A Greater Love By Maria De Fátima Santos

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On The Table Read Magazine, “the best book magazine in the UK“, author of fantasy novel, Serendipity, Maria de Fátima Santos shares the journey from her initial idea to publication with Arkbound Foundation, a UK literature charity.

Maria De Fatima Santos on The Table Read Magazine

Written by Maria de Fátima Santos

https://www.serendipityfantasynovel.co.uk

It’s true that a long journey starts with a small step.

As I am writing to you now this piece of writing, I can recall the long journey behind me. We never know where a journey can takes us, mine took me here.

As a Portuguese living and working in the UK, I would say that it has not only been a geographical journey, but also, more intimately, into my inner landscape. It forced me to face my own struggles, challenges and fears over and over.

Everything that it’s good takes a long time. I do believe it’s the same for writing a book.

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Table of Contents

Scotland

The seed of this story was sown in the fertile soil of my imagination in the land of Scotland, where I began my life as an emigrant many years ago. It was there that I (re)discovered my profound love for nature, the true interest in the Celtic culture and the fascination for the cultural identity and strength of character of the Scottish travellers who in the past told their stories around the campfire and slept in the traditional bow tents, made of hazel and canvas, in their camps.

This nomadic community, known in Scotland as travellers, is now considered the oldest indigenous group of the Scottish population.

Serendipity

The writing of Serendipity has been my way to gain persistence, intelligence and affirmation to tell this story.

Nevertheless this only became possible, thankfully, to Arkbound Foundation, a UK literature charity, based in Glasgow and Bristol, that supports aspiring authors, like me, to have a voice through the written word and to get published. Arkbound is directed to communities and individuals that are on the edge with an ethos about empowerment, dispelling negative stereotypes, building resilience, positive transformation and accessibility through the power of literature.

Arkbound Foundation

For me this got real, thankfully to a crowdfunding campaign, organised by Arkbound Foundation, and to the generosity of all the people that believed and donated to this campaign: https://crowdbound.org/product/serendipity-fantasy-novel/

I would like to share with you, reader, the letter that I wrote to this campaign. It goes like this:I

“ “The story is told eye to eye, mind to mind and heart to heart.”

I do not know better way than this old Scottish proverb to start writing this letter to you.

What I have to tell you is also about a story, a seed that it was sown in the fertile soil of my imagination in the land of Scotland, where I began my life as an emigrant many years ago.

This fantasy story takes the reader in a journey to three real places of natural beauty and historical heritage of Scotland, namely: Helge’s Hole in Forres, the Hermitage forest in Dunkeld and Glen Lyon in Perthshire.

It’s a story within a story, because it merges with my own personal search to rediscover a profound love for nature, a true interest in the Celtic culture and a fascination for the cultural identity of the Scottish Travellers who in the past told their stories around the campfire and slept in the traditional bow tents, made of hazel and canvas in their camps.

I chose to name the story with the final title: Serendipity.

Serendipity sounds beautiful and it’s fun to say. But it’s more than that; meaning “the faculty of making happy and unexpected discoveries by accident.”

To put it in a nutshell, I’d say it’s a window of hope opened to me.

III

“(…) Open your eyes, open your mind and open your heart,” as the grandmother, Julia, asked to Gaia.

However this story is not only a story of a grandmother’s greater love for a granddaughter; it’s also an invitation to give attention to the small things that surrounds us, to encourage children and adults to nourish the mind’s eye seeing possibilities when it seems there are none.

On these grounds, I ask you, please, to consider back this campaign with an amount of your possibilities to help to cover the publishing costs of this book.

Let’s make it happen!

Please do share this campaign with your friends and family too.

My heartfelt thank you!”

__________________________________ //_________________________________

This was the letter written to the crowdbound campaign mentioned above that made possible to publish this book.

If you would ask me what’s all about this story?

I would answer in a 30 word statement: Serendipity is magical story told by a grandmother to a granddaughter – a fantasy tale for children of 8 years’ old and older, inspired by three real places in Scotland. There is a hollow, a forest and a glen on our quest for Truth, Beauty and Goodness.

To honour the integrity of the story and to accomplish freedom to be who I am through the spoken and the written word, taking it to the people that need it the most. This is the ground that I stand on.