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Intro: Sydney Jamesson considers the challenges some women face when they begin their journey toward becoming a writer.

Maya Magelou, stated: “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”

If that’s the case, how come many creative women find it so hard to get themselves published?

When someone who doesn’t write creatively or professionally asks an author, “Where do you get your crazy ideas from?” You know instinctively that they haven’t the first clue about what it means to be a writer.

What they have no concept of, is the notion that being a writer is not a lifestyle choice. For some of us it’s a vocation. For others, it’s an affliction, a compulsion, an itch you can’t reach or a calling for which there is no clear-cut career opportunity.

“So, when do you find the time to write?”

Better?

Much better.

You know you’ve found a kindred spirit when they assume your propensity for the paranormal, your fascination with contemporary fiction or interest in psychological suspense is a reflection of your character and not something you dabble in like—say—flower arranging.
By asking this question the enquirer is accepting the idea that you must write, even if that means finding the time to write amid your hectic schedule. Hands up! How many of us will respond with … when everyone is sleeping, when the world is silent, or the house is empty?

It takes a special kind of dedication to become an author, regardless of the number of books sold or the number of rave reviews. Anyone who puts pen to paper, publishes their work and invites people to pass judgement deserves recognition and respect, regardless of age, education or gender.

I’ve been on the receiving end of many questions similar to those I’ve mentioned and others just as pertinent. The truth is, as female writers running homes, holding down jobs and raising families we must either make sacrifices in order to write, suffer in silence or live with the guilt for undertaking what is seen by some as a self-indulgent form of behaviour. Rather than respond to probing questions with an outpouring of self-censure and guilt, most of us keep quiet and downplay what we do and our achievements.

Uninspired authors see a trend and follow it, but the nature of a creative mind it to produce something new, something undiscovered. Then, to meld it into a coherent and incredible masterpiece. In other words, produce a piece of fiction that stirs the soul, pulls at the heartstrings, causes a beating heart to palpate and allows a reader’s imagination to take flight.

We write about what we know, what we are passionate about and that which takes root within the realms of our imagination anticipating that, one day, it will blossom and force its way out one way or another through painting or poetry or prose…

The words and images we conceive will not and should not be held captive, not when some of us live to create—it’s in our blood.

On her death bed Emily Derbyshire’s mother made her promise to take good care of her little sister. Keeping her promise, twelve-year-old Emily did exactly that and became five-year-old Rita’s benefactor and bodyguard.

After eighteen years of sisterly devotion Emily receives some shocking news! Rita has committed suicide. When disturbing details start to surface, Emily puts her highflying career on hold to seek out those responsible. She hires an American private investigator Robert Blackmoor; a motorbike riding, no-frills, computer hacker who will use any means necessary to unearth the truth.

Not surprisingly, Robert uncovers secrets from Emily’s troubled childhood and chips away at the glossy veneer of deceit which masks the truth behind, not only Rita’s life, but Emily’s imperfect life too.

Together they assemble the pieces of a sinister puzzle, revealing a cruel and corrupt world of exploitation and murder: a Dark Web into which Rita has become entangled.

As dark forces encircling Emily tighten their grip, and with everything to lose, she must make a life and death decision that she may live to regret.

Emily Parsons is a product of a difficult childhood: self-reliant, fiercely protective and willing to do whatever it takes to safeguard the wellbeing of those in her care. She has even slayed a monster, or two … or three in the name of poetic justice, and yet she is haunted by the image of a beautiful blond girl.

Sixteen-year-old Louise Travis has been abducted.

Louise’ fate rested in Emily’s hands, but she let her slip through her fingers like gold dust, only to be swept away by a malevolent band of brothers.

By once again enlisting the help of computer hacker, Robert Blackmoor, Emily must find Louise before she is lost forever in a Dark Web of heinous crimes, cruelty and corruption. The clock is ticking, and Emily’s investigation is drawing the wrong kind of attention, but she will not back down. She is duty bound to protect those she loves.

With skeletons from her past being unearthed, who can she turn to, and who can she trust with her own sinister secrets?

Enjoy an Excerpt from DUTY OF CARE

“The whole world can become the enemy when you lose what you love.” Kristina McMorrris.

I STOOD ALONE in the graveyard the day they buried my sister. There I was, Emily Parsons, the hapless figure lurking behind a gnarled oak tree—an unwelcome guest.

A savage January wind gnawed at my cheeks. It made my eyes sting; eyes already brimming with salty residue left over from a night spent sobbing into a pillow. Sapped of all strength, I leaned against the trunk, held it between my hands; gloved fingers tracing rough edges. I breathed in its wild, woody perfume; rotting branches, unclaimed timber—a steadfast pillar of support in a surreal tableau.

At our parents’ request, I didn’t show my face. Did they fear I’d cause a scene, throw myself onto the coffin?

Who knows?

Who cares?

With or without their blessing, I had to go. I had to be there to witness my little sister’s departure from this mortal coil and, if that meant enduring sniveling platitudes caught on the wind—so be it.

Our parents, family members and some of Rita’s friends circled the cavernous hole in the ground like ravens; a flock of silhouettes set against a snowy backdrop. My watery eyes lingered on the word Rita formed in purple violas on the wreath—a tiny name for someone with a big personality and an even bigger heart.

Having endured the lamentations of the priest marking the passing of a life ended much too soon, I absconded. I sprinted like a bandit between gravestones, my feet slipping on ankle deep snow that shrouded everything, creating a clean, sterile landscape. Nothing seemed out of place. Nothing except my sister’s charred body lying six foot under in a mahogany coffin fifty yards away.

I took refuge in my car and sat in silence, refusing to acknowledge the shifting congregation. Concealed behind windows veiled with condensation, I left unseen.

In those days leading up to Rita’s funeral, I cried nonstop. I would wake from dozing and the world would be as it was. I would smile through cracked lips, but then I would remember and my heart would ache and my body would shake and tears would cloud my eyes once more.

The myriad of memories we had made were my only lifeline: phone conversations, photographs and texts existing in a vacuum, authorless—a cruel kind of comfort. For the sake of my sanity, I tried to come to terms with her passing, I really did, but the realisation that the one person I loved more than any other had gone and left me behind did not make any sense to me.

We had made a pact when we were kids to never be separated.

Why had Rita broken it?

About the Author:Sydney Jamesson is a USA Today bestselling author by night and an English teacher by day. She is nocturnal by nature and loves nothing more than staying up late, listening to music and being inspired to write. She has always written creatively; in her home is one enormous wastepaper basket full of discarded phrases, opening lines and pieces of dialogue that have hit her like lightning in the middle of the night. Her USA Today bestselling trilogy, THE STORY OF US sold worldwide, and she has been thrilled to continue Ayden Stone’s and Beth Parker’s epic love story in The Story of Us Series: Into the Blue, featuring Blue Genes, Blue Hearts and Blue Moon.

More recently, Sydney has focused on psychological suspense. THE DARKEST CORNERS was her first venture into the new genre: a complex love story filled with lots of angst, emotional scenes and edge of your seat suspense as a single father and a troubled young woman confront their deepest, darkest fears together. The twists come think and fast and the ending is unforgettable!

In her latest novels, DUTY OF CARE and THE CARETAKERS – THE DUTY BOUND DUET -readers explore the seedier side of the Dark Web; witness abduction, human trafficking, and a devoted sister’s willingness to do whatever it takes to safeguard the wellbeing of those in her care. It’s a real page turner, filled with incidents which are heart-breaking and heart-stopping in equal measure!

Buy DUTY OF CARE and THE CARETAKERS at your favorite online venue.

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