A young man is barely alive. He is lying in a ditch and has no clear memory of who he is or how he got there. Revived with the last two drops of an elixir by Cora, a healer with whom he has an instant mutual attraction she charges him with the task of re-filling a silver phial with the healing tears of the fabled Wolf-Dragon. Accompanied by Lightning, a broken down old horse with the gift of speech and a need to regain the power of flight he embarks on a journey of discovery, betrayal and redemption. He is confronted by his connection to earlier times and learns of his relationship to Josep, a hard working loner who has spent much of his young life drinking and talking to an invisible friend. In this parallel story Josep meets an exotic stranger known as Mr Charalambus, a mysterious and enigmatic man with an unusual hypnotic personality, who may or may not be the Devil. He acts as benefactor to the poor boy and introduces him to the trappings of wealth and society whilst promising the hand of his niece the Lady Karina. Guided by Charalambus the young Josep steps into a strange new world of privilege in which wealth confers power and the expectation of obedience. One day whilst investigating an enchanting orchard he has an electrifying encounter with Karina to whom he is instantly attracted. He also discovers that she is a 'one-soul, ' as well as a healer of great power and keeper of the Wolf-Dragon tears.
About the Author: What can I say about me? For the past fifteen years I have practiced as a consulting Counselling Psychologist in a busy East London community health setting. Although I have previously been published in academic works and provided chapters in books for counsellors' psychologists and psychotherapists I have always nurtured a love of and talent for creative writing. Over the years I have attended writer's workshops, written and performed poetry as well as provided lyrics for jobbing musicians. However I have long harboured the ambition to write full length fiction. And this I am now doing. The plain and simple truth is that I enjoy writing. I always have. Sometimes it feels like the flow of hungry words is never ending and I will be swept right off my feet, carried along on an imaginative stream of unconscious process. But like everybody else I have a life. To some it may seem narrowly defined. Focussed as it is on work, family, writing and music but to others without the opportunity to learn, make relationships build a future and have the freedom to choose it may seem like it is a world of riches. Whilst on most days it really can feel like that to me, on other occasions it can be an effort to maintain enthusiasm: In other words my life is not that much different from many and better than most. I have known tragedy and delight and struggle to account for what might be its unequal measure. But I live, love and am loved so in truth I have to say I am blessed. I hope the same can be said of you. An example of my academic work can be found in: Professional and ethical issues when working with learning disabled clients, in Tribe and Morrissey (eds) Handbook of Professional and Ethical Practice for Psychologists, Counsellors and Psychotherapists. Brunner-Routledge (2005)