Thanks to my dear children, and lovely daughter in-laws, my precious grandchildren, and all my family and friends who are there no matter what.

I want to thank my sister Iris Forrester for being supportive, and helping with my edits, especially the many requests of: "Which one, which sentence do you like best?"

And I also want to give a special thanks to my daughter in-law Bethany Engstrom who edited my book years ago when I first started while she was still in college. Love you all.

Thanks to Solstice Publishing, and Nik Morton, Editor in Chief, for his faith, edits, and support. He may write horror and thrillers, although I find him a kind gentle spirit.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR.

I can't pinpoint the exact moment I decided to write, although: Elsie Dinsmore's Holidays; Camp Fire Girl's First Council Fire, and Boxcar Children sparked something in me.

At twelve, I began to wonder what sort of goal I'd pursue. I tried twirling the baton, danced a little, played basketball, which I did fairly well.

Then one day I set out to write a story. I can't remember what it was about because it disappeared shortly after, probably in the garbage can, or maybe it found its way into the fireplace. I tried a diary, which "someone" got a hold of. I tossed that one. After that, I didn't write on paper for a while, but continued to hone my imagination with stories in my head, sometimes during class, and then I couldn't wait to sink into my cozy bed at night to continue on where I'd left off the night before.

Years later, I took writing classes at a nearby college, read books like A Woman of Substance, a book that inspired me to try and write so that the reader could not only see but feel the words. And then one day during a dark period in my life, I picked up a guitar and learned enough chords to write songs.

The day I got my first computer, I started writing a story.

The process of writing my first novel September Windhas its own story that could probably fill a novella. It won a second place award under the name of An Empty Forest. I've changed the name several times, and worked it through many more before sending it to Solstice Publishing.

I'm working on other novels, short stories, a novella, and a book of poems.

Other Solstice Books that might be of interest THE SCALES OF SIX.

ROSEAN MILE.

ON ASSIGNMENT COLLECTING RELICS IN INDONESIA, INDEPENDENT CURATOR GAIL WEAVER LEARNS THAT AN EPHEMERAL PLANT SPROUTING PROLIFICALLY ON SUMATRA CAN TRANSFORM ALL HAIR TYPES INTO GORGEOUS LOCKS. SEIZING AN OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE A FORTUNE IN THE COSMETIC MARKET, GAIL SMUGGLES PLANT CLIPPINGS INTO THE US AND SWAYS HER APPREHENSIVE SISTER FRAN TO HELP SEEK FINANCING FOR A SHAMPOO SHE'S MADE WITH THE INDONESIAN PLANT. BUT DREAMS OF IMPENDING WEALTH ARE QUELLED BY THE SHOCKING REVELATION OF THE SHAMPOO'S HORRIFYING SIDE EFFECTS.

AGAINST A BACKDROP OF CAREER AND MONEY PROBLEMS, SHADY COMPETITORS, LEGAL CHALLENGES AND ROMANCE, FRAN, GAIL AND AN EXOTIC INDONESIAN SCIENTIST MUST RACE AGAINST BIOLOGICAL, CORPORATE AND MEDIA FORCES TO SAVE FRAN'S BOSS, AND A LEGION OF YOUNG WOMEN WHOSE QUEST FOR BEAUTY IS TRANSFORMING THEM IN WAYS THEY NEVER IMAGINED.

TESTING HUMAN GREED AGAINST FORCES OF NATURE, THE SCALES OF SIXBLENDS SUSPENSE, INTRIGUE, AND SURREAL CIRCUMSTANCE TO WEAVE A NEW STORY ABOUT AN OLD MYTH COMING TO LIFE IN THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD.

BLOOM FOREVERMORE.

E.B. SULLIVAN.

A ROMANTIC MYSTERY. PSYCHOLOGY PROFESSOR DR. SONIA WYLAND SEEKS A CHANGE FROM HER STALE ROUTINE BY VACATIONING IN CALIFORNIA. WHILE SHOPPING AT A SECONDHAND STORE, SHE ACQUIRES A DIARY WRITTEN BY A WOMAN NAMED MARGARET. THIS JOURNAL LEADS SONIA TO BELIEVE MARGARET IS IN A DANGEROUS LIAISON WITH A MAN WHO CALLS HIMSELF ALEXANDER.

