Featured Author: Reba White Williams

The Story Plant brings Reba White Williams here on her tour for Fatal Impressions, the second book in her Coleman and Dinah Greene mystery series. Check out Reba's tour page to find out about her other stops in the tour and to read an excerpt from the book.

About the book

Coleman and Dinah Greene are making names for themselves in the art world. Coleman's magazine publishing empire is growing and Dinah`s print gallery is gaining traction. In fact, Dinah has just won the contract to select, buy, and hang art in the New York office of the management consultants Davidson, Douglas, Danbury & Weeks – a major coup that will generate The Greene Gallery's first big profits. However, when Dinah goes to DDD&W to begin work, she discovers a corporate culture unlike anything she`s ever encountered before. There are suggestions of improprieties everywhere, including missing art worth a fortune. And when two DDD&W staff members are discovered murdered, Dinah and Coleman find themselves swept into the heart of another mystery. Revealing the murderer will be no easy task...but first Dinah needs to clear her own name from the suspect list.

Interview with Reba White Williams

Reba, how long have you been writing, and how did you start?

I started telling myself mystery stories when I was a toddler. When I learned how to read and write, I began to put them on paper. By junior high school, I was writing a little column for the local newspaper. I got a medal for writing my senior year in high school, and took my first writing class in college.

What’s the story behind the title Fatal Impressions?

An “impression” is what we call one of a batch of prints. If an artist makes prints, he might make five impressions, or ten, or 100. The most important art in Fatal Impressions are the Stubbs, but the prints Dinah hangs are all impressions. People die by “impressions,” in a different sense of the word. They make wrong judgments about other people—-false impressions. The story is the summary of all these impressions encountered in the book.

How did you create the plot for this book?

When Dinah competes for the contract with a corporation, she enters a new world. The plot grows out of the corruption of that corporation.

How do you get to know your characters?

I got to know my characters, Coleman and Dinah, by writing about them as children in Angels.

What’s your favorite line from a book?

From Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice: “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.”

Which character did you most enjoy writing?

Simon in Restrike—-he was such a creep—-and Moose in Fatal Impressions. He was my “Wolf of Wall Street”—-over the top.

What would Coleman, your main character, say about you?

She wouldn’t think I’m nearly as daring as I should be. (Coleman is more reckless than I am.)

Are any of your characters inspired by real people?

The girls’ aunt and grandmother in Angels were like my grandmother and aunt in some ways. Dinah’s a lot like girls I knew in high school and college.

Is your book based on real events?

There are always real events in every book. For example, in Fatal Impressions, there are rather shocking, pretty horrific events that the Dinah finds herself seeing in the corporation—-those are taken from real life.

Are you like any of your characters?

I’d like to think I’m a loyal friend like Coleman. I think I’m as hardworking and determined as she is.

One of your characters has just found out you’re about to kill him off. He/she decides to beat you to the punch. How would he kill you?

I hope she would do it with drugs that put me to sleep.

If you could be one of your characters, which one would you choose?

I’d like to be a different character in each of my books. In Fatal Impressions, I’d have enjoyed being Loretta Byrd-—she was a good detective. If I was a married character in one of my books, it would be Bethany, not Dinah.

With which of your characters would you most like to be stuck in a bookstore?

Dinah and Coleman are both readers, but Coleman prefers to read in the bathtub, so I choose Dinah.

With what five real people would you most like to be stuck in a bookstore?

Sue Grafton, Dan Henninger, Dave Williams, Jane Austen, and Agatha Christie.

Tell us about your favorite scene in the book.

My favorite scene in Fatal Impressions is when Moose first appears and introduces himself. Again, he’s my “Wolf of Wall Street,” a caricature of an investment banker.

What song would you pick to go with your book?

“Someone’s in the Kitchen with Dinah” and “Doing it my Way” for Coleman.

You get to decide who would read your audiobook. Who would you choose?

At one time I’d have said Joanne Woodward. I’d want someone with a good Southern accent.

Do you have a routine for writing?

No, I write whenever and wherever I can.

Where and when do you prefer to do your writing?

