5 DEAD WOMEN

About the Book

Thirty-two-year-old Sheldon Kingsland cannot believe her good fortune. Once a troubled, young, poor black woman, she is now blessed with a handsome, successful husband; three children; and a beautiful home. But she ignores her body’s warning signs, and is given a grim diagnosis, one that no one wants to hear. Sheldon struggles with the reality of her looming death. Megan Wells met her husband Bill in college. For a time, their relationship was everything she dreamed about. Soon, Bill’s ugly side emerges as he drinks heavily and abuses her. Megan tries to hide the abuse, but Bill’s violent side has dramatic consequences. An ongoing series, 5 Dead Women shares the stories of Sheldon, Megan, Alex, Brea, and Drew. They’ve never met, but one day they wake up on the same stretch of unfamiliar beach. They realize that to solve the mystery of where they are and why, each needs to relive and share their story. It is then the women discover the power they each have to make the decisions to do what needs to be done.

About the Author

Felicia R. Lashley was born March, 30th, 1972 on the Caribbean island of Barbados to Bruce and Nolan Hope-Lashley. She remained an only child. Growing up, Felicia had two big dreams; to become a Funeral Director and to write a book. In December of 1995 she fulfilled one of those dreams when she graduated from the John A. Gupton College of Mortuary Science in Nashville, TN with a degree in Mortuary Science. She later obtained her Funeral Director’s License and began her career at Taylor Funeral Home in Chattanooga, TN. Over the years Felicia has done quite a bit of traveling; visiting and sometimes living in places like St. Kitts, Antigua, St. Croix, Puerto Rico and Jamaica, to name a few. As a little girl and well into adulthood, she read any and everything she could put her hands on, and was scolded repeatedly by her grandmother for reading at the dinner table, and sneaking books to church to read during Sunday School. She went on to write numerous biographical sketches for people over the years; even making extra money by writing papers for her classmates in college. While in college she also wrote a book of poetry which she prefers to keep private at the moment. Felicia also wrote and submitted articles on behalf of her employer to the magazine called, ‘Sonic Boom’, a quarterly newsletter that is distributed to over one hundred Sonic Automotive Dealerships across the USA. Two of Felicia’s favorite authors are Mary Higgins Clark and Terry McMillan. She feels really drawn to these two women because, like her, they too were single mothers when they started their writing careers, doing the exact same thing that she does now; waking up in the morning way before the kid(s), and writing until time to wake them up for school. Felicia felt like she had no excuse; if these women did this, then she felt she could too. After a very painful divorce and a life changing bout with clinical depression, Felicia decided to fulfill her second dream; she wrote her first book. ‘Sunset’s Sunrise’ is a roller coaster ride into the life of the book’s main character, Sunset Augustine. This book stirred up every emotion in its reader. Even though ‘Sunset’s Sunrise’ was published as a work of fiction that closely paralleled Felicia’s life, it is in fact Felicia’s life story. It is a story of hurt, shattered dreams, deception, abuse, addiction and survival. The first newspaper article for ‘Sunset's Sunrise’ titled ‘Lashley Book Brings Healing’ was published in early 2008 in the Community News section of the Chattanooga Times Free Press for East Brainerd and the Red Bank/Riverview area. While traveling back to her home country of Barbados in July 2008, Felicia was welcomed with open arms by her family and friends, who commended her for having the courage and strength to speak out. During that visit she gave an in depth interview to the island’s leading newspaper, The Nation, where she openly discussed her book leaving no stones unturned. The reporter titled the newspaper article, ‘Broken Trust’. From this interview, an interest in ‘Sunset’s Sunrise’ grew, sparking a request to run excerpts of the book in a weekly magazine called, “Easy Magazine’. Excerpts from ‘Sunset’s Sunrise’ were featured for three consecutive weeks. ‘Sunset’s Sunrise’ hit bookstores in Barbados in June 2009. They immediately sold out. In March, 2010 due to a renewed interest in ‘Sunset’s Sunrise’, Felicia again travelled to Barbados, where this time she hosted a very successful book signing at the Island’s number one bookstore, Pages. Within less than five days, all the books were sold out. During that visit, she also did another newspaper interview, and several other articles were written about her and in reference to her book. Even though Sunset's Sunrise is not available in book stores in the USA, it can be found online at amazon.com, borders.com, barnesandnoble.com, target.com and other online book sellers. ‘5 Dead Women’ is Felicia’s second book; released January, 2011. Felicia currently resides in Chattanooga, TN with her two greatest accomplishments; her children, Kennedi and CJ. Felicia still reads at the dinner table.