Thank you for hosting NELIEM on your blog.
NELIEM is a story from my heart based on events that happened to my father. I believe Oriana was percolating in my subconscious for years before finding her way onto the written page. It took five years from when I first started writing, to holding NELIEM in my hands. Along the way, there were my fierce supporters that fell in love with Oriana’s story and insisted I never give up.
I’d actually put it aside for months when I ran into the Scholastic Editor at a writing conference who asked me who was publishing NELIEM. I didn’t have an answer, seeing as I’d all but forgotten about it. The editor went on to tell me that NELIEM needed to get published, she’d tried for months to acquire it, but ultimately hadn’t been able to. Her positive encouragement was what I needed to try ‘just one more time.’
Needless to say, NELIEM won.
Here is some of the music that inspired me to write NELIEM and never give up.
Music Playlist for NELIEM:
1. A Thousand Years - https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/a-thousand-years/467980710?i=467980724
2. Fight Song -https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/fight-song/1061182666?i=1061182684
3. I Won’t Give Up -https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/i-wont-give-up/509536557?i=509536631
4. This Love - https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/this-love/907242701?i=907242712
5. We Found Love - https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/we-found-love-feat-calvin-harris/1168112213?i=1168112860
6. Wild Ones - https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/wild-ones-feat-sia/613867183?i=613867347
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Half the population of the island of Madera are dead, killed by an unforgiving and indiscriminate plague. Oriana dreams of escaping her life of ruthless cruelty from the people who now rule over those who remain. No telling whom the plague will strike next, Oriana means to find freedom for herself and her people. Drawing strength from ancient tales of her enemy, young Oriana transforms herself from victim to warrior with the help of a mysterious and powerful dagger given to her by a kind and dying boy.Excerpt:
Years later, during her enemy’s betrothal ritual, Ezra, a boy she has never before seen, selects her as his mate. With servitude her only option, Oriana accepts the offer. Whisked away to a seemingly perfect world, Oriana discovers sinister secrets at every turn, including the identity of Tristan, a boy with whom she shares an undeniable but impossible connection.
Why would a boy she doesn’t know wish her to be his betrothed? Why does she feel such a strong pull toward a stranger? Someone in Ezra’s family not only knows the answer to both those questions, but also about the dagger Oriana possesses. He will do anything to stop the union. Now, with everything on the line, Oriana turns inward to find the strength she needs to seize the full power of the dagger so that she may protect herself and save her people.
Before I clear the field, I realize too late that it’s a trap. I have been herded like a sheep, far from the few scattered homes, toward the deserted cliffside where no one will hear my screams for help. Another boy with flaming red hair stands behind a tree waiting for me; I recognize him from the market. I can smell him, sweaty with a tangy sweetness that can only mean one thing. He’s been eating apples and waiting for some starving girl foolish enough to think she could steal some fruit.
I reach for my dagger, strength pulsating so deeply that I nearly drop it from my sweaty palm. Then, the voice of the boy of my dreams, whispers, “Hold it steady, Oriana. You can do this.”
I tuck all fear down deep within me. Later, I tell myself; later I will worry.
I reach for my dagger, strength pulsating so deeply that I nearly drop it from my sweaty palm. Then, the voice of the boy of my dreams, whispers, “Hold it steady, Oriana. You can do this.”
I tuck all fear down deep within me. Later, I tell myself; later I will worry.
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