Today, I’m honored to share information about KT King’s novels, Little Eden book one and two. This Spotlight is also to help raise awareness for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis. National ME Awareness is May 11th-16th (this week!). As someone who struggles with an invisible chronic illness, I was very excited to help out with this.
Author KT King
Raising awareness for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis
National ME Awareness Week 2021 11th – 16th May
Imagine if the self-isolation and social distancing you have been experiencing due to the pandemic these last year was going to continue for the rest of your life?
That’s right, for the rest of your life – without let up, without reprieve, without end.
On top of being stuck inside, unable to shop, see your friends, go on holidays, go to the pub, a café or the supermarket, you feel as if you have the flu 24/7. Your body and your mind won’t function. It is as if you have a failing battery inside you. You are running on 2% of power so you find even the smallest tasks, like taking a shower, cooking a meal or reading a chapter in a book take all your energy for that day, week or even month.
ME is a chronic illness (sometimes called Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) and an invisible disability which can last the rest of your life and is often accompanied by severe pain. The all-consuming and never ending exhaustion and pain leads to depression and despair – suicides are common.
Myalgic Encephalomyelitis is a post viral condition which is little understood but this year there are millions more realising that anyone can get post viral syndrome from any virus including Covid. Long-Covid is making the headlines but those who are suffering are only just beginning a life long journey of pain and suffering.
It can happen to anyone at any age. It could happen to you or your loved ones.
Living in isolation, often bed and housebound, without an income or state support, without medical help or carers, sufferers of ME are forgotten by society and rely on family charity to survive.
We are not supported by the media, by our neighbours or communities, the medics or carers. We are not given mental health support and most of us have lost our jobs, careers, partners, homes and had to give up the chance of having children.
Most of us live in poverty, forgotten and blaming ourselves because no one believes us.
Millions worldwide suffer from this misunderstood illness but there is little research and no known cause or cure. The World Health Organisation has registered it as an epidemic on the scale of HIV but world governments are still not helping those affected. It is cheaper to ignore an illness than to recognise it – cheaper in terms of research and in terms of disability benefits.
There are still those in the medical profession who believe that all post viral illnesses, even Long-Covid, are hypochondria, mass hysteria and psychological. They have been gas lighting sufferers ME sufferers for decades.
Don’t let them continue to blame the sickness on us – you can help by talking about Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (just call it ME as it’s almost impossible to say), read about it when you see a book or article, donate if someone is trying to raise money for research, even just read my novels – just please, don’t ignore it or us any longer.
As you return to normal, we will still be in in eternal lockdown without hope or help.
KT King has suffered for over 27 years ME. She is trying to help raise awareness for this terrible, debilitating and life destroying disease. She has written two novels so far in which the main heroine of Little Eden, Sophie Lawrence, also suffers with ME but she is still a heroine none the less. The story lines are gripping and mainstream.
KT says that the novels are not about ME as that would be a very depressing read! I wanted to reach everyone who loves to read and whilst enjoying a darn good yarn perhaps they would come to understand a little more about what it is to have ME. There are few disabled characters in literature who are not mocked or ridiculed for being so. Sophie is supported by her friends and is accepted by her community because I wanted to show that with the right empathy and physical support systems, people with ME are able to live alongside their able family and friends. Everyone deserves love and support and everyone deserves to feel like a hero or heroine.
A bit about the author KT King
Many may wonder how I can write novels if I have ME/CFS. I am able to write because it is something I have always done but I can only write about 5 hours a week (on a good week). I lost my home, my income and my independence in 2012 coming back to live with my elderly parents on whom I now rely for physical daily help and financial support. By age 40 I had lost the battle with ME.
I write through chronic pain and exhaustion but it keeps me alive and gives me purpose. Not giving up is a daily battle so I still try to follow my dreams when I can and created Little Eden as my escape place. One of the main things readers say is that they would love to live in Little Eden which makes it all seem worthwhile! I hope it’ll be a beautiful escape place for you too.
Little Eden novels thrillingly combine the supernatural and spirituality in magical mysteries set in the cosy, idyllic and ancient sanctuary town of Little Eden. The hero, Robert Bartlett-Hart, and heroine, Sophie Lawrence, go on a journey of self-discovery and enlightenment with the help of their friends and plenty of tea and cake! The novels are a comical yet genuine look at the spirit world based on my 20 years of work as a psychic, healer and ascension coach.
