Beautiful Warrior (9 page)

Author
’s Note

My “warrior” experience began in 2008 during a transitional period of my life. At the time, I was recently divorced and in the process of building a studio apartment on my parents’ property, hoping to reclaim my single girl bliss.

Ready to start dating again, I knew exactly what I wanted in my new partner
. I even made a vision board—a collage of words and pictures, designed to draw him to me. Included on this board were his qualities: his age (someone from my generation); his job (something in the arts); his personality traits (hard-working, responsible, positive, kind, spiritual, humble, friendly, funny, sensual, and warm); his appearance (dark hair, dark eyes, and an athletic body). The added bonus would be his heritage (Native American, if possible). Yes, I was
that
specific.

Where was I going to find him
? On match.com, of course. I joined this dating site, excited to see who was out there.

My enthusiasm quickly waned
. Tons of strange old guys “winked” at me and sent me oddball notes. Lots of young cougar-hunters made inappropriate advances, too. Every so often a seemingly nice, normal man would appear. I conversed with a few of them, but our exchanges were brief. We didn’t have enough in common to keep it going or arrange a meeting.

I finally decided to “hide” my profile (to keep the weirdos at bay) and start searching the site for who I wanted to meet.

When I found him, my heart hit my throat. There he was, with his longish dark hair and sharp-edged cheekbones, his image glowing on my computer screen. Everything about him took my breath away: the gentle tilt of his head, the mesmerizing look in his eyes, the ever so slight smile.

Not only did he look like one of my book heroes, he was precisely what I had requested on my vision board
.

He was around my age and worked as a graphic artist. He didn’t smoke or drink, his faith was Christian, and his body type was athletic and toned
. He spoke English and Japanese and had a college degree.

His profile was upbeat and friendly, but soulful, too
. I didn’t save a copy of it (I wish I had), but I remember most of what it contained.

We conversed online and on Skype for two years before we met in person, earning him the name “Online Warrior,” a moniker one of my readers gave him.

Through our communication, I discovered that his background was a bit of a mystery. He was adopted as a baby and had no knowledge of his birth parents, the day he was born, or what tribe he was from. (You can see how portions of his unknown identity helped shaped Duncan’s character.)

He
became my dearest friend and sometimes lover, which was what I was looking for at the time I “created” him. That’s not to say that I didn’t fall madly in love with him during various stages of our friendship. I am a romance writer, after all. But that’s a whole other story in itself.

In
the Room 105 series, Duncan believed he and Vanessa were destined to meet. He even made reference to a vision board in BEAUTIFUL CONFUSION (Book One).

All of the characters in this series were inspired by real-life people
. Seven came about from an experience I had with the bass player from Mötley Crüe, which is detailed at the end of BEAUTIFUL MUSICIAN (The Prequel).

Even Bud and Face are part of my past
. They are characters my sister and I made up when we were kids. We played a lot of imaginary games, as children often do. Till this day, we sometimes talk to each other in their voices.

Room 105 is real
to me, too. Not as a meta-universe, but in the form of hotel and motel rooms with that number. I made reference to it in the Author’s Note in Book One.

And finally, I want
to mention the subject matter of these books. Some of the information I uncovered about schizophrenia varied, depending on what sources I used. So if I made any errors in representing this disorder, I apologize. It is my hope to bring awareness to mental illness in a kind and educational manner, giving Vanessa and those like her the respect and compassion they deserve.

The
final book in the Room 105 series will be called BEAUTIFUL JOURNEY and focuses on the next phase of Duncan and Vanessa’s lives. It’s still in the works, but for now here are links to the other books, in case you missed them. BEAUTIFUL MUSICIAN (The Prequel) is free, and hopefully will remain that way. But I can’t guarantee it, so grab it while you can.

Happy reading and thank you for your support
.

**********

Click Here for
BEAUTIFUL MUSICIAN

Click Here
for
BEAUTIFUL CONFUSION

Author Bio

Sheri Whitefeather is an award-winning, national bestselling author.  Visit her website to learn more about her books and sign up for her mailing list.  You can hang out with her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter, too.   She loves to connect with her readers.

Website: 
www.sheriwhitefeather.com

Facebook: 
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Twitter: 
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BEAUTIFUL WARRIOR is a work of fiction.  Names, characters, places and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.  Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead is entirely coincidental.  The publisher does not assume responsibility for third-party websites or their content.

Copyright @2014 Sheree Whitefeather

All Rights Reserved

Cover Design and Interior Format by The Killion Group, Inc.

http://thekilliongroupinc.com/