Early a.m. in Connecticut or Palm Springs.

Where’s home for you?

Connecticut, New York City, Palm Springs, and London.

If you could only keep one book, what would it be?

Pride & Prejudice.

You’re leaving your country for a year. What’s the last meal (or food) you would want to have before leaving?

Pasta with pesto or pasta primavera.

Would you rather work in a library or a bookstore?

Library.

Where is your favorite library, and what do you love about it?

My favorite library is the Center for Fiction, known when I first encountered it as the Mercantile Library. Why? Open stacks, great card catalogue, and can check out all the books you can carry for a small fee.

You’re given the day off, and you can do anything but write. What would you do?

Read, go to a film, go someplace nice for lunch.

What would your dream office look like?

Small, cozy, no distractions.

What’s one of your favorite quotes?

“If you can keep your head when all about you/Are losing theirs and blaming it on you...” by Rudyard Kipling from "If."

What’s your favorite candy bar? And don’t tell me you don’t have one!

Snickers.

What three books have you read recently and would recommend?

•    Still Life with Bread Crumbs by Anna Quindlen—a marvelous book. It’s a great story, and I learned a lot about photography, seeing photographs through Rebecca’s eyes.
•    A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy—a truly delightful book, heartwarming, charming, cozy. I enjoyed every minute of it.
•    The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd—a fascinating book that is beautifully written, with fascinating female protagonists, both white and black.

What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

Read, travel, garden, visit gardens.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

As I live now, in New York City, Connecticut, Palm Springs, and London.

What are you working on now?

Book 4 in my series, with book 5 beginning to move around in my head.

About the author

Reba White Williams worked for more than thirty years in business and finance—-in research at McKinsey & Co., as a securities analyst on Wall Street, and as a senior executive at an investment management firm. 


Williams graduated from Duke with a BA in English, earned an MBA at Harvard, a PhD in Art History at CUNY, and an MA in Writing at Antioch. She has written numerous articles for art and financial journals. She is a past president of the New York City Art Commission and served on the New York State Council for the Arts.



She and her husband built what was thought to be the largest private collection of fine art prints by American artists. They created seventeen exhibitions from their collection that circulated to more than one hundred museums worldwide, Williams writing most of the exhibition catalogues. She has been a member of the print committees of several leading museums. 



Williams grew up in North Carolina and lives in New York, Connecticut, and Southern California with her husband and Maltese, Muffin. She is the author of two novels featuring Coleman and Dinah Greene, Restrike and Fatal Impressions, along with the story of Coleman and Dinah when they were children, Angels. She is currently working on her third Coleman and Dinah mystery. 


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Featured Author: Susan Israel

"Smart, witty, and delightfully unpredictable, Susan Israel's Over My Live Body is a truly wonderful debut. Highly recommended."
– Doug Corleone, author of Good as Gone

About the book:


Delilah is accustomed to people seeing her naked. As a nude model – a gig that keeps food on the table while her career as a sculptor takes off – it comes with the territory. 

But Delilah has never before felt this vulnerable. 

Because Delilah has an admirer. Someone who is paying a great deal of attention to her. And he just might love her to death.


 The debut of a shockingly fresh voice in suspense fiction, Over My Live Body will work its way inside of you.

Interview with Susan Israel

Susan, how long have you been writing and how did you start?



I wrote my first (really bad!) "novel" when I was in 7th grade and 
wrote even before that; it was a way to cope with feeling bullied. I
 thought about writing professionally when I was in high school, but had
 no outlet and little encouragement, save for an English teacher who 
recognized that the sentences I wrote as exercises had a plot and I had
 the temerity to name one of the characters Jane Austen! It wasn't until
I went to college that I dove in head-first and found an audience.



What's the story behind the title Over My Live Body?



I didn't have any title per se when I started writing what would turn
out to be Over My Live Body, I referred to it as "work in progress."
 For a short time I gave it the working title "The Object Of My 
Affection" but that didn't stick either. There was a movie I hadn't 
seen by that title and I didn't want it to be confused with that.
 Furthermore, since the book is written from Delilah's point of view, I 
wanted a more Delilah-centric title, and Over My Live Body fit in more
ways than one.



