THE HEART OF A LION

SAMANTHA GILES

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‘It is through …areas of darkness that a true sunbeam is able to shine….’

 Lemka is a fun-loving 12-year-old, obsessed with musicals and drama; she dreams of being an actress. But one day her world comes crashing down as she is diagnosed with a brain tumour. It is her dead Grandfather, whom she was very close to, who becomes her spiritual mentor, offering her words of wisdom and strength, and ultimately helping her move on to the next stage of her journey. Whilst under anaesthetic in hospital she finds herself in ‘the Other Place’, a magical land where she meets Jenny, who is also in hospital at the other end of the country, suffering from congenital heart failure. They quickly form a deep friendship, sharing their triumphs and their fears in a place where anything is possible and where they will become inextricably bonded. Lemka learns above all that goodbye is most definitely not forever and that there is always someplace else you can live out your dreams

Samantha Giles is better known as an actor. Her most memorable role being the regular character Bernice Blackstock in the British Soap opera 'Emmerdale', which she played for 7 years, leaving in November 2019. She also played the regular character Sally Boothe in 3 series of ITV drama 'Where The Heart Is' as well as countless other TV guest roles and leads in theatre productions.

She started writing after a vivid dream she had and the result is her debut novel Rosemary and The Witches of Pendle Hill, which is set in and around Liverpool and the North West of England. During writing the book, which she juggled with filming, she swears she was channeling the late Freddie Mercury as his bands’ songs kept popping into her head and therefore one of the character's favourite bands had to be 'Queen' of course.

Samantha has had a lifelong fascination with wicca and witchcraft and has a Facebook page called Samanthas Spells which is dedicated to her interest and like Rae, Rosemary's mother in the book, Samantha makes and sells spell kits, full details of which are on her FB page.

She also loves animals, cats in particular, and you can follow her on Twitter @sammeegiles, on Instagram sammeegee ; website www.thesamanthagiles.co.uk