***Be sure to leave your name and email address in a comment below for a chance to win a PDF or KINDLE copy!!! ***
All in the Mind by Jenny Twist:
Tilly wakes up in the dark, alone and very
frightened. She finds she is in a strange room inexplicably furnished in 1940s
style. However did she get here? Has she somehow slipped into the past? Has she
been kidnapped? Of one thing she is absolutely certain, she has never seen this
place in her life before.
All in the Mind is a fascinating tale exploring
the human capacity to overcome any obstacle, no matter how great, as long as
you believe you can.
Tilly is part of an experiment working on a cure
for Alzheimer's disease. She and most of the other patients taking part in the
experiment seem to make a full recovery, but there is a strange side effect.
Tilly and her fellow experimental subjects appear
to be getting younger.
Can the same experiment be repeated for Tilly's
beloved husband so that he can recover from a stroke? Tilly thinks it can and
she will move heaven and earth to make sure it happens.
A charming and thought-provoking story full of
reminiscences of a bygone age, All in the Mind also deals with the
dilemmas posed by new developments in a society whose culture is geared to the
idea that the natural span of a human life is three-score years and ten.
EXCERPT: Chapter One
Tilly was dreaming.
It was VE Day and they were dancing in the
streets. All the lights were lit. She kept looking at them, not quite believing
it.
She was dancing with Johnny, her head
against his chest, exhilarated by his closeness and the knowledge that the war
was over.
It was so real, the dream. She could feel
the rough fabric of his greatcoat against her cheek, smell its particular aroma
of damp wool and tobacco.
She felt the dream slipping away and tried
to hold on to it, but it escaped her grasp and shifted seamlessly into memory.
They had danced late into the night. Long
after the gates to the nurses' home were locked.
Image no. ww1646-47 courtesy Northwestern University |
Eventually, exhausted and
intoxicated with the euphoria of the crowd, they had walked back to the nurses'
home and he had given her a leg up to climb the wall.
And as she sat at the top of the wall, one
leg on each side, getting ready to swing over to the other side, he had
grasped her by the ankle and said, “Will
you marry me, Tilly? As soon as I'm demobbed.”
She looked down at his face, illuminated by
the one street lamp in the lane, one lock of hair hanging over his forehead,
his expression earnest and pleading.
She said the first thing that came into her
head. “You're supposed to get down on one knee.”
“OK,” he said, with a grin, and dropped
down on one knee. Did he know? Did he know then what her answer would be?
“Tilly”... he began in a loud, theatrical
voice.
“No, get up,” she whispered urgently.
“Someone might hear.”
“Who cares? What are they going to do –
sack you?”
She smiled back at him in the lamplight.
“You fool!”
And she pulled her leg out of his grasp and
dropped gracefully down to the grass on the other side.
“Well?” His head appeared over the top of
the wall. “Will you?”
“Yes,” she whispered back to him. Then she picked
up the skirts of her uniform and ran across the lawn towards the darkened
building.
As she ran, she heard someone whistling the
Wedding March, the sound fading as he reached the end of the lane and turned
into the street.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/JennyTwist1
***Be sure to leave your name and EMAIL ADDRESS in a comment below for a chance to win a PDF or KINDLE copy!!! Drawing in ONE WEEK (3/8/08) ***
Thanks, Mysti.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad to be on your lovely site again!
xxx
I think you can start leaving some clothes and a toothbrush here. :)
DeleteAlways a pleasure to have you!
I loved this story Jenny. The mind is a powerful thing. Best luck.
ReplyDeleteRose
Thank you so much, Rose. You are so nice to know
Deletexxxxx
Time travel is one of my favorite genres. How wonderful to grow younger...as long as it's not too far like Benjamin's Button. Great excerpt, romantically funny.
ReplyDeleteAll the best to you, Jenny.
Starcriter at Yahoo dot com
Hi Sarah
DeleteI'd never heard of Benjamin Button till I published All in the Mind. I have googled it and see why people have compared them. I can't tell you how far it goes without giving the game away.
So glad you like the excerpt.
Hugs
Jenny
xxxxxxx
Hi Jenny, I loved the excerpt. Sounds like the book will be a great read. When you reach my age, going back in time would be wonderful.
DeleteBest wishes,
Leona
So glad you liked it, Leona.
DeleteMy Mum used to say she'd love to have her youth back if she could still know what she knows now. This was my way of making it happen.
Wow, Time Travel is so cool! My third book in the "Immortal Relations" series is in work with T.T. for some of my guardian vamapires when they move a planet out of a collision with the Earth; however, my T.T. will be A LOT further back than WW-II.
ReplyDeleteMy hat is off to the brave men and women of that era (I was born back then). I'm glad your story touches on that dangerous time.
Hi Vamp Writer.
DeletePleased to meet you.
I love Time Travel too.
Lovely site, and interesting story!
ReplyDeleteHi Mary. It is a lovely site, isn't it? I am always pleased to be asked.
DeleteGlad you like the story
xx
Be sure to leave your email addresses here to be eligible for the drawing!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fascinating idea for a story. Yes please!!
ReplyDeleteMary Preston
marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com
Hi Mary. So glad you like the idea
ReplyDeleteLove
Jenny
xx
Sounds like an amazing story. I hope I win.
ReplyDeletedebby236 at gmail dot com
Hi Debby
ReplyDeleteThank you so much.
Best of luck with the draw
Love
Jenny
xxxx
Alimentar la imaginación es !necesario! Suerte.
ReplyDeleteGracias, Salva
ReplyDelete¡Qué bueno de verte aqui!
Besos
Jenny
xx
I forgot to leave my email address.
ReplyDeleteleona59@msn.com
Thanks, Leona.
ReplyDeletexx
There are indeed some interesting sociological and psychological issues with changing human lifespan. What happens to a personality over an extreme range of time? Are those changes in their way of thinking and living good?
ReplyDeleteAnd what do we do about overpopulation? Already a problem? Who would be allowed to have children?
DeleteJohn Wyndham wrote a short story about a people who to all intents and purposes lived forever. In his story they become very jaded and nothing really makes them happy any more.
You always come up with good questions, John
xxx
Jaded would be the least of our worries, I figure. Suppose instead they become survival fixated and feel themselves outside of society's rules. That was the premise I went with in Squad V.
DeleteThat's why the policy became absolute "pacification" by fire for vampires. The disease alone was a problem, but coupled with sociopathy and maybe even psychopathy there arrises a monster worse than all our fables.
I agree. I think immortality would carry the seeds of destruction for the human race.
DeleteLove your use of pacification. Wonderful newspeak.
Love
Jenny
xx
I loved this story so much! Congratulations again, Jenny, on your beautiful novel!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Tori! You're such a star!
Deletexxxxx
Hey this book looks great! I think this posts under my name but if not, it's Misty Rayburn and my email is misty@meteorflower.com :)
ReplyDeleteHi Misty
DeleteHow nice to meet you. Another Misty, but spelt differently!
Thanks for commenting and good luck in the draw
Love
Jenny
xx
patricia
ReplyDeletemissatrisha@hotmail.com
Hi Patricia
DeleteGot your address and it's going in the draw
xxxxx
Very cool! Love learning of new and different books.
ReplyDeleteSankofa0509@yahoo.com
Hi Alex
DeleteYour name will go in the hat!
Love
Jenny
xx
The Magic Hat has chosen a name, and it is Alex!!! Congratz, Alex, and I hope you enjoy the story.
ReplyDeleteWhen you get a chance to read it, I'm sure Jenny would love to hear your feedback via ratings/reviews on Amazon, B&N, and/or Goodreads!