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Quest for the First Hive
Calling all Eco-warriors, Non-conformists and Storytellers.
Quest for the First Hive
How can Ray save the pollinators? How can a 12-year-old girl warn the Queen of the Queen bees in the heart of Africa about the plot to modify their genetic code so that bees will only pollinate trademarked crops? Especially with a risk-averse Mum, who is only interested in Sufi dancing, meditation, macrobiotic diets and the inner journey. Perhaps by going on a Quest Ray can get out of the funk she’s in, save the pollinators - and the rest of humanity.
It's a fast-paced read as the book follows the adventures of a young teen girl named Ray who is both altruistic and deceptive. Ray is exploring what it is to be a storyteller from a long line of storytellers that go all the way back to the Druids. Her Fa (Father) was lost looking for Shambhala a few years before and all the leads have gone cold. Ray is the only one that continues to believe that he will be found and often uses looking for her Father as an excuse to kick start her own adventures.
In Quest for the First Hive Ray journeys into the heart of the Kalahari desert with the Kung! San Bushman to look for the first hive and the Queen of Queens.
Along the way Ray and her Mother confront their fears and meet magical allies; a praying mantis that sacrifices its life to protect them from the drone's attack; a meerkat that shows them the entrance to the First Hive and a honey badger that puts bees to sleep with its farts.
What Ray and her Mum get are life-changing experiences and a glimpse of an ancient way of life that goes back to the dawn of humanity.
_______________________________________________
Are you out to change the status quo in any way? Do you love the natural world? Do you want to learn more about the power of storytelling?
Do you like adventure and the idea of healthy risk-taking? Are you not above being a trickster and dabbling in deception for a good cause? Do you want to get to know yourself and your inner world better? Do you want to travel to the furthest corners of the world and meet ancestral wisdom keepers who help you on your sacred Quest? If you do, then Ray and the Ray Adventure series are designed to be allies on your Quests.
These books are for you no matter what your age is.
What others have said about Quest for the First Hive & The Ray Adventure Series...
"Fall in love with Ray as she embarks on planet-saving adventures. Ray is wise beyond her years but young enough to take risks that adults often would not. Verity Jenkins has written a trilogy that is educational and beautifully woven into an enlightened look at our planet. The stories are inter-generational - buy it for anybody but mostly for yourself."
Celina Taramina
"The first two books are about pollinators “Quest for the First Hive” and “Butterfly Bard” and are heart-warming and fast-paced reads, filled with well-researched educational facts too. I was so moved by these stories (laughing and crying out loud)"
Jill Sharpe
"Brilliant! Masterful! Verity Jenkins is at the highest command of his heart!
Ray is adorable! Grandsy is infinite"
Frank Mroz
"I just wanted to say thank you for taking me on the journey with Ray through Africa and helping me find the Ray in me."
Tiana Bressan
Quest for the First Hive
How can Ray save the pollinators? How can a 12-year-old girl warn the Queen of the Queen bees in the heart of Africa about the plot to modify their genetic code so that bees will only pollinate trademarked crops? Especially with a risk-averse Mum, who is only interested in Sufi dancing, meditation, macrobiotic diets and the inner journey. Perhaps by going on a Quest Ray can get out of the funk she’s in, save the pollinators - and the rest of humanity.
It's a fast-paced read as the book follows the adventures of a young teen girl named Ray who is both altruistic and deceptive. Ray is exploring what it is to be a storyteller from a long line of storytellers that go all the way back to the Druids. Her Fa (Father) was lost looking for Shambhala a few years before and all the leads have gone cold. Ray is the only one that continues to believe that he will be found and often uses looking for her Father as an excuse to kick start her own adventures.
In Quest for the First Hive Ray journeys into the heart of the Kalahari desert with the Kung! San Bushman to look for the first hive and the Queen of Queens.
Along the way Ray and her Mother confront their fears and meet magical allies; a praying mantis that sacrifices its life to protect them from the drone's attack; a meerkat that shows them the entrance to the First Hive and a honey badger that puts bees to sleep with its farts.
What Ray and her Mum get are life-changing experiences and a glimpse of an ancient way of life that goes back to the dawn of humanity.
_______________________________________________
Are you out to change the status quo in any way? Do you love the natural world? Do you want to learn more about the power of storytelling?
Do you like adventure and the idea of healthy risk-taking? Are you not above being a trickster and dabbling in deception for a good cause? Do you want to get to know yourself and your inner world better? Do you want to travel to the furthest corners of the world and meet ancestral wisdom keepers who help you on your sacred Quest? If you do, then Ray and the Ray Adventure series are designed to be allies on your Quests.
These books are for you no matter what your age is.
What others have said about Quest for the First Hive & The Ray Adventure Series...
"Fall in love with Ray as she embarks on planet-saving adventures. Ray is wise beyond her years but young enough to take risks that adults often would not. Verity Jenkins has written a trilogy that is educational and beautifully woven into an enlightened look at our planet. The stories are inter-generational - buy it for anybody but mostly for yourself."
Celina Taramina
"The first two books are about pollinators “Quest for the First Hive” and “Butterfly Bard” and are heart-warming and fast-paced reads, filled with well-researched educational facts too. I was so moved by these stories (laughing and crying out loud)"
Jill Sharpe
"Brilliant! Masterful! Verity Jenkins is at the highest command of his heart!
