ACME AUTHORS LINK WELCOMES HAZEL STATHAM

A Warm Welcome to Regency Romance Author, Hazel Statham!



Title of Book: His Shadowed Heart
E-ISBN: 978-1-59705-267-1
POD-ISBN: 978-1-59705-756-8


CANONS TO THE RIGHT OF THEM, CANONS TO THE LEFT!

Well, I just had to have it didn’t I. Anyone who knows me, will realise that I just couldn’t pass it up. OK, so it was a replica cannon from the American Civil War, not one from the Napoleonic Wars, but it was the nearest I could get.

We were visiting friends in Savannah and we went to Charleston for the day. Our friends took us to an old fort and there, sitting in the window of the shop, was my cannon.

"You don’t want that,” Terry (the husband) said. “You can’t want that.”

I stuck to my guns, “Yes, I do!”

“Think of the trouble we will have getting it home. I’m the one who will have to carry it after all.”

I waved his concerns aside. He is, after all, only a man, with a man’s perspective! Just how difficult could a twelve inch cannon be to carry? I bought the cannon for $80, feeling quite triumphant with my purchase, thinking it was cheap at half the price. I knew just where I would put it when we got home.

Finally, our holiday was over and I had to pack for our return. Now, where to put the cannon? Our cases were full to capacity, (we had just had a new grandson and Baby Gap sells the most beautiful baby clothes). The only space available was in the hand-luggage. Not ideal, I know, and bore out my husband’s theory that he would be the one who would have to carry it. So, careful not to squash the wheels, into the hand-luggage it went.

We were driven to Atlanta Airport and deposited in the departure lounge. Unfortunately, it was one of those frustrating times when I needed to use my wheelchair so Terry was left to organise the check-in procedure. Not in itself a tricky process - usually, (but you must bear in mind that this was in the wake of September 11th). We then proceeded to the security checks.

We presented our passports and all the necessary documents for our departure and were ushered through into the security area. At this point, a porter took over responsibility for me and my wheelchair so that Terry could take the hand-luggage through the usual checks. I was wheeled to the side, so that I didn’t obstruct the natural flow of people, to await my husband’s return. No husband!

I craned my neck and saw the entire contents of our hand-luggage, plus, (yes you’ve guessed it) my husband, being taken away by security guards.

I asked the porter where they were taking him but he just shrugged. He was Puerto Rican and spoke no English.

I waited. Still no husband! Knowing that he would be getting stressed, I stopped a passing security guard and asked to be taken to him.

“No!” was the emphatic reply.

With only twenty minutes to departure time, I was beginning to panic. Terry suddenly appeared, thankfully sans escort, but to my despair, also sans cannon. He had been released quite a while earlier but they would not let him back into the secure area without the necessary paperwork, which we had already relinquished at the previous security check. The official who had taken the original travel forms and assured my husband that, if he presented himself at his desk, he would be allowed re-entry, had gone home for the day. It had taken Terry over half-an-hour to persuade the new official to let him back in. He was not happy! Naturally, it was all my fault.

The cannon? That had to be securely packaged by the airline staff and placed in the hold. We were not allowed to see it again until it arrived on the baggage carousel at Manchester Airport.

It now sits in the place I envisioned, but, by mutual consent, is very rarely mentioned.

Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Wings ePress
Publication Date: June 1st, 2008
Blurb: Can a shadowed heart be healed? Can love grow where least expected? The Earl of Waverly believes not. How wrong can he be!

After the death of his wife, the Earl of Waverly, believing his heart irreparably damaged, enters into a marriage of convenience. However, he is not prepared for the healing influence his new young bride has on his life.

Despite the couple’s new-found happiness, nefarious deeds abound and strange happenings are attributed to the ghost of his former wife. Will their love stand the test or will the perpetrator emerge the victor?