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Tag Archives: Edith Parzefall

Book: Crumple Zone, a novel by Edith Parzefall

19 Friday Apr 2013

Posted by Holly Michael in Books, Weekly Book Review

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

Author Edith Pazefall, Blog, Book Review, books, chile, Crumple Zone, Edith Parzefall, Holly Michael, www.writingstraight.com

With all the terror and tragedy lately, I’m pleased to review and discuss an engaging novel, rich with themes of hope, healing, and wholeness.

crumple-zone-200x300Crumple Zone, a thrilling novel by Edith Parzefall, subtly but fully embraces the message of Romans 8:28: And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.  

While Crumple Zone is a psychological suspense novel with some bad language and sexual scenes, great messages and complex, intriguing characters make this book a wonderful read.

After losing her job, Lara takes an impetuous trip to Chile. Rick, a questionable hitchhiker joins her in the rented X-Trail. The reader certainly isn’t left behind on this suspenseful, scenic ride across the Atacama Desert.

Truck-driver Enrique, losing his grip on reality, is on the same highway. A crash on Ruta 5 clears away a new route toward trust, healing, and an awakening to the difference between reality and illusion.

In Crumple Zone (and her other books), Author Edith Parzefall successfully brings an admirable depth to her writing. The novel beautifully reveals how a higher power leads people in the right directions, at the right times. The characters aren’t do-gooders set out to save the world; they are flawed people. Difficult situations force them to think outside of themselves and make choices that ultimately bring peace into their lives. And like in real life, characters who choose to remain in their selfish worlds, get left behind to their own devices. I totally recommend Crumple Zone.

Crumple Zone is a read that will stick with you for a long time. I wiped away tears before clicking off my Kindle. Thanks Edith!

EdithParzefall-AtacamaAuthor Edith Parzefall based Crumple Zone on a real accident. In 2008 she visited Chile, supposedly the safest country in South America. Stopped at a red light in their rented SUV, she and her partner were sandwiched between two trucks on the Pan-American highway. An unplanned excursion to the local hospital and the Carabineros de Chile allowed her insights she never meant to gain but wouldn’t want to miss. A new story idea sparked: Crumple Zone

Edith told me that the accident always felt like the hand of God gently rubbing her off errant tracks that made her unhappy and filled with more and more purposelessness. She really brings that into the novel.

Edith studied literature and linguistics in Germany and the United States, worked as an editor, technical writer, team leader and project manager. Now a full-time writer, she strives to combine her two passions: writing and traveling.

Below is a sample chapter from Crumple Zone with photos from Edith’s trip to Chile.

CRUMPLE ZONE EXCERPT

Lara parked at the lighthouse in La Serena. They climbed out and walked along the beach, enjoying the gentle morning sun.

img_2052-small

The night before, Rick had made her feel like he wanted her, not just a playmate. More nights like that and she’d be doomed. Except, there was still this nagging feeling. Did he just act the Don Juan, same as he could turn into a caveman or her sex slave?

He squatted and took pictures of the waves rolling onto the sand. Lara watched the seagulls soaring out over the ocean and wished she could be a bird for a day.img_2057-small

“Less than three hundred miles to Santiago.” He lifted his head and smiled. “Why don’t you come further south with me? You still have time.”

Lara took a deep breath. “We’ll see.”

He nodded. “Okay. Let’s get going.”

Lara slipped her arm through his as they strolled back to the lighthouse. She didn’t want to let go of the new Rick.

Kids had written names in the dust covering the X-Trail. Maybe they could run it through a car wash somewhere on the way. Lara unlocked the doors with the remote, slipped into the driver’s seat, buckled up, and put on her sunglasses. Off to new adventures and just maybe real romance; an extended dopamine high wasn’t the worst kind of brain xxxx-up.

She smiled at Rick before she backed onto the street running along the beach. Ruta 5 would take them inland again, so Lara kept glancing at the sea until restaurants blocked her view. She steered the X-Trail away from the esplanade.

img_2050-small“There’s a sign for Santiago,” Rick said. “Turn right at the next light.”

Lara pulled onto the Pan-Americana and accelerated, heading south toward cooler and more fertile regions. Some high-rises still lined the highway, with hotels, a casino, cabañas.

A red light caught her off-guard. Lara braked hard and brought the X-Trail to a squealing stop. She looked at Rick. “Sorry, I thought we basically had a clear stretch ahead.”

“Yeah, me too.”

A horn blared. Her eyes flicked to the rear view mirror. A red truck growing larger—coming fast, too fast. “Shit!” She focused on the road ahead. All clear. Still the honking. A last glimpse in the mirror and she slammed down on the gas pedal. The car lunged forward.

Something big and white entered her peripheral vision from the left. Deep shit, she thought as the barrel-shape filled the windshield. No time to brake. The horn still screamed at her.

Nowhere to go.

img_2061-cropped-small

To purchase Crumple Zone on Amazon.com

Edith’s Writer’s Page

Edith on Twitter

If you like Crumple Zone, and I’m sure you will, check out my earlier blog where Edith Parzefall shares about her book, Strays of Rio.

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Guest Blogger Edith Parzefall from Germany shares about Rio on International Day of Peace!

21 Friday Sep 2012

Posted by Holly Michael in Books, Guest Blogger

≈ 19 Comments

Tags

Author, Author Edith Pazefall, Blog, Edith Parzefall, Holly Michael, International Day of Peace, Strays of Rio, www.writingstraight.com

In honor of International Day of Peace, I’m so thrilled to introduce one of my favorite authors: From Nuremberg, Germany, Edith Parzefall! Her latest novel STRAYS OF RIO is released today. Today, Edith is here to guest blog about her time in Rio de Janeiro, the setting of her latest release, STRAYS OF RIO! Welcome Edith!

