"Because life is about living..."
Julia has never been one to surrender without a fight, but when she receives a devastating diagnosis, she has a decision to make.
Even after thirty years, she can still see her mother slowly fading away with every dose of chemo, every round of radiation, and every lost shred of hope. No, she won't do it... not to her family... and not to herself!
Without warning, she packs up her belongings and disappears, leaving behind a life that, by all accounts, had been as perfect as they come, and a distraught family full of questions.
Finding peace in a beach house in Northern California turns out to have its complications though. While only a handful of other residents share the tiny beach community, each one has brought their own baggage and developed their own way of dealing with it. All Julia wants is to be left alone, but that simply does not seem to be an option, especially when there's a persistent bird that declares her to be his new best friend.
Haunted by the shadows of the past, Julia is struggling to cope with the present. Will she have the strength to do this alone and eventually follow through with her plan? Will her family, divided by mixed reactions to being abandoned, come together to try and track her down? And what is the deal with that pelican of hers?
Only time will tell - and time is the one thing Julia does not have...
Welcome to the Blog Tour for The Pelican by M Naidoo, my thanks to Rachel from Rachel's Random Resources who invited me to take part on the tour.
I'm delighted to share an extract from the book here for you today.
For the duration of this blog tour – The Pelican will be £1.99 on
Amazon UK (and US)
Julia
"So, how long has it been
this bad?" Julia was resting on the sofa, her legs covered by a blanket,
her back propped up against a pillow. Rachel was sitting on the floor leaning
sideways against the couch. She looked straight at Julia.
"It's
not. Just overdid it a bit this afternoon." Julia made every effort to
sound like her old self. If Rachel hadn't witnessed her earlier breakdown, she
wouldn’t have known exactly how much Julia had deteriorated.
"Well,
excuse me, if I didn't catch you in time you would have gone 'TIMBER!'… You
look like hell."
"Thanks
a lot, just what a girl needs to hear."
"How
can you still be joking about this?" Rachel obviously did not think this
was funny.
"What
else do you want me to do? Cry? Tried that—didn’t do a thing."
"Just
be serious for a moment. How are you? Really?" Rachel locked eyes with
Julia, there was no way out of this question.
Julia
conceded, "got a lump on my lymph nodes on my neck, and one under my right
arm." Anger was building up inside of her, "those suckers are taking
over! Is that what you want to hear?"
"No,
it's not! But you’ve got to talk to me, Jules. This is happening, and you’ve
got no one to lean on but me, so please do!" Rachel hadn't taken her
eyes off Julia, pinning her to the sofa.
"Do
what?"
"Talk
to me! I mean really talk. Cry if you have to! God knows I did… That's
what I'm here for! You're too calm about all this, and I don't get it. You're
scaring me!"
"I'm
scared too, if you must know. I'm scared shitless! But there's no way out, and
I can scream and kick as long as I want, but this is it. I've made peace with
it, end of story." Julia paused, both, to take a breath and make a point.
"Did you bring those meds I ordered?"
"I
did, I left them on your bed. You've been taking a lot of pain meds then?"
"Trying
not to." Truth be told she hadn't taken any, but that was the whole point
after all.
"So
you didn't really need the refill?" Rachel looked at her questioningly.
Was there a hint of suspicion?
"Oh,
I needed it alright. Don't know when you'll be coming down next. Just wanna be
prepared. Why are you grilling me like this anyway?"
"Not
grilling you, just worried, that's all."
"Well
don't be, I’ve got this." As far as Julia was concerned, this conversation
was over.
"That's
exactly what worries me," Rachel mumbled, more to herself.
Born and raised in Germany,
M.Naidoo lives in Northern California with her husband, two daughters, and
three dogs. One of them, Dusty, a spunky terrier mix, found its way into her
debut novel.When she is not in front of her computer, pounding out story lines and characters, she enjoys reading, movies, spending time with her family, and long walks on the beach - her proverbial 'happy place'. M's love for the beach and ocean shine through in the vivid descriptions of the coast in The Pelican.
"Juggling my life as a writer and a full-time 'real' job has its challenges. I don't get to spend half as much time as I'd like doing what I love, and there are never enough hours in the day. Still, I feel extremely lucky to be following my passion, and I am enjoying every minute of it. Getting here has been one heck of a ride!"
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