About My Novel

“SPIRIT KEEPER”

Young Adult Fiction
By Mary Diggs

Plot 

“Working against a vendetta and a silent Texas town, Abby, an artist and Kent, a master martial artist, risk their lives to restore honor to a disgraced spirit of a young girl, but first they must learn her identity.”

Why I’ve Written This Story

Though my novel is written partially based on my painful experience of being school bullied, then physically attacked at my home after school, and eventually saved by an older student and friend, it points out several contexts of bullying. These contexts are: School bullying, disability bullying, body-shaming bullying, parental and sexual bullying.

Like me, the heroine is body shamed so severely that her facial port wine stain, or birthmark, became the bullies’ reason to target her both physically and mentally. She remembers that before being kidnapped, that her PWS was never a problem, but she can’t remember why. Yet, her beauty shines through from her heart, where her “real identity” exist.

Within the novel’s framework, it speaks to my belief in Christianity, angels, both good and evil, visions and destiny, as the heroine overcomes fear to become the person she is destined to be. It’s a coming of age story, as Abby moves forward beyond what she thinks she can accomplish to discovering her full potential. And Kent, the hero, moves his martial arts prowess to the highest level, risking his life to protect her, to become his name’s definition, (all featured in part-two installment of Spirit Keeper) while they both fulfill their destiny together in love.

In search for a suitable name, I remembered reading Genesis, the first book in the Bible, after Cain kills his brother, and God asks him where is his brother, God states, “The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.” I interpreted ‘brother’s blood cries out” as to mean Abel’s spirit crying out asking God for restitution. Then Cain answers with a question, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” The answer is a cry out to all of humanity. Yes, we are our sisters and brothers’ keepers. Hence, the title, “Spirit Keeper,” was born

In writing this novel, my main concerns are to reach out to those who suffer or suffered from any type of bullying, to let them understand that keeping silent is not the answer and to encourage them to hang in and never give up. So, I hope this novel and the next one to come, would be enlightening and enjoyable to all who read “Spirit Keeper.”