About "Finding Gaia"
The official, nicely-wrapped-in-a-bow blurb is on the main page, but for those who want a more casual, detailed summary, here it is: this novel is about people who have an immortality problem and a few extra superhuman powers on the side. It's a "problem" because not being able to die means watching everyone they've ever cared about grow old, die, and leave them alone. It means the world changes around them all the time, whether they're ready for it or not. It means they have to constantly hide, generate new names and personalities, travel to hide their recognizable faces, and otherwise go to a great deal of trouble to not be found out.
After all, being found out could mean anything from ostracization to imprisonment, or worse. One of them learned all too well what normal humans do with freaks who heal all injuries quickly, and the other discovered what it's like to be used as a tool of war. Neither is inclined to let such things happen again.
Jason has managed to carve a niche for himself, using his amassed wealth to become a force within the environmental movement since before it even had that name. He saw how explosive population growth coupled with the industrial revolution fouled his beloved London in the 1800s, and decided he couldn't bear to live forever in a world made so filthy. He still has to keep his secrets closely guarded as he goes about his work, but he's learned to let select close friends into his world.
In 1899, he saw a woman heal from an injury and he's been trying to find her ever since. Now, in 2017, he's about to discover that locating her isn't the same as knowing her. She's suffered so much for so long that she's not even sure who, what, or when she is anymore. She needs patience, affection, and stability from the people who care about her before she can put herself back together and decide who she wants to be from now on.
"Finding Gaia" is Jason's story. It's Gaia's story. It's the love story of how they must learn to exist together as carriers of deep secrets in a modern world where privacy is elusive and her powers are too desirable by too many forces to be left in peace.
About Kimberly Chapman
Kimberly Chapman has been making things up and writing them down for as long as she can remember. She holds a double major degree in Journalism and Anthropology and worked for a few years as a technology reporter, but she soon found that it was more fun to interact with the fake people who live in her head than interview real-life people about network hardware.
She left her native Canada in 2000 to marry an Australian and live in the United States with him, because love does that sort of thing to a person. They have a young daughter who keeps asking to read this book and has been told not until she's twenty-five.
When Kimberly's not obsessively transcribing the lives of the fake people in her head or busy with Mum duties, she can usually be found engaged in experimental cake decorating (which she blogs at Eat The Evidence), nerdy knitting, volunteering for creative community organizations like Capital Confectioners and The Biscuit Brothers, discussing topics both profound and trivial on Google+, or playing computer games.
Find more at kimberlychapman.com.
Contact
Want to talk to me about "Finding Gaia"? Here are several options:
Email me at kimberly at my full name dot com (see domain above). But be forewarned that I used aggressive spam filtering and your message may not get through.
A more certain way to tell me what you think of the book is to post a review at Goodreads. If you liked it, it'd help tremendously to tell others. If you didn't, I'm sorry; please tell me why in constructive terms and I'll try to improve in the future.
You can also plus-notify me at Google+, Tweet me, comment on one of Finding Gaia's Facebook posts, or comment on the Author Blog on this site. I will always post major news on that blog. I will also be posting occasional behind-the-scenes goodies, coupons, and advance news to my special Google+ notification circle, which you can request to join here.
Other Credits
Karen Babcock
"Finding Gaia" was edited and formatted by my long-time editor, Karen Babcock, whose services are available through karenbabcock.com. I definitely recommend all independent authors get their work edited, and Karen's one of the best. She will find your errors and plot issues, but won't make you feel bad about any of them. She simply asks questions and makes suggestions, giving the work a professional touch but letting it remain your story in your voice.
CDowd
The gorgeous cover art is by indie comic star CDowd, whose porfolio can be found at CDowd.com. He also produces my daughter's favourite comic: Lilith Dark, which I highly recommend.