DETOURING FROM HER PLANS, SONIA ATTEMPTS TO RESCUE MARGARET.

IN THIS QUEST, SONIA DISCOVERS AN INTRIGUING MAN AND QUICKLY LOSES HER HEART.

AT WHAT PRICE?.

P.A. ESTELLE.

Katherine Gardner is awakened at 6:30 a.m. A strange woman claims to have her granddaughter, Rio, aged 6, and she'll call the police if Katherine doesn't make arrangements for somebody to pick up Rio.

, 56, is alone since her husband died over three years ago. Her life takes a dramatic turn when Rio comes to stay with her. Rio is a scared little girl whose life is filled with uncertainty and fear. In her grandmother, Rio finds a safe haven and an unconditional love that she has never known in her six short years and Katherine has found a love to fill the void that has been absent for way too long.

Unfortunately, Katherine's daughter, who deserted Rio, has other ideas.

STRUMMIN' THE BANJO MOON Joyce Keller Walsh Nineteen year-old Juanna Mae DelRio Lottery was abandoned by her husband and foreclosed out of her house in South Jersey. Left without any resources except for an old Buick, $264, and her own grit, she and Dell-her five-year-old daughter-moved their belongings into the car and drove to a secluded spot deep in the pinewoods. Juanna planned to stay there until she saved enough travel money to go home to her mother in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana. But she made a mistake by applying for food stamps and now they have to leave right away because the Social Service is about to swoop down and take Dell into foster care . . . and if Juanna hadn't lied about her age, they might even take her, too. She should have known better, for as her mother always says, "The road to hell is paved with government intentions."

Like Huckleberry Finn's adventures on the river, Juanna's adventures on the road thrust her into a world of oddball characters and precarious situations.

Her humorous, moving, and sometimes tragic journey spans thirty years and two continents, and often tests her belief that everything that happens has a purpose and a moral.

Over the years, I've read many books of fiction, the vast majority good and memorable; and some of these have given me glimpses of the human condition.

A few have introduced me to characters who live and breathe, whose journey becomes mine, albeit vicariously.

Juanna Mae DelRio's narrative pulled me in and didn't want me to let go. Through the years of her tumultuous life, I was there, sharing her heartbreaks and laughter. This is a powerful novel, a fascinating emotional roller-coaster that made me laugh and cry.

a Robert Morton, author of Death is Another Life SCRAPS.

ROSEMARY O'BRIEN ANGELA HAS BEEN TRYING TO REUNITE HER FEUDING GRANDMOTHER AND OLDER SISTER ALL OF HER ADULT LIFE. WHEN ANGELA'S 19-YEAR-OLD UNMARRIED SISTER LISA ANNOUNCED SHE WAS PREGNANT, A STORMY ARGUMENT ENSUED BETWEEN LISA AND THEIR TRADITIONAL ITALIAN GRANDMOTHER WHO HAD RAISED THE TWO GIRLS EVER SINCE THEIR PARENTS DIED TRAGICALLY SIX YEARS EARLIER. THE RIFT LASTED BETWEEN THEM FOR OVER TWENTY YEARS. TO HELP MEND THE FAMILY SHE LOVES, ANGELA CREATES A SCRAPBOOK TO BE PRESENTED TO HER GRANDMOTHER ON HER 85TH BIRTHDAY. WILL IT WORK?

IT MAY ONLY BE A SCRAPBOOK, BUT IT'S A SCRAPBOOK OF MEMORIES ENJOYED, MEMORIES MISSED AND THE WOMAN DETERMINED TO PIECE THE SCRAPS TOGETHER INTO A FAMILY.

DOWN A TUSCAN ALLEY.

LAURA GRAHAM.

A long relationship ends. At 48, house taken by the bank, Lorri has little money. What can she do? And where can she go? Gathering her meager savings and her two beloved cats, she escapes England for a new life in a remote Italian village, never imagining the intrigue, passion and adventure she will find.

