About Leena
Leena lives in the Real Far North of New Zealand, close enough to a beautiful beach that she can take a walk whenever she feels the need to experience the sea-cleansing air. When the weather allows, the garden is tended and has been known to produce the occasional bean or cabbage. Mostly it provides respite for the neighbour’s cats, inspiration for stories and space for her extended and growing family to camp in during the summer months.
A retired educationalist Leena has now turned her attention to creative writing – along with pursuing her interests in genealogical research, crafting miniatures and making gifts for her family. She also runs a writer’s group and is a member of The New Zealand Society of Authors and SpecFicNZ.
Leena writes speculative fiction with a liberal sprinkling of magical realism. She has also written children’s stories, poetry, and an academic memoir relating to a teacher exchange experience in Malaysia. Her thesis for a Master of Education focused on the success factors for adult students from a non-English speaking background within a bicultural tertiary programme.
Facebook: Leena Taylor-Gillespie author
If you enjoyed Doorway of Death, look out for Pathway of Light, Book Two of The Thousandth Way Chronicles, also by Leena Taylor-Gillespie
ABOUT THE THOUSANDTH WAY CHRONICLES
The first three books of the Chronicles began life as quite separate stories. After several years of pondering and wondering which to start first, it occurred to Leena that the stories were all elements of a larger narrative – chunks of a life or lives that were connected.
She wrote Pathway of Light first, intending it to be the initial book in the series. Doorway of Death followed, detailing the missing memories that the main character of Book One Lacey Marama Aundra Cameron, could not recall from the life of her great grandmother – Reyna Kismet Murray. Book three – Stairway of Gifts – followed and it was while working on this that Leena realised that she needed to change the order of the books. Hence Doorway of Death became Book One with Pathway of Light following.
The change of order means that the reader will recognise hints from Book One that refer to information that Lacey is unaware of, and will know these are missing from her memories. Other books that are not part of the sequential order made their appearance at crucial moments of the writing. Hence, The Professor’s Inheritance and What Happened at Home made their debut and provide additional story elements and backgrounds to the main characters.