Find Your Way Back by Javacia Harris Bowser

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The Literary Lobbyist will be awarding one $25 and one $50 Amazon or B/N GC to randomly drawn winners via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Award-winning freelance journalist Javacia Harris Bowser is convinced that writing is a superpower. She sees her life as proof of it since writing has helped her navigate marriage, crisis of faith and body image issues. It also helped her to beat cancer.

As a Black woman from the South, Javacia has used the written word to explore issues of gender and race as well as religion. Find Your Way Back is a collection of essays that demonstrate how Javacia has used writing to achieve some of her wildest dreams such as being a public speaker, having her own column, and being her own boss. The book also explores how writing, self-love, and faith helped her overcome her worst nightmare: a cancer diagnosis in 2020. Javacia’s goal is to show readers how writing can transform their lives as well. The book includes prompts throughout to help readers start their own writing journey.

This book is for the woman who has wanted to write since she was a girl but struggles to find the time or the courage to put her words on paper. Find Your Way Back, shows that instead of putting writing on the back burner when life gets turned upside down, we should turn to it to help life make sense again.

Read an Excerpt

- from “Write Like a Girl”

On my eleventh birthday, I declared I was a woman. I have no idea why. My budding boobs barely filled my training bra, and I wouldn’t get my period for another year. But it was as if turning eleven declared I was number one and said it again for good measure, and I believed it.

I can’t recall exactly what I decided to wear on this special day, but I do remember slouch socks were involved. I also remember that I didn’t want a party because birthday parties were for children. A woman–especially one who at the time fancied herself a poet–should spend her birthday having a quiet evening at home writing in her journal, reflecting on her past, and making plans for the years to come.

What I’m trying to say is eleven-year-old me was ridiculous. But I think about this girl often. Sometimes to become the woman you’re meant to be, you must remember the girl you used to be. Sometimes you must write like a girl.

When you write for a living, it can be hard to remember how to do this. When you write for a living, you can easily forget to write for yourself. You can forget to write simply for the love of words, for the joy of stringing together sentences. It can be hard to remember what it felt like to write with no regard for readers or a deadline, but that’s what writing like a girl is all about.

Sometimes I think back to that eleven-year-old girl–who thought she was a woman–and I challenge myself–just for a few moments–to forget about building a brand or pitching publications and just write. Yes, I can get back to business later, but right now, just write.



About the Author

Javacia Harris Bowser is an award-winning essayist and journalist and the founder of See Jane Write. A proud graduate of the journalism programs at the University of Alabama and the University of California at Berkeley, Javacia has written for USA Today, HerMoney.com, and Good Grit magazine. Named one of Birmingham’s Top 40 Under 40, she believes we can all write our way to the life of our dreams.

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Thunder on the Moors by Andrea Matthews

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Andrea Matthews will be awarding an Ebook copy of books 2 and 3 in the series to one randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Thank you for visiting us here at It's Raining Books. Why do you write in your genre? What draws you to it?

I write historicals – historical romances and historical mysteries. I’ve always loved history. There’s something mysterious, romantic, and courageous about it. So, whatever I write needs to include a historical aspect, whether it’s historical romance or historical mystery. Even my paranormal romance has a bit of Irish mythology and history in it. But I like a little romance as well, so just like the history, my novels need to have that as well, even my mysteries. There’s a tenderness in the developing love between two people that enhances the story and fills it out for me. The third thing I like to include is a touch of the paranormal, probably because I believe there is magic in this world, if only we look for it.

What research is required?

For Thunder on the Moor, which is a time travel historical romance, I had to do a lot of research on two periods in history. It included everything from the clothes they wore, to events that were taking place, to everyday food and language. Time travel or not, it was still historical, and as a historian, I wanted my facts to be as close to accurate as possible. For my other series, The Cross of Ciaran, which is a paranormal romance, I still had to do research into the history of ancient Ireland and it’s myths. Even if the priesthood I was creating didn’t really exist, I wanted it to seem realistic, as if it could have been. I also had to do some research into the 1960s, just as I would for a historical novel. As for my mystery series, which is still in the writing stage, it’s historical as well, so research into the place and period was involved there as well.

