A Peek into “The Foot of the Lion”

During the past few weeks, I have been deeply involved in finishing my novel, The Foot of the Lion.  I am in the midst of wrapping up the last chapter.  Here’s an exclusive preview:

The Foot of the Lion is a fictional story about a man who returns to his father’s house to die.  He is attended to by a fifteen year old girl servant who washes and oils his feet as he tells her stories.  Without his knowledge or approval, she goes to his father’s library and rewrites the stories, adding her point of view.  In the end, her benefactor dies, leaving his father’s house and fortune to the servant girl and their daughter.  The central relationship and main thread of the novel is between the benefactor and his cousin - all told in story form to the servant girl.  His cousin whom he refers to as “his beloved”, had died suddenly and mysteriously in a swimming accident at the age of seventeen.  The benefactor mourns that death and hopes for a reunion with his cousin in the afterlife.  The young girl hopes with him and wishes him peace and joy on his path into Paradise.

My editor in England is current with my work and is encouraging. I also am scheduled to attend the Tin House Writer’s Workshop in July and the Tomales Bay Workshop in October in order to network with agents and other writers and plan to receive guidance from Luis Urrea, 2005 Pulitzer Prize finalist for nonfiction and member of the Latino Literature Hall of Fame, and Dorothy Allison, 2007 Robert Penn Warren Award Winner for Fiction and member of the board of the Fellowship of Southern Writers.

Information about the publication and availability of advanced readers copies will be forthcoming.

This, along with poetry, keep me content and inspired.

Welcome to an update on what I have been up to…

In my private practice, several new clients have joined to deepen their lives and to take the courageous path.  They are committed and working hard.  I am honored to work with them.

I am working on fundraising for my non-profit projects, in particular, Youth at Risk in Sonoma County.  The organization is called Listening For A Change and has a focus on gang intervention and prevention with intensive group and family therapy.  The basis of this work is storytelling in youth groups and between family members.  It also focuses on community involvement in order to empower youth and families and to discourage gang violence, drug abuse and bullying in families, in schools and on the streets.

I am also working with Sonoma State University recruiting interns to train for the work with at-risk youth.  And I am working on a historical project for The Hutchins Institute for Public Policy Studies & Community Action. 

Finally, I am near completion of my novel “Foot of the Lion” – and have found a committed editor in England as well as support from Tin House Workshop and Tomales Bay Workshop.

You will continue to see me in San Francisco, Marin, Sonoma and Santa Clara Counties with the messages I send to the communities through published media.

As always, I thank you for your friendship and support.

Until next time, I wish you strength and hope.

Wisdom Keeper, Mercedes Cerna