The Novel #1

There is no worse nostalgia than to yearn for what never happened.

~ Joaquin Sabina

The past never dies, but hope does. One summer back in 1995, Alexia faced some unexpected choices, a situation that seemed simple, almost frivolous... But it changed her life forever. For the better, the worse? It doesn't matter, because it's done--it's past.

Except it's not.

Seven years later, an old flame resurfaces and wants explanations she doesn't have. Why did she let go, all those years before? Why didn't she take the risk, and face love head-on? Why did she turn her back--on life, on hope? As Alexia wrestles these questions, a spark of hope ignites: perhaps life is offering her a second chance. If she can figure out what happened, if she can learn the lesson life threw at her in 1995, perhaps it's not too late--for love, yes, but more importantly, for hope.

A MANTRA FOR CATS AND OTHER RUNAWAYS is a novel about loss and regret, about second chances that take shapes we don't recognize, about happy endings that are not endings at all.