New opening lines for the book?: “I hurt so badly to connect with something.” She didn’t know how many times she’d awakened with those words in her head; that ache in her heart. She wasn’t completely sure what they meant, or what she could do to change anything. She only knew that feeling rode her somehow. Like a horse wearing blinders, she always felt something unseen, controlling each step, yanking at her reins, pulling her up short when she wanted to run free across vast fields she probably only imagined. Or maybe in some strange way remembered.
Dedication: This book is for those who hurt for something more in their everyday lives. Who desperately need to feel connected to something. Something Higher, richer, more meaningful. No matter how much they give to others, no matter how productive, over-stuffed, and generous their lives, they always feel they’re pulling up short.
It’s for those who need to feel what it’s like to heal, and be healed.
For those who need to FEEL again.
To feel something far beyond life’s daily drudgeries.
Bob Edward Fahey 
Bob, I’m reading Mourning After – Ellison’s review led me to buy your book. What I like about your writing are those sentences that sparkle like jewels, that take my breath away. I also like that the style of writing in this book shows me clearly how I can write a novel. And I very much look forward to reading your new book – because I was having those feelings just the other night in the middle of a 12 hour nursing shift – knowing there is something more. Have a wonderful holiday.
Thank you so much. People who read Mourning seem to do more than merely read it. They take it into their hearts, lives, even dreams. This more than anything is what inspired me to try to expand this lovely living phenomenon through a series of books. They will not be sequels, will not share characters and worlds. They will be a series only in that I hope them to reach into people’s lives and carry them Higher, as Mourning has. More than mere stories, I hope people take each and all of these books into their families and feel themselves more whole for the communion.
Happiest of holidays, seasons, and new years to you and to yours.
And as regards Mourning showing how a novel should be written. Skywalker; they say there are no rules to writing, but I have a few of my own: Besides the obvious ones like showing, not telling, and always going for the strongest, most precise verbs possible, I figure if you don’t make the characters clear, moody, and multi-dimensional enough, their dialogue real enough, the reader won’t care about them. And if you don’t care about the characters, why should you care what happens to them? There also should always be a little bad in the good guys and a little good in the bad guys. I never outline because if I am not constantly surprised, how could I ever make the story interesting? Writing for me is creative exploration, and every moment of writing is different from all others. I never want to follow formulae. I bring the characters alive, and then set them loose against each other. I want them to think one thing, say quite another, and adapt that to fit whom they’re with. Each should be recognizable by word styilings, but those should change as they evolve. Hope these guides don’t confuse you as you write your own worlds and words. They really help me.
Thanks, Bob.