In Memory of My Jewish Grandmother

Untitled-3I was emailed recently and asked if I was Jewish because my first book deals with Jews escaping from Greece and my posts related to the holocaust and other posts.

I’m not Jewish. I have no Jewish roots (that I know of) but my adopted grandmother, Evelyn Elephan was Jewish. I adopted her when I was 10 years old and she was my next door neighbour.

She survived Auschwitz. I met her at 10 and she passed away when I was 15. I had 5 short years with this woman and she changed my life. She gave me my first holocaust related novel and it opened my eyes to the horrors of hate. I asked her what Hanukkah was and instead of telling me, she gave me a book. That was her method: read it darling and then we will talk. I don’t have any pictures of her; just my memories.

I don’t know how old she was, she never told me her age. She was a woman with many medical problems stemming from her time in the camp but she was always joyful and always had sweets for me (I blame her for my addiction to black cats and jelly beans).

I never knew her birthday because she never celebrated it. She said to me that every day was her birthday.

Auschwitz finally claimed her. She died in her sleep and that’s all I knew. She once asked me what I wanted to be when i grew up and I said ‘a writer’ and she said ‘you will do it’. She didn’t live long enough to see it when I got published in 2001 with “In the Blood of the Greeks”

My character of Eva is named after her.

Treasure the people in your life; you may have them for a short time but they can change your life forever.

Photo of the Day: The Menorah and the Nazi Flag

It was the eighth night of Chanukah in Kiel, Germany, a small town with a Jewish population of 500. That year, 1931, the last night Chanukah fell on Friday evening, and Rabbi Akiva Boruch Posner, spiritual leader of the town was hurrying to light the Menorah before the Shabbat set in.

Intertwined Souls Video Promo!

I have so many stories to tell about the filming of the Intertwined Souls Series Promo. So many happy memories, so many emotions that were running rampant during the filming. I wrote a journal after each day’s filming which I’ll be posting. Okay I’ll shut up now.

AUSXIP Publishing and Glasswell Cavanaugh presents the Intertwined Souls Book Promo with special guest star Adrienne Wilkinson (Xena: Warrior Princess) and narrated by Adrienne Wilkinson

An unlikely friendship after a tumultuous beginning, in time of war, leads to love as Eva and Zoe face challenges with love, strength and courage. Promo featuring books 1 to 5 of the historical romance series.

Starring:

Kat Cavanaugh as Eva Muller
Penny Cavanaugh as Zoe Lambros
Adrienne Wilkinson as Helena Lambros

Intertwined Souls Series Update

The Intertwined Souls Series has been very dear to my heart since 2001 when “In The Blood of the Greeks” was first published. For many years the only plan was to have two books in the series written and to end it there.

Sometimes we get more than we anticipated (or even thought we wanted) and this is true for my characters of Eva and Zoe. In 2014 Book 3 “Hidden Truths”, Book 4 “Awakenings” were published and in 2015 Book 5 “No Good Deed. They proved to be a change in direction for the series from purely historical romance to urban fantasy.

In my defense all I can say is that I had no control over my characters. You can blame Zoe for all of it! Eva just stayed quiet on the subject.

Since opening my own publishing company and publishing my own novels, I’ve decided to restructure the series and split them into two different genres – Historical Romance and Urban Fantasy.

Intertwined Souls Historical Romance:

Intertwined Souls Historical Romance Novellas

  • Volume 1: A Widgie Knight / Zoe’s Journal

Intertwined Souls Urban Fantasy Series

No changes to the actual story-lines have been made, just the series name to reflect the change in genre.

Thank you,

Mary

Video: German Women Clearing the Ruins of Berlin in 1945

In the Blood of the Greeks (Book 1) is set during World War II. The events of this video are set during 1945 in the aftermath of the war.

Trümmerfrauen (literally translated as ruins women or rubble women) is the German-language name for women who, in the aftermath of World War II helped clear and reconstruct the bombed cities. The fascinating colored films were shot in Berlin in June 1945 by a film team directed by William Wyler.

Join Mary's Newsletter!

Subscribe to my newsletter (sent out twice a month) to find out the latest news, upcoming giveaways, free chapters of upcoming novels and my recommended reads from my favourite authors and their books!

Just one more step. Please check your inbox for verification email!