About
I am a 30 year old stay at home mom to a wonderful little boy named Gauge. After a very hard start into this world, he reminds me daily of what strength really is.
When he was only three, two months after his father and I wed, I was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and have been in treatment ever since. The cancer is in remission but treatment forges on until I hit two years of being diagnosed.
Just when we thought things were looking up, Gauge was diagnosed with Type One diabetes. After yet another terrifying stay in the hospital, our little family fights on.
Writing is my passion and it has continued to be my bliss and light when I sat in the darkest corners imaginable and stared death in the face. This world I created in my mind was the light in my dark and I hope it brings light to many, many more.
Size Zero (Visage Book 1)
Description
<p style="margin:0px 0px 14px;padding:0px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;"><strong>"A somber, disturbing mystery fused with a scathing look at the fashion industry. </strong><strong>Mangin writes in a confident, razor-edged style."</strong><strong> - Kirkus Reviews</strong></p><p style="margin:-4px 0px 14px;padding:0px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;"><strong>Condom dresses and space helmets have debuted on fashion runways.</strong></p><p style="margin:-4px 0px 14px;padding:0px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;">A dead body becomes the trend when a coat made of human skin saunters down fashion's biggest stage. The body is identified as Annabelle Leigh, the teenager who famously disappeared over a decade ago from her boyfriend's New York City mansion.</p><p style="margin:-4px 0px 14px;padding:0px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;">This new evidence casts suspicion back on the former boyfriend, Cecil LeClaire. Now a monk, he is forced to return to his dark and absurd childhood home to clear his name. He teams up with Ava Germaine, a renegade ex-model. And together, they investigate the depraved and lawless modeling industry behind Cecil's family fortune.</p><p style="margin:-4px 0px 14px;padding:0px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;">They find erotic canes, pet rats living in crystal castles, and dresses made of crushed butterfly wings. But Cecil finds more truth in the luxury goods than in the people themselves. Everyone he meets seems to be wearing a person-suit. Terrified of showing their true selves, the glitterati put on flamboyant public personas to make money and friends. Can Cecil find truth in a world built on lies?</p><p style="margin:-4px 0px 0px;padding:0px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;"><strong>In high fashion modeling, selling bodies is organized crime.</strong></p>
Story Behind The Book
A gentle story of coming-of-age witchery, the story follows a beautiful young woman as she steps into her own and learns to deal with her new knowledge of who she really is, as well as how to fall in love for the first time not knowing if her new love will accept her.
Reviews
<p>*This book is a great read. It has everything emotion, action, sex and intellect. You can see the author put her heart into this book. She kept the 21st century and melded superstition with fantasy blended with today's reality and pulled it off beautifully! -Darrel, Kansas</p>
<p>*"Witch’s Aura" has romance. It has magic. And it has suspense. That’s a pretty potent combination and it works. The book is gripping. It’s been a long time since I was a teenager, and a long time (though shorter) since I have read a book for teenagers. I had forgotten the intensity that is the teenage years – how every little commonplace thing is vibrant and vital. Devon Volkel has captured this with uncanny accuracy, and she manages to communicate it really well. I know Devon Volkel is an adult, but I could have sworn I was reading a book for teenagers by a teenager. It wasn’t until she introduced adult dialogue that I realised she could actually write something else. The situations are authentic, the dialogue is authentic, the activities are authentic, and the whole teenage scene is so real. It is a shame that there are quite a few editorial errors in the book, and moments when the writing is a little forced, but even they contributed to the teenage feel of the narrative.<br /><br />
The romance is gripping. With names like Kruise and Shayde, it had to go well, but it is handled incredibly well. I had forgotten the incredible suspense leading up to a first kiss!! And while that sound like it’s written for “chicks”, the male attitude to romance is there as well. The romantic aspects of the plot and the magical aspects create suspense that builds and builds. The story contains several plot climaxes, and “gripping” describes them well. There were times when I was torn between putting the book down because I couldn't stand it any longer, and turning the page because I had to find out what happened. Devon is a consummate story teller.<br /><br />
There was “Romeo and Juliet”, then “West Side Story” and now “A Witch’s Aura” – an old theme re-worked with yet another modern twist.<br /><br />
In the end all of the threads of the story are tied up nicely and I certainly felt the promise of a sequel. And despite the fact that I don’t normally read teenage/YA fiction, this is one I will be watching out for." -Bronwyn, Australia</p>
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