How did you create the plot for this book?



I was a by-the-seat-of-your-pants writer, writing every day and letting
 the characters do as they willed, and when I had the finished product,
I went back and revised and polished. I had a synopsis before I started 
writing my second, but to a certain extent, the characters still take
over.

Is your book based on real events?


Nothing in my book is based on actual events, but some similar
 incidents have occurred in the course of writing the books, a case of 
"life imitates art." I listen to 24/7 news a lot and punctuate my
 narrative with what I hope are realistic references to daily police 
activity in the city; sometimes all too realistic. But none of the 
incidents in my books are based on anything real.



Are you like any of your characters?



I would say I'm a lot like Delilah except she is younger and taller.




Who are your favorite authors?



There are many but I'll touch on a few. When I'm reading, I love a sense of place as well as characters and plot, whether it be fiction or nonfiction. One of my favorite books has always been A Moveable Feast, though Hemingway isn't my absolute favorite author. I would include F. Scott Fitzgerald, who also captured the 20s so well, a decade I wish I had lived in. For mysteries, I love the Paris settings and characters of Cara Black. I'm a big fan of Peter Matthiessen, who I had the good fortune to have as a writing professor.



Where and when do you prefer to do your writing?



My favorite time to write is at night, when it's generally quieter outside, when the sun isn't in my eyes, when there's less extraneous noise that I can't control. (My own TV or radio doesn't bother me.) Daylight Saving Time is not my best friend, though I like the weather that goes with it. I wrote all of Over My Live Body in a generic computer cluster, but that cluster doesn't exist any more.



Where's home for you?



Home is where my dog is.



Where is your favorite library and what do you love about it?



My favorite library is Yale's Sterling Memorial Library (except during periods of renovation every few years). I love the reading rooms with the cushy leather chairs and the mezzanine floors of the stacks where you can literally hide from the world and write or read something you never knew existed. I feel safe and cloistered there.



What's your favorite candy bar?



I love Lindt bars, especially dark chocolate, and Sky Bar. But especially anything Lindt.

About the author:

Susan Israel lives in Connecticut with her beloved dog, but New York City lives in her heart and mind. A graduate of Yale College, her fiction has been published in Other Voices, Hawaii Review and Vignette, and she has written for magazines, websites and newspapers, including Glamour, Girls Life, Ladies Home Journal and The Washington Post. She's currently at work on the second book in the Delilah Price series, Student Bodies.

Find Susan:
Facebook | 
Goodreads | 
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Story Plant

Featured Author: Emily Sue Harvey

Emily Sue Harvey is on tour with The Story Plant and she's here today to talk about her contemporary romance novel, Cocoon. 

About the book

New York Times bestselling author Steve Berry has said that, “Emily Sue Harvey has a sure touch and strong voice. She's a talent to watch.” New York Times bestselling author Jill Marie Landis called Harvey’s first novel, Song of Renewal, “an uplifting, heartwarming story.” Now Harvey returns with a tale as rich in drama as it poignant in the truths it tells.



When widowed Seana Howard meets Barth McGrath, a newcomer to their little town, she never dreams she’ll fall in love again. Despite his somewhat quirky ways, she falls for the man. The only problem is that her married children do not trust the mysterious stranger. Who is he? Where exactly did he come from? Why are there so many questions about his past? 



Against their wishes, Seana elopes with Barth and is happier than she’s been in years. Then her happiness shatters when a mysterious illness suddenly befalls her, exiling her once brilliant mind to a dark nightmare from which she may never return. The eclipse is startling and complete. Will Barth, with such a short history with Seana, love her enough to endure the trials of caring for someone under such dire circumstances? Can her family get past their suspicions and trust his motives and love for their mother? Will Seana ever escape her dark cocoon and reclaim her very purpose for living? Will life give her a second chance to spread her wings, like a beautiful butterfly?



Cocoon is a life-affirming story of travail, obstacles, and the extraordinary lengths that undying love will travel.

