Publisher's Synopsis
A FALL FROM WINGS. . .Transpersonal Sojourn is a two-book novel series. Book 1 (subtitled: IN THE BEGINNING) introduces three main characters and three main themes centered on a plane crash that serves as the running narrative throughout. The narrative is also inspired by actual events and real people, whose names are in this story are fictitious. The elements delineate the near-fatal crash of a vintage plane in a remote, mountainous area for the two pilots onboard. The first is the harrowing rescue of the copilot and principal of the story, Lux Carey, who is literally snatched from the jaws of death by a rescue team just before the search is called off due to darkness. The second element relates the journey of friendship between the two pilots, a bond soon jeopardized by incertitude and restraint over who caused the crash. Lux bears a burden of false guilt as he goes through the agony of surgical reconstruction of his pulverized face. The third element is Lux's uncanny out-of-body experience and the complex spiritual and philosophical overtones which permeate the story throughout the trauma and the recovery period. The fates of these two men are interwoven dramatically to the emotionally charged ending. Written in six separate and chronologically linked parts, A Fall From Wings, Book I and Book II (subtitled: THE AFTERMATH) sets the focus on Lux's personal journey to search for the purpose of his life. In the first book, Lux must deal with conflict through resolution, and he can no longer live in denial about the choices that must be made to achieve the life he yearns to live. The first part, "Departure," is the essential character development of the three principals of the story. This introduction takes Lux back east where the cross-country flight begins. He knows something ominous is about to happen if he goes along with Captain Walt Sivaad, who is the second principal of the story. However, Lux is beset with his prior commitment to fly the trip and won't bow out. The second part, "Darkness," is the crash, the momentous rescue, and the payoff of his prophetic vision. Because of the trauma, he must endure, Lux now must wander a mental wasteland until he finds his missing pieces. In Book II, the third part, "Reticence," Lux returns to Denver and feels utterly disenfranchised with his life. This is Lux's purgatory where he is at the greatest odds with himself. He feels like a ghost and his emotional struggles with Johanna who is the third principal of the story. The fourth part, "Confronted by Demons and Dragons," encompasses Lux's facing a stern reality, which sets him on a path of recovery. The fifth part, "Aerodynamics Explained," Lux learns, through a good friend and an experienced pilot what created the crash and setup. Namely, the heavy downdrafts they flew into, and the fact the CG (Center of Gravity) was off due to its being overloaded meant Walt, who was piloting the aircraft at the time could not have saved the relic L-6 aircraft, despite his professional experience as an airlines captain and chief pilot and trainer for the airlines he worked for. The sixth and final part of this novel, entitled, "Closure," highlights Lux's emotional and spiritual paradigms that set him on a new path. Walt's unexpected departure and Lux's final resolution with Johanna eventually manifests an either/or decision that will take him on a global odyssey and never to return to the lifestyle he once enjoyed as a happily married couple. "A Fall From Wings" serves as an apt metaphor because Lux is forced to reexamine his life and has to find his personal wings that also collapsed in the crash. Overall, this two-book novel deals with Lux's efforts to revive his self-confidence, and to recover from the trouncing that took him to the edge of his life, and in some ways, beyond. Book I 540 pages (7 X 10 format) Book II 555 pages (7 X 10 format)
