My Beloved

After finishing up the third project this month, surviving Thanksgiving, and coming down with a cold, I did nothing all weekend except read.  My comfort reads, the books I can always turn to and fall in love all over again.  This time, I was able to read all three books back to back to back, the whole saga, tears and joy, love and sacrifice together.

Yes, I read the Shanhasson series.  My own series.  Self-indulgent?  Perhaps.  But oh, how I love these characters and their story.  My first dream.  My first love as a writer.  Na’lanna, my beloved.

I can’t explain what I feel when I read these books.  My heart… sings.  Then it feels sore and swollen, too full like the Grinch’s heart at the end.  I can hear one of the theme songs (Everything I Do by Bryan Adams) and bawl, because it reminds me of a certain moment in Rose.   Reading the last book (which will hopefully be available soon) and seeing how it all comes full circle—it’s magic. 

Everything has a purpose, even if I had no idea what was I doing.

Oh, there are a few things I’d change now, years later, but very few.  Even how things tie into the Keldari world gives me chills.  In Return to Shanhasson, everything comes together.  Worlds collide.  Some loves die and new love is born, but in the end…the same dream shines in the full moon above.

From Rose:  Run toward the Moon that shines in your eyes.  Run to your beloved Evening Stars.  Run!

to the last line of Return to Shanhasson:  Now, my heart, I run to you.

*wipes tears away*

With the release of Return coming soon, I’m going to give away several copies of both The Rose of Shanhasson and The Road to Shanhasson to get as many of you hooked as possible.  I hope you love this series as much as I do.

If you haven’t yet read Rose and would like a print copy, please drop me an e-mail at joelysueburkhart AT gmail DOT com with your snail mail addy.  As long as I have copies and postage funds on hand, I’ll send out copies to anyone who wants one and is willing to talk about the books in some way, whether with friends or online, simple ratings at GoodReads or Amazon or a full-fledged review, good or bad. 

In a few weeks, I’ll do the same for Road (although I only have electronic copies).

Love, the greatest gift of all, and the greatest sacrifice.