Snow Ashens Angels Fall — Jeffrey Jude

Asher Anderson, a musically gifted gay teen on the verge of manhood, has been the object of scorn and ridicule for as long as he can remember. He spends all his free time alone in his room composing music on a miniature grand piano that has become his only friend.

A few months before his eighteenth birthday he meets Conor Vincent, a gentle soul who has struggles of his not the least of which is keeping his anger in check. The unlikely pair strike up a friendship and Asher finally begins to believe that he has stumbled upon some measure of love and acceptance.

Fate, however, has something else in mind and Asher's world quickly spirals out of control… and for some inexplicable reason, both heaven and hell take notice.

Unbeknownst to Asher, Abigail Jones, the proprietor of a nearby apothecary begins having prophetic dreams of fallen angels, great black wolves cloaked in silver mists, and an ancient crone who stands upon a primitive raft fashioned from oaken planks as it glides across a turbulent ocean of Grey.

One restless night after another warns of an impending storm. And Michigan's winter winds whisper of an ancient secret that is about to be retold. “Expect not warmth from an angel's embrace -- a Well of Souls draws breath not of fire but of ice...”

Christmas is only a few weeks away and Asher's prays for a white Christmas with the grace and beauty to make even the ugliest things shiny and new -- unfortunately, two great forces have joined forces against him and it seems there may not be faith enough in all of the world to save him.

Disclosure:

Snow Ashens Angels Fall takes a look at human nature and how, at times, we all contribute to the suffering of others.

While my story is fiction, I would be remiss if I did not admit to the reader that it was inspired by real circumstances -- many of them striking so close to home that they were difficult for me to relive as I wrote. The whole, naked truth is that there was a time when I was not so different from Asher -- a lonely high school student weighing 327 pounds who was the object of ridicule and scorn… and like Asher, I counted the hours not the days between insults and jibes.

A handful of years ago, I looked at my own personal situation and decided that enough was enough. I made the decision to change my life using weight-loss surgery as a tool to begin my life anew. Many of my weight loss struggles are accurately detailed in Snow Ashens Angels Fall, and so if one reads carefully one might well find a path for their own success.

The decision to write Snow Ashens Angels Fall was not an endeavor I took lightly. The largest part of me wanted to run from my past and not look back. But, the strongest part of me knew that there were others struggling with the same demons that almost destroyed me, and so my better self put pen to page.

One might wonder how much of Snow Ashens Angels Fall is real and how much is fiction. I am not sure how to answer that question. The boy with a bad case of mumps whose mother wrapped his head in a towel in a way that resembled bunny ears was real. The boy who was tormented about his weight, each and every day of his life -- until miraculously -- he was befriended and protected by a young man with anger management issues, was real as well.

Sixty-five percent of the story is what I would call inspired fiction -- I say inspired because on one very special Christmas Eve, a Midwestern boy who was struggling to become a man found himself face to face with an Angel -- and no matter how many times he has questioned his sanity about what he saw and about what was spoken, he still believes. And so I say to you, expect not warmth from an Angel, for miracles, no matter where they fall, are born of the snow. Of this much and more I am absolutely certain. The more I will leave you to discover as you read Snow Ashens Angels Fall...

This is book 3 in the Chronicles of Abigoth series (105K words 427 pgs). It stands well on its own and can be read without reading the others.