self-discovery | …And Everything in Between…

Cover Reveal and Re-Release Party for
The Gathering: Book One of the Lia Fail Chronicles by S.L. Dearing

Synopsis: Another world war has happened and everything we knew is now gone. There are no more countries. No more government… only survivors who have created a new world made up of small colonies. It has been thirteen years and the village of Lia Fail sits peacefully above the Hollywood Reservoir in the Santa Monica Mountains. The settlement is making ready to host the fall Gathering, a time where every six months the other colonies from various parts of what was once Southern California visit for ten days of fun and reminiscence. The Gathering begins as any other party. A time for new loves, old friends, family, dancing and fun, but all too soon that changes. The people in Lia Fail begin to experience strange goings on they can’t explain, unseen forces attack several guests and friends begin to distrust friends. When they receive news of a horrific massacre, they realize they must face an impending dark evil that threatens to descend on the tranquil village.

Alia Stark, the queen of Lia Fail, must face this darkness. But she will face the evil along side her oldest and dearest friends, as well as an amazing new ally. The fate of her people, the lives of her children and freedom itself rests in her hands. Will she have the courage to do what must be done?

This is the beginning of a journey that will change all of their lives forever.

The Gathering: Book One of the Lia Fail Chronicles is the first in a new Paranormal, Fantasy, and Adventure Series.

Links:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Gathering-Book-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B004DCB5X2/
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Gathering-Book-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B004DCB5X2/
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-gathering-s-l-dearing/1025141705
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10735287-the-gathering
Shelfari: http://www.shelfari.com/o1514822952
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheLiaFailChronicles

Join us October 5 from 3-7pm PST on Facebook for a grand party event. There will be games and prizes from LOTS of authors and Swag artists. Please come and join the fun!!

https://www.facebook.com/events/523140221098615/

About the Author: Although she grew up in Arizona, S. L. Dearing was born and raised in California and considers the Golden State her home. Shannon attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, studying biology, then moved to Los Angeles where she spent several years studying at Los Angeles City College’s renowned Television/ Film program. She learned the art of storytelling from her father when she was very young and has been writing since the tender age of five. As an author of many genres, she is always hoping to learn more by exploring the world of story.

She has written her first novel The Gathering: Book One of the Lia Fail Chronicles. She also has short stories in several anthologies: Apocalypse: An Anthology by Readers & Authors, Paranormal Anthology with a Twist and the soon to be released Stalkers: A Collection of Thriller Stories. Shannon currently resides in Los Angeles.

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/sldearing
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/S.L.Dearing.Author
Website: http://www.sldearing.com

Synopsis: MAMA’S CHILD follows twenty-three years in the life of Lizzie O’Leary, an idealistic young white woman who travels to the American South as a civil rights worker. She meets, falls in love with, and marries Solomon Jordan, a musician and fellow activist, who is black. Together, the young couple settles in the more liberal San Francisco area and starts a family: daughter Ruby, and son Che. They remain deeply involved in the Black Liberation Movement: participating in protest marches, and living in a home filled with Black Power posters, jazz, protest songs, and visiting Black Panthers.

But by 1978, when the novel opens, there is tension between the couple. Solomon’s music career keeps him away from home too much, and Lizzie is frustrated: “I need you here. I can’t raise these kids by myself. And they need a black parent, some days I just don’t know what to do.” Eventually, the strain becomes unbearable, and they divorce when their children are still young.

Their divorce deeply affects daughter Ruby, who is already suffering from a confused sense of self—“Am I black or white?” she continually asks herself. “Where do I belong?” She struggles with her own racial identity as well as her anger at her mother for splitting up the family. As for mother Lizzie, despite her attempts at trying to hold on to the emotional cord that binds them, the rift between mother and daughter widens.

It isn’t until Ruby herself becomes a wife and mother that she begins to develop compassion and understanding for the many ways that her own mother’s love transcended race and questions of identity.

Told in chapters alternating between the voices of the mother and daughter, MAMA’S CHILD goes deep into the raw emotions of love, family, and ancestry– from two points of view.

Review: This was a very interesting book for several different reasons. The author’s life paralleled the book, but only in structure (she herself a white woman who married a black man and had two biracial children, as well as living in Berkley and falling in love with a woman), however, the characters’ themselves are completely fiction. I also enjoyed seeing the perspectives of both characters, the mother and daughter, (who could be extremely frustrating at times) as they struggle to find out who they are, sometimes painfully.

The author, Joan Stenau Lester, recently mentioned that her reoccurring theme through the book is forgiveness, but I would also add that it is the importance of communication and even responsibility. The pain that plays out is real and the frustration for me came from the fact that these characters don’t talk to one another. But that happens everyday in real life, so the flaws these characters have are real.

This is a well written and detailed book, but it is also extremely emotional. It will elicit emotion from the reader, whether it be joy, encouragement or rage and disappointment. I was definitely drawn into the story. I would be only a few years younger than the character of the daughter, Ruby, so it was interesting to see different things through her eyes that I’ve never seen, nor will I ever see. I also have a biracial niece, so it was interesting to see what the mother in this story was thinking. Overall, I would recommend this book, I give it 4 stars. It was definitely thought provoking and heartfelt.