We Stand in the Middle
​Two worlds, one story, and a mind-bending proposition
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“We Stand in the Middle” is a phrase used by the Aniyvwiya (Cherokee) people. It refers to their belief that everything is interconnected and interdependent, and that humanity’s job is to achieve and maintain balance between body, mind, and spirit. This balance applies to individuals, their relationships to one another, their communities, and all living things, including the planet.
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In January of 2024, I began writing the first chapter of what would become a 42-chapter novel that combines historical fiction and magical realism. My goal was to use characters from both worlds - both Cherokee and white European men and women steeped in western values - to compare and contrast the two approaches to living on the planet. What would happen, I wondered, if the two diametrically opposed cultures collided?
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To give you a taste of the writing and magic, I'm including the shortened version of the prologue currently making the rounds among agents. Let me know what you think!
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Prologue
Deep within an old-growth forest in the Appalachian Mountains a covenant has been evoked. The ramifications of that evocation are massive but slow moving. Like a quake triggered deep within the Earth’s crust, it shudders and rolls through rocks and soil, inciting rivers to flood, stars to fall, and the narrative networks guarded by the trees to pulse with excitement. Long dormant powers, interred in the bones of the Ancestors, are shaken loose and rise like wispy fog from burial mounds, infusing the air with memories and reaching deep into the dreams of the Bear Clan.
Meanwhile, in a small college town at the foot of those mountains, Madison Clarke (a 30-something journalist known for her sharp wit and even sharper tongue), has been given devastating news. Her friend and mentor, Professor Desmond Dinsmore, has died and left her 1,800 acres of former Cherokee land. In doing so, he ignited old and smoldering tensions between the original inhabitants of the land and the European colonizers who removed them from it.
The moment Madison arrives at the property she’s catapulted into a series of mysterious and inexplicable events related to the long anticipated return of the Bear Clan. At the same time, she must come to terms with the fact that her mentor’s family will stop at nothing to steal her inheritance. At the heart of We Stand in the Middle (WSITM) are two pressing questions - is Spirit (what the Cherokee call Skyworld) present and accessible to Earth Dwellers (humanity), and how can balance be restored to a world where the predominant relationship with nature is one of control and exploitation for economic gain?
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Copyright 2025 by Jena Ball. All Rights Reserved.