Name one thing you learned from your hero/heroine.

Nobody is perfect. Even a hero or heroine has their faults.

Do you have any odd or interesting writing quirks, habits or superstitions?

I can’t say that I do really. I pretty much write whenever and wherever I can, and I don’t have any special rituals or superstitions when I write. I don’t know if you’d call it a quirk or not, but I like to make character sheets, family trees, and sometimes maps for the characters and places in my novels. I also have a small looseleaf binder for each book, where I hand write my notes. That way I can check them without having to toggle back and forth on the computer. I don’t need complete silence to write either. Is that a quirk? In fact, I usually have the tv on while I’m writing. I just tune it out unless something comes on I want to hear.

Are you a plotter or pantser?

I generally start out as a plotter, as far as the basic plot goes. In other words, I have a general idea of the direction the story is going, as well as a beginning, middle, and end. Once that’s established, I turn into a pantser – adding and subtracting events as the story develops.

Look to your right – what’s sitting there?

A child’s rocking chair, but it’s on the other side of the room, not right next to me.

Anything new coming up from you? What?

This year I have a few projects planned. The third book in The Cross of Ciaran series is due to come out at the end of May. In fact, it goes to my editor in a few days. I’m also hoping to publish a historical mystery at the end of August under the name, I. M. Foster, which will be entitled “Murder on Oak Street” Then to wrap the year up, I’m planning to publish the fourth book in The Thunder on the Moor series at the end of November.

Do you have a question for our readers?

I’d love to hear what they think about the novel. Do they like the characters? Did they enjoy the story? Did it touch them emotionally?

Maggie Armstrong grew up enchanted by her father’s tales of blood feuds and border raids. In fact, she could have easily fallen for the man portrayed in one particular image in his portrait collection. Yet when her father reveals he was himself an infamous Border reiver, she finds it a bit far-fetched—to say the least—especially when he announces his plans to return to his sixteenth century Scottish home with her in tow.

Suspecting it’s just his way of getting her to accompany him on yet another archaeological dig, Maggie agrees to the expedition, only to find herself transported four hundred and fifty years into the past. Though a bit disoriented at first, she discovers her father’s world to be every bit as exciting as his stories, particularly when she’s introduced to Ian Rutherford, the charming son of a neighboring laird. However, when her uncle announces her betrothal to Ian, Maggie’s twentieth-century sensibilities are outraged. She hardly even knows the man. But a refusal of his affections could ignite a blood feud.

Maggie’s worlds are colliding. Though she’s found the family she always wanted, the sixteenth century is a dangerous place. Betrayal, treachery, and a tragic murder have her questioning whether she should remain or try to make her way back to her own time.

To make matters worse, tensions escalate when she stumbles across Bonnie Will Foster, the dashing young man in her father’s portrait collection, only to learn he is a dreaded Englishman. But could he be the hero she’s always dreamed him to be? Or will his need for revenge against Ian shatter more than her heart?

Read an Excerpt

Hurrying up the turnpike steps, she passed by one of the few decent-sized windows and froze. She could see over the barmekin wall from here, and her eyes fixed on the rugged men who bore down upon them from the southwest. With a flaming spear signaling their lawful approach, the band of angry horseman sallied forth, trumpet blasting and sleuth hounds barking at their heels.

The glint of sunlight hitting a sword caught her attention, and she squinted to see better, cursing herself for not sneaking a pair of binoculars along on the journey. She uttered a quick prayer, hoping it might be Dylan or her uncle, but she couldn’t tell, not at this distance.

