Wounded Angels
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Maureen and Frank Russo were destined to be together. For more than fifty years, they were inseparable. However, when the unthinkable happens, the closeness they shared becomes Maureen's undoing. No family, friends or even ministers could break through her despair, until she met Doris: a loud, crass, intolerable woman with little time or sympathy for others, especially men. Together, the inconsolable widow and uncontrollable social misfit form an unlikely friendship capable of helping and sustaining each other, not despite their disabilities but because of them. But when another man enters Maureen's life will she be able to take another chance at love and if she does, will her friendship with Doris survive it? 

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Background of the Story










Survey to Help Me Pick the Final Title and Target Audience

Wounded Angels was born out of the real-life stories of many people I have known who have lost their significant others. When the relationship was especially long and close, a common sentiment expressed by the survivor is that when their soul-mate died, their life's meaning died too. Sometimes, even long after their loss, these people believe that no one can, or should, take the place of their loved-one. When at last they recognize their desire for a new relationship, they sometimes feel physically, mentally or emotionally incapable of entering into it. My hope is that Maureen's story will help readers to invest themselves fully into their own relationships while opening themselves up to the possibility of "love after loss".

Finding the correct way to write Wounded Angels has been a long journey and one that I am still on. Now, in my forth complete re-write I believe I have found the way to tell it as I need to. The current iteration has Maureen sharing her own story from her own perspective in the first person. Therefore, when at last it is published, you may find it authored under the pen name, Charlotte Mitchel. More to come.

In November, 2016 I conducted a survey to ask for help to pick the final title for the new book and identify the kinds of readers it would most appeal to. To thank those who participated in the survey, I drew five names from those who responded and will be sending them a signed and personalized copy of the first edition paperback. 
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