Words, Books and Radio
The Light Attendant Part 3 has just been released!
In honour of those who fought in The Great War, we are excited to share the poignant conclusion to this story, following Henry and Abbigail home from war and through the pandemic of 1918. Such an integral part of that portion of our history.
Enjoy!
Part III and gripping conclusion to The Light Attendant is due out November 1, 2022 in time for Remembrance day!
Here is a sneak peek at the cover.
(Pay attention – the details help tell the story.)
Following a reluctant farewell, Abbigail and Henry return to their respective lives in Canada only to be caught up in the Spanish Influenza pandemic that sweeps the world at the close of the war. As the first wave of the pandemic mounts, Henry rushes to see to Abbigail’s safety. There, he will face the most difficult battle of his life.
Can Henry become the man Abbigail needs him to be—even if it means he must help her keep her promise to marry another man?
We are getting ready to launch the heart wrenching conclusion of The Light Attendant November, 2022!
Poignant and captivating, The Light Attendant trilogy follows Abbigail, a Canadian Nursing Sister, through the travails of World War I and the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918. Abbigail and Henry meet amidst the chaos of a war that throws them together but is their bond strong enough to withstand the true battle Henry is fighting? A story of love, second chances, and redemption found amidst the horrors of war.
Here is a look at some of the concept art for the cover.
(Not to worry. There are NO spoilers here.)
I have heard a few comments now regarding “the ending” of The Light Attendant, Part I (which, of course, is not actually the end of a three-part story). What I am hearing is: it is abrupt, it is unexpected. One reader “hated it”.
Good. That is exactly what one ought to be thinking and feeling at the end of Part I of my story.
Let me explain:
What was intended to be one simple and short manuscript turned into two long and somewhat involved narratives once I became entrenched in my research. In the end, the book was too long to be a manageable read in one sitting.
I had to break up the story into its respective parts but to do that, I had to decide where to place the section breaks.
I chose the breaks in the story intentionally, each having a purpose.
I don’t want any spoilers here so let me simply ask this: how do you think Abbigail and Henry felt at the conclusion of Part I—a situation common to many, many people at that time and in those circumstances?
THAT—that—is what I want readers to feel and consider while waiting for Part II.
Of course, as I have indicated, the “ending” of Part I is not the “end” of the story—there are still two acts left and the next is coming out in June, 2022.
Stay tuned…
So exciting to finally hold a copy of the book!
Our Advanced Readers are getting an early start on the story. It will be available to everyone on March 18th, 2022.
For those of you who can’t wait, you can pre-order your eCopy here: The Light Attendant: A Canadian Bluebird Novel.
We are diligently working on our latest project: The Light Attendant: A Canadian Bluebird Novel (working title). The story follows a Canadian Nurse through her experiences in Wold War I and the pandemic of 1918. The book has been a long time in the making and I am thrilled to see the project in its final phase.
This story actually began as an anecdote told by one of the characters in our first trilogy: Horizons, Winding Roads, and Coming Home, initially published in 2014. I had long been interested in World War I and the Spanish Influenza pandemic which followed at the end of the war in 1918. As a result, I used that bit of history in one of my character’s background stories in Coming Home, never knowing it would go on to become so much more. (For those of you familiar with Coming Home, you might just recognize the “guest appearance” by two of the characters as they help out in our new book.) Continue reading “The Light Attendant: A Canadian Bluebird Novel – story origin”
It has been a number of years since our Creative Collective published our first book: Horizons, Part I of the Renate Saga and the first of the trilogy. While I still love the original covers for the series, I feel it might be time to freshen up the look of the work.
We are planning to re-release an updated version of the Renate Saga early in 2022. Stay tuned…
After a couple of passes through our editing team, I am thrilled to be working on the final draft of my upcoming historical romance novel: The Light Attendant and the Bluebird.
Set in World War I, The Light Attendant and The Bluebird tells the story of Private Henry Ryzack who battles not only the Germans, but also his own personal vices and demons on the battlefields of France as he struggles to keep promises made and become a man worthy of Nursing Sister, Abbigail Grieves.
I am very excited to share this story with you. So eager, in fact, that I cannot help but give you a “sneak peek” into the first two chapters of the novel.
Continue reading “WIP Part II: The Light Attendant and the Bluebird”
Harvey Nelson awoke like he was surfacing from a deep plunge in cold water. His eyes snapped open and he drew in a sharp breath. He half-rose out of bed, only to relax again, sinking back into the sober white sheets of his sister’s guest bed.
Harvey took another breath, this time letting it out slowly, and stared up at the ceiling tiles of the basement bedroom tying to decode the Rorschach design created by the brown water stains. Dusty grey light filtered in through the small, filmy window, barely disturbing the darkness that lingered in the corners of the room. The only items in the room aside from the metal bed, an ancient, chipped dresser, and a bedside table (equally old), were a few boxes filled with clothes and personal items. The boxes lay scattered about the room, one or two spewing their contents across the floor. Aside from these things, the room was bare.
My latest work in progress began quite some time ago. I have always had a fascination of the World War I era and the ensuing Spanish Influenza outbreak—a pandemic that wreaked as much devastation as the war itself in some parts of the world. One could think endlessly on the parallels between man-made destruction versus the destruction of nature…talk about a battle between two colossuses.
In addition to my interest in the Spanish Flu pandemic, I have always had a great respect for the men and women who fought and worked in the first world war. I am completely in awe of their deeds. These men and women accomplished a monumental task with equipment and tools—both military and medical—that were in their formative stages and they did so in the worst of conditions. They endured hardships and circumstances we have not seen since and they did it so we could have the life we now enjoy.
I cannot comprehend the sacrifices they made.
I have worked with the elderly and have always been amazed at the wealth of stories and knowledge they have collected over their lives. It disturbed me to think we were losing the generation of knowledge-keepers from the first world war and an early pandemic experience. One could only guess what significant information would be lost along with them. I feared the disappearance of stories that told of gritty fortitude, determined sacrifice, and breath-stopping adventures. The stories of those who had served in the war and had survived the pandemic were far too rich and far too consequential for them to be forgotten. After all, those acts of courage form the underpinnings of what each of us have become. And, thus, I began doing some research, gleaning what stories I may—and there are a great many indeed.
The Light Attendant and The Bluebird (working title) evolved over many years, its beginnings tracing back to an anecdotal story mentioned briefly in the third book of the Shifters trilogy. My resolve hardened into firm research in the summer of 2019 when I mis-read a book title in some dyslexic moment of scanning a book store shelf too quickly. The title as I had read it stuck in my head, attached itself to my musings of WWI and the Spanish Influenza and turned those thoughts into a story. Over the summer and fall and into the next year, I researched the war and developed my characters and plot.
Timing is everything, as they say, and in March, 2020, I was re-deployed to the COVID Assessment and Testing Centre as our very own, real-life pandemic took hold of our country. I began a fascinating journey of writing about the war and the following 1918 pandemic as our own pandemic matched pace with my story.
It was an interesting year.
I have now finished the first draft of my story and have turned it over to other members of our Creative Collective for a first edit. I already know there are a few changes to be made—I thought of one addition at 04:00 one night, an occurrence with which most authors will be familiar. The manuscript will take a bit of refining, but I am excited about this work and wanted to begin sharing it with others.
Stay tuned for updates.
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