"The evil that was Ostracia could never be allowed to return. That was what they said. So after the catastrophically failed attempt at genocide by military force, those remembered in Ostracia only as the outsiders instead besieged the town and unleashed a horrific plague on its occupants - a plague that only infects pure Ostracian blood. By the time Assundra Franks, the last, persecuted descendant of an outsider remaining in the now scant leftovers of a once-great civilisation, comes of age, she begins to find herself the focus of attention she wants no part of. As she slowly uncovers the dark secret to the Ostracian side of her ancestry, she begins to wonder if her outsider ancestors had it right all along when deciding to withhold the city from the world. For the remaining plague-ridden Ostracians, the question is not which of the self-nominated saviours has the power to save them, but at what price does that salvation come?"
About the Author: I wrote 'Withheld', on and off, for just over ten years, a journey that started and ended with similar struggles. I'd been toying with the idea of writing something for a while, having regularly kept a diary as well as writing many plays and stories as a child, but had never really done anything serious about it. Just as I was starting my third year at university, I learned that my best friend was suffering from cancer. Knowing of my desire to write, when I asked if there was anything I could do for her, she asked if I could write her something to read in hospital. That something turned into me sending her a chapter a week of an ever-evolving story, a story that evolved even after I had 'finished' the first draft, some years later. Thankfully, my friend completely recovered and the story was forgotten about for a while, for the main part, while I started other projects, took a course in short story and novel writing and generally got on with life. Then, as if creating a circle of events, I was myself diagnosed with cancer in the autumn of 2009. The ensuing treatment left me with a lot of time off work to do little but lie in bed and my thoughts turned back to my book, determined to make something positive come out of the experience. After an extensive editing period, including rewriting most of the book, I ended up with the finished product and, hopefully, a returning clean bill of health. I feel this book has something to offer, something from inside me that means something to me and that I want to share. A lot has happened in the history of this book already but the best part is seeing it out in the world!