From Ashes

by Sandy DeLuca

Angie's battle with cancer is over, but her confrontation with evil has just begun. Memories of a woman, named Mariella Lewis, who lived and died years ago, begin to haunt to her. The two women have a dark and unsettling connection within the haunted halls and rooms of Stone County Hospital. Nurses there are not of this world and patients are trapped in eternal agony. Rituals to an ancient Goddess named Cerridwen take place within the hospital's crumbling walls.

Gradually Mariella's thoughts and deeds become stronger and a forgotten incident from Angie's childhood intertwines with mounting terror. Cerridwen has brought Angie and Mariella together.

Cerridwen never forgets words whispered in innocence, or blood offerings she has received. She comes to claim Angie. Demons join the dark Goddess in her quest to possess yet another soul. Angie's battle within the walls of Stone Country hospital have just begun and her suffering may be eternal...

Nook

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Sandy DeLuca has been a painter since 1985. Her worked has been exhibited in college galleries, hair salons, tattoo parlors, bookstores and traditional galleries. Her art has been purchased throughout the United States, Canada, Asia and Europe. In addition, she has painted cover art and interior art for publications which have reached worldwide audiences.

She has been a writer since the late 80’s, penning nonfiction articles and photography for magazines and newsletters--throughout the 90’s. One of her claims to fame is writing under the pen name Autumn Raindancer. Two of her poetic chants were published under that pen in the popular New Age book TO RIDE A SILVER BROOMSTICK (Silver Ravenwolf).

She created GODDESS OF THE BAY publishing in the late 90’s, producing several anthologies and a string of small press magazines. From 2001 to 2003 she edited and owned DECEMBER GIRL PRESS, producing novels and short story collections.
She was a finalist for the BRAM STOKER for poetry award in 2001 and 2014.

At present she is a fulltime writer and painter. She’s written and published five novels, two poetry collections and several novellas. Her most ecent novella HELL'S DOOR, will be released from DARKFUSE in September, 2013. She is assistant curator at NEW HOPE GALLERY, in Cranston, RI and continues to exhibit her art in local venues.

Reviews

[Dave Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first sat down to read Sandy DeLuca's FROM ASHES, I was hesitant, not because Sandy's writing has ever been less than hypnotic or her characters less than vividly drawn depictions, but rather the opposite. My father had just been diagnosed with esophagheal cancer, and I knew that Sandy's writing and the subject matter she delves into in this novel would force me to explore emotions I wasn't sure I was ready to acknowledge.

But I'm glad I did...

FROM ASHES is a wonderfully written endeavor into numerous worlds--mortality, faith, and the occult take center stage. It is a story about a woman's struggle to cope with and make sense of being diagnosed with a life-threatening disease and the difficulties that come along with it--emotional, physical, and psychological. It is also a non-traditional haunted house (or haunted hospital tale, as it were) that deftly weaves two women's lives together with the some of the best uses of parallel storylines and flashbacks I've ever read.

FROM ASHES is about new beginnings (both good and evil), about being reborn from tragedy, and escaping from shackles, both literal and figurative. DeLuca will touch you (Angie's battle with cancer is heartwrenching), terrify you (do NOT go to Stone County Hospital, ever), and satisfy you with an edge-of-your seat conclusion.

[Johnny Worthen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bold expose of the American health care system.

Just kidding. I just finished FROM ASHES and I needed a joke to unwind.

What a creepy story.

Sandy DeLuca's writing is crisp and tight, it comes in flashes like a strobe light, hypnotic and unsettling. She weaves stream-of-consciousness narrative with flashbacks, demonic possession and temporal uncertainty. In the hands of a less accomplished writer, this could be confusing. In DeLuca’s, it’s masterfully done and upsetting in the way it was meant to be.

Though it I think the book will speak more to a female reader, I found it compelling and artistic. Recommended reading. Put some time aside when you get it; you won’t put it down.