry maker. In his last breath he entrusts them with a secret: an ancient recipe that makes the most delicious taste the world will ever know — a taste that will change the fate of humanity forever.
Forced to flee by a cult of murderous chefs, the Johnsonvilles embark on a perilous journey to ancient ruins, faraway jungles and forgotten caves. Along the way they discover the truth: Guster is an Evertaster — a kid so picky that nothing but the legendary taste itself will save him from starvation. With the sinister chefs hot on Guster’s heels and the chefs’ reign of terror spreading, Guster and his family must find the legendary taste before it’s too late.
Purchase on
Amazon
Book Trailer
Author Adam Sidwell
In between books, Adam Glendon Sidwell uses the power of computers to make monsters, robots and zombies come to life for blockbuster movies such as Pirates of the Caribbean, King Kong, Transformers and Tron. After spending countless hours in front of a keyboard meticulously adjusting tentacles, calibrating hydraulics, and brushing monkey fur, he is delighted at the prospect of modifying his creations with the flick of a few deftly placed adjectives. He’s been eating food since age 7, so feels very qualified to write this book. He once showed a famous movie star where the bathroom was. Adam currently lives in Los Angeles, where he can’t wait to fall into the sea.
BookBlast Giveaway
$50 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash
Ends 6/30/13
Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer http://iamareader.com and sponsored by the participating author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. Prize value $50 US.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Birthdays of a Princess
by Helga Zeiner
on Tour June 1st - July 31st 2013
by Helga Zeiner
on Tour June 1st - July 31st 2013
Book Details:
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Published by: POW WOW Books
Publication Date: May/June 2013
Number of Pages: 290
ISBN: 978-0-9868798-7-6
Purchase Links: Coming Soon
Synopsis:
To be famous and be admired by total strangers can be very dangerous.Her little girl has always been her princess. In fact, she was so lovely, Melissa entered her toddler into child beauty pageants, making her a star from an early age. But her dreams and hopes are shattered one October morning, when Melissa watches a breaking news story on television. A young girl has been filmed by bystanders, committing a brutal assault in broad daylight in a downtown Vancouver Starbucks…and it looks like the girl is her daughter.From this moment on, a story unfolds, so shocking, that it will hold you captive and you will find yourself reading faster and faster into the night.Read an excerpt:
Prologue
She wakes up earlier than usual. It’s not even eight yet. The apartment feels empty, but that doesn’t surprise her, because it is empty most mornings. To make sure, she gets out of bed, opens the curtains, waddles down the narrow hallway, stops at the second bedroom and listens briefly. Not a sound. Of course not. She would have heard the flat door open, no matter how late. She is a light sleeper.
The kitchen greets her with familiar comfort. Welcome, my lonely friend. Make yourself a cup of tea. Sit down by the window. Look out, check the weather, think about what to wear for work. Stop listening. Nobody is home but you.
Just another day in the big city.
Vancouver is still sleepy. Yawning and slowly stretching like a lazy lion, rubbing its exhausted eyes, waiting for the helpers to brush the filthy remains of last night’s excitement from the concrete floor of its den.
The water kettle switches itself off and she pours the boiling water over the tea bag and waits one minute, standing in front of the kitchen counter. It has to be exactly one minute, no point in doing anything else but stare at the twirling surface inside her cup. Sixty seconds later–the second dial on her kitchen clock is within her periphery—she discards the bag, heaps three generous spoonfuls of sugar into the cup, followed by so much cream that the tea instantly cools to drinking temperature, and sits down at the kitchen table.
Still thinking it’s just another day.
A gentle traffic hum outside, no sound inside her kitchen. Correction: no sound inside her flat, this two bedroom, one bathroom borderline apartment. Borderline because its location touches a good neighborhood and the Eastside. The street she lives on stops the filthy guts of downtown spilling over into suburbia. Her kitchen window points toward the high-rise monuments of downtown Vancouver. Very pretty at night, not so attractive at daytime when the not-so-high and not-so-modern buildings that envelope the skyscrapers become visible. She doesn’t want to look at the decaying grey buildings any longer that provide a battle ground between city planners who want to sell it to developers and Eastsiders who have occupied them.
Just another day. And it is so quiet.
Melissa turns on the TV, not realizing that it is exactly eight o’clock now. The channel is set on CTV and there is a ‘Breaking News’ banner flashing in bright orange below the female morning anchor. She increases the volume. The excited voice of the lady anchor fills her kitchen. She takes a sip of her sweet, sweet tea and leans back a little.
“We have a developing story of a brutal attack on a customer at Starbucks coffee shop on Robson Street. Apparently a young woman has stabbed another woman inside Starbucks. Our reporter Emily Jackson is on location. Emily, what can you tell us…?”
