Most sixteen-year-old girls are obsessed with their looks, but Jazz Hooper’s obsessed for a different reason. After a car accident that kills her mum, Jazz is left with severe facial scars and retreats into a dark depression.
Fearing what will happen if Jazz doesn’t recover, her dad makes a drastic decision to move them from England to a game reserve in Kenya for a new start. And when Jazz finds an orphaned leopard cub, it sets off a chain of events that lead her on a two year journey of discovery, healing, and love.
“A percentage of the royalties from the sale of this book will be contributed to Panthera, a leading international conservation organization dedicated to protecting and preserving the world’s big cats, plus other wildlife conservation groups.” — Sibel Hodge, Author
Targeted Age Group:
YA/Adult
This is the hardest book I’ve written, but the most rewarding when it was finished.
What Advice Would You Give Aspiring Writers?
Read, read, read. Write, write, write. Read to know what good writing is all about. Write to hone your craft 🙂
Author Bio:
Sibel Hodge is the Amazon Top 100 Bestselling Author of Fourteen Days Later and Be Careful What You Wish For. She has 8 cats and 1 husband. In her spare time, she’s Wonder Woman! When she’s not out saving the world from dastardly demons she writes an eclectic mix of romantic comedies, mysteries, thrillers, children’s books, and non fiction. Her other books include My Perfect Wedding, The Baby Trap, The Fashion Police (Amber Fox Mystery), Voodoo Deadly (Amber Fox Mystery), The See-Through Leopard, How to Dump Your Boyfriend in the Men’s Room (and other short stories), It’s a Catastrophe, Healing Meditations for Surviving Grief and Loss, A Gluten Free Taste of Turkey, and A Gluten Free Soup Opera.
Her work has been shortlisted for the Harry Bowling Prize 2008, Highly Commended by the Yeovil Literary Prize 2009, Runner Up in the Chapter One Promotions Novel Comp 2009, nominated Best Novel with Romantic Elements in 2010 by The Romance Reviews, Runner Up in the Best Indie Books of 2012 by Indie Book Bargains, and Winner of Best Children’s Book by eFestival of Words 2013. Her novella Trafficked: The Diary of a Sex Slave has been listed as one of the Top 40 Books About Human Rights by Accredited Online Colleges.
What Inspired You to Write Your Book?This novel came about for several reasons…
Ever since I was a kid, I was obsessed with wildlife documentaries. I even wanted to marry David Attenborough when I grew up! Every chance I got (and still do), I’d watch the spectacular footage of these animals in their natural habitats. Their beauty and intelligence never fails to amaze me. We have a unique relationship with animals. They have the ability to create so much happiness in our lives and open our hearts. I believe what we do to them, we do to humankind.
A few years ago, I read Beautiful by Katie Piper, an inspiring story of a courageous woman who was scarred by acid, and it got me thinking about how we live in a world where we perceive beauty based on how we look, not what we do, and how being “different” can affect someone so much. As Khalil Gibran said, “Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart.” If only we took those words on board, the world would be a much better place to live.
Then, of course, there’s grief − whether it’s the loss of a person, a pet, a relationship, or dream. It’s something we all go through, but yet we feel so alone. There’s no quick fix, and the only one that can heal yourself is you. But I wanted to show that even though it can be a long road, it is possible to heal and create fertility and positivity from grief, and sometimes our healing begins the most unexpected ways.
And then I went to Steve Irwin’s Australia Zoo. I don’t like zoos. I don’t like seeing animals in captivity, but I’d always been so impressed with Steve Irwin and his conservation ideas. It is an educational zoo, and when I was in the tiger area, there was a lot of information about poaching and illegal wildlife trafficking, and its detrimental effects on this majestic species. And that’s when all the pieces for this book clicked into place. If things carry on as they are, we won’t be able to see some of these animals in the wild anymore, and I wanted to write a book that highlighted the plight that these creatures face every day. They don’t have a voice, but we do.
Although this book is fiction, it’s based on the sad fact that thousands of animals are dying every year due to poaching and wildlife trafficking. The only thing that stands in the way of these animals and extinction is us. Together we can all do something to stop this happening. We can help to spread the word. We can lobby our governments to provide better laws and protection. We can educate people. We can get involved with and support reputable conservation organizations. We can care enough to do something.
When they’re gone, they’re gone. Please don’t let it be too late.
Website(s)
Author Home Page Link
Link To Buy Book On Amazon
Link to Book on Barnes and Noble
Link to Book for sale on Smashwords
Social Media:
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3517050.Sibel_Hodge
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sibel-Hodge-Author-of-romantic-comedy-and-comedy-mystery-books/246194485016
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