Biting her lip, she focused on the figure who came closer to the barmekin wall with each stride of his horse. How angry he looked in his plated jack with his pike held high. And yet something about him unleashed an entire flock of butterflies within her stomach and sent shivers down her spine so intense they caused her knees to quiver.

It’s him! The late afternoon light illuminated his face, and though she couldn’t really distinguish his features enough to identify him, somehow she knew. The heat rose in her cheeks, and she fanned herself, determined to retain her composure.

About the Author

Andrea Matthews is the pseudonym for Inez Foster, a historian and librarian who loves to read and write and search around for her roots, genealogical speaking. She has a BA in History and an MLS in Library Science and enjoys the research almost as much as she does writing the story. In fact, many of her ideas come to her while doing casual research or digging into her family history. She is the author of the Thunder on the Moor series set on the 16th century Anglo-Scottish Border, and the Cross of Ciaran series, where a fifteen-hundred-year-old Celt finds himself in the twentieth century. Andrea is a member of the Romance Writers of America, Long Island Romance Writers, and the Historical Novel Society.

Buy Link: Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/Thunder-Moor-Andrea-Matthews-ebook/dp/B07ZS7V3TB

Andrea Matthews Historical and Paranormal Romance - Website - https://andrea-matthews.com
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/andreamatthewshistoricalromance
Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/AMatthewsAuthor
Instagram – http://www.instagram.com/andreamatthewshistoricromance
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19718311.Andrea_Matthews
Bookbub - https://www.bookbub.com/profile/andrea-matthews

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Are You Okay, Elliott Hart? by Kate S. Martin

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Kate S. Martin will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

"You keep it on the inside because that's the safest way to hide."

Fifteen-year-old Elliot 'Matchstick' Hart spends his days caring for his mum and hiding from the school bully.

Fifteen-year-old Josh McBride spends his days tormenting Elliot and avoiding his abusive stepdad.

Hoping to save his mum, Elliot embarks on an adventure inspired by a picture in an old newspaper. Little does he know that Josh has decided to join him.

On their journey, strangers and surprises force them to look at each other in a different light. As secrets are revealed, will they reconcile their differences or will the secrets tear them further apart?

Read an Excerpt

I’m walking faster than usual, not only because it’s raining heavily, and I am soaked through, but I’m angry. I’m not sure if I am angry at my mum or the whole damn situation. I want to get home, get out of these stupid clothes, and hide under a duvet with my book. I’m reading To Kill a Mockingbird now. Mr. Marshall recommended it to me, so Sydney found a copy at the library and put it aside. I’m up to the part where Miss Maudie’s house has burnt down, and I’m eager to know what will happen next.

Marching past the terraced houses, I can’t help but sneak another look in. I see one house where two boys are running around their living rooms with lightsabers; I see dads working on computers in their offices and mums coming home from work being greeted with hugs and laughter. I see lives upon lives that I don’t have and what I want, so very, very much. I want a home with noise and chaos and giggles. I want younger brothers that annoy the hell out of me and a dad that lifts me up onto his shoulders and ducks down, so I don’t hit my head on the door frame. I want family dinners around a kitchen table, where someone shouts at you if you leave without asking permission. I want. I want. I want. I once heard Tom say I want, doesn’t get but it’s not like I’m asking for lots of money or a new house. I want a normal family.

About the Author:

Kate grew up in a small town in Lancashire, England with her mum, dad, and two older brothers. A bit of a tomboy, she loved nothing more than going out for adventures with her brothers, as long as she was back before dark.

She studied English at Reading University and gained a teaching qualification at Manchester. Nowadays, Kate spends her days teaching English at a local high school in Cheshire and her evenings are spent writing stories close to her heart.

She believes teenage years can be particularly difficult and wants to create stories that show empathy and hope for her readers. She lives with her husband, two children, and Jessie, the miniature schnauzer.

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People of the Sun by Ben Gartner

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. One randomly drawn winner will receive a $50 Amazon/BN GC. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Welcome to It's Raining Books! What group did you hang out with in high school?

