Tag: England

Books, Life, Self-publishing, Uncategorized

Jealousy & Envy

gibbsdream

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I had decided on this blog thinking I was writing about jealousy only with envy being a synonym but after doing some research I discovered something I hadn’t known which is that jealousy and envy are considered to  be different.

Dictionary definitions:

Jealousy: feeling or showing an envious resentment of someone or their achievements, possessions, or perceived advantages.

Envy: a feeling of discontented or resentful longing aroused by someone else’s possessions, qualities, or luck.

The dictionary would suggest that both these emotions are the same but some psychologists differentiate between the two emotions:

Jealousy is relationship based and involves a third person. It’s an emotion that makes a person fear for their relationship with another – partner, parent, friend etc… The person sees a threat to their relationship which could be real or perceived.

Example: Your husband has a female friend and you see that friendship in a different light. It could be a simply platonic relationship but it could also be an affair which threatens the fabric of your marriage. Jealously has its roots firmly in both the logical and illogical camps.

Jealousy can be healthy, in that it produces that fear which makes you work at protecting your relationship but equally it can be a destructive force eating away at you from the inside and ruining your relationship.
Finding the right balance is the key.

Envy however is an emotion that is caused between two people only.

Example: You are envious of what your friend has, possessions or life.

Again this emotion can be put to good or bad use. If you use this to better yourself and achieve the goals you have then this has been for the force of good, however if you allow this envy to fester you can become dissatisfied with your lot in life and your friendship will suffer as you become resentful.
Finding the right balance is again key.

I try to avoid the extremes of both of these emotions as they can be so destructive, you should allow them to drive you not to overwhelm you.

I chose this as a subject matter as some of the characters in my books show these emotions which makes for great reading.  I have three examples from two of my books – please read on:

A Lifetime or a Season

Amazon link: http://mybook.to/A-lifetime

Diana

Diana is envious of her young daughter Athena, who is pretty and has her whole life ahead of her. Diana is a beautiful, superficial, selfish woman who has men flocking around her and has no shortage of admirers but she knows that the passage of time is upon her so she callously puts down and undermines her daughter so that Athena sees herself as plain. Diana tries to stamp out Athena’s spark of independence wanting her daughter to fawn over her rather than live her own life.

Check out Athena’s short story to see whether Diana was successful or not.

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A Boy from the Streets has two examples of jealousy.

Amazon Link: myBook.to/BoyfromStreets

Teo

Teo is a lovely, loyal man who is eaten up with jealousy. He is devoted to his friend Leandro but Leandro has a closer bond with Daniel. Even years of separation doesn’t dim this friendship but as the year go by Teo’s jealousy develops to the point where he places himself and others in danger. Will his jealousy lead him to commit the ultimate betrayal?

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Pedro

Pedro is a young boy who is abandoned to the streets of Brasil at the age of one year. His life is harrowing and filled with the horrors that life on the streets brings including being used by the corrupt police force who should be there to protect him.

At the age of twelve he discovers that he has a twin, Jose was adopted into a life of luxury.

Pedro experiences both jealousy and envy during the coming months but despite his life and the trials and tribulations he stays grounded. His own caring nature allows him to rise above these emotions – but when he is pushed to the ultimate level will he be able to keep his head or will it overwhelm him?

 

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If you want to discover how any of my characters cope with these emotions and what the future holds for them you can find out by clicking the links and reading their stories.

I look forward to hearing back from you.

 

Books, Christmas, Life, Self-publishing

New Release – A Boy from the Streets

gibbsdream

 

A BOY FROM THE STREETS

by Maria Gibbs

 



Genre: Urban Drama

Two babies abandoned at birth—one grows up in a life of privilege, the other in poverty.

