Maine Author, Naya Clifford, Parallels Current International Religious Extremist Strife In Newly Published Allegorical Fiction Novel, Into the North Woods

Medina, NY:  In a debut novel, Into The North Woods, Naya Clifford journeys with her readers on a suspenseful adventure across the crest of the Appalachian Trail.  The trail leads into the lives of a Maine family enveloped in an environmental controversy. Against the back-drop of the majestic White Mountains, a college student and his girlfriend meet Striker, an iconic environmental activist. Together they descend into radical fanaticism; a fanaticism fed by pseudo-scientific internet sites that propel them to the edges of violent extremism.

In a taunting, yet familiar way, this story echoes the explosive growth of religious radical

extremism we are  witnessing across the  world today. Into The North Woods recounts a stinging and accurate  projection of current  world. If you were to sit across from Naya Clifford, you would hear in her words that the essence of Into the North Woods arises from a place of deep knowing within her. She is a master of the human  psyche, a  compassionate and brave woman who  knows what it takes to walk her talk, and consider the challenges and struggles of all living beings.  She has made it her life to understand people and their enviornments and has translated this into the allegory of Into the North Woods.

The author notes, “I am interested and committed to understanding the  place of humanity in our overall environment, our relationships to each other and what it means to be human, and the environment as a whole dynamic relational system.” She hopes that Into The North Woods will stir you to action into standing with your community, against extremism to help create balance in the environment and respect each strand in the web of life.

Naya Clifford’s compelling narrative in Into The North Woods explores how a young college student and his friends walked a dangerous path from a simple belief and into terrorism. The current tide of extreme religious and political movements occurring world-wide should be of interest and concern to all of us. Into the North Woods identifies how extremisms often grows unfettered in isolation. Naya Clifford explores the pernicious fealty of radical fanaticism and persuades us to remember that all life matters. The Atwood family will ignite your compassion as they take a stand for their heritage and discover the strength of community in action while standing firm against extremist beliefs.

Into The North Woods was conceived by the author as an allegory to explore how compassionate and well-meaning people are swept up into violent movements. Naya Clifford shows us how the isolation within oneself or in self-selected groups, can rapidly devolve and become twisted and destructive through like-minded extremist internet sites. Into the North Woods explores conversations about environmental action, racism and religious radicalism in the center of small town America.

There is no more perfect backdrop to this story than Naya’s own back yard - a place where she and her family have lived for nearly 20 years. She is a previously published author of short stories and poems with a clean command of both intellect and emotion.  Not only is Naya Clifford a trained clinical social worker but she is a mother to a melded family, a wife and a leader in her community in Maine.  She wrote Into The North Woods while working towards the completion of an interdisciplinary doctorate in Disability Studies and Social Work through the University of Maine.

Naya Clifford will read from her debut novel Into the Woods, and sign books at the Book Shoppe located at 519 Main Street, Medina, NY on Friday November 27th from 2pm-4pm. She will read and sign copies of Into the North Woods at Cafe Dicocoa in Bethel, Maine on Sunday December 20th from 10am-1pm. Naya Clifford will be traveling nationally to share her book with independent bookstore patrons throughout the next year.

Into the North Woods by Naya Clifford is available for purchase directly from Maine Authors Publishing:  http://www.maineauthorspublishing.com/productpages/Clifford_Intothewoods.html and in e-book form from both Smashwords and Amazon.