I crossed borders. I hung out with the theater kids, partied with the jocks, and kept up with the brains in the AP classes. I played D&D, and also went to concerts. I think this reflects my love of learning and my desire to understand different perspectives than my own. I think that quality lends itself well to the writerly life. I love to jump into other people’s heads and see the world through their eyes.

What are you passionate about these days?

Space. My youngest son and I are really into it. We’ve been reading and watching all the material we can get our hands on, keeping up with the latest news, etc. As of this writing, my latest WIP is a “space fiction” story. Super fun. This is an amazing time for the space program.


If you had to do your journey to getting published all over again, what would you do differently?

Start earlier. I waited until age forty to start writing again, and I wish I’d started earlier. Though, every time I say that, I know that it was probably the perfectly right time. Relatedly, that’s a theme I explore in my book, People of the Sun. “If you could change history, should you?”

Ebook or print? And why?

Both. I generally prefer to read from print, but I do love the mobile nature of ebooks. I typically have a hard copy book going at home, as well as an ebook synced to my phone and tablet so that I can read on the go or when I’m not home and don’t want to lug a book around.

What is your favorite scene in this book?

Hard to pick a favorite, but I’m going to go with one of the scenes that was also the hardest to write. When John and Sarah go to a presentation in the future, the scientists on stage are trying to explain how they have been able to slow time. This includes a visual depiction of one aspect of Einstein’s theory of relativity. I wanted to make it as easy to understand as possible with an analogy that made sense, while also not missing the opportunity to blow some young minds. I hope that mission was accomplished.

The explosive reveal about who John and Sarah really are and why they’re traveling through time, with their most gut-wrenching challenge yet. In the time of the Aztec, a scoundrel named Cortés arrives and the kids are forced to make an extremely difficult decision: If you could change history, should you? For more twists, more danger, and more fun, read the third book in The Eye of Ra series, People of the Sun!

Read an Excerpt

This was too weird, so it had to be happening for real. If it made no sense at all, then it had to be real. That was what John had come to expect of their life ever since he and Sarah entered that cave in Colorado and traveled back in time to the ancient Egyptian town of Saqqara. Then, later, traveled through time again, from the museum in Washington, DC, to the ancient Roman frontier town of Aventicum.

Abnormal was their new normal, and seeing these two people—if that’s all they really were, and not gods—speaking of Aten and telling them they were needed again . . . John shrugged. It had to be true.

Something in his bones told him: It has to be true.

He thought all this out before the earth trembled again, and he matched the stare of the older man. John’s hand reached to the pendant he always wore around his neck. The eye of Ra.

The tremor stopped and immediately John asked, “How d’we go back?”

The old woman grinned. “Always so precocious.”

The old man laughed. “Agreed. Some things never change.” He winked at the woman.

“If you are who you I think you are, then prove it.” Sarah crossed her arms and pivoted back to confront these strangers head-on.

“What exactly is going on here?” Aunt Lorraine asked. “Do you know each other?”

“That necklace isn’t what you think,” the old man said, looking at John fidgeting with his pendant.

John felt the warmth of the pendant on his chest. He could trace it in his sleep, and in fact had done just that many times in his dreams—over the brow, around the almond-shaped eye, down the arc with the curlicue finish, then the final straight line with the knifelike edge. The eye that could transport them through space and time.

About the Author: Ben Gartner is the award-winning author of The Eye of Ra time travel adventure series for middle graders. His books take readers for a thrilling ride, maybe even teaching them something in the meantime. Ben can be found living and writing near the mountains with his wife and two boys.

