I forgot to tell you that if you read Within The Summit's Shadow, you're going to be a guest at Shaynie & Cameron's wedding around Chapter Three.
Surprise!
Hope you're wearing something that won't embarrass you at a wedding upon the terrace at the elegant Jasper Park Lodge.
Ummmm....what do you mean you're reading my novel in the bath tub?
How embarrassing for you.
You might want to place that rubber ducky strategically.
The wedding scene in Within The Summit's Shadow was not crafted just to deliver some satisfaction to the fans of Divinity & The Python who were in love with Shaynie & Cameron's romance. (Although that is a happy bonus). Here, The Wedding is the way Andrew - the brother of the bride - meets his childhood sweetheart Elizabeth again after a fourteen year Cold War has kept them apart.
Shaynie has arranged their reunion. She...well, she sort of blackmails Elizabeth into playing classical guitar at the ceremony.
Don't judge. 'Cause believe me - if you're irritated with Shaynie for being manipulative, you aren't even half as pissed as Andrew. Just listen:
“You.” His sister. He thrust his chin toward Beth. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You have to ask?” She smiled. “Isn’t she beautiful?”
He shrugged.
“Oh, please. Like you haven’t been watching her all night with all sorts of dirty in your eyes.”
His jaw hardened.
“When did she hit you?”
He gaped. “Seriously? You thought Elizabeth did this?”
“She is tougher than you think, Andrew. She always was.”
Tough? No. Smart? Yes.
Shaynie’s lips pursed. “So if not her, what did happen?”
I have no fucking clue. About anything. “Just drop it, okay?”
The relationship between siblings Andrew and Shaynie has always given me a great deal of joy to create. It must have also hit all the right notes with my beta-readers (who had all read Divinity & The Python prior to me giving them the rough-draft of Within The Summit's Shadow), because they were not happy about Shaynie's lack of presence in Andrew's story. Collectively, they all gave me feedback which sounded like this:
"If Andrew is in this much trouble there is NO WAY he would not tell his sister."
Debatable, and I still respectfully disagree, yet their displeasure was not lost on me, and so I ended up crafting a short story that takes place after the end of Within The Summit's Shadow, an exchange between Andrew and Shaynie which actually takes place within Divinity, her old morgue. I plan to release it via a Patreon around Christmas time, once readers have had an opportunity to read Within The Summit's Shadow, and for any new readers to have completely caught up on reading these first two novels in my Secrets & Shadows series.
Speaking of...have YOU read both stories? If not, allow me to introduce you to the tale that started it all, Divinity & The Python, available HERE:
And Andrew's story, Secrets & Shadows Book II, Within The Summit's Shadow HERE: