Dreaming Along with EC Stilson in the Prequel to The Golden Sky - Homeless in Hawaii - and Two More Books!!

When Elisa had had enough from what was happening at home...she knew she had no choice... She was leaving... And when Cade knew that she was serious, he agreed to go with her. They had a little money, but money wasn't the issue. She knew that they could make money singing on the streets...and if they reached Hawaii, like they planned, the weather would be warm enough that they wouldn't need to pay for a place to stay... they would sleep under the stars! Surely, they could make enough to pay for food. But, no matter what, she was leaving. 

Hopefully, God would still love her enough to be with them on their journey... Elisa was lost, confused, and just a little scared. After all, she had practically been kicked out by her family as well as the church. One time...just once...she'd had sex. They claimed a demon must have entered her...and they performed an exorcism...

All she knew was that she had lost her sense of well being. She felt unloved, except by Cade, but, really, she just wasn't sure about the most important being in her life! Did God still love her? That's what caught in her mind, her heart, and her very being... Who was she? Was she still a Child of God, albeit a sinful one? And, if they really had to perform that exorcism, did they get that demon out of her? Even while plans were made, and the trip started, Elisa was bothered...

 

I stood in the middle of a tunnel where a light shone from miles away at the far end. I chuckled to myself. "Of course, I'm in a tunnel. Why does everyone have to see a light at the end?" 

A voice spoke near me, "Because it's easy to process. But you won't be going there just yet. You're here because you seek answers." 

A light clicked on above my head, and I looked over to see a short, old man standing next to me. 

"Wait," I murmured. "This is all wrong. You can't just turn on a light in the middle of the tunnel. That's what amazes everyone on Earth—the light at the end of the tunnel." 

He chuckled. "Is it so hard to think that the light can be wherever you invite it?" 

I just gawked at him. 

"Back to the point. We don't have much time. Your body is currently on a flight to Hawaii. I need to ask you a few things before you wake up." 

"Okay?" I paused. The man was crazy. 

"Why are you running away, Elisa?" 

"I'm not running away. I prefer the term 'seeking answers.'" "Fine, why are you running away to seek answers?" 

My hands went into my pockets as I kicked a stupid rock resting on the tunnel's floor. "People said such terrible things. They think I'm someone I'm not. Or even worse...they want me to be someone I'm not. I guess I'm tired of everyone else telling me who I am." 

"Especially when you don't even know who you are?" I thought for a minute and nodded. "So, I don't get to go to the end of the tunnel?" 

"Not now. You still have so much to learn." And with that he stood on tiptoe, put his thumb on my forehead, and blew into my face. His breath smelled just like my grandpa's—like peppermint and Sen-Sen. Memories swirled around me as he touched my face. I heard Poodle-face—a girl from high school—telling me what a loser I was. I heard all of the kids at church saying how I'd lost my virginity and been possessed by demons. And as each memory swirled, those people appeared like ghosts in front of me. They piled wood at my feet. 

"Carry this trash with you," a girl from church said. "It's a symbol of who you are." 

Soon a mound of wood rested at my feet. The short man took his thumb from my forehead, and although the ghostly visions vanished, the wood remained. "Pick it up," the old man said. "This wood is God's sign of who you are. You want to find yourself, then pick it up." 

I fumbled, grabbing all the pieces. "If you insist on remembering these things and seeing yourself how everyone else sees you, pick it up." 

"But that's not how I want to see things! I swear!" I tried letting go of the wood, but it instantly stuck to wherever I'd touched it. "You can't change who you are," the man said. "And you might be able to run away from everyone else, but you can't run from God. You can't run away from yourself." 

"I don't want to carry all this." 

"Then get rid of it yourself." He studied my awkward burden-laden movements. "You really did leave to discover who you are. You just might be surprised. How silly that some of your relatives thought you left just because of a boy." 

"Really?" I asked, straining from the weight I bore. 

"Yes, for a fling." 

"Cade's not why I left. I would have gone anyway." "You left to find yourself. I wonder why Cade left." 

The man's words faded as he disappeared. Then the light turned off, even the one at the end of the tunnel...

As we walked to the shore, I thought about the dream I hadn't had in a while—about the strange burden of wood. What was God trying to show me? The answers remained right in front of me just as the sand had waited to anchor Cade. What could I possibly learn from my burden and all those mean things people had said about me back home?

