In RUDE AWAKENINGS-An Adolescent's Search for Love-Sandy has moved from Wilber, Nebraska, to Manilla, Iowa. Once a champion of hollyhocks and swimming holes and the open fields, she now discards her sneakers and butterfly net and, like a child in wild anticipation, embarks upon an adolescent's sentimental journey-a search for love. Her exploration of this bizarre and confusing landscape begins with TRAIN RIDE. Mama's mixed messages about right and wrong cause Sandy to ponder what "good girls" do and don't do. In SWEET SIXTEEN, Sandy's sixteenth birthday becomes the turning point for letting go of Mama's apron strings and cutting ties with her spiritual upbringing and the Church. Daddy's untimely death and Mama's mental breakdown, force Sandy to say GOODBYE DAD, HELLO MOM. At the onset of her senior year of high school, Sandy moves to Paullina, Iowa, graduates, and then becomes her mother's caretaker for the next forty years. Earmarked by a struggle for survival, Sandy's college years are difficult. However, one of the few pleasant distractions from studying is a DANCIN' FOOL-a handsome Irish-Catholic gay boy, fondly known as "twinkle toes"-who isn't afraid to foxtrot his way out of a confrontation with his bullying peers. Another is "Bloody Mary", a risqué young woman who offers Sandy some comic relief as well as a little healthy rebellion in THE MEANING OF BIRDCAGE. It's all Greek to Sandy until her philosophy professor exposes her to his not so lofty ideas. All this fun and frolic culminates with MR. GRAY TIE-Sandy's SECOND CHOICE for a husband. On her birthday a year later, when Sandy returns to Iowa to visit her mother, she gets an unexpected call from her first choice. Too little, too late. Somewhere in between all of these escapades, Sandy's loss of innocence causes her to wonder, "Why did I decide to roam?"
About the Author: SANDRA CHAUSSEE is a healer, teacher and writer whose mission is to help individuals learn and grow. A rebel at heart, her provocative teaching style challenges the status quo in the personal and professional lives of her students, urging them toward change and transformation. SANDRA insists curiosity is key in living a vital, meaningful life and is the one thread that runs through her work and writing and the one quality that has contributed most to her authenticity. To become real in an unreal world, might well be SANDRA'S reason for being. Recently published VOICING YOUR AUTHENTIC SELF: Using Your Voice as a Healing Instrument--a YouTube Course, Text, and Workbook for beginners and seasoned practitioners--SANDRA offers 10 exciting venues & 14 sessions all in one package and for one low price! Coming soon are CHAKRA STORIES: SERIES I, II, & III where SANDRA explains how "your body has a story to tell" by using each of the 7 chakras to tell a story after which her SOUND MUSINGS provide you with "think and grow" exercises to guide your learning. Be sure to look for SANDRA'S first 4-volume published series for juvenile readers: HOLLYHOCKS, BARE FEET & THE BOGEYMAN: The Mis-Adventures of a Nebraska Tomboy. Followed by RUDE AWAKENING: An Adolescent's Search for Love, SANDRA'S six-volume "coming of age" fiction series for young adults. SANDRA resides in Portland, Maine, with her silky terrier, Max, where as a Certified Professional Sound Healer, Healing Touch and Shamanic Practitioner, she melds her passion for Sound, Touch, and Story into her healing practice, JAGUAR WOMAN SOUNDS. She welcomes questions and comments from her readers and students who may contact her on Facebook and/or at jaguarwomansounds@yahoo.com.