On the 12th of September, 1981, twin boys are born in a Brasilian hospital and left to their fate as orphans. Jose is adopted by a couple who takes him to England, but the other isn’t so lucky. Pedro ends up on the streets of Rio, left to fend for himself in a harsh and unforgiving world.
Love and betrayal.
Twelve years later Jose’s family returns to Brasil, where he learns the truth about his adoption and his twin. Thinking his adoptive parents no longer want him, he runs away to find his brother. What follows will shake Jose to the core and shape the rest of his life—if he can survive.
Murder.
Jose isn’t the only one whose life will change. Pedro is offered an opportunity beyond any of his wildest dreams, but to keep it will mean the betrayal of someone he loves. This proves to be a far greater challenge than he anticipated when the orphan finds himself suddenly surrounded by family who, unfortunately, don’t all have good intentions.
Hopes and dreams.
A Boy from the Streets will tug at your heart-strings and have you rooting for the little guy as you follow the twists and turns this multi-continental tale takes.

“Fernando, we must take them both, we cannot separate twins.”
“Christina, you’re too soft, we can’t bring up two children. You’re not strong enough to cope with the needs of twins. Your constitution is weak. It would be unfair to all of us.”
“I know my health is delicate, Fernando, and I will always regret that I can’t carry your baby to term inside me, but I know I can love and care for these twins. We can afford to hire help…” She trailed off when she saw the determined jut of his chin, the expression that brooked no further argument. Christina decided to try one last tug at his conscience anyway. “If we leave one behind, he might end up on the streets, an urchin living in squalor and fighting to survive… if he even makes it past babyhood.”
“Christina, your abundance of love does you credit, but I have no doubts the other boy will be adopted also. The only thing left to do now is to choose which one you would like?”
Christina’s heart sank as she looked at the two bundles in front of her. He was asking her to choose one, like picking out a pair of shoes from the rows on display in a shop. One stirred and let out a howl, disturbing his twin. It was almost as though he were alert to the inherent danger in this situation and was warning his brother.
Christina reached out a hand to each of them, touching their delicate tiny fingers and marvelling at how small, how fragile they were. Both lay quietly now, staring up at her with eyes as yet unable to focus. The boy who had been woken by his brother curled his tiny digits around her finger. In that moment she knew. He was asking her for help. The other twin would have the strength and tenacity to face whatever life threw at him. Christina couldn’t think about that, now that the decision was made. There was no hope of changing Fernando’s mind.
Without a further glance to the brother, she scooped up her new baby, cradling his floppy head and bringing him close to her chest so that he could feel her heart beat and know he was safe. She started to walk away with Fernando’s supportive hand between her shoulder blades. The baby in her arms let out a whimpering cry, and his twin, who still lay in the cot, responded with a heart-breaking howl which tore at her heartstrings and caused Christina to pause her flight. Fernando’s hand applied gentle pressure while she lifted one leaden foot in front of the other. A silent tear fell from her face onto the baby in her arms. She muttered a quick prayer for his twin.
“All that’s left now is to fill in the paperwork and the boy is ours.” Fernando’s handsome face broke into a smile. He reached out and touched the silent baby in his wife’s arms.
“You are to be our son,” he crooned. “We must think of a fitting name to honour your new status in the Sanchez family.”
“Jose, after your father.” Christina dimpled as Fernando rewarded her with a winning smile then pulled her and their new baby into his arms before placing a gentle kiss on her lips.

I’m a self-published author who released her first novelette in January 2015 ‘As Dreams are Made on’ which was closely followed by my second one in February of the same year ‘A Lifetime or a Season.’
In 2016 I released ‘The Storm Creature’ after writing it for an anthology.
2017 will see the release of a novel which I am excited about ‘A boy from the Streets.’ During that time, I have also been working on a number of other WIP’s which are in the pipeline. I don’t fit into any neat genres where my writing is concerned, I am a ‘pantser’ and write anything that comes into my head. So my books range from thrillers, to romance, from paranormal, time slip to contemporary women’s fiction.
I started reading as soon as I was able to and followed on by writing soon after. My biggest influence as a child was Enid Blyton who taught me that books were an escape to new and exciting worlds. I love reading books from a wide spectrum of genres, if the cover attracts me and the blurb stacks up then I want to read the book. When I’m not reading or writing, or doing my full-time job I enjoy travelling, crafting, horse-riding and riding my motorbike.
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