Elisa, at just 17, and Cade finally arrived in Hawaii--a place where many dream of visiting, at least on a short vacation. But, this was to be an adventure like no other for the couple. They had no money for shelter, and soon learned that they weren't allowed to sleep on the beaches. Instead the homeless were assigned one place and that was a place with many people who, actually, could be dangerous or thieves... It was not someplace where Elisa could feel safe...

But somehow, Elisa always seemed to bring the good out of anybody she met. They were soon singing and playing on the streets where, if they were lucky, they could receive enough in donations and eat that day!

Dreams had always been a vivid part of Elisa's life and one in particular kept coming back to haunt her--to challenge exactly why she had left home and moved so far away. Maybe Elisa didn't really know. All she knew was that she had lost a part of herself and wondered just exactly who she was--and what should her future hold for her. Would Cade be a part of it? Would she have to give up and go back home to face, again, the gossip, the cruel actions of everybody there? 

But this was not a sad story. It truly was an adventure for the two musicians who merged together to make beautiful music that pulled in all that heard them play. Even when others took advantage of their concern for others, they responded to try to help whenever possible. In turn, there were those who would help and offered jobs to play, for instance, at a wedding... 

But could it last? Did it need to? If you're like me, I read The Golden Sky first. If you haven't, I recommend you read Homeless in Hawaii first...it is a perfect introduction of what was to come... 

A Stranger's Smile  "Tell me again. Why are you working as a security guard?" Katie asked on the other end of the cell phone. My dilapidated van creaked as I sped to work. It was nearly midnight and I didn't want to be late for my grave shift. "I've told you, something symbolic happened." "Symbolic?" When my sister is frustrated, she repeats everything I say. "Yeah. Remember how I've been studying bonsai trees? They only stay strong if they're fully grown when planted together—and," I quickly went on, "if two seedlings of different breeds are planted in the same container, as they grow one will choke-out the other." "And you're a bonsai tree," she said—in a monotone. "And you think you never grew on your own because you got married too young." "And I got choked out by the other bonsai!" As the van hugged one of the many tight corners leading to work, my headlights skimmed across the rain-covered blacktop. "And the bonsai tree has to do with your being a low-paid security guard because…?" "Because when the manager offered me the job, she had a bonsai tree on her desk." I could almost feel my sister's aggravation through the phone. "It was a sign." Silence, then, "Gina, you were offered a job paying twice as much downtown." "That manager didn't have a bonsai tree on her desk." "You've got to stop following these signs. Look at your life. Look what's happened to you. Sometimes you have to go where the pay is." She can be so feisty—I think she gets it from our Italian mother! I could have responded in turn—I'm a spitfire too—but instead let the words bounce off, just like the plinking rain on the pavement. "Well, I'm at the plant, and I'm working here for a reason. Who knows why, but maybe it's so I can grow into a bonsai tree that's strong all by myself. Thanks for staying up to talk with me."

A Stranger's Kindness is a light, enjoyable romance. I liked Gina, and couldn't help but think that she was a lot like Elisa--an optimist, a woman who was not afraid to reach for what she wanted...and to deal with the schmucks who came into her life that really weren't meant to be there! 

Gina had been married and with a failed marriage, she had been looking for signs of how to find a life that would be wonderful... finding somebody who would be the dream of a man she always longed for...

I shoved the velvety couch with all my might. Then, after little reward I kept on pushing. After all, this was no ordinary house. This was no ordinary dream. What the couch had always concealed was far more than one would expect. There had always been, inches above the floor a gaping hole, spiraling down—not unlike Alice's rabbit hole just with jagged roots and mud—hiding all the terrible secrets of my life.  The couch finally slid and I prepared to see the hole, but it wasn't there…not anymore.  It had been patched up completely, and I fell into a sitting position in front of it, stunned. I wanted to go in there— there—feel the pain of remorse and the consequence of poor choices. Reliving my nightmares was the only thing that made me remember why I'd changed…. Why I'd become a single mom…. Why I'd gotten divorced…. And how The Schmuck had been a mere shadow of my previous husband….  I banged on the wall—hit as hard as I could, but the sheetrock wouldn't bust. My secret place—albeit disturbing—had simply been barricaded away forever.  I sat, thinking that I could never go back to that terrible place. For some strange reason, I wondered how I would stay strong now that I must let go of the pain.

Gina had done it again...she had become involved, albeit not by choice, with a married man, who had lied to her... Now, as she was trying to break free from another fiasco of love gone wrong, he was stalking her... she had to get away from him...

