Sandy's Spotlight
Today's special guest author is
Dannye Williamsen
Dannye Williamsen
I am very excited to introduce you to Dannye Williamsen, author of Second Chances.
Dannye has been getting some absolutely amazing reviews for her incredible Paranormal Suspense/Romance novel, Second Chances as well as the sequel, The Threads That Bind. I am hosting a Second Chances Book Discussion that is running simultaneously with this feature blog. So all of you who have read Second Chances have the opportunity to discuss the book directly with the author herself! The book discussion will run until February 9th, so if you would like to join in the fun but haven't read Second Chances yet, you have plenty of time to pick it up and read it.
I want to mention that Dannye established Breakthrough Bookstore in 2011. She is also a fabulous editor who works closely with the author. I've had the pleasure of recently having Dannye edit two of my books and she currently has my third book. I can honestly tell you from personal experience that working with Dannye through her editing business, Your Editing Partner, has been a marvelous experience for me. She not only does a beautiful job of editing, she works closely with the author to help them become the best writer they can be.
A little about Dannye Williamsen in her own words:
Born in Memphis, TN, in 1949, my business life has been ruled by diversity. My business background is management and ranges from land investment to commodity analysis to strip mining to my own entrepreneurial ventures. Life coaching has always been a part of my life as well, whether formally or informally. Since getting involved officially with the world-wide web in 1996, I have to admit that I have enjoyed the journey thus far. Learning how to work with emerging software programs, learning to design web sites, and write instructional content has been fun. With the release of my two novels, I find myself once again going down a path that differs from those of the past. Sometimes it’s scary, but since I know it’s not fatal, I’m sure I’ll keep on keeping on!
Dannye has been getting some absolutely amazing reviews for her incredible Paranormal Suspense/Romance novel, Second Chances as well as the sequel, The Threads That Bind. I am hosting a Second Chances Book Discussion that is running simultaneously with this feature blog. So all of you who have read Second Chances have the opportunity to discuss the book directly with the author herself! The book discussion will run until February 9th, so if you would like to join in the fun but haven't read Second Chances yet, you have plenty of time to pick it up and read it.
I want to mention that Dannye established Breakthrough Bookstore in 2011. She is also a fabulous editor who works closely with the author. I've had the pleasure of recently having Dannye edit two of my books and she currently has my third book. I can honestly tell you from personal experience that working with Dannye through her editing business, Your Editing Partner, has been a marvelous experience for me. She not only does a beautiful job of editing, she works closely with the author to help them become the best writer they can be.
A little about Dannye Williamsen in her own words:
Born in Memphis, TN, in 1949, my business life has been ruled by diversity. My business background is management and ranges from land investment to commodity analysis to strip mining to my own entrepreneurial ventures. Life coaching has always been a part of my life as well, whether formally or informally. Since getting involved officially with the world-wide web in 1996, I have to admit that I have enjoyed the journey thus far. Learning how to work with emerging software programs, learning to design web sites, and write instructional content has been fun. With the release of my two novels, I find myself once again going down a path that differs from those of the past. Sometimes it’s scary, but since I know it’s not fatal, I’m sure I’ll keep on keeping on!
The following is my January 26, 2012, 5 star review:
Is there really evil in the world? Yes. It goes by the name of Darian.
I want to start out by saying that I am a paranormal junkie. This book, SECOND CHANCES by DANNYE WILLIAMSEN, is so much more than your everyday paranormal read. There are no vampires. There are no werewolves, although there is a wolf, Avatar, with a very interesting back story.
Second Chances has a character, Darian, that is so evil, yet the author found a way to write his story that compels the reader to feel sorrow and sympathy for him. The writing in this book was scintillating!
While reading Ms. Williamsen's story, I found myself on an emotional roller coaster throughout, constantly questioning what it is in my personality that I could sympathize with such evil. There has only been one other character in my 50 plus years that has affected me in such a way.
Wait until you get to the end! There is a life's lesson there for all of us. The nice thing is that the author does not push this lesson on the reader. It unfolds in such a way to get your thought process rolling and take your way of thinking to a higher level.
I highly recommend this book for any book clubs looking for a really good paranormal suspense/paranormal romance.
THIS IS A MUST READ!
Is there really evil in the world? Yes. It goes by the name of Darian.
I want to start out by saying that I am a paranormal junkie. This book, SECOND CHANCES by DANNYE WILLIAMSEN, is so much more than your everyday paranormal read. There are no vampires. There are no werewolves, although there is a wolf, Avatar, with a very interesting back story.
Second Chances has a character, Darian, that is so evil, yet the author found a way to write his story that compels the reader to feel sorrow and sympathy for him. The writing in this book was scintillating!
While reading Ms. Williamsen's story, I found myself on an emotional roller coaster throughout, constantly questioning what it is in my personality that I could sympathize with such evil. There has only been one other character in my 50 plus years that has affected me in such a way.
Wait until you get to the end! There is a life's lesson there for all of us. The nice thing is that the author does not push this lesson on the reader. It unfolds in such a way to get your thought process rolling and take your way of thinking to a higher level.
