GETTING TO KNOW YOU by Sarah J. McNeal

It’s been quite some time since I posted anything about myself and I’m certain new people have come to Publishing by Rebecca Vickery either authors or readers. So, let me reintroduce myself to you.

My name is Sarah J. McNeal. I have no pseudonyms in any of my books or short stories. Everything I write is under my real name.

Although I was born in the tiny college town of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, my family moved to Charlotte, North Carolina when I was 5. My parents raised my sister and me in a Yankee kind of culture, but we turned out southerners in the end. I’ve been married and divorced, and then settled down with my rescue pets. I have Lily, rescued when she was 4 months old from the Golden Retriever Rescue Club of Charlotte, and my cat, Liberty, who was hit by a car in front of my veterinarian’s establishment on 9/11/2001 when she was just a kitten.

I play several instruments: the violin, bag pipes, guitar, and harmonica—none of them very well. I enjoy music and I find playing musical instruments brings me peace and helps me get centered.

I have been actively writing since I was 13 years old when I submitted my first short story to Seventeen Magazine. That story was rejected and for good reason. I wasn’t good enough yet. Mine was a rather bumpy road to publication. I wanted to be an English major, but my post depression era father was devoted to practicality and would only pay for a college education in some medical profession. To allay his fears that I wouldn’t be able to take care of myself independent of my parents, I became a nurse. It was a long road to becoming an RN, but I am not going to bore you with those details. I worked as a critical care nurse for 47 years before I finally retired in 2009. Love retirement. I finally get to devote my time to what I really love—writing.

The thing is, I never quite writing in all the years I had to focus on my education and then work at a nursing profession. Sometimes I had to put it on hold while I accomplished other goals for the sake of making a stable living. Ugh!

I eventually sold 5 short stories in 1996, and then wrote longer works which became published. Several publishers later, here I am.

I write in different genres, but for my lengthier work, they are mostly under the name of a series such as LEGENDS OF WINATUKE, a trilogy of fantasy novels published by Publishing by Rebecca Vickery which includes Dark Isle, Lake of Sorrows, and The Light of Valmora, or The Wildings series, my western romances published by Prairie Rose Publications. I have short, paranormal stories in PbRV’s 2011 FALL COLLECTION (Curse of the Amber Tomb), the 2012 CHRISTMAS COLLECTION (Gifts From The Afterlife), and this year’s Autumn anthology, MYTHS, LEGENDS and MIDNIGHT KISSES (Pennytook). One of my favorite stories is a paranormal piece about a young musician fighting for his life against cancer titled Heart Song. 

I am offering this story from my publisher as a FREE story. I would love it if you got this story and read it. It’s a story that means a great deal to me personally.

Blurb:

Gideon thought he had the perfect life as a musician with a beautiful model as his girlfriend, until he was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Ashamed and afraid he may die, Gideon hits bottom when his girlfriend dumps him for a “real” man.

Hope comes in the form of his father’s ghost and a person he has just met. Can he beat the odds and survive? And if he does, can he ever find happiness again?

Here’s the link if you would like a copy:

Smashwords

AMAZON

For the anthology MYTHS, LEGENDS, AND MIDNIGHT KISSES, I wrote the story Pennytook. Pennytook has always been a special character for me. He is the funny, party loving Gypsy with mystical knowledge and common sense advice who has appeared in all three of the LEGENDS OF WINATUKE books. Early on he suffered the loss of his wife and baby son to the Witch Queen, Mahara. Things changed for him as the trilogy progressed, but finally, I got to write a story in which Pennytook could find love.

Logline:

Myths are supposed to be false…but some are terrifying and true.

Blurb:

Pennytook is a war weary Gypsy who longs for peace from the past and wants something meaningful in his life.

Esmeralda, a Gypsy trick rider, has harbored a deep affection for the chieftain, Pennytook, for many years. But her dark secret will never allow him into her life.

A mythological creature is about to unleash its horror and change the destinies of Esmeralda and Pennytook.

Excerpt:

A deep ache spread through Pennytook's chest as he walked beside Esmeralda to the shelter where the horses rested. Something was very wrong and it filled him with dread. The night air had grown cold. He wanted to tuck his woolen cloak around her shoulders, but he knew she would refuse. The music of the tribe and the Chergari were distant now as if it were the music of the spirit realm. He shivered at the thought.

Buy Link for the anthology:

Smashwords

Amazon

Before I wear out my welcome, I’d just like to say thank you for allowing me to tell you a bit about me and I look forward to getting to know all of you along the way.

Sarah J. McNeal

Author of paranormal, time travel and western romance

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