A Novel In Five Tales Set in Ireland and England in the early 1900's, covering a century, Time Tells Tales is a Novel in five parts or 'Tales'. They explore the history of three families; their interconnected lives are intricately woven together by love, birth, death, and marriage. These lives are spiced up by religion, revenge, scandal, abuse, heartache and spiritual intervention. The five Tales are told from different perspectives by the characters that drive this novel along to the surprising conclusion, spreading across time, space and dimensions, hence the title - Time Tells Tales. Jim's Tale Out of the Mouth of Babe's Set in 1994 in England, this Tale is about Jim Middleton and his wife Serena, nee Rooney, and younger sister to Alfred. Serena and Jim have one child, Paul, born in 1958, who meets June Bennett, legitimate daughter of Catherine Bennett, whilst at university and they marry in 1982. They have a gifted child, Angela, born 1989, Jim's only grandchild who Serena got to hold, cruelly for a brief moment before her passing. Serena dies prematurely from bowel cancer at the age of 58. Jim comes to terms with his wife's sudden death by helping to care for five year old Angela whilst June is pregnant with their second child as it is a difficult pregnancy. Angela opens her Granddads eyes to possibilities he had never given much credence to, his scepticism about all things supernatural and spiritual. But his lack of belief or faith in an everlasting life after death is challenged by events and Angela helps him to cope with his grief, changing his whole outlook on life and death. This Tale introduces a new family to this saga and opens us to new concepts, pushing the boundary of belief systems, sharing the struggle of a five year old girl and the trials and tribulations she has had to face in her short life. Will people begin to believe in her gift? Will she grow up bullied, tormented and hide her gift, never to help those who seek her help? These and many more questions will be answered in this first novel by this new author, Stephanie Fletcher. For sure, Time certainly has some Tales to Tell.
About the Author: I am a Mother and best friend to three girls. I truly love my life and every person who has ever touched it with unconditional love, and I am grateful for all their support in my endeavours. I am now a Grandmother and I am sure inspiration will come for some children's stories! I have a website for publishing my writing and poetry. The web link is http: //www.stephanie-fletcher.co.uk I started writing seriously after having a traumatic event in my life resulting in a nervous breakdown to boot. My physical and mental health suffered greatly and now several years later, hand on heart, I can honestly say I am not the self-driven OCD perfectionist I was before. I had a spiritual enlightenment, counselling, and time, lots of time on my hands. I could have quit, and sank deeper into depression but I didn't. I am lucky enough to have three wonderful caring and considerate daughters who witnessed my decent into hell and back, and a family who never left my side. I pulled myself up by my bootstraps and hit life head on again like the Taurean bull I am. I have always written a journal of sorts, spasmodically, and the days of staring into thin air became times of inspiration. At first I was scared to show others my work. The last thing I needed was criticism that cuts you to the soul. I needn't have worried, only but a few people gave me critique that knocked my confidence and I began to grow as a writer. I am the first to admit I am not very well educated, only secondary school but I returned to college at forty, did a creative writing course and gained a certificate in counselling skills. I read a lot, anything and everything and I take notes everywhere, for use later in my work. I collect idioms and sayings, inspirational quotes etc and they all help. A voice recorder is handy for those night-time ideas and I also read my work out loud, recording them and then playing back, as it is easier to see where something doesn't work. I like to do my original work long hand so I have a lot of A5 notebooks needing attention. Writing is never dull, or a job, I enjoy every day I spend writing and often surprise myself at what comes out. I have now finished my first Novel, called 'Time Tells Tales', a synopsis is on my website and it is available as an e-book on Smashwords and Amazon. I have three collections of poetry and two novella length stories, one of which is free, so go help yourself to a copy!