I highly recommend this book for any book clubs looking for a really good paranormal suspense/paranormal romance.
THIS IS A MUST READ!
Fiction by Dannye Williamsen:
Non-Fiction by Dannye Williamsen:
Excerpt for Second Chances:
The Wolf: 1980
Chapter 1
His nose twitched slightly as he searched the air for clues. Otherwise Avatar stood motionless on the crest of the hill. The moon reflected off his coat, creating a silver haze that mingled with the early evening mist. Avatar turned his head ever so slightly trying to catch a breeze, anticipating smells of some kind. A sweet wafting of the night breezes should have carried the smells of at least a hundred animals, big and small, to his sensitive nose.
There was no breeze.
There were no smells.
Emptiness.
His ears stood taut as he listened to hear what he could not smell. It was almost deafening, but it was nothing. It was overwhelming in its nothingness. Total silence.
The wolf looked down over the land below him. It was filled with trees, trees that appeared to be dead. If it was winter, no one passing by—neither human or animal—would even have noticed the starkness. But, this was spring, and there were no animals, no birds, no insects. The air was oppressive. He raised his head and looked toward the horizon to see how far this devastation extended. He saw that its ghostly perimeter formed a circle about two miles in diameter.
A circle of death.
In its center was a cabin.
Differences in shade between the hollow shells of the trees, barely distinguishable to the eye, created concentric borders. These borders resembled the rings found after a tree was cut down, rings that indicated periods of growth and dormancy, growth and dormancy. Avatar stared at the cabin in the heart of this circle of death. He sensed that these ostensible borders represented dormant periods also—periods when death was not creeping further into the woods.
The wolf stepped into the circle, moving silently through the rings of death as he approached the cabin. The silence welled up around him. He could feel it brushing against him the way the underbrush would if it were there. The air joined with the silence, pressing down on him.
As the distance to the perimeter of this forsaken ground increased, Avatar sensed the spirit of another. He was not sure what it was. It was unlike any spirit he had ever encountered, and in his years of wandering, he had seen many. There were good spirits and bad, but the very good and the very bad were rare.
His nostrils flinched. He smelled something! The contrast of nothingness and this smell was overpowering.
"Ah! Another comes to join the fold!" Its words resounded in Avatar’s mind. "The wolf becomes the lamb being led to slaughter." Then it laughed.
Avatar fell to the ground, his hindquarters trembling. A force unseen by the wolf pressed in around him beyond the silence and the heaviness of the air. His fear rose within. He felt his spirit starting to slip away. "I am not afraid," declared the wolf. He was not challenging the force. He was simply asserting his conviction that what happened in this place had no real power over him, "If it is time to give up this body, it is time."
His spirit was breaking its bond with his body, ready to take irreversible flight when suddenly it was seized as if a fist of iron wrenched it from the heavens, squeezing it with such power that it momentarily merged with this sinister force. For an instant the wolf entered the darkest recesses in the mind of this evil one. Such unspeakable horror resided there in calm anticipation that Avatar was more frightened by this than by any harm that might befall him. His fear, which had quickly reemerged when his life force was literally seized, was no longer for himself. He sensed the innocence of another, one who would not long escape this madman.
From deep within, the wolf howled, calling out to those like him. Their energy flowed into Avatar, surging through him, igniting sparks of life until every particle of his being was increased tenfold. The sparks grew into a flame and the flame into a fire which threatened to consume the dark spirit holding Avatar’s life in its grasp. Then just as a hand touching a flame recoils under its threat, so did the dark spirit release the life force of Avatar.
As his spirit returned to his body, the wolf knew his earthly time was not yet over. He stood, feeling a strength in his limbs greater than they had ever known. He gazed at the cabin. The logs that graced the cabin walls were gray as ash. Avatar would not be surprised to see them crumble into a pile if even the slightest breeze rustled past. His gaze shifted to the window. The dark form of a man was outlined against the pale light in the cabin. Avatar was almost surprised that it was a man. A monster of gargantuan proportions would have surprised him less. When their paths cross again, he wondered, who will survive? Then he quickly turned and ran toward the perimeter. His mission had just begun.
Dark eyes filled with rage peered out the window of the cabin in the direction of the departing wolf. Particles of his dark energy reached out, beginning to rejoin the air around him. He was driven by a desire to see the wolf lying on the ground, nothing but an empty, misshapen shell. At the last second, he jerked back.
The wolf frightened him. Never before had he encountered anyone or anything that could resist him. He didn't understand what had happened. He had held the wolf’s life force in his grasp. He felt it merging with his own, starting to lose its grip on the wolf’s consciousness. Then suddenly it exploded with such force that he could no longer hold it!
What was this power greater than he?
He knew that it was time. He could not, would not, delay much longer.