Thank you for having me on your blog! If people would like to learn more about me or my books, the best place to find me is my website: https://BenGartner.com.
I’m also active on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BGartnerWriting
A bit less on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/BGartnerWriting
And I’m really bad at Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BenGartnerAuthor

My books are available wherever books are sold! Again, thanks for having me.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/People-Sun-Eye-Ben-Gartner/dp/1734155280/
Local bookstore: https://indiebound.org/search/book?keys=author%3AGartner%2CBen
Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/people-of-the-sun/id1578394762
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/people-of-the-sun-ben-gartner/1139909512?ean=9781734155280
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/people-of-the-sun-2
Everywhere else: https://books2read.com/people-of-the-sun-ben-gartner

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Mars Wars Series by John Andrew Karr

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. One randomly chosen winner via rafflecopter will win a $50 Amazon/BN.com gift card. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Thank you for visitin with us at It's Raining Books. What would we find under your bed?
Don't go. It's a scary place!

What was the scariest moment of your life?
Watching The Exorcist in the theater as a young teen. The build-up was great. The 360 degree head turn was disconcerting, as was the projectile vomiting. Both could be seen in various mind flashes for a while afterward.

Do you listen to music while writing? If so what?
I used to but have since moved into just having the place quiet, or windows open and hearing the splash of the fountain outside on the patio.

What is something you'd like to accomplish in your writing career next year?
More sold books, more tales.

How long did it take you to write this book?
About a year and a half.

BOOK THREE IS NOW AVAILABLE!

Mars, in the throes of resurrection.

If you happened to have an illegal telescope, or proxied your galaxynet address well enough to pirate your way to satellite images of Mars, you might glimpse a damaged but operational Mars Orbiter 1, alive with ‘rebels.’

You could see clusters of superheated propellant burning beyond Earth space, as the EFF (Earth First Faction) sends armed planetary shuttles on an attack route to relieve the rebels of their existence.

If so, you’d be witnessing Mars Wars.

Read an Excerpt

The debris would be recovered by the drones for re-purposing.

No one on MOS-1 wanted human bodies to be stripped of their space suits by drones.

The machines would take them to Mars entry, however, for incineration.

Devans flew just past the next drifting form. He twisted into a one eighty to allow the ion jets to act as space brakes, then angled the small funnels to keep himself at the same rate and direction as the deceased.

He held an arm out and touched the suit.

The helmet had been atomized on a diagonal. He could not determine the gender of the victim inside. The identification chip was either gone or damaged.

This one’s even worse than the last one, he thought.

A glow spot grew in the corner of Devans’ eye. At first he thought it was notification of a mindtext, as they came with tiny dots in the periphery. But this was on the wrong side of his mindtext queue.

“Ry, duck and move! NOW!”

He knew Burroughs’ tones well enough to react first, ask later.

His hand blurred to hit a double max jet burst downward and sideways.

A concentrated cluster of laser beams lit up the inside of his helmet and hummed through his suit speakers.

He didn’t stop there.

He arced up and he drew the spatz pistol holstered at his side.

Where, where?

Another flash and he hit a jet burst upward this time. The beam went low, anticipating a maneuver similar to his first.

“Crew, back to ship!” Devans said. “Gwen, fire a volley at the origin.”

PS-17 shifted and fired, the beams trailing out into darkness.

“Shannon, where the hell is it?”

“I can’t see it!” her voice was frantic. “INCOMING, RY! Go, Go, Go!”

He zipped away on a spin, returned fire though he had yet to make visual, even with the face shield’s enhanced zoom.

“They must be cloaked,” he said, dodging two more beams.

PS-17 lit up the originating area with a barrage of streaking plasma rounds. He saw a single splatter that had appeared as nothing.

He aimed and fired at it, shouting coordinates.

“Get in the ship, Ry! They’re after you!”

If true, then PS-17’s shields were as about as impervious as human flesh to a spatz beam, and he’d be putting the crew at greater risk. However, his little suit jets were micro thrusters compared to the fusion engine of a shuttle, and the crew and all the ‘rebels’ of MOS-1 had already been hurled into the risk vortex that accompanies war.

The space crazy had an answer.

“Nah, I’m good out here.”

About the Author:

From his home in Wilmington, North Carolina, John Andrew Karr (also John A. Karr) writes of the strange and spectacular. He is the author of a handful of independent and small press novels and novellas, and also leaves in his wake a trail of short stories.

Website: http://www.johnandrewkarr.com
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/John-A-Karr
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/johnandrewkarr1
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/johnandrewkarr
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgMXLJ0MK2Q

Buy Links: Detonation Event: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D6BDQBC
Rogue Planet: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07XFMCD21
Annihilation Plan: https://www.amazon.com/Annihilation-Plan-Mars-Wars-Book-ebook/dp/B09NKPN3Z5/ref=sr_1_2

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The Corpse Princess by Jayce Carter

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Jayce Carter will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Karma is a bitch—but then again, so am I.

Ten years ago, a group of men murdered my mother and thought they had killed me. I’ve spent every day since planning revenge against the man behind the attack—my father. As the head of a powerful crime family, he won’t be an easy target, but nothing matters more than making him pay for what he’s done.

Now, I return in disguise, only to end up on the radar of the Quad—the four most dangerous men in the city…men I’ve been desperately in love with since I was a teen. I have no idea if they were in on the plan to have me killed, but I can’t stop myself from craving their taste, their bodies and their rough, domineering touches. Even though I know the risks, I keep falling deeper into our twisted relationship.

My plan is simple—find and get rid of the people who carried out the attack, kill my father…and don’t fall in love with the men who might have betrayed me.

This world already killed me once—let it try again.

Read an Excerpt

Good lord, as it turned out, banging four guys took a lot out of a girl. I should have expected it, but pornography made it all look so easy.

They didn’t show the next day, the aches, the sore muscles, the hickeys or marks from bites.

Then again, maybe that was like romance novels not showing how a year down the road, the leading man had stopped washing his ass. People like to see the good, the exciting, and forget the rest, the reality and the aftermath.

A good night’s sleep had helped me put myself back together after the huge mistake of having sex with the Quad.

I’d known it hadn’t been smart, but by the end, it had become clear just how stupid the choice had been. I’d wanted to feel something and had ended up overwhelmed by it all.

Be careful what you wish for.

It hadn’t really happened until the end, until that last orgasm had cracked me wide open, when I’d leaned against Rune, when I’d lifted my head to see Bray and Dane staring at me, and I’d wanted….

Something.

I hadn’t dared allow myself to take that thought to its conclusion, to consider what I wanted, because it wasn’t possible.

For so many reasons.

I doubted they wanted anything real. I couldn’t trust them, and I’d likely be dead soon anyway. All of it meant this was cursed from the start, and that terrifying moment of desire had made me shut down…hard. I’d welcomed that coldness again and let it consume me, had allowed it to hide anything I felt beneath miles of solid ice.

About the Author:

Jayce Carter lives in Southern California with her husband and two spawns. She originally wanted to take over the world but realized that would require wearing pants. This led her to choosing writing, a completely pants-free occupation. She has a fear of heights yet rock climbs for fun and enjoys making up excuses for not going out and socializing.

Links:

Buy link: https://amazon.com/Corpse-Princess-Nemesis-Jayce-Carter-ebook/dp/B09QZCSBRQ/ref=sr_1_1
Website: https://www.jaycecarter.com
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Jayce-Carter/e/B07Y4T7CHH
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaycecarterauthor/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JayceCarterAuthor

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The Light in the Darkness by Jo St Leon

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Jo St Leon will be awarding a $15 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Welcome to It's Raining Books. What or who inspired you to start writing?

I was a very shy, geeky teenager. I read voraciously, and I played the viola. I didn’t really speak very much at all. So my main inspiration to write came from Virginia Woolf—her essays, rather than her novels. I just loved her voice—her turn of phrase, the rhythm of her words, and the incredible sense of her character that shone through them. I wanted to be able to create a voice like that, both on and off the page.

What elements are necessary components for this genre?