Interview with Emily Sue Harvey

Emily, how long have you been writing, and how did you start?



I’ve been writing since college days. The tragic death of my eleven-year-old Angie turned my life from teaching aspirations to writing. I began writing for therapy and discovered it to be a gift, as well as a passion. I connected with Southeastern Writers Association in the late eighties, winning twenty plus awards before joining the Board of Directors and eventually serving as president. I served there for twenty-five plus years. During that time, I gained dozens of short story credits in anthologies such as Chicken Soup, Chocolate for Women, Woman’s Day, and True Story, to name a few. I then launched out into mainstream fiction novels. In 2009, Story Plant published my premiere novel, Song of Renewal. Later that year, I signed a six book contract with Story Plant. I’m currently working on my seventh book for them, entitled, Twilight Time. 



What’s the story behind the title Cocoon?



The title, Cocoon, symbolizes both the dark steroid psychosis imprisonment of the heroine, Seana McGrath and later, her miraculous metamorphosis into the beautiful butterfly.



Do you have another job outside of writing?



Writing is full time for me.



How did you create the plot for Cocoon?



The Cocoon plot is based on a true to life story. This happens to a degree with many of my books but in Cocoon, the medical details remain authentic. The characters, though fictionalized, in some aspects are like Gerald and Kay Turner, the real life couple. All else is pure fiction. 



What’s your favorite line from a book? 



A quotation by Andy Andrews from the Butterfly Effect:

 “A butterfly can flap its wings and set molecules of air in motion, which would move other molecules of air, in turn moving more molecules of air—eventually capable of starting a hurricane on the other side of the planet.”



How do you get to know your characters?



I fall in love with each of my characters in the beginning of creation and delve into their hearts, minds, and souls as a way of understanding their choices in the story. I don’t give up on even the vilest of characters, knowing anyone can be redeemed. Each of my stories has components of love, betrayal, forgiveness, and redemption.



Which character did you most enjoy writing?



Wow! That’s tough because I love all my characters. But I think I enjoyed writing about Seana because she was so complex. The steroid psychosis transformed her into someone else entirely, taking her “away” from her loved ones. In the story, I had to get inside Seana’s head while she was experiencing the psychosis, which lasted several years. I did this by talking extensively with the real life victim and her caretaker. It was definitely a challenge.



Are any of your characters inspired by real people?



Cocoon characters are based on composites of many different people I know and have known. Some are based entirely on actual people I know. For instance, I’ve already revealed Seana and Barth McGrath to be based on Kay and Gerald Turner. Billy Jean is based on my friend, Billie Jane McGregor, who, like the book’s character, battles bone cancer. I love to profile true heroes because they encourage those battling the odds to keep on keeping on.



Are you like any of your characters?



There’s a little of me in all my characters. Else, how could I create and understand them? I like to think that I’m a loving, merciful, forgiving person and so most of my characters eventually find those traits in themselves. But not before plodding through some valleys because only then can one appreciate the mountain tops.



If you could be one of your characters, which one would you choose?



I would be Zoe, Seana’s wildflower daughter. She’s a lioness, yet later she reveals a more gentle, compassionate side when she falls in love with hunky Scott, the coach who finally tames her.



With which of your characters would you most like to be stuck in a bookstore?



Oh, I would definitely like to be stuck in a bookstore with Barth. He’s such an intellectual guy who knows all about—well, just about everything, from homeopathic medicine to how to cook up a fantastic, healthy gourmet meal! I love men who can cook!



With what five real people would you most like to be stuck in a bookstore?



That’s really a fun question to mull over. Being stuck in a bookstore with them, huh? In this order: Pat Conroy, Ann Rivers-Siddons, Jan Karon, Jill Marie Landis, and  Lisa Gardner. Ask me next week and the names may vary except the first one.



Tell us about your favorite scene in the book.



My favorite scene is the one in which Seana is awakened suddenly in the dark of night by a mysterious, extraordinary light that envelopes her, at once soothing and warming her and causing a prickling. Yet is isn’t fear. It will be a life-changing, miraculous experience for the woman who’s been entrapped in a cocoon for several years.



