Bessie Series
Twenty or so years ago, I had a recurring dream about Bessie MacIntyre, a teenage girl in Heaven. Her best pal, Ash was there with her too. They were so real to me. They still are. They loved being in Heaven, they told me, but they just didn’t know how they got there. So, I started writing down their stories. And added a whole dollop of inspired imagination. Like angels in Hawaiian shirts who write screenplays … the newly dead souls who arrive via Air Heaven airlines … past lives … reincarnating pets …. The first book became Bessie: Lost & Found, followed by Bessie: Life & Death. I self-published them by Friesen-Press. (Note: These books are out of print and no longer available.) Their covers, as you see here, were created by the gifted and intuitive Toronto artist, Patti Di Sciascio. Thank you, Patti, for such magical portraits of Bessie.
Out of print
Ten years later, I decided to rewrite the books, set them in early 1970s, and find a traditional publisher. Happily, that publisher turned out to be Next Chapter. However, we had some legal hurdles to jump. Since the first two versions were still floating around on Amazon, I was legally bound to rename them and have new covers designed.
Welcome to my new Bessie trilogy: Missing Bessie, Surviving Bessie, and Forgiving Bessie. Recognizable by the mystical, 4-leaf clover brooch on each cover that travels through time and space. Enjoy.
Missing Bessie
It’s the summer of 1972 and Bessie has just turned fifteen in Ravenspond, Canada. She’s young, curious and restless. Having just broken up with her boyfriend Jason, she decides to hitchhike to Vancouver with her best pal, Ash, and catch her hero Chris Lisacker in concert. But instead of ending up on the West Coast, Bessie and Ash find themselves in Heaven, with no idea of how they got there. With the help of Angel Mel, Bessie gradually recovers her memories. But when her fate is about to be revealed, does she really want to know the truth?
Surviving Bessie
At only fifteen years old, Bessie has had to endure the worst experience imaginable: the sudden loss of her best friend Ash and her boyfriend Jason in a tragic accident. Worst of all, Bessie feels responsible. How is she supposed to go on living with all this grief and guilt? At times, she thinks it would be better if she didn’t. But somehow, with the help of Angel Mel, her loving family, and unexpected new friendships, she is able to find her inner strength. And she discovers that even after all the rain, there will be sunshine.
Forgiving Bessie
At sixteen and a half, Bessie is now on the verge of womanhood. It’s time to choose a path into the future that will affect the rest of her life. But how can she do that with the burden of guilt she still feels? Then an alluring stranger, the Cuban-Canadian Arturo Rodrigues, arrives in Ravenspond just days before another unthinkable tragedy strikes. One that will send ripples throughout the MacIntyre family. Bessie wonders why she’s so drawn to Arturo. What is it about him that feels so familiar? The truth is one she could never have imagined, even in a million lifetimes.
