Initially, Malignant EMOTION was written only for the eyes and heart of a cherished long time friend by nurse and award winning newspaper columnist Mary Jane Holt. As her friend – a 25 year breast cancer survivor in her last year of Hospice – confronted death, she repeatedly wondered aloud about God, and Heaven, and her place in the hereafter. Mary Jane wrote the book to entertain her friend, inspire her to laugh, comfort her, help her prepare to let go and, most of all, to remind her there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God.
Malignant EMOTION passionately entertains with an amazing balance of raw urgency and perfect humor. It is a story of woundedness, retribution, redemption and the power of choice. The novel begins with the funeral of BJ who blamed painful and deeply harbored emotions from her youth for the breast cancer that killed her. David, a remarkably successful heart surgeon, shocks BJ’s longtime friend, Terri Lin, by showing up at the funeral. His presence there is the first of a decade of surprises after Terri discovers it was David who, so many years back, set her life-long friend on the tortured road she traveled throughout adulthood.
The now departed close friend (since age 14) for whom Mary Jane wrote the story was the first to recognize the potential for the book’s mass appeal to old and young, male and female, survivors of all kinds and especially those who grieve for those who do not survive. That friend, who was a much loved high school teacher, encouraged the author to publish this work because she believed that while it certainly raises awareness about the need for a breast cancer cure, the amazing work of hospice volunteers, and the importance of living every day to the fullest, it also brings much needed attention to the cruelty individuals too often inflict on one another during their youth. As an educator, she frequently had witnessed this and even in her last year of life she continued to worry about how such cruelty sets the stage for tragedies like Columbine. This amazing first novel from a long time nonfiction writer who originally just sought to comfort a friend does not disappoint! Holt, a powerful motivational speaker and workshop facilitator, is available for readings and book signings. As a tribute to three very close friends who have died from breast cancer, she is eager to promote the inspirational and timeless messages of this book.
Holt can be reached at maryjaneholt@aol.com or (706) 672-1100. For information about Malignant EMOTION and the story behind the book go to: www.malignantemotion.com. For more information about the author go to: www.maryjaneholt.com.
A portion of the author’s proceeds from the sale of this book will go to www.thebreastcancersurvivorsnetwork.org