Chapter 1
His nose twitched slightly as he searched the air for clues. Otherwise Avatar stood motionless on the crest of the hill. The moon reflected off his coat, creating a silver haze that mingled with the early evening mist. Avatar turned his head ever so slightly trying to catch a breeze, anticipating smells of some kind. A sweet wafting of the night breezes should have carried the smells of at least a hundred animals, big and small, to his sensitive nose.
There was no breeze.
There were no smells.
Emptiness.
His ears stood taut as he listened to hear what he could not smell. It was almost deafening, but it was nothing. It was overwhelming in its nothingness. Total silence.
The wolf looked down over the land below him. It was filled with trees, trees that appeared to be dead. If it was winter, no one passing by—neither human or animal—would even have noticed the starkness. But, this was spring, and there were no animals, no birds, no insects. The air was oppressive. He raised his head and looked toward the horizon to see how far this devastation extended. He saw that its ghostly perimeter formed a circle about two miles in diameter.
A circle of death.
In its center was a cabin.
Differences in shade between the hollow shells of the trees, barely distinguishable to the eye, created concentric borders. These borders resembled the rings found after a tree was cut down, rings that indicated periods of growth and dormancy, growth and dormancy. Avatar stared at the cabin in the heart of this circle of death. He sensed that these ostensible borders represented dormant periods also—periods when death was not creeping further into the woods.
The wolf stepped into the circle, moving silently through the rings of death as he approached the cabin. The silence welled up around him. He could feel it brushing against him the way the underbrush would if it were there. The air joined with the silence, pressing down on him.
As the distance to the perimeter of this forsaken ground increased, Avatar sensed the spirit of another. He was not sure what it was. It was unlike any spirit he had ever encountered, and in his years of wandering, he had seen many. There were good spirits and bad, but the very good and the very bad were rare.
His nostrils flinched. He smelled something! The contrast of nothingness and this smell was overpowering.
"Ah! Another comes to join the fold!" Its words resounded in Avatar’s mind. "The wolf becomes the lamb being led to slaughter." Then it laughed.
Avatar fell to the ground, his hindquarters trembling. A force unseen by the wolf pressed in around him beyond the silence and the heaviness of the air. His fear rose within. He felt his spirit starting to slip away. "I am not afraid," declared the wolf. He was not challenging the force. He was simply asserting his conviction that what happened in this place had no real power over him, "If it is time to give up this body, it is time."
His spirit was breaking its bond with his body, ready to take irreversible flight when suddenly it was seized as if a fist of iron wrenched it from the heavens, squeezing it with such power that it momentarily merged with this sinister force. For an instant the wolf entered the darkest recesses in the mind of this evil one. Such unspeakable horror resided there in calm anticipation that Avatar was more frightened by this than by any harm that might befall him. His fear, which had quickly reemerged when his life force was literally seized, was no longer for himself. He sensed the innocence of another, one who would not long escape this madman.
From deep within, the wolf howled, calling out to those like him. Their energy flowed into Avatar, surging through him, igniting sparks of life until every particle of his being was increased tenfold. The sparks grew into a flame and the flame into a fire which threatened to consume the dark spirit holding Avatar’s life in its grasp. Then just as a hand touching a flame recoils under its threat, so did the dark spirit release the life force of Avatar.
As his spirit returned to his body, the wolf knew his earthly time was not yet over. He stood, feeling a strength in his limbs greater than they had ever known. He gazed at the cabin. The logs that graced the cabin walls were gray as ash. Avatar would not be surprised to see them crumble into a pile if even the slightest breeze rustled past. His gaze shifted to the window. The dark form of a man was outlined against the pale light in the cabin. Avatar was almost surprised that it was a man. A monster of gargantuan proportions would have surprised him less. When their paths cross again, he wondered, who will survive? Then he quickly turned and ran toward the perimeter. His mission had just begun.
Dark eyes filled with rage peered out the window of the cabin in the direction of the departing wolf. Particles of his dark energy reached out, beginning to rejoin the air around him. He was driven by a desire to see the wolf lying on the ground, nothing but an empty, misshapen shell. At the last second, he jerked back.
The wolf frightened him. Never before had he encountered anyone or anything that could resist him. He didn't understand what had happened. He had held the wolf’s life force in his grasp. He felt it merging with his own, starting to lose its grip on the wolf’s consciousness. Then suddenly it exploded with such force that he could no longer hold it!
What was this power greater than he?
He knew that it was time. He could not, would not, delay much longer.
***
Thanks for stopping by! If you enjoyed the blog, please take a moment to leave Dannye a comment below and share it with your friends by clicking on the Twitter, Facebook and StumbleUpon buttons. You can subscribe to Sandy's Spotlight via e-mail using the form on the sidebar. Both Dannye and I look forward to seeing you over at the Second Chances Book Discussion.
Thanks for stopping by! If you enjoyed the blog, please take a moment to leave Dannye a comment below and share it with your friends by clicking on the Twitter, Facebook and StumbleUpon buttons. You can subscribe to Sandy's Spotlight via e-mail using the form on the sidebar. Both Dannye and I look forward to seeing you over at the Second Chances Book Discussion.
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