Today, on the International Day of Peace, my novel Strays of Rio is published. The thriller genre I chose for Strays of Rio made it difficult to show much of the kind, fun-loving, life-embracing and caring nature of Brazilians.

Now I want to thank the wonderful people, who watched out and cared for me and my companion. A stall owner on the beach ran after us when I accidentally paid double the price for our food and walked away. A man on the street made sure we got on the right bus. A boy chased us down when my friend forgot her shoes in the sand of a beach restaurant. He didn’t even wait long enough for us to give him some money.

When I booked a Rio city tour in advance, the lady who organized it asked where to pick us up. I gave her the name and address of the hostel. A few days later she sent me an e-mail telling me she’d taken a detour on her way to work to check out the place, but the hostel looked abandoned. I tried to call them to no avail. My e-mails went unanswered.

Just in time, we were able to book a lovely quaint hotel in Bairro Peixoto. If this lady hadn’t cared so much, we’d have ended up hauling our suitcases through Rio de Janeiro in search of accommodation. This might have provided some interesting experiences for the novel, but one shouldn’t be too greedy. Come to think of it, Cariocas would likely have immediately taken the two lost gringas under their protective wings.

People never tried to rip us off, quite the contrary. They cared for our well-being and safety. At the hotel, my friend lost fifty Reais in the lounge area of the small lobby. Five minutes after we’d retreated to our room, the concierge called because he’d found the bills on the sofa where we’d been sitting.

As it turned out, the most striking experience for me was how amazingly helpful Brazilians are and how happy to talk to interested strangers, particularly our guide, who took us through favela Rocinha, with the approval of the local drug gang. He showed us the community school and introduced us to the headmistress and an American living and teaching English in the favela. Thank you all!

I hope the International Day of Peace will not only bring me joy over the
release of Strays of Rio, but create cease-fires all over the world and foster
sustainable peace on many levels. My heart and mind are in Rio de Janeiro
today, where the war over drugs and power still rages.

US link to purchase STRAYS OF RIO

http://www.edith-parzefall.de

blog: edith-parzefall.de
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/edith.parzefall

Twitter: EParzefall
Co-author of Wind Over Troubled Waters * http://tinyurl.com/co347j9
Author of Strays of Rio * http://tinyurl.com/7sokbu9

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W is for Walsingham and Winners

26 Thursday Apr 2012

Posted by Holly Michael in A to Z Challenge, Books, Photography, Travel

≈ 22 Comments

Tags

Anglican Rite, Bishop Leo Michael, Blog, Edith Parzefall, England, Francene Stanley, Glenda Mills, HCCAR, Holly Michael, Holy Catholic Church, Rt. Rev. Leo Michael, Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, Walsingham, Wind Over Troubled Waters, www.writingstraight.com

Keeping in mind my “Person, Place, and Blog” theme for the A to Z blog challenge, I’ll begin this W blog post with PLACE:

W is for Walsingham, England. I used this photo I shot for my header photo:

Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham

My husband, Rt. Rev. Leo Michael, (Holy Catholic Church, Anglican Rite), celebrating Mass at Our Lady of Walsingham Shrine.

Our Lady of Walsingham Chapel

And here’s two really fantastic PEOPLE who wrote a Wonderful Winner of a book that begins with W…and the setting of the novel is also in England:

Wind Over Troubled Waters by Francene Stanley & Edith Parzefall has been released on April 24!  Corn World. Britland. After the great flood, only memories, debris and derelict buildings speak of a past civilization. Visions of these disturbing times haunt Cerridwen’s dreams. When her dying mother sends Cerridwen to find a mural in Saint Eyes and lead Britland into a better future, the young healer has little choice but to set out on a life-changing quest. Her ability to perceive auras convinces her to accept nature-attuned Trevly’s offer of protection.

Bent on adventure and enthralled by the promise of treasure, beautiful Sasha, cunning Aron and uncut Boris join forces to get the most out of life. Their selfish plans collide with Cerridwen’s when they learn about a powerful ring and a mural pointing the way to its location.

I’ll review this book after the A to Z Challenge, but I’ve helped critique this novel and highly recommend it. Francene and Edith are very talented writers. Click to buy it on amazon.com

And for a Winner blog: Glenda Mills. Writing for Hope and Encouragement. A must visit blog. I love her blog. Her photos are fantastic. Her prose is superb. And she and her husband are winners because they’ve been married for 48 years. Happy Wedding Anniversary.

X is next. Hmmm…I’m coming up blank, a big X…We’ll see what tomorrow brings.

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Done this: Regular freelance ghostwriter and online editor for Guideposts for Teens/Sweet 16 Magazine, creator/editor of a magazine for Wal-Mart Corp., journalist, newspaper features writer, published in a variety of national magazines and local newspapers, script writing/editing for corporations. Doing this now: author of fiction and nonfiction, blogger, and editor of Koinonia Magazine. I’m the wife of Rt. Rev. Leo Michael, an Anglican Bishop in the Holy Catholic Church-Anglican Rite. Mom to three great kids: Nick (#81 Rajin Cajuns), Betsy (Super cute professor) and Jake (T1D & NFL player) Also, enjoy my travels extensively across the United States and internationally.

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