Carol Preston - Truly Free

Born Carol Stone in Lithgow NSW in 1948, Carol moved to the Illawarra at the age of five. When she left school at aged 15 she became a ladies’ hairdresser. In 1967 she married Neil Preston in Wollongong, where their two children, Tammy and Adam were born. Carol returned to study in 1976, when her children started school and completed a PhD at Wollongong University in 1986, publishing numerous academic articles in psychological journals during that time. She is now in part time private counselling practice. Carol enjoys spending time with her children and four grandchildren, as well as bushwalking, gardening and holidaying overseas with her husband. You can find Carol on her website: www.carolpreston.com.au, on her Facebook author page: www.facebook.com/writingtoreach

Truly Free - When Betsy’s beloved grandfather dies in suspicious circumstances, she is determined to find out the truth about his final hours. Even when she uncovers long held secrets about his past, she holds onto her belief in his goodness. But the journey to truth evokes painful memories of her own path to love, and also reveals issues in her relationship with her father, from whom she has been estranged for many years. The path to freedom for Betsy and her family will come at a cost for them all.

And now some more about the author of Truly Free, Carol Preston. 

If I could go anywhere in the world tomorrow, it would be…To ‘The Abbey’, which is a retreat centre on Jamberoo Mountain, half an hour south of Wollongong, and which is run by a community of Benedictine nuns. This is a place I’ve often gone in the past to have a time of silence, reflection, prayer and restoration.  A day, or a week, or even sometimes two weeks, would be a beautiful gift to myself.

One thing I enjoyed today is…Watching the sun rise from my lounge room as I read and had my first cup of coffee.  This is my idea of a perfect start to the day. There was only the sound of few birds in my front garden,  the smell of fresh coffee, the gradual illumination of the trees outside my window, stimulating words and words on a page (my kindle actually), and time for them to germinate in my mind.

A secret pleasure of mine is…I think I’ve given away two of my secret pleasures already, but another would be a dark, nutty chocolate – all to myself.

A moment that changed my life is…There have been numerous of these, at different stages of my life, but certainly one of the early ones is when I was accepted into University as a mature age student and began my studies in psychology.  This set me on a path I could never have imagined.

When I was a child I wanted to…Believe it or not, one of the things I dreamed of doing as a child, was writing a book. I had no clear thought of what I would write about, but often sensed it would be something I would do in later life. I often wrote poetry as a child, and continued to do that in adult years, but a whole book was definitely a childhood dream.

I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but…Having read back over my other answers, I realise this would not be a surprise to anyone, but I am a very introverted person and sometimes I just don’t want to be with people at all. (I think I really need to add that there are a lot of wonderful people in my life who I love very much and wouldn’t want to be without for very long.)

*****

If you'd like to win a copy of one of Carol's books, please leave a comment below. Tell us where you like to escape to. Do you have a retreat somewhere? A favourite quiet place where God meets you and revives your spirit? 

I'll announce the winner in the comment thread here on Friday. Good luck.