What song would you pick to go with your book?



"Through it All" by Andre Crouche.



Who are your favorite authors?



Pat Conroy and Ann Rivers-Siddons top the list.



You get to decide who would read your audiobook. Who would you choose?



Pat Conroy.

I'm sensing a pattern here! 

What book are you currently reading and in what format (e-book/paperback/hardcover)? 



Paperback: Veronica Roth’s best-seller, Divergent. My teen grandson, Jensen, wanted me to read it, and it’s a page turner.



Do you have a routine for writing? 



Depends on whether I’m working on a book project. If so, I work regular hours, like from ten a.m. until two in the afternoon. Or from four p.m. until eight in the evening. When not working on a book, which is not often, I usually do my blogs and etc. mid-morning.



Where’s home for you? 



Startex South Carolina, the mill hill setting for my national bestselling novel, Unto These Hills. The old mill hill name was Tucapau, which I use in the book.



If you could only keep one book, what would it be?



The Bible.


Are you happy with your current publishing choice?

I’m extremely happy to be with Story Plant publishing house. Lou Aronica originally helped me edit (cut 100 pages) from a novel with the Peter Miller Literary and Film Agency in New York. Later when Lou and Peter Miller formed Story Plant publishing house, they loved my writing and put me under contract to write for them. I feel truly blessed to be where I am with Story Plant. I’m in very good company.



What’s one of your favorite quotes?



“To love and be loved is the greatest blessing on earth.” --Unknown.



What’s your favorite candy bar?

Giant Snickers with almonds...

That's mine, too! 

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?



Right here in Startex, South Carolina.



What are you working on now?

I’m finishing Twilight Time as you read this. It’s the story of a couple simultaneously battling trauma and Alzheimer’s. Deepening shadows gather splendor over Peter and Rachel, and they fall in love again, as they did then.

About the author

New York Times bestselling author Jill Marie Landis called Song of Renewal “An uplifting, heartwarming story of forgiveness, commitment, and love, and Kay Allenbaugh, bestselling author of Chocolate for a Woman’s Soul says “Emily Sue Harvey’s work will linger in the memory long after readers put it aside.” National bestselling author Harvey, who has written numerous inspiring works of nonfiction, writes intensely romantic novels that thrill the heart as they inspire the soul. Her stories have something to say to every family.




Connect with Emily:
Website

Buy the book:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes

Featured Author: Lou Aronica

Partners In Crime Tours brings Lou Aronica here today to talk about Differential Equations, a science fiction/fantasy novel, co-written by Julian Iragorri, published by The Story Plant, an independent fiction publisher. Lou was kind enough to bring an excerpt from the book that you won't want to miss.

About the book:

This evocative, moving, and gorgeously detailed novel is the story of Alex Soberano, a contemporary man in crisis. A tremendously successful New York businessman, Alex finds it difficult to embrace joy and accept love. When his life threatens to boil over, he escapes for a brief respite on the West Coast. What waits for him there is something he never could have imagined.

Intertwined with Alex’s story are the stories of three people from different times and places whose lives affect him in surprising ways:

• A woman from the South American city of Anhelo in 1928 that everyone knows as "Vidente." For decades, Vidente, has been one of Anhelo's most celebrated citizens because she has the ability to read colors that speak of a person's fate. However, during one such reading, she sees her own future – a future that includes her imminent death.

• A man named Khaled who left his home in Bethlehem in 1920 to seek fortune in the South American town of Joya de la Costa. He has barely begun to gain a foothold when he learns that the wife and three children he left behind have been murdered. When a magical woman enters his life, he believes that destiny has smiled on him. However, destiny has only just begun to deal with Khaled.

• A nineteen-year-old student named Dro who flies from the South American country of Legado to Boston in 1985 and immediately walks onto the campus of MIT expecting instant admission. Dro's skills at mastering complex, ever-changing differential equations intrigues the associate admissions director. However, the person he intrigues the most is the celebrated US ambassador from his country, and his relationship with her will define his life.

