Amanda Bell

"I get the job done." This is Amanda Bell's credo, the bedrock principle she ruthlessly embraces as a supervisor at Saxon & Henle, an Atlanta Law and accounting firm. Ambitious, tough, and disciplined, Amanda demands the impossible from herself and her subordinates. Despite their hostility--their kindest nickname for her is "The Immaculate Perfection"--her success in the corporate world seems assured. But is it? What happens when carefully-laid plans unexpectedly explode? What happens when a storm demolishes cherished dreams, when dreams themselves are blown to dust? What becomes of the heart when it hides behind the walls of an interior castle, locking out friendship, affection, and love? Twenty-seven-year-old Amanda Bell is about to find out. In this modern fairy tale, a woman devastated by crushed hopes and a vicious assault finds herself on a strange new path, searching for release from her self-imprisonment. On her journey Amanda encounters characters usually associated with the Brothers Grimm: a wicked witch of a homemaker, a best friend witty and sharp as an elf, a wise old priest with a bag of wizard's tricks, an architect in the dented armor of a knight-errant, a ghost offering solace and light, and four motherless children. Amanda's life will never again be the same.

In addition to writing essays, reviews, poetry, and short stories--he is a book critic for the Smoky Mountain News, and his work appears regularly in Chronicles Magazine--Jeff Minick tutors home-educated students in Latin, history, and English literature. He is the father of four fine children, the husband of a lovely woman, now deceased, and has lived in the Asheville area for thirty years. Readers who wish to contact him may visit his Facebook page, Minick Online, or email him at saintsbookco@aol.com.