Cloud Shadow: The novel

Sorry, I couldn't come up with any F words for this post. I wanted to answer some of the questions that I've had from many of you about my book. I thought I'd give you the brief teaser that I've sent to the publishers. Here it is:

---------------------------------------------------------

When web designer Brady Bishop's cell phone vibrates in the middle of an important sales pitch, he assumes his wife LeAnn has gone into labor. The call sends him running for the hospital, but for a heartbreakingly different reason. LeAnn is dead and the baby has survived only by emergency caesarean.

Brady must learn to be a father while also learning to live without the woman who had been his light and laughter for the past decade. Desperate for a measure of peace, Brady returns to Cloud Shadow, a log cabin nestled in the mountains of the Santa Fe National Forest. It is where the summers of his childhood were spent. Cloud Shadow is where he hopes to find himself again.

While hiking one day he stumbles upon the beautiful but dark Hannah Ortiz. Injured by a tumble on the steep mountain path, Hannah is desperate for help and desperately afraid. The fear in her eyes begins to crack Brady’s shell of numbness. The victim of a violent attack as a teen, Hannah shies from men and survives within a watercolor world of art. Scarred and scared, her nights are filled with terror until Brady and his infant son begin to show her another path.

But just as Brady and Hannah begin to find joy in one another, Hannah's fear is realized when her attacker returns. Brady must conquer his grief and guilt in order to help Hannah overcome the shadow lurking behind her.

The mountains surrounding Cloud Shadow provide the backdrop for the exciting conclusion when Hannah and Brady find themselves clinging to one another and attempting to outsmart the shadowy figure who is always just a few steps behind.

-------------------------

Those of you who know me well are aware that I've been in love with the mountains of New Mexico since teenage-hood, due to my relationship with Camp Blue Haven. Mike's family also owns a cabin there and this story is basically set in that cabin. The premise of the story came from Mike's Granddaddy Welch, who lost his first wife when she died delivering their second child. He retreated to his cabin in the mountains to mourn his wife; not long after his seclusion there he met Mike's Grandmother. That story struck a nerve with me when I first heard it and I've always wanted to embellish it and put in into print. Therefore... Cloud Shadow has been born!

It is a romantic suspense, but it steers clear of pre-marital sex and overt worldliness. My faith is certainly a major aspect of the novel, but I don't believe the book will be classified as Christian fiction. Perhaps it will... but I don't expect that.

I really appreciate your interest and I continue to covet your prayers as I try to make the decision on which publisher to use.