Some time ago in 2020 I wrote a post about challenges some business and people are facing due to the pandemic. It was partly about being an artist and a writer and a business consultant.
In the last six years I have focuses on my art and on my not-for-profit society Citizen Canine Companion, yet in this last two it has been a challenge to focus on anything other than being safe, doing all the right things; and keeping positive as much as one can.
At first it was ok; I just painted new things, bright colours, but I was doing this also as therapy for myself and also hoped it would help others so I posted several on Instagram.
Though often my art has helped me through difficult times and resulted in some very successful work, this time my art has had to take a back seat for a while, as I know art is not basic essential right now. (The accountant in me) I am not old enough to have lived through the war yet there are so many similarities. Food shelter, the necessities of life of course come first. We needed masks so lots of artist made masks, and I did that too. We do what we can to get by and to help in any way. While I think art, well the arts in general are essential, it is a struggling area.
Also I had a dry spell, and saw no point in painting. And I had no fence to paint dogs on either to raise money for the BC and Alberta Guide Dogs. (I have not given up on that. Hopefully I will find a new fence in the spring and you will see many more dog and cat faces looking out at you as you walk down the lanes of New Westminster.
While my art is sometimes an escape, so is my writing.
I had a book in the back burner for over 4 years and in 2020 and 21 I put my focus on it and finish it. I sent it to the printer December 31 2020. I have now written, and self published the book called Two Voices. It was printed in a limited quantity in February 2021.
It is a good love story yet it also has a message. It is a roller coaster of emotions and could be of help to anyone who has ever been on a similar ride, or anyone who has been in a relationship. It is written to be of help to anyone who has ever been in love and felt the pain of a breakup
I have written this using my pen name. K.M. Rachel.
This book comes from many years of journals that were written more as therapy than for anyone else to read. Yet this year, the person whose journals they were and whose story it is, wanted me to write it as a book to share.
Here is what it says on the back cover.
Obsession, love, lust; the wonderful and devastating parts of a relationship- The book follows the events in the lives of a woman and man over the span of over 30 years. The author has written for the woman, sometimes in the voice of the woman. This is an interesting, emotion filled rollercoaster ride and an exciting love story. An interesting twist is the interjection of the man’s voice throughout parts of the book. “You may at times find yourself angry, yet perhaps feel the emotion that this man and woman felt.” “This is based on their story,… they will always remain private.”
Men and women, we are so different, yes, you know we are. An interesting addition to the book is my interpretation of the man’s voice, throughout the book.
Here is what one reader said about it. She read it just before it went to print.
“Here I am coming up for air and back to the real world. Finished reading your book last night, could not go to bed without finishing it. Your book is very well written and qualifies as a book you cannot put down and if you do you just cannot wait to pick it up again.”
My book has been printed by our local MMP press in New Westminster and they have done an excellent job and it is well priced at $23.50.
With a new release it is always good to have the paperback.
Contact me to buy one at clephadij@shaw.ca or mkrhalsey@gmail.com
