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Christa Polkinhorn, originally from Switzerland, lives and works as writer and translator in Santa Monica, California. She divides her time between the United States and Switzerland and has strong ties to both countries. The tension and excitement this "double life" creates informs her work. Among her many interests, aside from writing, are traveling, studying foreign languages and cultures, drawing and painting, meeting people and forming friendships. She studied comparative literature (English, German, French) and earned a B. A. in English at the University of California.

Poems:

Path of Fire, collection of poems, published by Finishing Line Press, 2002 (www.finishinglinepress.com/newwomensvoices.htm)

My poems have appeared in poetry magazines such as The Cape Rock, Red Dancefloor, Voices, Sheila Na Gig, ONTHEBUS, Rattle.

Translation of six books on topics of psychology and self-help for a publisher in Switzerland and Germany.

Love of a Stonemason (novel)

The young painter, Karla Bocelli, is no stranger to death. When she was five years old, she lost her mother and grandmother in a car crash in the south of Switzerland. Her Peruvian father lives at the other end of the world, and a year ago, her aunt and guardian passed away. Now, at age twenty-four, the talented artist has another close encounter with death. On her way to an art gallery, she almost gets hit by a speeding car. As if this wasn’t fateful enough, Andreas, the driver, turns out to be a sculptor and carver of tombstones. In spite of his profession, Andreas is anything but morbid. Quick-tempered and intense, he exudes a rough-and-tumble energy. Karla is intrigued by the fierce young man with his green cat-eyes and invites him to an exhibition of her paintings. This marks the beginning of a passionate relationship and a journey to selfhood for Karla.

A trip to Peru brings Karla closer to her father while a workshop in Florence, Italy, revives her flagging creativity. However, her growing infatuation with her painting teacher, a married man twice her age, forces her to reevaluate her feelings for Andreas and her own moral principles. After a tumultous start of their relationship, Karla comes to see in Andreas the "rock in her life," the perfect antidote to her fears of abandonent and bouts of depression. Andreas, however, wrestles with his own ghosts: an alcoholic father who abused him as a child and his own fits of anger. Together, the two artists must confront the demons that haunt them.

Love of a Stonemason is a story about the struggle of two artists with their past, their family, their creativity, and their love for each other. Told from the point of view of Karla, it depicts the world through her painter’s sensibility. It takes the reader on a journey full of sights, smells, tastes, and sounds from the south of Switzerland to Italy and the Peruvian Andes. The novel will appeal to lovers of art as well as readers of romantic fiction.

(Sample chapters are available at www.christa-polkinhorn.com)