“Life is a storm, my young friend. You will bask in the sunlight one moment, be shattered on the rocks the next. What makes you a man is what you do when that storm comes.”
–Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo

We’ve all gone through storms in our life, some have been fleeting, nothing more than a bit of wind and rain, others have pelted us from all sides, bringing the cold darkness and volatile lightning with it.

Oliver Shaw, the hero from EDGE OF LIGHT, came to me in a flash of dark and gritty prologue unlike anything I had ever written. He was so broken. He’d long since lost the will to fight for his life. He no longer believed in anything outside his small cell. And as he turned to the fermented fruit in one corner and began to paint the walls with a mural of home, I knew, with an almost obsessive certainty, that I had to write his story and find a reason for him to go on.

I’m not a dark and tormented person. I wear my rose-colored glasses, having inherited my dad’s “tomorrow will take care of itself” philosophy. But this book poured out of me from some undefinable place. It wasn’t until I was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer in the summer of 2010, that I realized I’d been writing this book while completely unaware my body was turning on me.

My cancer had grown into a prison, every bit as solid and impenetrable as Oliver’s. And just like Oliver, I had to learn to reach for the light. I finished EDGE OF LIGHT while recuperating from my colon resection surgery, uncertain of what the future held for me. What followed was six months of chemotherapy and then preparation for a major secondary surgery.

During that time, I clung to my faith. I became best friends with hope. I discovered the difference between surviving day-to-day and living for each day. Now, over one year (and counting!) post chemo, I am cancer free.

It is such an honor and excitement to be here to share EDGE OF LIGHT with all of you. Oliver’s journey is intense and difficult to read at times, but it is my wish that amidst the pulse-pounding action, the chilling villains, and the emotional love story, you will find a greater appreciation for the storms in your own life.

As Alexandre Dumas writes in The Count of Monte Cristo, the book Oliver uses as his journal, “All human wisdom is contained in these two words–’Wait and Hope’.”

Please visit my website to enter my EDGE OF LIGHT giveaway. Win Oliver’s journal, Cambodian money pendants, copies of EDGE OF LIGHT and more!

And now I’d like to open up the blog. Feel free to post any questions you may have about my story or share one of your own. What has made you reach for the light?

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EDGE OF LIGHT

Taken prisoner by a ruthless group of anarchists deep in the Cambodian jungle, anthropologist Jocelyn Hewitt is isolated in a dark prison cell. Without chance of rescue. Or hope. Until the man in the next cell reaches out to let her know she’s not as alone as she thinks.

CIA agent Oliver Shaw has been held prisoner for over two years. Forced to witness the brutal torture and slow murder of his entire team, his spirit is not just broken, it’s crushed. He no longer believes in hope. Until he hears Jocelyn through the wall, and suddenly feels like a glimpse of light is trying to reach in…

Jocelyn’s heart aches for the tortured man whose presence and voice give her the courage to risk their escape. But first she’ll have to remind Oliver who he once was, what he once loved, and bring him back to life. Only then will they have a chance for freedom—and the kind of love neither ever thought possible.

Buy EDGE OF LIGHT from Carina Press, Amazon, B&N. EDGE OF LIGHT is also available as an audiobook from Avdible!

Cynthia is a former Romance Writers of America Golden Heart® Finalist in Romantic Suspense. She started out writing contemporary romance, but when all her plots began to turn dastardly, she decided to stop fighting the urge to throw explosions, dead bodies, and evil villains into her books.

With her B.S. in the chemical sciences and her love of the periodic table (yes, she’s a geek and proud of it!) she finally found the perfect potent mix of love and danger to put into her stories.

Cynthia lives in Arizona with her real life hero husband and their two sons. Visit her website, connect with her on Twitter, find her on Facebook.

Tags: anthropology, Cambodia, cancer, captivity, CIA, Romantic Suspense, Thriller

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 15th, 2012 at 3:15 pm and is filed under Books, Carina Press. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.