Virtual Book Tour Guest Post – Section 132 by Helga Zeiner (Giveaway too!)

I am so happy to welcome Helga Zeiner here today. I will post my complete review after her post but I will tell you now that it is a well written, well researched story that will touch your hearts. I’ll let her tell you her tell you how this story came to us readers.

My dear, beloved Readers,

Thank you so much for the opportunity to present myself as an author and my novel ‘Section 132’ to you.

I have lived and worked in Europe, where I was born, Asia, Australia and America, and have visited many more countries. Canada is my home since 2004.

Now I would like to briefly transport you back to a day in 2007 and picture this scenario: I’m sitting on my porch, enjoying the peaceful view of the lake in front of the remote country property I have chosen as my permanent home. I’m totally relaxed. The sky is blue, the lake is calm. I open my lap-top, click on the Vancouver Sun newspaper and start reading an article about a Fundamentalist Mormon sect located in British Columbia that is accused of child-bride trafficking with their counterparts in America. This intrigues me, to say the least. I read on and discover that this sect is located only about three hours drive from my home.

Of course, from that moment on I, the writer of suspense novels, am hooked.

I don’t consider myself a crusader or an activist, but I like to write stories with an unusual plot, freaturing strong female protagonists. I believe that women are amazingly resilient, resourceful, talented and wonderful human beings. All my novels (so far eight written, six published) are a homage to women who have to overcome enormous difficulties to fulfill their dreams and reach their goals in life.

Until that day in 2007 I would not have believed that a sect practicing polygamy and marrying their teenage daughters to much older men is even allowed to exist in our countries – be it Canada or America.

Several years of research followed and what I discovered in due course not only confirmed the article I had read but brought even more mind-blowing facts to light.

Subsequently I wrote the novel Section 132. I just had to write it. Not out of cheap sensationalism but because I believe that a novel might reach a much wider audience than a newspaper article and may raise public awareness of what goes on behind the closed doors of those sects. And because I simply could not pass by such an incredible story! After all, I write to entertain my readers by surprising them with unexpected stories. I like to carry them away from their everyday life with all their worries and problems.

Of course the plot and the protagonists in Section 132 are fictional. But I have created a mirror-image of the sect that still exists three hours drive from my home. By now their Bishop is under investigation by the RCMP and his American counterpart is now serving a life-sentence for sexual exploitation of minors. To round up the story, I have drawn from my abundant experience in living in the Canadian wilderness.

I hope you will enjoy this story, as dramatic and brutal it may be in parts. Please remember when you read it – and I hope very much that you do – that it is based on facts, as unbelievable as they may sound.

Helga Zeiner
Author of
Section 132
‘Imprisoned In A Polygamous Sect’

Thank you Helga for sharing your story and writing this novel. I so happy to share it here with my friends.

Published by POW WOW Books
Available in Paperback and E-Book

Lillian grew up in a American Fundamentalist Mormon sect where polygamy is still practiced. When she turned 13 she is said to be a woman and is sent to be the child bride of a Bishop in Canada. The compound is located in the wilderness of British Columbia. There are no neighbors for miles. Lillian is scared of her new “husband” and his first wife. Her sister-wife and the wife recognized by law.

A land developer has decided to purchase the land next to the compound for a ritzy new subdivision. He knows absolutely nothing about the compound next to his idyllic property. When he needs to tell the Bishop about his proposed project he learns the sect’s secret. Can he just stay out of their business or does he need to investigate further and protect the children he has seen at the compound? He has some difficult choices to make that could effect so many in Canada but the United States as well.

Dollycas’s Thoughts

WOW! What a suspenseful story!! A fabulous read!!

Zeiner has taken her research and constructed a well written novel that will have you sitting straight up in your chair rapidly turning the pages.

One of my former employers is a Mormon, not of a sect the practices polygamy. The staff were members of several religions and unlike most places of work back then we discussed religion openly. Different views were shared and we all learned much of different theology. There were Catholics, Methodists, Seven Day Adventists, and Lutherans. When the company was purchased by a man of Mormon faith from Salt Lake City we were all anxious to learn about the religion. Some of us even were fortunate enough to travel to Salt Lake City and see the temple and learn about Joseph Smith and his teachings. I was familiar with several beliefs shared in this story. Most people today may have watched Big Love on HBO for their knowledge on this Mormon practice.

There have also been several non-fiction accounts by women who have escaped from this horrible practice. It is easier to read this story because we known that while based on fact it is still fiction. It may make you furious in parts, tug at your heartstrings in other places, it may even make you laugh here and there.  You will be amazed by the strength of some of the characters. The things these children go through was horrific, but the author was not preachy in her telling of this story. The reader is able to reach their own conclusions.

I believe this is the first title by this author written in English. I hope she writes many more. This book receives my highest recommendation.

The author has generously authorized me to give away
1 E-Book copy of this wonderful book!
The giveaway will end August 3, 2012 at 12:01 a.m. EST

You must be a follower to enter this giveaway.
Since the e-book will be sent via email this is an International Giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the author. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of this book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”