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Neil M Campbell

Neil M Campbell

About

I live on the west coast of Scotland, where I do landscape gardening and walk a lot amid splendid maritime and mountain scenery. I've always loved to write, finding it spiritually, psychologically and indeed physically beneficial. 
The story of Beauty and the Beast has fascinated me since childhood. I was swept away by La Belle et la Bete - still am every time I see it - but it wasn't until an event, described on the website shown above, took place in my own life that the seed was planted which later became The Advent of Lena.
 

 

A Penny for Your Thoughts

A Penny for Your Thoughts

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Description

<p>Have you ever loved, been loved, been confused about love, or suffered from loss of love? All these feelings have been captured and shared in the words of heartfelt poems, compiled over many years by a former teacher and award-winning author.</p><p>Sherrill S. Cannon now shares her thoughts in this book of feelings. &quot;As a teacher, I used poetry to help counsel many troubled teens and friends, and have continued this pattern throughout the years.&quot;</p><p>There are three sections in her book: Heads, Spinning, and Tails ... (Love &amp; Loss: Coin Toss?). The variety of lyrical poetry forms include free verse, blank verse, haiku, and sonnets. Some poems are simply plays on words.</p><p><strong>A Sign</strong></p><p>In the depths of my winter</p><p>I heard a small bird -</p><p>Braving the cold,</p><p>Bringing the word.</p><p>He gave my heart hope</p><p>As I heard him sing -</p><p>Three little notes</p><p>Promising spring.</p><p>Sherrill S. Cannon, a former teacher and grandmother of 10, is the author of nine acclaimed rhymed children's stories that have received 48 national and international book awards between 2011 and 2017. Also a playwright with seven published plays for elementary school children, her works have been performed internationally in over 20 countries. Most of her children's books try to teach something, such as good manners and caring for others. Married for 57 years, she and her spouse are now retired, live in Pennsylvania, and travel in their RV from coast to coast, spending time with their children and grandchildren.</p><p><strong>Publisher's website: </strong> http: //sbprabooks.com/SherrillSCannon</p><p> </p>

Story Behind The Book

A few years ago, one of my sons and I were having a midday drink in a City of London tavern. Some fellow customers, lunch break evidently over, started to head our way ― making for the exit, which happened to be close by us. As we stood aside to let the group filter by, my attention was snagged by the appearance in passing of the ugliest female I had ever seen in my life. The words just came out ― too loud: "How ugly is that?" "She heard you, Dad, she heard you," my son protested, appalled, and disgusted. And I knew she’d heard me ― I had seen it in her stricken eyes as she passed. I never will forget that look. The incident will haunt me to my dying day. I often wonder how she is ― how life has treated her, how she’s coping with the burden of her looks. I hope she’s found love and happiness, someone to adore her. This novel is a tribute to her, that stranger, and personal act of exorcism.

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Reviews

<p><small><big><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);">What an utterly brilliant novel - an unique take on the Beauty and the Beast fable. In the hands of the immensely talented Neil Campbell,the story and the characters resonate with readers in a very personal and intense manner. Amazon Reviewer.</span></big></small></p> <p><small><big><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);">Who's Beauty? Who's Beast? A wonderful twist to a classic tale. Amazon Reviewer</span></big></small></p> <p><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);">If we are to believe that &quot;Beauty is in the eye of the beholder&quot;, then The Advent of Lena is not a tale about Beauty and the Beast, but the tale about beauty and one man's attempt at realizing it, within himself and in others.</span></p> <p><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);">The Advent of Lena is a wonderfully written novel, with charm, character and wit. It's not just a Disney fairy tale - it is an honest take on a man searching for redemption, after an epiphany that the only path to his salvation goes through a woman he finds most repulsive. Amazon Reviewer</span></p>