Well, it’s a bit of a hotchpotch genre: a bit of memoir, a bit of personal development, a bit of health and wellness, even a bit of YA and coming-of-age, so this question isn’t easy. I would say honesty, a willingness to dig deep, and the capacity to laugh at myself.

How did you come up with the idea for your book?

I didn’t originally set out to write a book. I started by writing isolated articles as they occurred to me. I had looked for a book like mine when I was first diagnosed, but couldn’t find one (although I’m sure there was one somewhere). I found lots of books that told me what to do (confusingly, all their recommendations were different, and often contradictory), but none that just sat with me and shared the feelings. So after writing a couple of articles it occurred to me that I was writing the book I wanted to read.

What expertise did you bring to your writing?

I was writing about personal experiences and personal development. When I was living in London and working as an orchestral musician, it was a 7-day-a-week job. I think I suffered a bit of burnout, so I retrained as a counsellor and life-coach, and after qualifying, I worked in both these fields for a couple of years before returning to music. This helped me interpret my experience of living with cancer, and confront the fears. In the book I refer to the Johari Window - a tool for helping to discover your authentic self that I learned at Counselling College. This theme of openness and authenticity underlies the whole book.

What would you want your readers to know about you that might not be in your bio?

I have a completely irrational fear of birds. Even dead ones. I have a talent for derailing my best intentions, and if I allow myself, I can be possibly the laziest person on the planet.

As far as your writing goes, what are your future plans?

My second book is well underway. It’s completely different. It’s working title is Conversations with Robin Wilson. Robin is probably Australia’s foremost violin pedagogue—he has an astonishing number of truly outstanding students. This book is about his earliest musical experiences, his training, his pedagogy and the philosophy behind it, and his ideas about where music sits today in a world ravaged by climate change, war and the pandemic. I also have a couple of creative nonfiction journals I’d love to appear in, and I have a long-cherished ambition to write crime fiction.

Can you give us a sneak peek into the book?

My favourite piece is The Hair Correspondence. I changed drug, and began to lose my hair. I shaved it all off and had a turban-shopping spree. A friend asked me what my hair meant to me, so I wrote a letter to it to try and find out. Then my hair wrote back, and it turned into a correspondence that was incredibly fun to write.

Do you belong to a critique group? If so, how does this help or hinder your writing?

I do. We call ourselves Pottering Writers (we meet at my house in Pottery Rd) and we all met at a writing workshop run by novelist Rosie Dub. We got on so well we decided to meet monthly. Rosie loved the idea, and comes whenever she can. We are very privileged to have such wise counsel in our group, and all of us have learned and developed as a result. This was a couple of years ago. Now, everybody contributes, and we only occasionally defer to Rosie. They have become friends, and their feedback always helps. Sometimes it has totally changed the course of a piece of writing.

When did you first decide to submit your work? Please tell us what or who encouraged you to take this big step?

I enrolled myself in a memoir writing course run by Oxford University—I call it their outpatients’ department. The final piece of work I submitted for the course was The Diagnosis. The tutor loved it, so I submitted it for a memoir competition. It won second prize, and I was beyond thrilled. It was the first thing that made me believe my voice had something to contribute.

What is the best and worst advice you ever received (regarding writing or publishing)?

The best advice I ever received was to NEVER submit a first draft. Work matures in a drawer, and when I revisit it it never fails to reveal its flaws. The worst was from my primary school English teachers who instilled in me that the basic rules of grammar should never, ever be broken—they were cast in stone. I’m very grateful to these teachers for teaching me grammar, but there are certainly times—not too many—when breaking them is powerful.

Do you outline your books or just start writing?

A bit of both. I have a vague idea of what needs to go in, but it develops organically. I have never actually written an outline—I have a profound resistance to that, although I know it works beautifully for some.

How do you maintain your creativity?

