As the car pulled away, Minnie waved and then walked towards the beach. The giant waves looked insurmountable. She saw black shapes on surfboards – so small from this distance.
She felt terrified and elated at the same time as she watched the waves rise close to 60 feet and crash down with ferocious power. She marvelled at the tenacity and strength of the human spirit as she thought about people who threw themselves headfirst into formidable surf and somehow, miraculously, came out the other side.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to: mum and dad, Anne and Donnie, who keep the home fires burning, always; my dear sister, Caroline, who promotes my books like there’s no tomorrow; and nephew Ian; my ‘unofficial’ editor, Dr Kevin Morton, cannonball who is worth his weight in gold, for working on the Minnie manuscript with such dedication and enthusiasm (any mistakes are mine – meddling at the last minute); Penny Lawson and Jane Akers who have been on this fiction trip since the very first draft of Four Widows; Ignite Studio (ignitestudio.co.uk) for the cover design; and, of course, you, the reader – as an indie author, I truly value the support and the reviews.
In addition, mathematician Max Little, who built the machine algorithm that listens to the faults in your voice (parkinsonsvoice.org). Sid Zane is a fictitious character; therefore, all credit goes to Max and his talented team. Also thanks to parkinsons.org.uk; and The Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (michaeljfox.org). These organisations are not affiliated with this book; I have consulted them for research purposes only.
Special thanks to my husband, Tim, who surfed into my world on a Manly wave, and our daughter, Libby, for being so good when mummy had to spend time with her imaginary friend, ‘Minnie Cheddar’. Dream big, baby girl.
About the author
Helen MacArthur has worked as a writer and copy editor on national newspapers and magazines. Other jobs include web and e-commerce content, article and eBooks writing, and ghost writing. She lives in Surrey and escapes to Scotland whenever she can with her husband, young daughter and two guinea pigs, Crystal and Sunny.
Other eBooks available: Four Widows.
Helen on Twitter: @hmacbooks
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