Really, taking a job because the supervisor had a bonsai tree on her desk was not logical...but it was symbolic and Gina took the job as a security guard... And soon saw from the distance, the smile of a man, a handsome, kind man, who spoke to everybody and seemed to be liked by all those with whom he worked...

Now...how was she going to meet him??? Was he that star in the seemingly impossible dream that she was living in?

Take a chance...dream along with Gina...dreams really do come true some time...

And then there were children... LOL 

Seriously, EC Stilson was soon writing a gem of an adventure for kids of all ages! 

I always knew I was different. Every kid on Syron thinks that at some point or another, but I did more than wonder. It wasn’t just my exotic appearance, eyes larger than a normal human’s and lips that gave me the appearance of a fish. It wasn’t even the fact that my family lives in a castle—a haunted one. Or at least that’s what I heard people tell my father when we first moved in. It looks hundreds of years old, but no one knows how the castle got here on Senack’s coast. No one except the natives who lived in this area at the time it was built. The Land Registrar refused to demolish the place. He said that was "maliassuertius," or bad luck in the natives’ tongue. When my father offered to take it off his hands, the Registrar said my parents were mindstruck for wanting to live in a decrepit castle with haunted murals and halls. Groups of natives live here and there, but the whole planet is curious, just like my family. Something bad happened here, I can feel it in the barren land, and the natives won’t speak out. Once I tried asking one of them about Senack’s castle, but she screamed even before I could finish my question. Anyway, that was the day my father forbade me and my four siblings from talking to anyone without his permission. He said we’d teach ourselves, which bothered me since I wanted real answers to my questions. Our castle sits on the beach in a rocky section that’s jagged and bumpy. A huge, slimy tree stands forlornly by the front side of the house. My dad calls it the Diem tree and swears it’s something special—even for Syron. Its droopy branches give it the look of a hunchbacked old man, but I don’t see what’s special other than its shade.  Knowing we’d never get visitors here might be why my parents liked it. We’d moved every few months before—always staying close to the ocean—but when my father pressed the issue and the Registrar agreed to give us this place, we finally settled down. The government would give us land in a better area farther inland, but my dad refused. He took the historic "artifact," and that was that.

"Syron’s a strange planet," my father and mother said. "You don’t know what types of things live in those waters. Stay away from the ocean. It isn’t safe." But the land didn’t seem especially safe either. All I wanted was to jump in the waves, to learn to swim in the water. I dreamed about it day and night. I fantasized that I was like one of the fish I’d seen in some of the castle’s murals. The fish looked both mystical and monstrous. If I were like them at least I’d fit in somewhere.  I never wondered about the ocean until the day Indy went missing. She’s my youngest sister. I hate talking about the last day I saw her. The whole thing was my fault...

Aliya (such a lovely name, isn't it?) narrates the most extraordinary fantasy novel I've read... Its main characters are children and for many years, although they lived by the ocean, they were forbidden to go near it. Aliya was the one who was most affected when her younger sister was lost in the ocean. But, she had never told her parents the truth of what happened.. Her sister was stolen by a witch and she had gone willingly... While Aliya, left behind, was frozen in place, unable to do anything to stop the witch's actions. Aliya had always blamed herself, even though her father denied what she was saying...

Now, her older brother was packing... He was leaving... He had met somebody, a beautiful girl...and he was in love, ready to run off with her...

Only Aliya glimpsed the girl as she waited for him on a ship. Even though many years had passed since her sister had gone away, Aliya knew. The girl her brother was running away with was the same woman who had taken her sister years ago! How could she look the same after so many years? Aliya was to discover her name was Constance and she was indeed a witch. One who could become anybody or anything she wanted to be as she threatened the underwater world with her power.

With an imagination like no other, I visualized that Stilson had started this story as a bedtime tale, which, her children loved so much, that, it just kept going and going, a never-ending tale of three children who set out to find those who had left her family--the father, the brother and a small sister... While their mother sat at home rocking in the chair where she had once rocked her lost daughter... The children called her mindstruck... and, surely, unable to do anything to help...

In fact, I can recommend it for those who are old enough to understand fictional monsters and all things magical, yet scary... Even as the book ended, I wondered, will the journey continue? A fascinating tale of magical wonder where children can walk into water and immediately breathe there, ready to ride the ship that was created by a drawing by Aliya who now had the magical ability to draw something into life! But be careful, there are both those who will help and those who will try to harm those children... Will they find and be joined once again with their family? 

