“There is an instinctual connection between Authors and Readers. The purpose of this newsletter is to spark that intuited connection.”
- Marlene Cheng

Summer Dreams

“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”
—Albert Einstein

If you plan to go hiking in the mountains, you must set your goals, plan the route, and prepare.

If you have dreams for your life, you must set your goals, plan the route, and prepare.

Do you believe YOUR dreams can come true?

I believe we all have the potential to manifest our dreams.

HOW?

1. The Law of Attraction—that which you think and dream, you will attract.

2. Power of Visualization—If you can visualize achieving your goal, you will.

CHALLENGE!

Sit and daydream about what you wish for ten minutes. If you can do this without getting lost to distractions, you will, no doubt in my mind, achieve your goal.

BET on YOU

Set your goals, plan the route, prepare, and you will Climb Your Heights. Bonnes aventures.

IF NOT NOW, WHEN?

My summer goals are to read, read, read, and to improve my writing skills. I want to be able to write in 3D, as if painting a picture. These are the quotes I have pinned-up for my eyes to gaze on, to attract what I need, and to give me fodder for visualization.

“My task…is, by the power of the written word, to make you hear, to make you feel, to make you see.” —Joseph Conrad.

“I want to write words that push people into their lives rather than helping people escape from them.” —Harvey Pekar

“Don’t tell me the moon is shining: Show me the glint of light on broken glass.”—Chekov.

“I believe in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and tinsel on the tree. And I believe in me.”—Marlene Cheng.

What’s in the Candy Jar?

It’s my pleasure to feature my friend, British author LAURA LYNDHURST.

She self-published Fairytales Don't Come True, her debut novel, in May 2020 and since then has written and published two books of poetry, October Poems and Thanksgiving Poems & Prose Pieces. In January 2021 she published a sequel to Fairytales entitled Degenerate, Regenerate and at the end of March 2021 she published a psychological suspense story, You Know What You Did. A third book was published in June 2021 to make a trilogy entitled All That We Are Heir To. A new psychological suspense story is underway, also a small poem collection.

Here is one: 5 out of 5 stars by Stephenson Holt a Goodreads Author. “All will enjoy the psychological drama within this novel. Another excellent Lyndhurst novel (the best I’ve read this year and entering my top ten reads, ever) and hopefully she will continue down the psychological drama route, this path of keeping her fans guessing. More like this please.”

Read the reviews, learn more about Laura and ALL her books on Amazon.

Amazon UK | Amazon Canada

What I have to say about Fairytales Don’t Come True

“5 out of 5 stars for Fairytales Don’t Come True. This is literary fiction at its finest. Laura Lyndhurst educates us, as tastefully as is possible, given the subject matter, on the many shades of the “Sex Trade,” not with a journalistic essay but with a riveting, compelling novel. And she doesn’t hide the truths. I more than recommend this well written works, as a best-summer-read on the beach or under-the-covers with a flashlight, if that’s how you get enlightened on the shady side of our society. If you are wearing socks, it’s guaranteed to knock them off.” —Marlene

Marlene’s New Flavour

Whoopee! Whoopee! Whoopee!

I revel in more wild excitement and joy!

I’m to the moon and back with emotions.

The paperback of Shifting to Freedom is now live on Amazon

Tess, a medical doctor, to escape from fear, pain, horrendous manic depressive mood swings, and hallucinations, dissociates, crossing invisible barriers to become ‘alter’nate personalities. Her life, heartrending in sadness, constantly threatens to become unraveled. Her tenuous hope for recovery is as fragile as her emotions. Shattering is her constant fear.

We hear her cry from the darkness, tears we cannot stop, but we hold on to what we can—hope.

What Amazon Readers are saying about Shifting to Freedom.

5 out of 5 stars

“A painful story highlighting a difficult issue, that of mental illness in general and of Multiple-Personality Disorder in particular. I read the book in a very short time because it’s difficult to put down and, if you’re like me, you’ll want to know what is going on, exactly.

The narrative jumps between episodes of the narrator’s life, but feels disjointed in some way; obviously the reader doesn’t expect a blow-by-blow account of every event in the life of the protagonist, but this feels as though some essential information isn’t there.

This isn’t bad writing, far from it and quite the opposite, indeed; there is a reason for the gaps, but it’s not for me to tell you why here. All will become clear, but you’ll need to read this excellent yet disturbing piece of work for yourself to find out.”
—Laura Lyndhurst

5 out of 5 stars

“I'm just so glad I picked up this book to read it! Shifting to Freedom quickly gripped me and threw me into the story straight away. I couldn't stop reading it until I had finished it. This is one of the best books I've read this year and I urge everyone to buy it!”
—Clare

Old Favorites

A little nostalgia. I’ve put the first two books that I published on the website.

The Many Layered Skirt

She escapes by refugee boat to Mainland China, treks high above the midstream of the Yangtze to a school, in a Ming Dynasty built hermitage, but soon has to evacuate. All alone, she keeps one heart-pounding step ahead of the ruthless enemy. Numbed and emotionally at the breaking point, she gets to Chungking.

The Sino-Japanese war ends. She is given her brother Kit's air force uniform and personal belongings, among which, is an unfinished letter to their mother. Even though, China is now at Civil War, primitive instinct drives her homeward.

“One of the best new voices in fiction today”
- Midwest BookReview

Social Poem

All you poets out there— keep your verses coming. The goal is 100 verses. Write anything that stirs you—Love, Hope, Loneliness, Pain, Grief, Joy…Anything. Put Poem in the subject line and send to marlene.cheng@telus.net.

TABLE TALK

Again, this month, I’ve chatted myself out, so here is Quiz #3

The world is only partly what it appears to be—a far bigger part is created by your own thoughts and feelings.

I showcase the U.S. National Youth Poet Laureate, Amanda Gorman. At 23 years of age she has climbed enormous hills.

It would be appreciated if you would forward this newsletter to your reader and author friends.