I'm excited to welcome guest author Brenda Whiteside today as she explores what some call an "empathic nature". Read all the way through, as she's offering a random drawing from those who leave a comment.

I’ve always been captivated by what the sixties subculture tagged “mind expansion”. The concepts of déjà vu, aura reading, intuition, empathic visions or sensations, dream meanings, clairsentience, and other forms of communication—gaining knowledge outside common experience—fascinate me.

Have you ever walked into a room and knew you’d been there before? Have you ever met someone and immediately thought you’d known them in some other time and space? Do you ever feel the pain or joy of someone else?

I’ve had several such experiences. Ordinary people who don’t consider themselves particularly gifted have moments of empathic enlightenment. How else can I explain being a continent apart from my mother and about to go into surgery when she calls my husband and wants to know what is wrong with me? Or when I was at a meeting to be assigned an Austrian student visiting Arizona for the week. I look across the room to a blue-eyed young man who gazed at me with I-know-you eyes. And then to be assigned that boy who I have now been friends with for decades?

I’ve also been charmed by the old mining towns of Arizona. One such tourist destination is a town called Jerome that quite literally hangs on the side of a mountain. I’ve been there many times, and it’s the inspiration for the stories of The MacKenzie Chronicles.

The MacKenzie Chronicles, set in present-day Joshua, Arizona—an 1800s mining community-turned-ghost-town, reborn hippie haven, and now tourist town clinging to the side of Spirit Mountain is the home of the MacKenzie family. Although not the main theme of the series, their mystical tendencies and their openness to accept what can’t be explained helps to solve mysteries and adds to the suspense.

On September 5, the third book, Curse of Wolf Falls, will be released, although you can buy the print copy right now. The eBook version is on sale for preorder: https://www.amazon.com/Curse-Wolf-Falls-MacKenzie-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B0B663MY1D

Giveaway: Have you had any other-worldly experiences? Have you experienced déjà vu or empathic feelings of another’s pain or joy? I’d love to hear your stories. From your comments, a random winner will receive a copy of Curse of Wolf Falls (The MacKenzie Chronicles Book 3) eBook. Please cleverly disguise your email address so we can get in touch should you win. For example: Donna AT livebytheword DOT com

About Curse of Wolf Falls:

Secrets can protect what the truth will destroy. 

Elidor MacKenzie has a gift she can't return—the ability to absorb the joy, pain, and suffering of others. She's spent her life running from what she considers her curse. Now, her best friend is dead, and she alone holds the key to an archaeological discovery that could destroy a culture. With newfound inner peace, Elidor has returned home to make amends and guard the secret revelation. But greed-driven scavengers have followed her. Once again, the energies of Joshua will stir the hurricane, with her at the deadly center. 

Jules never got over Elidor. Twenty years and a famous journalism career later, he's back in Joshua—and so is his first love. If his heart can stand the torture, he'll risk reviving their relationship. But saving Elidor from herself and the secret she won't give up may be the death of them both. 

With Jules by her side, Elidor is determined to outrun the scavengers, guard the secret, and renew their love. But fate is coming after her, and there's nowhere the couple can hide. 

About Brenda

Brenda Whiteside is the award-winning author of romantic suspense. She's penned a couple of historicals and straight romance, but she's found villains and danger make a good story that much better. After living in six states and two countries—so far—she and her husband have settled in Central Arizona. They share their home with a rescue dog named Amigo. While FDW fishes, Brenda writes.

Click here for the first chapter of all of Brenda’s books:

https://brendawhiteside.com/first-chapters

Visit Brenda:

https://www.brendawhiteside.com

Or on FaceBook:

https://www.facebook.com/BrendaWhitesideAuthor

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/brendawhitesid2

She blogs and has guests:

https://brendawhiteside.blogspot.com/

Amazon Author Page:

https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003V15WF8

Goodreads Author Page:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3972045.Brenda_Whiteside

BookBub:

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/brenda-whiteside

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https://www.instagram.com/brendawhitesideauthor/