Kara Lynn Conyer First in Trilogy Creates Exciting Beginning!

“We don’t.” Her voice is stiff, suppressing anger. “By the charts, we’re some 100 miles from the Cubbarros. But both global positioning systems put us much closer, somewhere in the middle of the blackout zone.” We’re exactly where the Commission doesn’t want us to be.
"Dirk cuts Candace off in a booming voice before he even enters the salon. “OK. I need everyone to stay inside until we straighten this thing out. The Commission knows why we’re here. It’s not our fault. It’s all good.”
Lacey throws me a look that practically screams, “See, I told you!” I hope he is right. The Commission doesn’t admit to it, but everyone knows they sink any ship that wanders into restricted waters near the Cubbarros Islands. A few years ago, a navy fleet disappeared out here, and the Commission said they had nothing to do with it. Of course, no one believes them. Navy fleets don’t just disappear. The only reason we have permission to be here at all is that Dr. Warren thinks there may be something here to help stop the Fouling.
~~~

Restricted Waters

By Kara Lynn Conyer

This is the first novel in a Trilogy--one I highly recommend for YA to Adults! I loved it for a number of reasons, including that the author spotlights information about a major world issue--oil spills. But, even more important, she very effectively has identified the issue of discrimination, without even using the word... So while this is an important book for those reasons, the major reason to buy it is that it's fun, entertaining, and has much potential for exploring a major world resource, our oceans...

He nearly rips off his shirt and yanks on the fins.
As he pulls his mask down over his eyes,
 I round the stern and swim as fast as I can toward
 the bow. Jake catches up quickly.
So, I suck in a big gulp of air and dive below.
Hand over hand, I pull myself down
 the anchor chain. The bottom looks
 to be about 40 feet below the boat.
In the distance, a drop-off leads into deeper water.
I’m about 20 feet down when Jake catches up.
He grabs my fin to stop me. But then,
he stops and pulls himself down the anchor chain
 to me. He sees it, too. Just past the drop-off
a massive, dark silhouette. It looks like it could be
 the bow of an enormous ship
 reaching straight up out of the deep.
Jake grabs my arm and pulls straight to the surface.
I can’t hold my breath any longer,
so I don’t put up a fight.
“Did you see that?” I say as soon as we break
 the surface. “Shhh, be quiet,” he says.
“Jake, it was huge.” “Alannis, we didn’t
 just see that. I told you,
we’re not supposed to be here.”
~~~
 

Alannis  (which I thought was a cool name, reminiscent of Atlantis) Summers is 16 when she smartly contacts the head of a research expedition into an area around the Cubbarros Islands  in the Caribbean Sea. A crucial key about her being able to go was that she had worked hard, had the appropriate training, certification and dives to be accepted!

She would be assisting Dr. Candace Warren, who was a leading expert on marine invasive species. And, wow, right now an unidentified species was creating a major world-wide problem. Simply referred to as The Fouling, it was a black crust which hardened on surfaces, such as the underside of boats, and literally ate them...  It also consumed oil, petroleum, plastic... you get the idea! 

Ships were being lost, seafood activities had been stopped, restaurants were closing...and people were being killed...

The area around Cubbarros was being explored to see if they could find any sign of the fouling and determine if it was the same that was spreading into the Atlantic Ocean up the U. S. east coast. 

Alannis, was a normal teen who had a tendency to get involved, to seek out adventures, to get answers...and to get herself in trouble. On her first dive, she spots something that looks like a ship and immediately goes to check it out! Jake, the Captain's son follows and manages to get her back on board, rather than do what she wanted to do...go back down! They kept everything a secret so they wouldn't get in trouble...

But it was there, on that first dive that she thought she saw someone, but didn't know that somebody began to follow her...

While the team boat went on to their next location, he started to follow her underwater...

And so routine set in as they explored, looking for the black crust... But somebody was watching everything they did!

The Ocean Security Commission (The Commission) now controlled the Atlantic Ocean. They monitored all shipping. They determined where people could and  could not go. And when the expedition team needed supplies they had to get them from The Commission, by stopping in an area that was guarded at all times...

There, Alannis was taken in for questioning--about her parents, what she was doing on the expedition, how she had gotten permission to be there... 

It seemed to Alannis that too much attention was being paid to her...

But then again, there was a very good reason and The Commission already seemed to know about...the one who followed her underwater...