With difficulty sometimes. It comes in waves—there are times when the words are scrambling over each other to get on the page, and times when the page remains stubbornly blank. Did I mention that I’m lazy? Too much inactivity doesn’t sit well with me though, so I have a couple of go-to solutions. One is morning pages—I’m a bit erratic with them, but when I do them consistently, magic happens. Then there is journalism—a concert review or profile (with accompanying deadline) can get the words flowing. If all else fails I put the computer away and go swimming.

Anything else you might want to add?

Well, I’ve probably been boring you for quite long enough, but there is just one more thing. I find the process of writing totally absorbing. Hours flash by in an instant, meals get forgotten (I know, amazing much?), friends get ignored. It’s this immersion that lets me know I’m on the right path.

The Light in the Darkness is a must-have companion for anyone living with a serious illness, or caring for a loved one with such an illness.

With this collection of reflections and personal essays, Jo St Leon shares her experiences, her darkest moments and her greatest joys. She tells of the journey from fear and denial to acceptance and a determination to live her best life. She shares her deepest thoughts and feelings, always with her characteristic blend of wry humour and wisdom.

The Light in the Darkness is the book Jo wishes she could have found when she first received her cancer diagnosis.

Read an Excerpt

Cancer is supposed to change everything—sufferers are supposed to devote their lives to their condition, and thanks to both their illness and their treatment, they are supposed to feel terrible. This has not been my experience at all. Since diagnosis I have felt progressively better apart from one serious, slightly alarming episode. Much of the time I don’t actually feel ill at all. For now, I am contented and have a good quality of life. Friends remind me that in the eleven years before I was diagnosed, I really did suffer—but somehow it feels as though if I could put up with it and carry on working it can’t have been that bad.

Cancer is not a competition, and one person’s experience does not invalidate another’s. What is important is not comparison but sharing discoveries and learning. I have tried in these pages to become a friend to those who are walking a similarly scary path. And cancer is always scary.

Regardless of whether your prognosis is terminal or curable, you will have to carve out a new normal for yourself. Trying to carry on exactly as usual, as I did, masking fear with humour and trivialising the concern of others, is a form of denial. After all, it was some form of the old normal that helped get us into this mess.

Cancer is shit. Always. But it does bring blessings in its shitty wake. If you are reading this book, you likely have cancer yourself or have someone close to you who does. By sharing my path with you, I hope you might occasionally say, ‘Oh yes!’ or ‘Oh, that really is a thing!’ Although my level of well-being is mostly good, I have dealt with all the fears that come with more ‘normal’ cancers—the fears of death, of what will happen if I can’t work, or look after myself, or take care of my cats. These fears are very real and can haunt a person’s waking and sleeping hours. I must remind myself sometimes that Sézary is by no means a fraudulent or insignificant cancer; there will likely be suffering aplenty in my future. My temporary status as a medical miracle does not rob me of my voice.

This is not a How to Overcome Cancer book. There are so many of them out there written by people who are way more knowledgeable than I. I have great faith in my medical professionals, but I don’t leave it all to them. I need to take some responsibility for my own wellbeing. At the outset, I experimented with many things, and I have learned that one person cannot possibly do them all. Self-care is important, but for me it was and is important to maintain some semblance of a quality life as well. Whatever choices I have made in this regard are mine alone. I am not recommending or prescribing them. Everyone’s choices will be different.

About the Author:

Jo St Leon is a musician and writer living in Hobart, Tasmania. Receiving a cancer diagnosis in 2016 prompted her to transition from being a full-time musician who loved to write to being a full-time writer who loves to sometimes play the viola. She shares her house with two very pampered felines. She loves reading, cooking, swimming and yoga.

Connect with Jo St. Leon

WEBSITE https://jostleon.com/
FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/Jo-St-Leon-Writer-2194393090779883
LINKEDIN https://www.linkedin.com/in/jo-st-Leon-351001211/
GOODREADS https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59571484-the-light-in-the-darkness

Buy The Light in the Darkness

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