Awards, Press & Interests

Sisters of Castle Leod

Book 1 of Historic Women of the Highlands. Amazon Kindle #1 Bestseller, Historical Biographical Fiction. Lady Sibell Mackenzie is not quite seventeen when she inherits her father’s titles and estates in the Scottish Highlands. A shy, serious young woman, she is regarded by those who know her as a “dreamer.” She is, in fact, a spiritualist with a keen sixth sense. But despite her preoccupation with ghosts, spirits and the Unseen World, Sibell also has a strong sense of duty. Before her father dies, he extracts a promise from her: Once he is gone, she must take responsibility for her moody and rebellious younger sister, Constance. Sibell, now the 3rd Countess of Cromartie, soon senses that her sister bears a deep resentment toward her. Several disturbing incidents confirm her suspicions. The most devastating occurs following Sibell’s marriage to Major Edward Walter Blunt. Her first baby, who she names Janet, becomes desperately ill and quickly dies, leaving Constance’s status as Sibell’s presumptive heir intact. Three months later, Sibell is reminded of an old Mackenzie family legend warning that if a certain stream on her estates should be turned from its course, the succession would pass from the direct line. Shockingly, only a few weeks before Janet’s death, the course of the stream had indeed been changed. The order, she discovers, came from Constance. Convinced of her sister’s treachery, Sibell ceases all communication with Constance and officially abdicates her duty to protect her sister’s interests. Edward is increasingly concerned about Sibell’s mental state, and their relationship suffers. Desperate to contact the spirit of her lost child, Sibell embarks on a journey to Venice, the world’s most haunted city. While attending a masked ball, she meets Demetrius Khoury, dealer in fine gems and exiled son of an influential Arab family. Before the night is over, Demetrius confides he believes the two of them are eternally bound, having been lovers in a past life in the ancient Phoenician port of Tyre (Lebanon). Unable to win her trust, he urges her to visit Dr. Joseph Belfry, noted hypnotist and expert in reincarnation. Sibell leaves Venice, deeply troubled by her strange encounter with Demetrius. Upon her return home, her longstanding aspiration to write becomes a full-blown obsession as she frantically churns out a slew of short stories and begins planning her first romantic novel. A year passes before Sibell dares to seek Dr. Belfry’s counsel. Her goal now is not only to contact Janet’s spirit, but to engineer her return to earthly life. Her experience under hypnosis, however, is not what she’d hoped. Instead of answers to her questions about Janet, she relives the ancient ritual called the Link of Fire, a ceremony forever binding her soul to that of a man whose face remains hidden in shadow. After her visit to Dr. Belfry, Sibell feels an irresistible urge to visit the city of Tyre, never expecting that Demetrius is waiting for her in Constantinople as part of a guided expedition. Upon their arrival in Tyre, he leads her to an ancient courtyard by the Mediterranean, which she instantly recognizes as the scene of her hypnotic vision. She cannot help but believe that she and Demetrius are indeed joined by the Link of Fire. But when passions escalate and Demetrius presses her to betray her husband, she flees Tyre, vowing never to see him again. Over the next few years, Sibell manages to put Demetrius out of her mind, if not her heart. She remains faithful to her husband, gives birth to two sons, achieves success as a writer of mystical romantic fiction, and tries to forgive her sister for whatever may have occurred in the past. But maintaining a relationship with Constance proves difficult. Despite being married and the mother of two sons, Constance seeks to defy convention at every turn. Emulating the Greek-style dancing of Isadora Duncan, she takes the stage of London’s Palace Theater, performing barefoot and only partially clothed for an audience of anyone willing to pay the price of admission. All of London is scandalized by her behavior, and King Edward permanently bans her from British society. From a newspaper article, Sibell learns that Constance and her husband, Sir Austin, are in desperate financial trouble. She and Edward travel to New York, where Constance is appearing in a vaudeville music hall, planning to offer their help. Constance suffers a collapse on stage, and the doctor advises prolonged rest. While in New York, strolling in the jewelry district of Manhattan, Sibell and Edward discover that a priceless family heirloom Sibell had given to Constance as a wedding gift, an emerald and diamond necklace, is being offered for sale. When the shop owner arrives, Sibell is stunned to once again be face-to-face with Demetrius. With no hint of recognition, he tells them the necklace has been promised to another client. The following afternoon, Sibell returns alone to the shop. Demetrius’s attitude is quite different. He reveals that Dr. Belfry was exposed as a fraud and stands accused of conducting experiments on his patients, testing the power of suggestion through hypnosis by convincing them of past lives and relationships that never existed. Demetrius acknowledges having been duped and asks Sibell to forgive him for having involved her. However, Sibell’s belief in reincarnation is not shaken by anything Demetrius has told her. She cannot afford to doubt, especially now. Though no one yet knows, Sibell is again expecting. The following March, she gives birth to a baby girl, who she and Edward name Bella. The baby has a tiny birthmark on her neck in the shape of a star, identical to a mark that Janet had in the same location—positive proof of Janet’s return. Several years later, only three months after Britain’s entry into World War I, Austin is killed in combat. Constance, who has been performing in America, returns to Scotland in a state of deep depression. Sibell tracks her sister through a blinding winter storm to stop her before she can take her own life. Constance recovers, but the sisters again go their separate ways. Nearly twenty years pass. Sibell receives a call from her sister’s second husband. He tells her she must come to London now if she wishes to say a last goodbye. Sibell, not aware that Constance was ill, finds her on the brink of death from cancer. Constance admits to many regrets and seeks solace. Sibell finally feels able to connect with her. The sisters each reveal long-hidden secrets. Constance admits that, though she has always ridiculed Sibell for her belief in ghosts and spirits, she, too, has seen Castle Leod’s ghost. Sibell and Constance forge a final reconciliation, vowing to remember lessons learned and love each other better … in the next life.