How the stories of these four people merge is the central mystery of this arresting work of imagination. Differential Equations is a story that will sweep you up in its magic, enrich you with its wisdom, and compel you with its deep humanity.

Interview with Lou Aronica

Lou, what inspired you to write Differential Equations?


Julian and I were inspired to write this novel by the great magic-realists. Julian grew up in South America reading García Márquez, Amado, and Cortázar and I was growing up on Long Island doing the same. When we met and started comparing notes, we realized we both wanted to write this kind of novel. Differential Equations was the result.

What do you hope readers will get from this book?

At its heart, Differential Equations is a novel about a fractured soul coming to terms with the experiences that caused him to lose his way. I think many of us have a moment in their lives that separates “then” and “now” and try to survive without ever understanding that. Maybe this novel will turn a light on for some of them.

How did you come up with the title Differential Equations?

Among other things, Julian is a mathematical genius. He mastered differential equations when he was a teenager, which is so far beyond me that I have trouble even understanding what he understood. A differential equation is a formula with multiple variables and it dawned on us that this was an apt image for the journey the characters go through.

Do you outline or write by the seat of your pants?

I’m a dedicated outliner. I storyboard every novel before I start writing. I’ll still make changes as I go, but I find this structure an essential part of the creative process. By doing this kind of planning up front, I can be free to concentrate on the prose and the characters while I’m writing.

This was especially important with a collaboration. Given the range of our imaginations, it would have been very difficult for the two of us to stay on track with this novel if we didn’t have a strong structure in place.

Do you have a routine for writing? Do you work better at night, in the afternoon, or in the morning?

I tend to write in three-hour slots. I find that I can’t spend more than three hours a day on a novel because the work gets very poor after that. I spend the rest of the day working on my publishing company and writing nonfiction. I don’t write fiction for a fixed three hours, though. I tend to move things through the day to keep them fresh.

Name one thing you couldn’t live without.

This is probably going to come across as cheesy, but the one thing I couldn’t live without is my family. My wife and four kids are the foundation of everything I do and when I’m away from them for even a few days I feel diminished.

Would you rather be stranded on a deserted island or the North Pole?

That depends. Is Santa’s workshop on the North Pole?

Of course. Although right now might be a bad time to visit. Do you ever get writer’s block? What do you do when it happens?

I think every writer experiences some form of writer's block at some point. What I’ve come to realize is that the best thing to do when it hits is just accept it, avoid stressing too much, and switch gears in some way, like editing existing work or even reading some of my older material.

I totally agree. Is there anything in particular that you do to help the writing flow? Music? Acting out the scene? Long showers?

It’s funny that you mention this because I was at a conference last weekend and another writer showed up late for a meeting saying that she’d started talking to her characters in the shower and lost track of time. I’ve tried writing with music, but I find it breaks my concentration, though there’s always something playing in my head. My favorite thing to do is meditation. I find that clearing my mind in this way makes writing substantially easier and often allows me to see story complications in new ways.

If you could take a trip anywhere in the world, where would you go? (Don’t worry about the money. A publisher is paying. Oops, that's you. Well...pretend.)

Since I don’t have to worry about the money, I think I’d love to go to India or the Far East. I’m fascinated with ancient cultures and my most memorable trips have always involved virtual excursions into the distant past. I’m also a foodie and, since money is no object, I would love to explore these cuisines at both the fine dining and street level.

Excerpt from Differential Equations

Anhelo, Legado, South America, 1928



With her eyes closed, all she could see were waves of brown. The woman sitting across the table from her wasn’t troubled or damaged in any particular way, as that color sometimes indicated; her spirit and her future simply seemed featureless.



“Vidente, you have been quiet for a long time,” the woman said tentatively. “If you see bad things, you must tell me. I must prepare.

”

People had been calling her “Vidente” for so long that she couldn’t recall the last time she heard her real name spoken aloud. Some in the community preferred to call her “Tia Vidente” as a form of endearment. Even her sons called her “Madre Vidente” now, having long ago accepted their mother’s place in the lives of the townspeople. After these many years, she had even come to think of herself by that name.



