Maria J. Andrade was born in Ecuador, South America, and raised in New York and California. She has a bachelor of arts degree in English literature and a master’s degree in Counseling Psychology. As a licensed therapist and writer, Maria has been diving into other people’s minds and her own, through dreams, poetry, and books for over three decades. She traveled with the Four Winds Society where she studied and was initiated into Andean shamanism in 1990.
Before Maria retired as a therapist, she specialized in women’s issues and founded the Wise Women’s Circle a ritualistic and transpersonal study group that continues today. The women support each other through life’s challenges and in the growth of mind, body, and spirit.
Maria Andrade’s books for children and adults is found in a variety of genres. This is an unforgettable first novel that reflects her imagination and creative storytelling.
Defiance and Redemption is her latest release.
Visit her website at www.booksasfriends.com or connect with her on Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads.
10 Things You Might Not Know About Maria J. Andrade
1.Maria is a bilingual writer. Some of her books have been translated by her into Spanish. To do this for her first self-help book on love, Heart Magic, Keeping Love Alive and Well, she had to hire five editors from specific areas of the Latinx world. They were from, Spain, Columbia, South America, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Argentina. The latter she had to forgo because the dialects were too different from the rest of the Hispanic world. She did get good results as far as having any person from various Latinx countries clearly understand the language of her book.
2. Maria has been married two times. She married the first time at age eighteen. Her first husband died, and she remarried. She has been happily married for over thirty years. Her self-help book was written understanding that personally and professionally society does not prepare us to succeed in marriage.
3. She received a BA and graduated with honors in English from the California State University in Los Angeles. By that time, she had fallen in love with psychology, so she decided to study that field. She received a master’s degree in Counseling Psychology from the University of La Verne, CA.
4. She and her second husband had a private practice in California as Marriage and Family Therapists. She retired in 2017.
5. Maria and her husband Sy were interested in Transpersonal psychology, eastern & western religions, alternative healing, and shamanism. She traveled with the Four Winds Society to study the shamanism of the Americas. She was initiated into shamanism in 1990. In 2005 she and her husband traveled to China to study some of the philosophy and healing techniques of that country. Today she leads a prayer group for the healing of those who in her community who request prayers at the United Church of Christ.
6. As a psychotherapist Maria specialized in children and women’s issue. She was interested in dreams and had a dream group. She used poetry in therapy. She founded the Wise Women’s Circle, a ritualistic and transpersonal study group that continues today where women support one another in healing and in growth of mind body and spirit.
7. Although she was working in the field of psychology, over two decades ago, Maria began writing books for couples and children to give them the skills to face life challenges and improve their personal relationships.
8. Even though she no longer works in the field of psychology, she believes writing is another powerful way to inspire and uplift people’s lives by sharing moving stories they will not soon forget.
9. Maria was born in Ecuador, South America but came to the United States at age four. She did not return to her country of birth until she was in her twenties. It was then that she became curious about the native practices of the indigenous people of. Her country. She found value in how they view spirit, God, and the world around them.
10. In 2004 she had a website called Magic Union.com which focused on her writing. Today her website is www.booksasfriends.com where you can discover and purchase dedicated books signed by the author.
Title: DEFIANCE AND REDEMPTION: A LIFETIME OF UNBROKEN BONDS
Author: Maria J. Andrade
Publisher: Clara Publishing
Pages: 250
Genre: Women’s Fiction/Historical Fiction/Magical Realism
BOOK BLURB:
Based on a true story, Defiance and Redemption, A Lifetime of Unbroken Bonds, brings to life the joys, dramas, and triumphs of two sisters, Eva and Victoria Alisio and their loyal friend Marta. The sisters are raised by their atheist Grandfather Marcus and religious Grandmother Maria Luisa. Eva, a proud and strong-willed young woman defies her family, society, and culture, faces scandal and disgrace, for her forbidden love affair. Victoria finds herself in the center of a multigenerational conflict as her benefactor bestows a great inheritance on her excluding the rightful heirs. Marta, loyal to the childhood bond with the Alisio sisters, brings humor and support to their twists and turns of fortune. The young women’s bond of love, and perseverance, carries them through ordinary and extraordinary losses, triumphs, and ultimately to their destiny in the United States.
An important novel about 20th Century women, Defiance and Redemption, is an absorbing epic that moves through decades and destinies. It blends personal and historical events into a collective tale of self-determination, love, and sisterhood.
PRAISE
“This book is an engrossing page turner which will pull you in and keep you cheering for your favorite actors until the very end! Defiance and Redemption is a unique book that tells a story that is both particular to a given time in Ecuador, but also universal in its themes of love, betrayal and survival.” – Nancy Mintie, Founder of Uncommon Good
“Reading Defiance and Redemption reminded me of a distant time when I read Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel. Like these writers, Maria Andrade took me through a captivating journey of love and deep passion. Being gripped by the strong emotions that the characters possess and what they did in the end moved me profoundly.” – Maria Donovan, Retired Verizon Executive
“In Defiance and Redemption, Maria Andrade weaves together history, biography, and fiction into a romantic love and a story of three women that defy the ability of patriarchal culture to define them. We see the young women grow up to rise above the shame that tries to silence and limit them. They learn to find their voices and make sacrifices to be true to themselves as women. They leave behind all that they knew to make a better life for themselves and their daughters. This is a book to remind women of all ages where we came from, and what it took to break out and thrive nearly a century ago. Women like these paved the way for all who came after and have the rights we have today.” – Nancy Poitou, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist
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