Sometimes finding
peace means finding a difference perspective.
Ella Davies, is
focused, independent, and driven. Her hard work is finally paying off
and she is on the brink of great success. But what no one knows is
that her frantic drive is born not from a desire to succeed, but from
a need to forget – forget her past, forget her guilt, and mostly,
forget the tragedy that changed her life forever.
Ella’s strategy
seems to be working but on Christmas Eve she meets Cohen, a strange
man with an even stranger purpose. Cohen catapults Ella back through
time and forces her to confront not only her own pain, but the pain
of those long since passed. In the process, Ella learns about courage
and compassion and that in the darkest hour, no one is ever alone.
Author Bio
Janet Halling
discovered her love of writing at the age of six when her story of a
lonely duck won a first grade writing contest. She has a degree in
Marketing Communications and lives with her family in northern Utah.
She is currently working on her next novel.
1.
If you could work with any other author, who would it be and why?
It
sounds a bit cliché, but I would pick J.K. Rowling. The worlds she
builds are so complex and loaded with symbolism, but also very fun. I
would like to be privy to her thought processes as she writes and
creates. Incidentally, I considered using J.K. Halling for my author
name but decided it would be a bit too
derivative!
2.
What would be a typical working day for you? When and where do you
write?
I
do not get as much time to write as I would like. Much of my day is
taken up with family and my day job so I really have to push to get
my creative writing in. I wrote much of An
Unexpected Angel at the
library in the evenings. It was a lot easier to concentrate there
than at home!
3.
What is the hardest part of the writing for you?
Finding
the time and focusing on only one story.
4.
When and why did you first start writing?
I
have always loved writing and it seems like I have always done it.
When I was in the first grade, I wrote a story about a lonely duck
and my teacher took me around to all the other classrooms and had me
read it out loud to them. There wasn’t anything terribly remarkable
about my story, but from then on I was hooked.
5.
How did you come up with the idea for your book?
There
were a couple of things that inspired me. One was when we were
driving home on Christmas Eve after spending the day with family. As
we drove through the downtown district in the city, it felt so quiet
and kind of eerie because most of the businesses were closed. I
started thinking about people who spend Christmas alone – about why
they are alone and how they must feel on Christmas Eve. The story
kind of grew from there.
6.
Are you a big reader? If so, what are you reading now?
Absolutely!
I love to read. I tend to be in the middle of several books at once
because I read whatever fits my mood at the time. Right now I’m
reading Sense & Sensibility
by Jane Austen, Dragon Slippers
by Jessica Day George, and Mama
Day by Gloria Naylor.
7.
Do you have any advice for other aspiring writers?
Writing is only a
little bit about those moments of creative high when the words are
coming out almost faster than your fingers can type. Most of the time
it takes patience, dedication, and hard work. You have to be prepared
for the slog and to you have to have the self-discipline to make
yourself work through the writer’s block. Inspiration is great, but
it’s not what gets a book from your head to a finished manuscript.
Buy Info
Retail: $8.99
120 pages
Genre: gift/holiday,
inspirational
Publisher: Cedar Fort,
Inc.
Release Date: October
9, 2012
Online Content
An Unexpected Angel
– Excerpt (All rights reserved)
Somewhere
there was a rhythmic humming—a kind of a swooshing sound that
increased and decreased in volume at regular intervals. She couldn’t
remember where she was. Her whole body ached, and her head felt as if
it would explode.
Ella
groaned and opened her eyes. She was still in the gym, lying crumpled
against the weight machine. The treadmill had stopped, and the
rhythmic sound was coming from the man riding the spinning bike,
which sat nearby.
Her
fingers trembled as she felt the goose egg on the side of her head.
Her face was on fire, probably scraped on the belt, and her knees
were bloody, also from the belt.
Suddenly
she stiffened. There was a man riding the bike! A man riding the
bike. While she had been lying there unconscious. Had he just
sauntered in and climbed on without seeing her at all or had he
viewed her inert form without concern? That was cold, even for New
York City. Gingerly, she turned her head to look at him.
