The Twisted Serpent

About the Book

You might enjoy reading the three previous books in the series that precede THE TWISTED SERPENT. THE SUNDISK, TIME IS FOR THE ESSENCE, and THE SERPETS'S LAST SECRET. Like them THE TWISTED SERPENT, takes the reader on an adventure where the present, past and future merge and link the fable roots of earth's FORGOTTEN ISLAND that habitually appears then disappears into the mist, with the history and ongoing struggles and conflicts of alien worlds. The historic connecting the island has with the Lost continent of Mu inspires visitors from distant planets to shed light upon the island's fascinating past and FORGOTTEN ISLAND'S connection with them. The awesome beauty and mystery of other planets come alive as the reader travels through time with the novels strange and endearing, kind yet sometimes evil characters.

About the Author

Like the great Roman emperor, Marcus Aurelius, I was born under the sign of the gods, on April 26th. Since he is so much older than I am, I will not discuss age here. We share the same philosophy for living.. Like me, he stood up to adversity, and he encouraged others to do the same. He was a writer. His MEDITATIONS reflect his life and Stoic philosophy . “You have power over your mind. . . Realize this, and you will have strength. Dwell on beauty.’’ Was he a Christian? Some believe he was. He never persecuted Christians or any other religious group. It has been said that when he was traveling with his guardsmen there was no water available to them--- and that when he prayed , heavy rain then fell from the sky meeting the need. Like the famous Roman Emperor of old, I have had to fight adversity sometimes----but don’t we all? My novel, THE SERPENT’S LAST SECRET, depicts the challenges people and even animals sometime have to face in this world. Yet It is in my poetry book collection GERTIE’S DREAM GARDEN that I come closest to actually expressing some of the challenges that affected my life and helped me grow as a person . I consider Wellfleet, MA to be my home. I spent the happiest years of my life there. “ When I was a child I loved crossing “Captain Tim’s bridge’’ into town’ At low tide I could see the hundreds of little fiddler crabs scurrying about searching for food or waiting for the high tide to bring some delicious morsel their way. Today the fiddler crabs have all but disappeared from under the bridge. ‘’ I have other memories of Wellfleet …. of warm summer days when my friends and I would head for’ the backshore’’ and with boards tucked under our arms wait for low tide when the waves would come crashing on the sandbar and we could ride them ashore. Later we might climb a dune and see if there were any whales swimming offshore. On other days we might go swimming at a woodland pond or gather wild berries or beach plums Life isn’t all carefree summer days. My family moved around quite a bit. Before Wellfleet, and during WW II when my brother and I were quite small, my Dad was serving in the US Army AIR Force in Europe, Mother took my brother and me to live at New Smyrna Beach, Florida that then was undeveloped and where sea turtles came ashore to lay eggs. Few people lived near the beach. Most lived in town. There was the ‘civilian watch for the enemy” that for those living near the beach found exciting---especially when oil slicks were spotted or oil drums washed ashore. When Dad returned from the WWII, we first lived in Orlando. There was no Disney park then so alligators were content and could roam freely in the marshes. We then moved to Boston. A Boston neighbor knew Mom missed Florida. She had relatives living on Cape Cod. She told Dad and Mom about the Wellfleet beaches. Soon Mom and Dad were buying wooded acreage on Cove Road, Wellfleet not far from the beaches .We continued to live in Boston and used the Wellfleet place as a summer home. Then Dad was called up to serve in the Korea War. He first served at’’ Langley Air Force Base’’, VA. He served there until he was transferred to the AIR GROUND SCHOOL ,in Southern Pines, NC When Dad left the service we moved to NY. Mom was so exhausted from all the moving etc, that it was decided that Dad would live and work in NY and fly down every weekend to Cape Cod where both George and I went to school in Wellfleet. The highlight of our week was when we met Dad’s weekly Eastern Airlines flight in Hyannis from NY’s Laguardia Airport. He always brought something special with him whether it was delicious candies or cookies in a painted tin from a European country or something special that you couldn’t find anywhere else but in New York . My Dad certainly missed us .So after a discussion with my Mom it was decided we would stay in a house on Long Island and Dad would commute to work from there each day. I mIssed the little Wellfleet school I had attended, perched upon a high hill. I missed the beautiful view from that hill overlooki ng the town, the harbor bay and Massachusetts Bay that connected with the open sea . Most of all, I missed the atmosphere surrounding this little seaside Wellfleet world. When I grew older, and when my family always spent summers in Wellfleet, I learned of the sea legends. Some were quite haunting. Some were ghost stories but those ghost stories often had a basis of truth attached to them--- Like the wreck of the pirate ship Whydah . That ship was weighed down with gold, when on April 26, 1717 the pirate Captain Samuel Bellamy came to fetch his beloved, the beautiful white witch, Maria Hallett, so he could take her to live with him in the West Indies. Sadly ,the ship sank in a storm only about four or five miles from a Wellfleet beach near where my family lived. The memories of Wellfleet somehow, stayed with me, Even though I made friends with Long Island neighborhood children, their families sometimes moved away. I Studied hard in school and I took ballet lessons. As a young teen, my mother helped me earn a little money when she accompanied me so I could work as a teen age model showing clothes at fashion shows for department store buyers. All of this came to an end when the company my Dad worked for, transferred him to Chicago. My school in Winnetka is considered to be one of the best high schools in the country. There is an indoor swimming pool and auditorium similar to a Broadway theater. Stars from the stage and screen have graduated from here. I still felt a little lost though. It was a big place. I felt lucky to make just a few good friends. I loved my English classes but I missed my math and science teachers from L.I., NY. Suddenly Dad was transferred to RI. Well, life goes on. I ended up graduating from a small girls’ private school in Providence. The school has high academic standards, and when I was there, the emphasis was on Latin, French, end history. I’ve kept in touch with that school all these years and I am proud to be a graduate of it. Several famous women are graduates of this school—the girls and women connected with this school reach out to people all over the world in an effort of good will and to help people in developing countries . I too have been fortunate enough to travel many places. I have met fine people wherever I went. My poetry book, GERTIE’S DREAM GARDEN details my life’s adventures. I hope you will read it along with the other books I have written. May I add just a note here: After I graduated from high schooi , I earned my BA and MA degrees in English from THE UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND . The professor, directing my MA thesis, THE CLASSICAL INFLUENCE IN SPENSER’S MUTABILITY CANTOS, Professor Richard Neuse, had a PHD from YALE University in Medieval/Renaissance studies. After earning my degrees, I sometimes taught English or worked in business such as for a GA newspaper where I Also wrote books reviews . I also loved working for a satellite dish company. GAIL LOGAN, 2024