Author bio: Liz Grace Davis grew up in Angola, Namibia, South Africa and Germany. She now lives with her husband in Vienna, Austria.
Growing up, Liz spent most her days in libraries, diving into the world of books. In her spare time she reads a lot, travels, creates jewelry and designs digital scrapbooks. That's of course when she's not weaving stories. She's in her element whenever she is doing anything that requires creativity.Liz is the author of a young adult fantasy novel, Tangi's Teardrops, and a romantic women's fiction novel, Chocolate Aftertaste.
GUEST POST : THE STORY BEHIND TANGI’S TEARDROPS
I'm not a mother yet, but I know that when I finally get children of my own, I will be paranoid about who takes care of them. For one year I lived with my aunt, under the care of two nannies who made my life hell. I was only eight years old and did not understand why they beat me, burned me, and starved me, while treating my cousins differently. I could not understand why I had to sit and watch while everyone else ate and I wasn't offered any food. I could not understand why those two women dragged me out of bed at 4 or 5 a.m. so I could do their farm work, work I wasn't strong enough to handle. I never told anyone. I tried, but the punishment afterwards was too much to bear.So I bottled it all up inside, suffered silently. I also learned to hide the scratches, burn marks, the wounds (both emotional and physical).
When I finally escaped, I took the scars with me and they took a long time to heal. I was a loner at school because I couldn’t understand why anyone would love me. I also didn’t want to give other people the chance to hurt me again. But time was a great healer.
How do I know the scars have healed? Because when I think of the little girl I used to be, I no longer feel that ache in my heart. I have learned to live with my past, learned to forgive those who have hurt me. But will I ever forget? I really don’t think so. But I will not let my past dictate my future. Laughing and living is just too much fun.
That painful part of my childhood inspired my novel, Tangi's Teardrops, a young adult fantasy novel, that helped me put it all behind me and write my own fairytale ending. I hope the book will help children who are either mistreated by people who were supposed to care for them, or bullied by other children who don't understand them. If my novels can take a hurting person away from it all, even for a second, it will bring a smile to my face.
Book Synopsis
When Tangi's father dies, he leaves her nothing but three empty bottles. A kind uncle takes the poverty-stricken girl and her stepsisters in, and for a time life gets better on his farm. But Tangi remains a lonely outsider; her stepsisters tease her for her crippled leg, and the housekeepers use her like a servant.
Just before her thirteenth birthday, Tangi learns the truth about her father's strange legacy: the three bottles aren't empty any more. They're filled with all the tears she's cried since her father died, and her tears are enchanted. She must use them to travel to Rosevine, the world of her dead mother. Tangi not only belongs there but is necessary to keep Rosevine alive.
Tangi's tears will save Rosevine, and Rosevine will save Tangi from a cruelty-filled life, except for one thing: Tangi's lost the bottles.
