When you put together the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle it's supposed to fit together with no spaces in between, forming a clear picture of what it represents. But when the pieces are shaken causing them to fall apart, you have what happened to our main character in The Gatekeeper: fragmented, disassembled pieces of a puzzled mind without a clear picture of what it is supposed to represent. The story explores her decision to go into therapy, unlocking the truth of her past; discovering secrets her mind chooses to forget, secrets which shaped her vast and conflicting personalities. The novel is an insightful and sometimes humorous journey of self-preservation and actualization, where readers are drawn closer to the truth in their own lives by gaining a better understanding of how their own experiences can be catalysts for their behavior. Our protagonist's complex personalities take the reader through a literary odyssey to emerge with greater clarity and understanding of their own lives.
About the Author: I was born Cynthia Alease Davis, in December 1953, in New York City, and have three adult children, four grandchildren, and a loving husband. I've always had a passion for writing, although it hadn't matured until later in my life. My love for English and writing actually extended from the third grade, when my teacher, Mrs. Wolf, told me I had a "gift." I decided however, to pursue art for the rest of my elementary, junior high and high school life through drawing and sketching, using various forms of media and managing to win a few awards along the way, including a scholarship to attend the Fleischer Art Memorial in the summer of my eighth grade year, and a Loeb Laboratory Scholarship to attend The Philadelphia College of Art (now the University of the Arts), while in high school. Then, in November, 2008, it hit me. I felt a strong pull to write a novel. By November, 2009 my debut novel, "The Gatekeeper, a Novel by C. Alease" (www.amazon.com) (www.barnesandnoble.com), was completed and published through Createspace, an Amazon company. I chose the pen name, C. Alease, in tribute to my grandmother, Alease Lawson, with whom I share my middle name. In late August, 2010, I contracted with a friend to write her life story. Thelma Wright had the title and an amazing story, but she needed someone to get inside her, to write the way she felt, and in February, 2011, I completed the manuscript for "With Eyes from Both Sides, by Thelma Wright, as told to and written by C. Alease," a true story about the life of the wife of one of Philadelphia's purported kingpins of the Black Mafia during the 1970's, 1980's and 1990's. I believe the term is, "hook, line and sinker." That was the "it" for me. I am hooked, lined and sunk. I love to write! I enjoy being creative, and through the Internet, I can take my art all over the world. That's it. That's me. Of course there's lots more, but for now, I am a mother, grandmother, wife, geek, techno guru, interior designer, furniture builder, student, novelist, writer, author! Enjoy my writing on "Thoughts at the Time," www.calease.wordpress.com