I always love hearing stories of hardworking authors getting published after paying their dues, but I particularly love hearing them when the author is a former life coaching client of mine. This goal was at the top of writer Amanda Mininger’s list when we worked together and she delightedly wrote to let me know her novel Touch has been published and is now available on Amazon.

I couldn’t be more thrilled for her. Here’s the summary:

Touch is an unconventional love story that begins after the love ends.

As Ava lies sick and dying, she spends her days remembering Theo, the one who got away. They have not seen each other in years. But even though Theo’s life is no longer familiar to her, the need to see him again suddenly grows.

Theo is married, bitter and unable to come to terms with the choices he has made. As his unhappy wife Caroline drifts toward alcoholism, she questions her own choices, too. When Theo hears about Ava’s condition, he has to face painful memories and make a difficult decision.

Mary is a middle-aged caretaker in the hospital who takes an interest in Ava, while struggling at home to raise her young nephew Sidney. When Sidney starts hanging around the hospital, he stumbles across Ava, and they form a unique bond.

Beating time and swallowing pride, Ava and Theo try to bridge the physical and emotional distance while they still can.

Written in lyrical prose, Touch is a character-driven portrait of a theme we all deal with: understanding life’s trajectories. It’s also about healing the heart against all odds, and discovering that nothing is ever really the end.

Combined with a sprinkling of the surreal and just a hint of magic realism, Amanda’s writing touches on a contemporary understanding of the timeless workings of the universe.