Unable to speak Italian, she survives by letting her bedroom to English tourists. She sleeps in the sitting room; it's stifling on the floor, but earning a50 a night makes every flea-bitten moment worth it. When she meets Ronaldo, seven years younger than her, she embarks on a tempestuous love affair. But, having been raised in an institution with the priests since the age of three, nothing is easy for him and he is unaccustomed to love.

Meanwhile, a Quasimodo-like character is watching Lorri in the alleyway; anonymous letters arrive; there's a young rival for Ronaldo's affection; and Sherif, a mysterious man in a black suit, constantly follows her... And hovering in the background is Lionello, the undisputed "wise man", giving advice while enjoying the wonderful theater Lorri brings to his village.

Then disruptive friends arrive and create havoc: Maudie has given up sex and drink and become spiritual; Julian, a Glaswegian hairdresser with dreams of becoming an actor, brings Lorri face-to-face with her ex. A final choice has to be made.

IN THE NAME OF JOANNA.

JEAN VALLI.

A mystery about love, friendship and loyalty Samantha was happy enough with her life in Dublin. Now working in the manor house of Glendora - where a woman named Joanna died a year before - she finds herself torn between her romantic feelings for a man who people around her seem to believe is a murderer and her loyalties to those who have befriended her.

As she struggles to break the enigma that is Damon Bartholomew, temptingly close but hidden beneath the surface, something she can't quite perceive, shifts and changes as a shocking discovery begins to emerge.

Her dilemmas and choices are forever changing as secrets are discovered, and Samantha must play a waiting game...as each, in their turn reveal their true natures.

The underlying questions are: Was Joanna murdered? And can a woman, who has been conditioned to love men who are bad for her, go so far as to knowingly fall in love with a cold-blooded murderer? It seems she can.

As a determined wraith begins to slip back through the cracks between this world and the next...one must wonder, can the spirit avenge murder?

Is death really the final straw?

Samantha has always thought so...until now...but... she has second thoughts WHATEVER'S LEFT Nikki Archer Summer knows that her relationship with Chris is over-she's in her first year of college, and he's touring with his band. Ten years of friendship, and barely twelve hours of romance are gone. Forgotten.

Right.

The more Summer tries to move on, the more she's reminded of Chris. And she'd give just about anything to be the forgetful,instead of the forget-ee.Because Chris had no problem taking off without so much as a backwards glance.

As it turns out, one-night stands do an okay job of pushing away unwanted memories. But each new conquest makes her feel cheaper. Each *improvement' takes her farther away from who she used to be.

Then she hears it; Chris's apology to her, verse after painful verse, playing on every radio station. His words bring everything back, and make her take a long, critical look at the life she's disappeared into. But is he still the same Chris who wrote the song for her? And even if he is, can she find her way back to being the girl he loved?

QUESTIONS FOR KATHLEEN.

September Wind has been a long time in coming. What made you finally decide that your novel was ready?

A number of years ago I wrote a book called An Empty Forest, (September Wind). I entered it in a contest with a small publishing house (Gardenia Press) and it won second place. I worked it over, sent it for an edit, and was expecting it back for the usual rounds of editing, but instead it was sent to the presses. One phone call from me and it was pulled back. And so there begins the saga, the winding trail I took writing September Wind.

I know it must sound strange to develop a story for over sixteen years, and I jokingly say that I had to practically learn the English language from scratch as I told Emily's story. Looking back now I believe it was therapy in many ways. And I might add that research takes many hours to get facts straight. I had a story I wanted to write, and in some ways needed to tell. I took breaks in-between, maybe a year or two at one point, and other times six or seven months. During this time I worked on other writings. Most of them aren't finished yet, but I do have some short stories and poems that are finished. Some can be seen on my website: www.kathleenjanzanderson.com, and also on www.Authorsden.com.

Did you ever think of self-publishing?

Yes. I self-published September Wind under the name A Song From An Empty Forest about ten years ago (Yes, another name, just part of the winding tale). Somewhere out there are two versions floating around.

