‘Tis the Season 2

“Our job in this life is not to shape ourselves into some ideal we imagine we ought to be, but to find out who we already are and become it.” ~ Steven Pressfield

“To give real service you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity.” ~ Douglas Adams

Artists are people who try to interpret the world. For the most part we are attempting to express something we feel that is difficult to express in words. We create dances, or paintings, to evoke those feeling. Writer’s struggle, not always because we’re lazy, or find housework more interesting, but because putting things as nebulous as deep emotions into something as imprecise as words is extremely difficult. People who are not artists do not always appreciate the soul searching, time and effort, not to mention the cost of materials, it takes to create that work of art that they think is too expensive. But when you buy a work of art, you’re buying more than the canvas, paints, entertainment, or paper and words. You’re buying communication between the creator’s soul and yours. For this reason, I want to continue promoting the work of my writer friends and acquaintances.

The two authors I encourage you to check out today are women who have done a wonderful job of expressing deep emotions in their work.

Julie Christine Johnson

I met Julie online. I’m not sure where, probably Facebook. She was enormously encouraging to me as I was writing The Space Between Time so when her first novel, In Another Time, was published I was anxious to read it. Some of the elements are very similar to my novel. There is a woman who’s life has fallen apart, two time periods with some time travel elements, and the protagonist experiences some extraordinary experiences just like the women in my novel. But In Another Time takes place mostly in France. The reader can learn a great deal about the Cathars, a religious sect active during the middle ages. They were wiped out by the Catholic Church in the 1600s, if I remember correctly. This book is one many women have enjoyed but I think men can also relate to the characters and events of the story. I haven’t read Julie’s second book yet, The Crows of Beara. It takes place in Ireland. I have it on my long wish list. Julie’s writing is beautiful and her books would make wonderful Christmas gifts.

Stacy Bennett

Stacy is another person I met through Facebook. We are both members of a writer’s group there. When her first novel, Quest of the Dreamwalker came out, I was very excited to read it. It’s a fantasy, my favorite genre, and it had a women protagonist. When I downloaded it to my Kindle and began reading, I was hooked from the very first page. This fantasy novel takes place in a fictional world in a medieval type time period with an evil wizard, a war, mercenary soldiers, and an Amazon like society of mystics and warrior women protected by a ring of trees with leaves that become sharp blades if a man ventures into their realm. But the way the plot unfolds is original and unexpected. The relationships among the group of main characters is an important part of the story. I was so taken with this novel, that I gladly purchased a novella Stacy wrote to keep her fans happy while she finishes the second in the Dreamwalker series. That novella is Tales of the Archer. I loved it as much as the first novel even though it is about two of the side characters in her original story. It may be some time before Stacy can finish the sequel to Quest of the Dreamwalker, because like most authors, she has to work at a regular job to support her writing habit. I’ll be ready to read her second novel no matter when it comes out. However, in the mean time, you can enjoy the above mentioned books and one other by Stacy, Son of Anubis, which is also on my wish list.

Please don’t forget, if you get books for Christmas, whether they are these or others on your wish list, share how much you love them with your friends, ask your local bookstore and library to carry them. If you belong to a book club group, suggest the books to the group, and best of all write a review on Goodreads, Amazon, or other booksellers sites. Reviews help authors sell more books.

Thanks for reading, writing comments and pressing the like button. I appreciate it very much.

Lucinda Sage-Midgorden © 2017

Lucinda is the author of The Space Between Time, an award finalist in the “Fiction: Fantasy” category of the 2017 Best Book Awards. It’s a historical, time-travel, magical realism, women’s novel, and is available in all ebook formats at Smashwords, and print-on-demand at Amazon and other fine book sellers. To join her email list, click here. She will never sell the names on her list.