Promo Post: The Reluctant Goddess by A.F. Firebrand

The Reluctant Goddess

by A.F. Firebird

Published by: Pose Ltd

Date: 4th July 2012

Ellena Ripley is a bookshop owner from a rural town in the south of England - or so she thinks. But lately, she has a growing sense that life is not as it seems. At night, she dreams of a serene man who appears to be trying to tell her something; In the day, she can't shake a feeling of expectation. But of what?

Meanwhile Hector, servant of LIFE and the man from Ellena's dreams, has a dilemma. How do you tell someone they are a goddess? His previous attempts have met with disaster so he must be cautious, particularly when his new trainee, Boudica, formerly Queen of the Iceni tries to help. The question is can they succeed before it is too late?

By now she could see her shop in the distance, nestled between the greengrocers and the gift shop and opposite the bakery, which was already doing a brisk trade. She could smell fresh bread and rich coffee before she reached the top of the high street.
Her book shop was an old fashioned wood and glass style building that reminded her of the Old Curiosity Shop from the Dickens novel. Once inside, the expanse of wooden shelves and sloping wooden floors gave the impression of a large eighteenth-century sailing ship rather than a shop. The wooden carved railings around the counter looked like the bridge, minus the steering wheel. While the ridiculously warped floorboards seemed to undulate as she walked across them, so much so that sometimes she felt like the shop was rolling on the high seas, not sitting in Wootton Bourne High Street. Some days when she traversed the room between the Romance and Philosophy sections, she imagine herself an adventurer standing at the bow of her great vessel, a warm breeze blowing her hair gently, the aroma from uncharted, blossom-covered tropical islands filling her senses. But when the image faded she would find herself again, not an adventurer on the high seas but a middle aged woman standing on a sloping floor.
Ellena unlocked the shop door and pushed it open, the door chimes jangling as she stepped over the pile of post waiting for her. She picked up the letters and placed them on the desk behind the checkout. Hector padded dutifully off to the kitchen to settle down in his basket while she flicked through the pile of mail absentmindedly. A pink sheet of paper caught her eye. She laughed. That’s me all over - print anything on pink paper and it has my attention…I am such a girl sometimes! But she read it anyway.
BECOME THE AUTHOR OF YOUR OWN LIFE was the big heading. Below it was the smiling face of a woman who presumably was the author of her own life. Ellena crumpled up the paper and threw it in the bin.

Connect With The Author

A.F. Firebird is the alter ego of a sociologist/psychologist turned web developer from the UK. While A.F. Firebird has worked in several fields her primary focus is the exploration of six virtues: appreciation, forgiveness, compassion, humility, understanding and valour. Her first novel, The Reluctant Goddess, numerous short stories and children's books, all investigate aspects of these virtues.