Gem of the Andes is a story of exotic adventure, with a touch of magic. It begins in quiet old Spurwink Manor in Maryland, with Lila Winters, almost 19, who has resigned herself to a lonely life. She has finally graduated High School and escaped the world of peer pressure and social complications, but has little hope of a happy future while hidden away at the family home. After a shocking experience in dating, she has pulled back from her friends and family. She expects to shun all men for the rest of her life, even though she secretly longs for romance. She reads voraciously to quell her appetite for adventure. One day she watches from her bedroom window as her cousin Elfie throws something from her own window onto the roof. Consumed with curiosity, Lila retrieves the object, a strange, ancient-looking silver ring, set with a pink stone. But, watching from the shadows, she has seen a stranger, a silver-haired man, following Elfie and then searching her room. Who is he? What is the significance of the ring? She hides the ring. Little does she suspect that this will set her on a path to great adventure, a lost city of the Ancients in the high Andes of Peru, and a forever love. Who is this mysterious silver-haired man? Amzi Darrow, an investigator from a museum in Peru, is looking for the ring and its lost twin. But should Lila trust him? The story moves to Cuzco, Peru, where Lila explores the history, archaeology and foods of her newly adopted home, while beginning a family she never thought she’d have. She encounters people of different cultures and learns from them as she immerses herself in the legends and customs of this archaic, otherworldly land. The tombs, mummies and artifacts reveal the ancient lives of the Incas, Quechuas and other Peruvian tribes, giving hints of a dangerous secret no modern civilization should know. South America is a strange place. They say magical things happen all the time there, and no one thinks it unusual. What is real and what is a vision—and what is the six-winged bird? Prophesied by a shaman over a thousand years before, it is instrumental in the family’s escape from the Sendero Luminoso , Shining Path terrorists. About the Author This story began when the author was a child, listening to stories told by her aunt, who spent years in the Foreign Service as an interpreter and confidential secretary at American embassies in Peru, Egypt, and other countries. She brought back wonderful gifts from these countries, including a very old Peruvian ring. An amateur gemologist friend said the stone was Morganite, a pink emerald. Not magic...or is it? Later, a speaker’s prompt at a writer’s conference, and a challenge years later from a critique group, was just enough kick to get it started. It came pouring forth as she turned in a chapter a week, wondering (herself!) what would happen next. In time, she began working with a friend as a beta reader, who then began to help research, and the story grew even more intriguing. The story is fiction, but much of the background is true. We came upon a puzzling secret during the first story, too tantalizing to leave unanswered. It was a mystery that had been argued and studied for years, and true or not, it would make an amazing tale! Next book: Land of the Cloud Warriors .