Temptation Rag

May Convery is unhappy with her family's privileged life among New York City's elite and dreams of becoming a poet. When she meets the poor but talented Mike Bernard, an aspiring concert pianist, she imagines the two of them pursuing their artistic passions together. But after their secret liaison is discovered and Mike disappears from her life, neither of them is prepared for the consequences of his betrayal. Five years later, in 1900, Mike has abandoned his concert career for a more lucrative one in vaudeville and won the coveted title "Ragtime King of the World." His professional rivalry with the self-proclaimed Originator of Ragtime, Ben Harney, is escalating into obsession. May, trapped in an abusive marriage arranged by her parents, struggles to find freedom through her poetry, the women's suffrage movement, and yet another forbidden relationship, this one with the popular Black composer J. Rosamond Johnson. Her friendships with Johnson and opera singer Abbie Mitchell introduce May to the world of Black musical theater and the authentic originators of ragtime. But May's freedom has come at a cost. When, by chance, she and Mike meet again, painful secrets from the past threaten to surface, and May is forced to confront the truth she had hoped to deny forever. From vaudeville's greatest stars to the geniuses of early African-American musical theater, an unforgettable cast of musical icons populates this richly fictionalized historical saga.

The Beauty Doctor

In the spring of 1907, Abigail Platford finds herself unexpectedly adrift in New York City. Penniless and full of self-doubt, she has abandoned her dream of someday attending medical school and becoming a doctor like her late father. Instead, she takes a minor position in the office of Dr. Franklin Rome, hoping at least to maintain contact with the world of medicine that fascinates her. She soon learns that the handsome and sophisticated Dr. Rome is one of a rare new breed of so-called beauty doctors who chisel noses, pin back ears, trim eyelids and inject wrinkles with paraffin. At first skeptical, she begins to open her mind, and then her heart, to Dr. Rome. But when his proposed partnership with a proponent of the burgeoning eugenics movement raises troubling questions, Abigail becomes ensnared in a web of treachery that challenges her most cherished beliefs about a doctor’s sacred duty and threatens to destroy all she loves. A suspenseful work of historical fiction grounded in the social and moral issues of the Edwardian era in America.