It
was the clerk from the deli, and he didn’t stop pedaling as he
glanced her way. “Oh good, you’re awake.”
She
stared up at him in mute astonishment.
He
reached for his water bottle and took a long drink. “I’m glad you
woke up on your own,” he said pleasantly. “I was about ready to
pour this in your face, so you can thank me for sparing you an
unexpected shower.”
Ella
grasped the weight machine and pulled herself slowly to a sitting
position. Her head was throbbing, and her stomach lurched. “I could
sue you for failing to come to the aid of an injured person,” she
snapped rather feebly.
The
man studied her contemplatively. “Hmmm, yes, you would think of
that, wouldn’t you? But I’m not too worried, Ella. You’re not
going to sue me and we both know it.”
She
opened her mouth to snarl a retort but stopped abruptly. “How do
you know my name?” she demanded. “And what are you even doing
here? You don’t live in this building.” She hesitated, realizing
she wasn’t sure. “Do you?”
He
jumped off the bike and held out his hand. “You should get up. Want
help?”
She
shrank away from him. “Don’t touch me! Who are you, and how do
you know my name?”
“Well,
it’s simple really. My name is Cohen, and I’m your guardian
angel.” He broke into a brief but rapid tap dance routine and
finished with flair. And with jazz hands.
Ella
stared at him in perplexed silence, unsure if he was a hallucination
or just crazy. “Uh-huh. Right,” she finally said, groaning as she
pulled herself to her feet. A wave of nausea hit her, and she
stopped, doubling over and willing herself not to vomit. She for sure
had a concussion.
She
tried to think. Should she go to the hospital? Or maybe just go home
and try to sleep? She didn’t know. She made a move toward the door,
but Cohen tap-danced over to block her path.
“Get
out of my way,” she snapped at him with more bravado than she felt.
He
grinned. “Can’t do that. You and me, we have business tonight.”
For
the first time, she felt a small dart of fear. Cohen wasn’t exactly
menacing, but he certainly was strange. If he attacked her, would she
have the strength to fight him? If only her head would stop hurting!
“What
do you want?” she asked.
“I
already told you, I’m your guardian angel. Well, not technically an
angel, but that word will serve as well as any other. Anyway, I’m
here to help.”
“Sure.
Like you helped me when I was unconscious a minute ago? If that’s
your kind of help, no thanks.”
“No,
not that kind of help, silly.”
“Look,
whatever you’re on, whatever you’re offering, I’m not
interested. Just leave me alone, please? I’m sore and tired, and my
head is killing me. I need to go lie down.”
“Oh,
right. That.” He made some sort of vague gesture and
instantly her nausea subsided and the pain in her head vanished.
Chills
raced up and down her spine, and she stared at him, “Wait . . .
what’s . . . what’s going on?”
“Okay,
no more joking around.” Cohen looked suddenly serious. “Here’s
the deal. You need help and there’s a lot you need to learn. Only
you’re far too stubborn to admit it. You might not even know how
much help you need. But I know; so here I am.”
The
pieces were starting to fall into place. “Wait . . . Christmas Eve
. . . guardian angel. This is some kind of a joke, right?” she said
before adding sarcastically, “What’s the matter, Jacob Marley was
busy? Clarence already got his wings? Or wasn’t he on duty
tonight?”
He
grinned. “Both good men. But you got stuck with me. Although, all
things considered, maybe it’s me who got stuck with you.
You can be quite unpleasant, do you know that?”
Ella
snorted derisively. “So when does the Ghost of Christmas Past show
up? Or is he waiting for me upstairs?”
“Dickens
took some liberties. It doesn’t exactly work like that. At least,
this time it won’t.”
“You have exactly one second to get out of my way or I’m going to
start screaming at the top of my lungs!”
Cohen
cocked his head to one side and gave her a brief shrug of
resignation. “Okay then, you win. Can’t say I didn’t try.” He
stepped smoothly to one side and swept his arm in a wide arc toward
the door. “Be my guest.”
Throwing
him what she hoped was a withering glare, Ella marched past him,
flung open the door—and stepped into a nightmare.
