Legacy of Betrayal is both a prequel and a sequel to Ashes of Destruction and underlines the inevitability of the interaction between Destiny, Karma, the spirit world and living beings. The prequel answers questions posed by readers of Ashes of Destruction about the past relationship between the Mackenzies, the Logans, and the Zienkos. It provides the backdrop to the tragedies that followed decades later and reinforces how Destiny seems to guide those events. The unexpected interaction between Cassie Mackenzie and Chuck Logan in some ways mirrors the later relationship between Stacey Mackenzie and Ted Zienko, although the outcome was much different. The prequel also follows events in Zack and Cassie's lives after their return to Britain, which led to Zack's early demise. The fate of the Logans, including a look back at Chuck's early years, tie together the inevitable interaction that occurs when Jay discovers his Canadian roots. The sequel portion follows Stacey after she flees from Ted Zienko and his family, determined to make a better life for herself and her daughter Amy in London. Her experiences bring home to her how much her return home resembles the difficulties faced by Cassie five decades earlier. Stacey tries to put the past behind her but Destiny deems otherwise. Eventually, she meets Damon who reminds her of her late father-in-law, and they marry and life seems more settled. Then, sudden events after their marriage move the newlyweds back to North America as her anticipated peaceful future disintegrates once more, bringing awful repercussions for Amy. Stacey's initial return to America, increases her yearning to return to her friends in Canada, if only for a visit. It was destined to be a vain hope as for twenty years Damon continually finds excuses not to keep the promise he made to her the year before they married. Two decades later Stacey's world is overturned by news of Ted's death. Her shock at the grief it causes her is exacerbated when she senses Ted's ghostly presence in her house. At first putting it down to imagination she is force to recognize that her bond with Ted has never ended for him either and that he needs to help her understand the mysteries from their past. She starts to transcribe her feelings and Ted channels his thoughts through her writings, always guiding her towards answers. As the true nature of their history reveals itself, Stacey is overcome by the realization that one wrong decision, brought on by fear, might have changed outcomes. Stacey then becomes aware that Karma has been dealing with matters in her own way, bringing her own retribution. Once her book is published, Stacey makes the pilgrimage back to the Canadian town that she loved, and realizes how much her friends cared for her, and the huge mistake she made in fleeing. Upon her return home Stacey finds one final shock in store for her. Once again Ted has been nudging her into the place where he needs her to be and Stacey understands that Destiny has had a pattern for her life regardless of what she had thought her future held. Ted's final act is to bring Stacey, Jay, Sally and himself together for eternity.
About the Author: Susan Grace is the pen name of Susan (McLeod) Martin. Born in Britain, Susan was raised in post war England, still in the throes of food rationing, and surrounded by the bombed out buildings of East London. After leaving school, Susan worked in the burgeoning computer industry eventually moving into the advertising world during the much-publicized "Swinging Sixties" in London. While working for a prominent 1970's advertising agency she met and married her first husband, a Canadian national. After her father-in-law's death she and her husband, together with their young daughter visited his cousins in Alberta whom he had never met, fell in love with the country and migrated back to his father's homeland, . They settled in the small rural town of Edson, Alberta, which Susan says has always remained in her heart as her spiritual home. Living in a small rural town was quite a change from suburban life in England but provided opportunity for many new experiences. These included ownership of a small ceramic business; working at an isolated gas plant; becoming a reporter/columnist for a local newspaper and finally as the community liaison for an alternate school district. It was during this time that she honed her writing skills, which previously had been restricted to publishing some poems and short articles in periodic magazines. . During this time her marriage ended leading her to return to England with her daughter, to try to rebuild their lives. In England Susan worked in local government. She met and married an ex-patriot American. After their marriage they moved to her husband's family home in Michigan in the USA. Her interest in local politics led her to work with a state representative candidate and Susan now works as the chief of staff for a Michigan state representative, a job she has held for the past thirteen years. The idea for her debut novel Ashes of Destruction was inspired by her time spent in Canada and she has woven personal experiences into the story and the characters of her book. After a return visit to Edson in 2013 she gathered material for the prequel/sequel that has become Legacy of Betrayal.