"A first book self-published by Bonnie McKeating" - Le Soleil Chateauguay

Check out this article that appeared in Le Soleil Chateauguay! Thank you Patricia Blackburn for such a wonderful job!

Book 2: The Street

I have just started my second book this evening! At least, what I hope will be my second book.

Prologue:

He used to play the violin. His music teacher said he was the most talented student she had ever instructed. Under his guided and gentle touch he could create music that would bring tears to even the coldest hearts. By seventeen he was travelling to more countries in a month than most people see in their entire lives, performing in front of thousands of people. He would sign autographs until his hand would cramp, and drink champagne like it was water.

                That was then.

                Now he lives on the street and his past is a shadow and nothing more. It appears briefly during certain moments of the day, during times of clarity and then disappears into the night. It lingers and follows him at every turn, but offers nothing more than a glimpse into what he once was. He has evaporated, turned into mist, and is nothing more than a shell left to roam the earth. If he died he would be dust, dust that people would brush off their boots, and sweep into the trash. Even the trash would loathe his uselessness. Robert may have been somebody once, but he is no more. That’s how it is out here.

                He rifles through the bin behind the grocery store looking for something edible. It’s amazing what people throw away. He finds tomatoes that are almost ripe but for some mould on the side. He will slice that off. There’s a loaf of stale bread, and some expired crackers. He loads up his cart with his trophies. Tonight he will eat well.

                He wheels slowly down the side streets, pushing his home. It drags left as the wheels are broken, no matter. It could be worse. People rush past him.  People on their way home from the office, people headed to the gym, moms buying groceries, students headed to the library. They create a draft as they glide by him. No one notices him. Only the subconscious prompt to shift right, or shift left, shift any way, as long as it’s quick and opposite Robert. If they acknowledge him then they will know. He is there. But he is not there. He pushes along, the only one on among the crowd not in a rush, the only one perhaps that appreciates the soft orange of the setting sun across the horizon.  They may judge him but at least he sees.

                He makes his way to his corner, settling himself for the night. Leaning against the cold stone wall of the subway, he arranges his bed and dinner table. Some may see day old newspapers, second hand sleeping bags, and a block of wood from a nearby construction site, but Robert sees his house take form. He eagerly unpacks his treasure from the dive in the bin earlier and makes himself a cracker tomato sandwich while admiring the setting sun.

With a full stomach he turns his attention to people watching and remarks at how similar everyone starts to look, like ants circling about their mill. They blend together like colors on a canvas if you mix too many, ruining what could have been art. Humans do this often. But Robert knows if you wait long enough one will surprise you.  Eventually one will stand out. They may break your heart or try to fix it. It’s inevitable. So he waits patiently looking at the crowd before him wondering which of the hundreds will surprise him.

                Even he could not have predicted what would happen next.

The Book is LIVE

The book is officially available for purchase! For the moment only ebooks are available, although a service will be available shortly to have print copies shipped on demand.

To purchase a copy of Held Hostage click here.

Held Hostage: A Story of Love & Mental Illness

Meet James: A secret agent trapped inside the dire confines of the Mayview Hospital, a mental health facility, on a mission to liberate the prisoners of this institution. Only one thing stands between James and his freedom, his sanity. James is a paranoid schizophrenic, although this truth often eludes him, especially when the voices call to him in the form of a mysterious and dangerous woman he calls Eve.  As he struggles on his road to redemption James must learn to confront his past in order to better accept and control his illness.

On this journey he meets Emily, a woman who will change life as he knows it. As James and Emily grow closer together James is forced to make a decision to either continue with his treatment or be with the woman he's come to love. What James must understand is Emily has her own dark secrets and that love does not always conquer all.

Held Hostage is a story about mental illness and the sometimes deathly hold it has on its unwilling captors.

It's a story about life, loss and the friendships in between.

But mostly, it's a story about love.