Cori signs up to take a mission trip to Indonesia during the summer after her senior year of high school. Inspired by happy visions of building churches and seeing beautiful beaches, she gladly escapes her complicated love life back home. Five weeks after their arrival, a sectarian and religious conflict that has been simmering for years flames to life with deadly results on the nearby island of Ambon. Within days, the church building the team had constructed is in ashes, its pastor and fifty villagers are dead, and the six terrified teenagers are stranded in the mountainous jungle with only the pastor's teenage son to guide them to safety. Ultimately, Cori's emotional quest to rediscover hope proves as arduous as the physical journey home.
I still get confused when people ask me about home. Raised in Australia, Bangladesh, the States, and Zimbabwe, I have also lived in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Croatia. I am currently living in Laos ...
(The journey to Laos began with writing letters to someone in Papua New Guinea, and that is such a great story that I wrote a memoir about it - check out my latest book, a memoir, Love At The Speed Of Email).
In Australia, I worked as a forensic psychologist with the state police, in a maximum-security men's prison, and on a child death review team.
In Croatia, I worked with a development organization as a stress management trainer.
In Indiana, I earned a masters degree in International Peace Studies at Notre Dame University.
In Los Angeles, I directed the Headington Institute's training and education programs, providing psychological support services to humanitarian workers around the world.
In Laos, while my husband is hard at work for a humanitarian organization, I lie in a hammock by the Mekong River and drink mango smoothies.
At least, that is what I sometimes fantasize about when I'm busy looking after my first child, working as a consultant, or writing.
My latest book, Love At The Speed Of Email, was released in June 2012. It's a book that advance reviewers are calling "a modern-day fairytale" and a "travel memoir with a deep soul". Please take a moment to check it out, or to drop by my website and say hello. I'd love to hear from you.
