How It All Began is the story of girl named Ryan Medis. Ryan solves mysteries that happen in her town of Slave Lake. Her friend Miranda has died. Ryan believes she was murdered. Follow with her as she tries to find who committed this terrible crime. No one is safe, not even Ryan from the terror stalking her townTim didn't exactly lie to me when he offered to help me achieve my impossible ambition. If I hadn't been dazzled by my dream, I'd have realized what I could be letting myself in for. He gave me a simple job that wasn't so simple. After all herding cats is simple! I never wanted to be a dictator. I never wanted to be the commander of a rag tag military defense force. I never wanted to be forced into a position where I could be considered a hero. All I ever wanted was to get to space! He didn't tell me that he'd help make me number one on the list of people that earth wanted annihilated.

Between the years 1977 to 1989 I had several friends and seemed to be out every night with one or all of them. The thing that didn’t occur to me then was they were all female but I had no intention of being anything other than a platonic friend with all of them and can’t think why.Each Sunday I would meet 3 girls at the café across the street from the church we attended and we would decide what adventures we would ‘get up to’ each week. If it was hot and sunny we could go to the seaside if not – which was more likely coming from Glasgow – we would visit places of local interest or just ‘hang out’ together.Being friends with them brought me into contact with several of their ‘other’ female friends and I found myself getting emotionally involved with them as well - but I had ‘fairly steady’ girlfriends most of the time so never thought of any of these girls as anything other than platonic acquaintances. One girl was Jewish – she rebelled against everything, her father, her religion, the world in general (when it suited her) and regarded the holocaust as a personal insult - although she knew nobody involved.One was a lesbian – the other girls tolerated her, because she was very funny and entertaining, as long as she kept her sexual preferences at a distance from them.One was a nymphomaniac – it wasn’t her fault, she often told me, she hated to sleep alone –and seldom did.One I met when she was 5 years old, then later when she was 11, and the last time when she was 16 and on her way to join a convent. She confessed she had a massive crush on me when we first met, which was re-kindled when my friends and I had helped her out when she was 11. She promised, the last time I saw her, to remember us all in her prayers.One was twice the age of the others, including me, and had been a ‘bit of a girl’ when she was younger and tried to convince all who came into contact with her that she ‘still had it’. Several of the girls doubted she ever had ‘it’ and no matter how hard she tried she was never likely to find ‘it’ again.One was, without doubt, the most beautiful girl I had ever met. A few years after I left their group she turned up in the local press and was lambasted by them when it emerged she was the mistress of a local businessman and dared to go to a prestigious function on the arm of a famous millionaire. They slaughtered her for about a week until the famous man quickly married his childhood sweetheart and she was never mentioned again. Each ‘Diamond’ in this adventure is based on several aspects of these ‘friends’. Their stories once told, their secrets once kept. Hopes and desires often shared - confessions and fantasies seldom overheard. Could it be it was all so simple then (The way we were)?

Bla BlaDear Readers, I need to tell you a little about this book before you go in, so maybe you’ll understand why I stepped outside of my usual box to write it. I was reading a book recently that was about the mafia. I love mafia books. I’ve read a good portion of them. The mafia leader and his lover, his forbidden flame, the woman he purchased, the daughter of his enemy, you name it. I’ve read it. You know what I haven’t read? What you’re about to read. Back to the book I was reading. There was mention of a mafia leader who had a wife, a lovely wife, a good wife, a loyal wife, a wife he loved. But he had something else. He had a mistress. A woman on the side. Supposedly for status. A woman to make him look strong and superior. In fact, it was deemed that if he did NOT have one, that he was perceived as weak. My attention was sparked. I did research. Turns out that is indeed true in a lot of those situations. Not all of them, no, but some of them. And I said to myself. What is her life like? The other woman? The one used as a status symbol? What does she do with her free time? Who is she? Why does she do what she does? How does she fit into his world? How does it feel for her to be what she is? Does she hurt? Is she happy? How come nobody has told her story?So. I’m telling her story.I hope you love it as much as I loved writing it. Bella xx