Ray is adorable! Grandsy is infinite"
Frank Mroz
"I just wanted to say thank you for taking me on the journey with Ray through Africa and helping me find the Ray in me."
Tiana Bressan
100 pages, Paperback
Published March 1, 2022
About the author
Verity Jenkins
7 books1 followerWe think of stories as being out there and all around us, but the most important stories reside within us. They are the stories we tell ourselves about ourself - to figure out who we are and make sense of the world.
Here's my story as briefly as I can tell it...
I suffered terribly as a child, both at home and at school. I was neurodiverse, and my Father, who was a surgeon, joined a cult that believed in faith healing. He lost his way in the most extreme way a human being & parent can - by attempting to murder his own family. Fortunately, he failed, but the innocence of youth perished.
I was a lost teen, participating in the most extreme sports and self-destructive behaviours to overcome my fears and insecurities.
In my late teens, I stumbled upon an open mike storytelling group near the University of Toronto, one of the first and longest-running of its kind. I began to tell my stories to audiences, and over many years I found meaning and ultimately redemption in them. Stories saved me.
I have now been long steeped in stories, and the patterns are etched in my bones.
My heart aches for those who have suffered and yet who struggle to remain altruistic & compassionate. We can survive and thrive despite & sometimes because of what happens to us. Although we can't change the past, WE CAN TELL A BETTER STORY ABOUT OUR PAST. We can, over time, make that suffering redemptive.
I believe in the importance of the ongoing dialogue we have between the stories we hear, see and read and our own story, our personal mythology - our identity and the story we are living into. How can we author a better story for ourselves, a story that is "true" for us?
We can redeem any life experience, even the untellable and unspeakable. It takes time and many attempts, but we can transform toxic and contaminated narratives into better ones. Not all light and bright, but we can at the very least do justice to our villains and give them a good backstory. Better still, we can live into a good story. Being conscious of this process lies at the heart of the power of story. There are now thirty years of social science research to support far better life outcomes and greater resiliency, for those who redeem their own life experiences through the stories they tell.
Sixteen years ago, a four-year-old child opened up her hand and showed me a very dried bee. She said, "I'm going to love this bee back to life." At that moment I became a fiction author, the entire Ray Adventure Series was born from the pearl of wisdom offered to me by a young child. From time to time, when I need inspiration and redemption, I write another standalone book in the Ray Adventure series.
We all need to be "loved back to life" at one time or another. This theme helped me to realize that my dear Mother needed to be loved back to life when she had Alzheimer's Dementia. That brought my self-directed adventures to an end and my journey as a full-time caregiver began. I wrote two of the Ray Adventure Series during that time, and the third one was written in a time of despair following my Mother's death & the loss of my livelihood.
These books saved me, I hope they can contribute to your life in a meaningful way.
Here's my story as briefly as I can tell it...
I suffered terribly as a child, both at home and at school. I was neurodiverse, and my Father, who was a surgeon, joined a cult that believed in faith healing. He lost his way in the most extreme way a human being & parent can - by attempting to murder his own family. Fortunately, he failed, but the innocence of youth perished.
I was a lost teen, participating in the most extreme sports and self-destructive behaviours to overcome my fears and insecurities.
In my late teens, I stumbled upon an open mike storytelling group near the University of Toronto, one of the first and longest-running of its kind. I began to tell my stories to audiences, and over many years I found meaning and ultimately redemption in them. Stories saved me.
I have now been long steeped in stories, and the patterns are etched in my bones.
My heart aches for those who have suffered and yet who struggle to remain altruistic & compassionate. We can survive and thrive despite & sometimes because of what happens to us. Although we can't change the past, WE CAN TELL A BETTER STORY ABOUT OUR PAST. We can, over time, make that suffering redemptive.
I believe in the importance of the ongoing dialogue we have between the stories we hear, see and read and our own story, our personal mythology - our identity and the story we are living into. How can we author a better story for ourselves, a story that is "true" for us?
We can redeem any life experience, even the untellable and unspeakable. It takes time and many attempts, but we can transform toxic and contaminated narratives into better ones. Not all light and bright, but we can at the very least do justice to our villains and give them a good backstory. Better still, we can live into a good story. Being conscious of this process lies at the heart of the power of story. There are now thirty years of social science research to support far better life outcomes and greater resiliency, for those who redeem their own life experiences through the stories they tell.
Sixteen years ago, a four-year-old child opened up her hand and showed me a very dried bee. She said, "I'm going to love this bee back to life." At that moment I became a fiction author, the entire Ray Adventure Series was born from the pearl of wisdom offered to me by a young child. From time to time, when I need inspiration and redemption, I write another standalone book in the Ray Adventure series.
We all need to be "loved back to life" at one time or another. This theme helped me to realize that my dear Mother needed to be loved back to life when she had Alzheimer's Dementia. That brought my self-directed adventures to an end and my journey as a full-time caregiver began. I wrote two of the Ray Adventure Series during that time, and the third one was written in a time of despair following my Mother's death & the loss of my livelihood.
These books saved me, I hope they can contribute to your life in a meaningful way.
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