I’m an indie author, using my savings from before 2012 to publish. I can’t meet deadlines of publishers or do the usual sales promotions because I can spend months, even years, unable to get out of bed so I need all the help I can get spreading the word about my books, especially from kind book bloggers like Jessica.
I find writing and crafting is good for my mental and emotional health so when I can I make handmade jewellery to sell in my Etsy shop where all the gifts inspired by Little Eden. I rarely have the energy to bake but now and again I manage to make a cake or some cookies! Some of my original recipes like Strawberry and Cream Shortbreads, Late Night Cheesecake and Over the Rainbow Cake have made their way into the novels.
To make my novels more interactive the eBooks have wiki-links throughout and there is a soundtrack to each novel too (which you can find on my blog). I also include original poetry by Andrea Perry and song lyrics by Sir Tim Rice & Julie Gold. I have created Little Eden in images on Pinterest and have a Little Eden readers group and page on Facebook, so if you’d like to join me I’d love to see you there…https://linktr.ee/ktkingbooks
So far there are two Little Eden novels, Books one and two and I am currently writing book three which is a classic haunted house story (although I had hoped to have it out by Easter 2021 as always my health means it’ll be finished when it’s finished and deadlines in my head are never met. I know readers are waiting eagerly for it…here’s hoping sometime soon…). Book three is set away from Little Eden – the group of friends go on a road trip up to the North of England to find out if the stately home Robert has just inherited is haunted or not!
I always wanted to be an author, even at the age of seven, I used to pretend I was Enid Blyton and I would make up stories for my friends to act out. It wasn’t until I had to give up work aged 40 and after several years bedbound that I began to write. The first novel took me 5 years. I usually write the scenes in my head first as typing takes too much energy and can be painful so I have to know what I am going to put down before sit at the typewriter. I studied French and English Literature at university so I am influenced by authors such as Jane Austen, Andre Gide, Edgar Allen Poe and Dickens as well as film directors such as Hitchcock and Ang Lee. I have been told my writing style is quirky, unusual and original but I just write as it comes into my head. I don’t try to emulate any particular style or genre (which makes promoting my books a little difficult). I suppose you could say my writing is cosy, historical, supernatural, horror, mystery, romance and spiritual with some magical realism and women’s lit in there too. My work as a psychic helps me make the supernatural elements realistic rather than fantasy and my fascination with history makes Little Eden quintessentially English. I am finding readers fall in love with the quaint and ancient hamlet of Little Eden and that they want to live there, wishing it were a real rather than a fictional town. If you would like to while away the hours in Little Eden then why not pop to Amazon and get your copies either on Kindle (they are free on KindleUnlimited) or in good old fashioned paperback. Signed copies are available in my Etsy shop and I post worldwide.
All of KT King’s links can be found HERE
A Magic Book opens the heart and expands the mind.
2012. Little Eden, London, England.
The beautiful sanctuary town of Little Eden is under threat.
Human greed, selfishness and disregard are about to turn the last 1,000 years to dust.
Robert Bartlett-Hart must make a choice.
With the help his friends (plus plenty of tea and cake), Robert learns that there is more at stake than just Little Eden.
Something lies at the heart of Abbey; something that stands between mankind and Armageddon.
The friends must navigate past lives, other dimensions, and even Heaven itself, to find a way to save Little Eden and themselves.
Will Little Eden survive to usher in a new age, or will humanity perish with it?
What readers are saying about Book One…
Magical…My heart is singing…Cosy and delicious….I literally couldn’t put it down…Quirky…Thrilling… Captivating…Enchanting characters…A rollercoaster ride…I was always on tenterhooks…Charming…
A great escape…I opened it and blue sparkles flew out…It really is a magic book…
The story continues…
2012. Little Eden, London, England.
The beautiful sanctuary town of Little Eden is still under threat of sale and demolition.
The friends must re-awaken the past to change the future. But when the spirit world comes closer to help them, there is a price to pay that no one could foresee.
What readers are saying about Book Two…
My own little secret garden is back…lovely characters…brilliant storytelling…captivating…utterly magical…a sanctuary from my sofa…gripping…fascinating…difficult to put down…can’t wait for the next book…
Book three ‘Haunted or Not’ will hopefully be out on Kindle later this year…
You can follow the global campaigns on Twitter #MillionsMissing #MEassociation #ME #MEcfs
Let me know what you think in the comments. I’d love to interact with you. If this sounds like something you would read, let me know!
Linktr.ee (All links!)
You can support me by buying me a book
Jessica Belmont 