She opened her eyes slowly and her vision began to fill again with color. The violet and red of the tapestry that hung on the far wall. The ochre and bronze of the pottery on the shelf. The cobalt and white of the figurines on the cupboard. The terra cotta of the antique cazuela and the copper of the chafing dish, both presents from a grateful recipient of her services, neither of which had felt fire in Vidente’s home. The saffron of the sash that billowed over the window. The crystals and pewters and golds and greens; the room was a rainbow visible nowhere else in the world – a Vidente rainbow. A rainbow for a woman who sensed color beyond her eyes and who liked those colors expressed in the finest things available. Vidente’s home was her palace, a testament to her station as one of Anhelo’s most prominent and prosperous citizens.



Finally, Vidente focused on Ana, the woman seeking her help who, in contrast to the brown that Vidente saw with eyes closed, wore a bright orange frock with lemon embroidery. Ana had called on Vidente several times in the past year and she’d encountered her at church and in the shops. At all times, Ana wore brilliant clothing. She wants color in her life, Vidente thought. How sad that she doesn’t seem able to hold any in her soul.



“I am not seeing bad things, Ana,” Vidente said, tipping her head toward the woman.



“But you have been so quiet.”



Vidente patted the woman’s hand. “Sometimes the images come very slowly. That doesn’t mean you have anything to fear.”



Vidente truly believed that Ana had nothing to worry about regarding her future – except that it was likely to be a life without incident. The brown was everywhere. Sometimes darker, sometimes lighter, but always brown. The color of inconsequentiality and an abundance of self-doubt. For reasons Vidente couldn’t discern, Ana wouldn’t absorb the colors she wore so boldly in her clothing, though she seemed entirely capable of doing so. There were places Vidente didn’t plumb, for the sake of Ana’s privacy, but she guessed that if she looked there she might find why the woman avoided what she so wanted.



Ana’s brow furrowed and she looked down at her hands. Vidente wanted to offer her something, some suggestion that days more vibrant lay ahead. Vidente never lied to anyone during a reading, even when she believed the person wanted to hear a lie. However, she had many times kept searching and searching until she found a way to offer something promising.



“I am not finished, Ana,” she said as the woman looked up at her. “I will use another technique with you today. I need to look farther with this technique. I may not open my eyes or speak with you for several minutes.”



“I will be patient, Vidente.”



Vidente closed her eyes again. Usually, what she saw in colors was enough to give her useful messages for those who requested readings from her. The colors had always been reliable to her. Sometimes, though, she needed to extend her vision. If she sent herself deeply enough into the space outside of herself, she could see actual images. Occasionally, entire scenes played out in front of her. Vidente had come to learn that these visions weren’t nearly as reliable as the colors; unlike the colors, they were mutable. Still, they sometimes offered direction when none other was available.



The waves of brown appeared again. Like molten chocolate wending its way through a sea of caramel. It was necessary for Vidente to look past the color. She focused intently on the darkest of the brown and in doing so made the message of the brown drop away. It was like stepping through the fog and coming to a clear space. Here, though, the space offered only shadow. She could see the faintest movement. Was that a man? Ana wanted a man so badly; one who would finally erase Oscar’s humiliation of her. The image Vidente saw here was so indistinct, though, that it could as easily be a deer, a sloth, or even a vegetable cart.



Vidente concentrated further, pushing her soul toward the shadow, encouraging her will to be in the same place as the shadow. Something was definitely moving around and she could now see that the shape was human. Male? Female? Young? Old? None of that was clear. Nor was it clear why there was such a veil over Ana’s future. This had nothing to do with the woman’s health. Vidente would have seen that in the colors. For some reason, the spirits did not want to offer the images they usually gave so generously.



She so didn’t want to disappoint Ana. Once a month Ana came to her, gaily dressed and bearing a tray of the delicious pastries she made, eyes gleaming with hope but shaded by desperation. Vidente always found a vision to encourage her; the visit of a favorite nephew, a celebration Ana would attend, the birth of a neighbor’s child. These visions were never what Ana truly wanted, but she always left Vidente’s house viewing the world with a little less desperation. And she always came back.



