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Award winning author, Jan Sikes, began writing around the age of eight.
The stories she writes (so far) are true stories about the journey of two people moving through adversity in order to grow and learn to become better humans. She believes with all her heart, there is something that is worthy of sharing in these stories. Bits and pieces of wisdom, hard-learned lessons and above and beyond all, love…True love that you read about in fiction stories…and yet this is truth. The old saying that truth is stranger than fiction fits the stories that she shares.
The Convict and the Rose, her second book, has been awarded the book of the year in the Fiction/Biography category with the Texas Association of Authors.
She is passionate about her writing projects and is driven to tell a story with the hope that it might touch someone’s heart or life in a positive way.
She also releases a music CD of original songs along with each book that fits the time period of the story. Why? Because the stories revolve and evolve around a deep-rooted passion for music
Jan resides in North Texas, has five grandchildren and in her spare time, loves to volunteer at Texas music festivals.
Reviewed by Sarah Stuart for Readers' Favorite
The Convict and The Rose by Jan Sikes tells the story of two very different people with a common bond; a deep, passionate, everlasting love. The early chapters introduce Luke Stone, a country singer and musician from Texas, convicted of bank robberies in which he’d been only a minor accessory but he refused to grass on the perpetrators. As a result of his non-cooperation, at thirty-five he’s jailed for fifteen years. Darlina Flowers is the woman who met Luke when she was a club dancer. As a teenager she travelled from gig to gig with him and The Rebel Rousers. Luke has made her promise to forget him, but can she find another man to replace him in her mind and heart?
The opening of The Convict and The Rose is shocking, revealing conditions in a state penitentiary and the brutally humiliating treatment of prisoners. Defiant, wrongly convicted Luke Stone spends much of his time in solitary confinement: it seems unlikely that his wild, rebellious spirit will allow him to survive incarceration. Darlina, attracted to Will Brocker by the thrill of riding with him on his Harley Davidson, opts for a new relationship. She’s done the passionate love-you-forever scenario and can’t face the agony of losing out again. Will is not what he seems; into drugs, gang warfare, and careless of her safety. Comparisons with Luke multiply. Both Luke and Darlina dream, waking and sleeping, of each other, and Luke writes love songs alone in his cell. “You cuddle me into slumber tight to return tomorrow, my angel of the night.” The Convict and The Rose rides high on dreams and plunges to the depths of misery; challenging, gripping, and superbly written.
