Dear Reader…
First of all, thanks for being willing to take a chance on
an all-but-unknown writer. Not everyone will do that, which shows that either
you are a risk-taker by nature, or you genuinely like the idea of finding new
authors and their stories.
But I suppose I should introduce myself before I go any
further.
My name is Barb Caffrey. I am a writer with two music
degrees (a Bachelor's and a Master's, for my sins), and I edit for a living. I
am a sports fan who loves what used to be called "alternative rock"
or grunge music, despite being a trained classical and jazz musician on the
clarinet, saxophone, and oboe. I am a widow—truly, something I didn't seek out,
much less this early—trying to keep
her own writing alive, and her late husband Michael B. Caffrey's writing alive
as well. I believe in the power of love over the love of power. And I've loved
science fiction and fantasy since I first discovered it at age nine or so.
All of these things—well, maybe not the sports so much—went
into the writing of my most recent novel, Changing
Faces.
How did that happen, you ask? Well, Changing Faces is the story of two clarinetists, Allen Bridgeway
and his fiancée, Elaine Foster. They love each other very much, but because of
trauma in Elaine's past and the fact that, unbeknownst to Allen, she is both
gender-fluid and transgender, she is having a hard time fully committing to
him. When she finally tells Allen who and what she is, he's floored, and
doesn't know what to do…he prays that they find a way to stay together, and
some higher beings not bound to our linear time take pity on him and Elaine.
But the way they do it isn't what Allen expects.
You see, on a very bad wintry night, Allen and Elaine are
involved in a car accident. The beings take Allen's soul and bind it into
Elaine's body, then take Elaine's soul and put it into Allen's. Because Allen's
old body is heavily damaged, one of the beings talks with her while she's
comatose in the Place of Dreams and Nightmares—a place humans go every night
when they sleep, though most of us don't remember much about it upon wakening.
And Allen wakes up in the hospital, in Elaine's body, unable to tell anyone
he's Allen, not Elaine.
So, instead of one LGBT person, we now have two LGBT people.
Both still in love with each other, in a horrible situation, not knowing if the
other will forgive them (Allen worries about Elaine even being in his body,
while Elaine worries that no one understands Allen now, and blames herself for
putting them in this terrible position).
But regardless of the outward form, they are still Allen and
Elaine. Still in love. Still doing their best to figure out how to live with
each other, heal completely, and go on and get married…if they can.
Because as my tagline for Changing Faces states: "… once you find your soulmate, the
universe will do almost anything to keep you together—even change your faces."
Now, do you need to be LGBT in order to appreciate Changing Faces? No, though it can't
hurt…personally, I believe anyone who loves romance with a hint of fantasy
should enjoy this story, as it's all about one soul calling to another, and
being answered regardless of form.
So do, please, check out my new novel, Changing Faces, and let me know what you think!
Sincerely,
Barb Caffrey
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