Several minutes passed, but the images remained indistinct. I must go beyond sight, Vidente thought. She rarely used the process she was considering, and she was not entirely comfortable with it, but she knew it was possible to close her eyes completely. To allow her other senses to tell her what her vision did not.



Vidente tipped her head slightly and felt herself falling backward. With this sensation of falling came absolute blackness. There were no colors here, no shadows, nothing nearly so brilliant as brown. It was as though she had never seen anything at all, ever in her life. The feeling of unease that always accompanied this technique rippled her skin. Vidente had never stayed long in this place and she knew she could not linger here now. However, there had to be a reason why the other techniques eluded her, and she would spend a few sightless moments here for Ana’s sake. She liked the woman too much to let her go away with nothing.



She felt cooler suddenly, as though someone had opened all the doors and windows of her home at once. The air was different. It was crisper and thinner. It smelled of loam and oak. Vidente knew, though she wasn’t sure how she knew, that she was somewhere very far away. Was Ana going on a trip?



Maybe to some distant mountains in Europe or even America? The only thing Vidente knew for sure was that no place in Anhelo or anywhere near it had air that felt this way.



Just on the edges of her hearing, Vidente found the sound of moaning. These were not moans of pleasure. Nor were they moans of pain or suffering. The moans held a sense of sadness and loss, but not the dissonance of true grief. As she extended herself to try to make more of this sound, Vidente felt a moist softness on her forehead followed by a silken brush across her face and then warm pressure. Moments passed and she felt the same series of sensations again. More moments passed and the experience repeated itself. Each iteration felt slightly different but materially the same.


As this happened for the fifth time, Vidente caught the scent of perfume. A floral and consciously unrefined smell, one that announced itself as its bearer entered a room and lingered for many minutes after the visit was over. It was unmistakably Ana’s latest perfume. No one else in Anhelo wore it. But the scent was not coming from the Ana who sat across the table from Vidente. It came instead from the scene Vidente sensed in her temporary blackness and it grew stronger as Vidente again felt the pressure on her body. Vidente heard a sob and then the pressure lessened. Soon the smell of Ana’s perfume diminished. It was then that Vidente realized that Ana was a part of this scene, but she was not the focus of it.



Vidente was.



Kisses on the forehead. Unreturned embraces. Repeated multiple times.



Vidente’s eyes opened involuntarily, causing the colors in the room to close on her vertiginously.



“Vidente, your expression; it frightens me.”



Vidente tried to stop the swirling of colors, tried to fix her eyes on Ana without scaring her further. “You have no reason to be frightened,” she said.



As her vision corrected, Vidente saw Ana’s hand go to the cross at her neck. “How can I believe that when you go into your trance for a long time and then come back looking like the devil was chasing you?”



Vidente took Ana’s free hand and clasped it with both of hers. “Believe me when I say that I didn’t see anything that should cause you fear. I just couldn’t get a clear image for you and this frustrated me.” Vidente stood abruptly, holding the side of the table to guarantee that she wouldn’t stumble. “I am sorry, Ana, that I could not do better. Maybe next month.”



Ana rose slowly, thanked Vidente, and left, her eyes more clouded and confused than when she entered. As soon as the woman was gone, Vidente sat down again, feeling the need to close her own eyes once more, but worried about what she would experience if she did so. If what she’d already felt was true – and it was important for her to remember that only the colors were always true – she would soon take a journey that would send her to a place of crisp, oaken air.



And then, before Ana changed her perfume again, Vidente would die.

About the author:

Lou Aronica is the author of the USA Today bestseller The Forever Year and the national bestseller Blue. He also collaborated on the New York Times nonfiction bestsellers The Element and Finding Your Element (with Ken Robinson) and the national bestseller The Culture Code (with Clotaire Rapaille). Aronica is a long-term book publishing veteran. He is president and publisher of the independent publishing house The Story Plant.

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Julian Iragorri lives in Manhattan. He has worked on Wall Street since the early nineties.