This is a really exciting water adventure, including diving into caves, into secret waters that were all being carefully controlled... But nobody knew who had created The Commission..or why... Action and suspense and lots of fantasy characters! I'm looking forward to the next story, because The Commission has already debriefed Alannis and "suggested strongly" that she plan on working for them after her high school graduation...Wow! What a ending! And what a hook for the next book!

Don't miss this one... and check out the links to the Trilogy site to learn more about this tale!


GABixlerReviews

Kara Lynn Conyer graduated from Syracuse University with degrees in journalism and anthropology. After many years as a writer and a science diver for an international research center, she has learned a few things about what it's like to be on an expedition in the middle of the ocean. When she's not gathering the facts, she likes to imagine what secrets might lie beneath them. Restricted Waters is her first novel.

You can reach Kara Lynn at the official Restricted Waters trilogy website: restrictedwaters.com or by email at klconyer at gmail dot com

I'm A Sucker For a Great Book - YA or Not!

(From one of the lost letters

of Hingrit Grim)

http://seanjquirk.weebly.com/excerpts.html

"What a truly fascinating world

 we have been introduced to. 

There are plants and animals that exist here

 which even the most imaginative minds

 could not conceive of. 

I received my first lesson today at the helm

 of one of these magnificent beasts.

 Skittish yet willful, they present many

 challenges I hope to overcome. 

I have not received a response 

to my last two letters. I hope

 this one finds you so that I may 

finally hear word that you are alright..."

The Betrayals of
  Grim's Peak


By Sean J. Quirk
(note several links to Author's site where there's
great stuff for the kids!)




I normally enjoy reading and reviewing YA books! Especially when they are creative and full of imagination! Reading all of my life has been a pleasure and I'm happy to share my thoughts on books for the young, hoping they'll catch that love of reading early...

The Betrayals of Grim's Peak is a title that tells you little about what is it about! So, let me say that Grim's Peak is the location of the majority of the novel...

And it is located entirely underwater, maybe somewhere near where you live!

The thing that impressed me most about the world that Quirk has created is that it is "not" magical--it is instead a creative, wonderfully designed imaginative place that "could" exist if some of us decided to move under water. Well, maybe some of the characters are fantasy, but pay attention to the accommodations for travel, the use of the local creatures of the sea harnessed to, for instance, act as taxis, and you'll realize just how much thought has been put into this wondrous world! Wouldn't it be wonderful to walk out the door of your home and automatically be in the water, ready to go wherever you wanted? And use a hippocamp (think horse) to ride!

Augie Tomlin is the main character...He was "found" by his parents along the beach near where they lived and they took him in as their son--but he is soooo much more!

But somebody knew he was there--and what he possessed! And when he was 14, they came after him! Who are they? You'll have to find out, but they are ugggggly! Fortunately, he was saved by a young girl...and her dragon... (Ok, I already told you that there was some fantasy with the characters...LOL)

Now, imagine, a boy who had never learned to swim, suddenly being taken deep underwater, to learn about his birth, his parents, and what he was to do to save Grim's Peak! And to do that, they had to discover the secrets of the past going back to the time when Hingrit Grim first came!

I loved the adventure and everything else about this book. It is definitely a book that will entice your young sons and daughters as well--after all, how many girls have a dragon (actually a drac) all their own? And wait until Augie gets to ride "Red..."

Have your children check out the site and verify their interest...But I reallllly think this is one you won't want your children to miss...don't know the official age but, say, 8-10 and up to 99 should cover those interested if they love fun, fantasy and finding themselves in deep, deep water! Highly recommended!

GABixlerReviews

Well...I am a writer. I love the process, although I could do without those days where you just want to bang your head against a wall hoping to jar something loose; a single idea; a word ... something ... anything to get the cogs of creativity rolling once again so I can find my way through the maze, and let the characters take me where they please ... 
My new books, CATCH and THE BETRAYALS OF GRIM'S PEAK are out, and I'm hoping you guys will like them. 
Catch has a kick-ass editor (Pat LoBrutto), who has won the World Fantasy Award for editing, and is the current editor on the DUNE books.
I have one book in the works. It is titled Remedy, and while it is related to Catch, it is not a sequel because it actually occurs during the same timeline and involves a mostly new cast of characters.
The other is The Betrayals of Grim's Peak, which is a Young Adult crossover centered around a hidden world located deep beneath the ocean.