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Being Still Again
Dedication
For my mother, Nan,
I treasure the memory of rushing home from kindergarten to watch Dark Shadows with you. And, even before my teen years, I can still hear your whispered excitement (always in the wee hours of the night when everyone else was asleep, but I was still reading the newest Nancy Drew mystery you had given me), “Tam, you awake? Come watch a scary movie with me!”
We would hide behind the couch pillows, anticipating the howl of the werewolf, and laughing at the drunk old bitties eating tripe through their hairnets. I cannot count the times we watched horror and mystery movies from the ’60s and ’70s, and other classics, you called them “the oldie moldies,” but your love for watching them, together, never got old.
I wish you were alive to read this story, the first in a trilogy, birthed from a dream. You would have loved to hear it firsthand, and I would have given you the first draft. Your motivating faith in my story telling and writing has energized this project, and while I am certain to write books in other genres, you’re my inspiration for all things dark and eerie, hair-raising, and mysterious! You also have inspired my career in helping those with mental illness, RIP Mom.
Nancy Fleming 1/3/1945 to 1/21/2006
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In the book, Lily, aka Debbi Yan was said to have grown up in 1960's rural China, and it was her job to fetch water. See what the fictitious character's childhood might have resembled by watching actual footage from the countryside here. See other photos on this page which represent a few of the landmarks mentioned in the book.
Before becoming "Ariel Black," the mannequin model, the character travels through Brazil, living with the indigenous peoples among the Amazon rainforests. Here, you can meet Nixiwaka who came from the Yawanawa tribe in the Amazon to better imagine what the fictional experience was based on.
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The author’s perspective…
What is Being Still Again about? My reply, (tongue in cheek) don’t let the mild sounding title fool you, this is a “buckle up, keep the lights on” kind of literary experience. It is also the first book in a trilogy, and (spoiler alert) it is a true cliff hanger. At the start, exhilarating; readers may think they’re riding the Big Dipper roller coaster, which rises over the Pacific Ocean on the Northern California coast. Salted wind in their face, white knuckled, and caution in mind, it will feel much like traveling into the craggy mountainous Sierras, with twists and turns, soaring vistas, followed by sudden drops in elevation, as they are plunged into valleys with hidden underground caverns.More concretely, this novel is a psychological domestic suspense story about two women who have escaped slavery in search of freedom and normalcy. It is written as a contemporary-day tale that moves back and forth from present to past times, and after setting the stage in the first few chapters, it accelerates in pace and intensity.It is plot driven, mainly structured with true crime mystery, escape, and pursuit, tortured desire, vigilantism, love, and hate, with fictitious scaffolding consisting of spiritual, geographical, historical, and allegorical activities. The characters are multifaceted, each with backstory, voice, and a potential for personal transformation. Although the women in this story have had traumatic experience as enslaved victims of human trafficking, they are dynamic, markedly steadfast, imaginative, and courageous. While sometimes panicked and sometimes passionate, they are determined to keep their ominous past hidden. As you would expect, their passage to independence is a suspenseful one, and at times, dangerous, full of complexities, and far from linear. Readers will also discover situational irony and humor which frequently draws attention to the incongruity of the dramatic action, leading to a thoughtful and fuller understanding of recuperation and human resilience.
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