Pride's Children: PURGATORY: (Book 1 of the Trilogy)

I, KARENNA ELIZABETH Ashe, being of sound mind, do... But that's it, isn't it? Being here proves I am not of sound mind..."

So begins Book 1 of the Pride's Children trilogy: Kary immediately regrets the misplaced sense of noblesse oblige which compels her to appear, live on national television-at exorbitant personal cost.

What she cannot anticipate is an entanglement with Hollywood that may destroy her carefully-constructed solitudinarian life.

A contemporary mainstream love story, in the epic tradition of Jane Eyre, and Dorothy L. Sayers' four-novel bond between Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane, Pride's Children starts with a very public chance encounter, and will eventually stretch over three separate continents.

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Colm Herron, Irish author of The Wake (And What Jeremiah Did Next), The Fabricator, and Further Adventures of James Joyce: "I was there, Alicia. THERE, in that sweaty studio, aware of the audience, rooting for Kary, contemptuous of Dana until, well, until I saw for sure that she was more than a plastic chat-show hostess. I wondered what Andrew was thinking. I could guess. I think his snort was involuntary and then thought better of. No better tribute can I pay than all that I've written above. I don't make this comment idly. This to me is top gear."

Herbert Collins (Saskatchewan), reader: "It definitely works for me. I feel Andrew's emotions, and feel for him. You have successfully given your readers a story that appeals to men and women. It is wonderfully written."

"Pride's Children has helped me to look inside myself and see many things I need to see and deal with. I have never read a work of fiction that has touched me so powerfully! I love it and will be rereading many times."

J. E. Hallows, author of Rebellious Rogue: "I've just finished reading Pride's Children [Book 1]. That last chapter was beautiful. Probably the most moving chapter of all, which is a great way to end the story."

Kevin Gebhard, American actor, screenwriter, and author of The Steeps: "You're right-on. It's hard to believe you're not writing this from [a movie] set."

"Oh, to be in a writer's head. Living amongst imaginary people. What could be better? But then comes the actual writing part. You caught it all."

"You really know how to write this stuff-like you were tucked in a coffee shop on Rodeo Drive (I lived in L.A. for five years)."

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RATING: Sexual innuendo, mild swearing, occasional non-graphic violence (PG-13).