So you pulled back on the self-publishing?

There were some very dramatic things beginning to happen in my life. One day someone said, just let it go. So that day I sent it over to be published. Then when I read it, I knew it wasn't ready. I did make quite a few changes to it then, but it still wasn't what I intended and I could see it on every page. I put a halt on the publishing, again.

In the book, Emily was raped as a young girl. This might lead people to think that you were raped.

Let me just say that I was never raped when I was a young girl, and that I was never "molested" by a relative. I guess I should say that when I was about three, when I lived in Canada, there was a male-he might not have even lived near us because I didn't recognize him-but he had about four or five girls that, well, let me just say if anyone had seen him he would have been arrested. I can't say for sure what all happen, because I was only three. All I'm sure of was that he didn't hurt me. Sadly, I can't say that for the other girls.

Especially since this is your first novel, people might wonder if you have based any of it on reality.

In a way that's a loaded question because many of the feelings Emily has, I experienced. I did live with an alcoholic, and I was knocked, hit, punched, and kicked around, sometimes on a regular basis for a number of years. Although, I want to say he wasn't a bad man, inside he was a good man. I blame most of it on the alcohol, and the rest on his two trips to Vietnam.

And then yes, I was raped when I was eighteen. I'd just graduated from high school and was on my own. Like so many girls I felt this young man and I would be married, and I put myself into a situation I shouldn't have. I blame myself in part for what happened.

Sadly, many people who are raped tend to blame it on themselves. Did you use that experience anywhere in you book?

Yes. I took myself back to that painful experience when I had Emily describe how it felt to be raped.

Abuse seems to be much of the theme, that and forgiveness. Did being abused yourself give you the drive in much of this book? Also in parts of the story, there is sort of a defenseless hopeless feeling. Is that all part of being abused?

Living through an abusive relationship defiantly is a big part of it, and yes a driving force in writing this book. That hopeless, defenseless part was easy to relive through Emily. That feeling never completely goes away. And when a person isn't able to work through it, you can forgive, but the memories come back.

It's been a number of years since I was in that relationship, and thankfully since then there is a lot more support out there.

Would you mind taking a scene from your own life to explain that hopeless feeling.

There were many times I was frightened for my life. A couple of times one step further, or an inch one way or another could have easily taken my life. But one of the most hopeless feelings I had was when I went to see a doctor after an injury. My head had been slammed into a wall during a drunken rage. The side of my face was swelled up pretty good and bruised. I went to a doctor, and I was sitting on the table, in despair, feeling alone and desperately wanting and needing help. He came in and asked what happened. I told him my husband banged my head against the wall. His response was to ask what I'd done to cause it. I burst into tears, got off the table, and walked out.

I believe now that some of his abuse was not only the alcohol, and his Vietnam memories, but also because he was angry with himself. His two Vietnam tours I believe affected him very much and it's too bad we didn't realize that at the time. I forgave him long ago, and God forgave long before that.

We lived in the country, and with no relatives less than a two or three day drive away, I was alone. Like I said earlier, there wasn't as much awareness of this sort of thing back then.

Have you thought of writing about this part of your life?

I have, and I will; if I publish any of it, only time will tell.

What was the most difficult thing you experienced in writing the book?

First let me say that making Grandfather mean was very tough for me. I had to really struggle with that. And Claude? Well he was just a combination of all the abusive (I don't like name calling, but) monsters out there.

And then from there, the most difficult part wasn't putting down the story, it was the putting myself into each sentence and reliving the story over and over again, trying to make each word into what I wanted to say. I kept telling myself that every good novel is just a collaboration of words in perfect form, and that all I needed to do was get them in right order. Maybe the words and sentences are not just the way they should be, but that is how they ended up and so that's how I'll leave them.

What is your advice to a new writer?

Oh, I think you have to go with your gut. And then something I saw in the Writer's Digest that really says it all, from a Stephen Merchant article. His father sent him a quote from Pulitzer Prize-winner Herbert Bayard Swope: "I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure, which is: Try to please everybody.

end.