The upper body of a reporter, holding a microphone in one hand and fighting her wind-swept hair with the other, comes into the picture. Melissa hadn’t noticed that it is quite windy outside. Well, it’s October, at least it’s not raining. Behind the reporter a yellow band is restricting access to the crime scene. She sounds overly excited. “From what we have learned, a young woman has suddenly attacked a woman inside the coffee shop you see right behind me. We don’t know yet if the customer was already seated or still standing in line to place her order. We also don’t know the identity of the attacker or of the victim yet or have any information about the motive. Apparently the attacker suddenly produced a knife and threw herself at the woman, yelling obscenities on top of her voice. As you can see behind me, police have cordoned off the area and are processing the scene.”
The anchor interrupts her. “Do we have any information about the condition of the victim? Is she badly hurt? Or…”
An autumn gust blows hair over the reporter’s face. She nearly loses her microphone, trying to control the strands with both hands, but fumbles it back into position when she realizes that the camera is focused on her again. One side of her pretty face is completely covered with hair. It looks ridiculous and Melissa catches herself thinking the reporter would look a lot prettier if she had a different hairstyle.
“The ambulance has transported the victim to the emergency ward of St Paul’s…”
The reporter’s voice travels along Melissa’s attention span and loses its grip. Background noise quality. She likes that. And God, her tea is good.
Another developing story news-flash banner demands her attention again. The anchor sounds triumphant: “We have just received a video-clip from one of our viewers. We would like to warn you that some viewers may find the content of this video-clip offensive in nature…”
The clip starts. The picture is shaky, the filmmaker hassling for a good position between other coffee-shop customers who have jumped up to look what is going on in the middle of the room. The back of shoulders and heads pop in and out, screams of horror and confusion can be heard. Their unedited sound quality provides an unnerving authenticity to the unfolding drama.
An arm rises up in the air and down again, in kind of a wood chopping motion. Up and down, in one swift move, no hesitation whatsoever. In fact, the chopping goes on. Up and down, up and down—accompanied by ‘Oh my God’s’ and ‘Oh no, oh no’s’. The filmmaker edges closer, seems to get up on a chair, because he is above the scene now, holding his iPhone or whatever device he’s got, high above the center of the customer-circle that inched away from the dangerous situation. The victim of the attack is on the floor now, mercifully blurred by the rapid movements of the inexperienced cameraman, or maybe by CTV’s editing. The attacker, the young woman, wearing a black hoodie, is over her and chops into her with such vengeance that Melissa can feel the force of her hatred, furious and powerful. The victim is trying to protect her face and chest with crossed hands. The mad attacker continues to stab her wherever she can—face, arms, torso, it is impossible to make out exactly in the shaky clip where her knife slices into.
Bodies pop in and out of the picture and mercifully block most of what is going on. Several of them finally muster enough courage to intervene. The picture goes even more shaky and blurry. Then the anchor speaks again.
“We have word from the police that the victim you have just seen being attacked inside Starbucks on Robson about an hour ago is in critical condition. The young woman has been overpowered by three heroic young men…”
and now it happens, it’s not ‘just another day’ any longer
“they were performing a citizen’s arrest and held her captive until the police arrived…”
the anchor’s voice fades, just like the reporter’s before, because all of Melissa’s focus concentrates on what she sees on the screen. Meanwhile the filmmaker has managed to muscle himself closer to the group of guys who have pulled the young women off her victim and have now pinned her to the ground. Her face appears. The filmmaker zooms in. She smiles victoriously straight into his camera, as if she has achieved a very special feat.
Melissa is standing now, holding on to her cup of tea, frowning with the exhausting task of connecting what she sees on the screen with the reality of her life. It can not be. It can not be. But it is.
The tea cup slips from her weak hands, falls to the floor, spills its content on the cheap vinyl kitchen floor before rolling under the table.
It is. It is.
It is…her daughter.
Author Bio:
Born and educated in Germany, Helga left her home country when she was 18 to travel the world and experience the magic of life she was passionately reading about.
She spent the next 15 years in exotic places like India, Thailand, Australia and Hong Kong, where she worked her way up into excellent managerial positions in large international companies. To achieve this she had to further her education and enrolled at night classes at the 'Chinese University of Hong Kong' for her Diploma in Management Studies.
Love eluded her for many years. She was nearly 40 when she finally met her dream man and settled in Canada, where she now lives, neatly tucked away in the wilderness. She has previously written several suspense novels which have been published in Germany.
Her first novel written and published in English is called. ‘Section 132”. A thrilling fact-based page-turner about a young girl forced into a polygamous marriage that has received countless 5-star reviews.
Birthdays of a Princess’ is her second novel and will be published in June 2013.
Catch Up With Ms. Zeiner:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)