Hello there!

Welcome to my world – The world of “That Melvin Bray”, Maggie and Lizzy.

This is a heartfelt story about friendship, hope, and forgiveness:  two childhood friends, Maggie and Lizzy, seek self-discovery and personal healing. They ultimately find inspiration after searching to reveal the reasons for Maggie’s lifelong tendencies toward self-denial as the “great pretender.”

Having been raised in abject poverty with an abusive alcoholic father, Maggie attempts to reconcile, with Lizzy’s help, the agonizing truths of her childhood and Melvin Bray by finally addressing the constant anxiety, fear, and anger affecting her life. Finding light hearted adventure along the way, the two lifelong friends revisit childhood memories while divine intervention guides them on a path to transform the tragically broken lives of Ballen and Katherine, a couple whose young son disappeared without a trace decades earlier.

When there is anger in the heart, will love or anger prevail? Childhood disappointments like invisible phantoms, often lead to a lifetime of personal denial; we often lie the loudest when we lie to ourselves, don’t we? The capacity to bestow forgiveness may indeed be among the greatest of gifts.

I am hoping this story will stir your soul, as this novel attempts to demonstrate that the written word is far from silent. My prayer is that this journey of healing for so many will leave a lasting impression with you, as it not only provides divine inspiration to accept life’s disappointments but also recognition of the compelling power of forgiveness. After all, if the heart truly forgives, there is nothing to forget.

I hope you are blessed in some way through my story and its characters.

Love,
Margaret