A Christmas love story
Quaid had everything money could buy, except two things he loved most: his love of painting great masterpieces and the only woman he had ever loved.

A journal of a famous artist not of his life, but of only two weeks.

The story begins when Essential Tremors takes over a famous artist’s body; a simple act of holding a paintbrush turns Quaid Witherspoon’s life upside down, becoming a bitter man. Quaid had everything money could buy, except the two things he loved most: painting great masterpieces and the only woman he had ever loved.

The calming waters off the coast of South Carolina call Quaid back to Hathaway Cove, to a small, faded cottage, one with a leaning front porch, worn paint so similar to him, flawed. The same beach where he began painting as a young boy, the place he met his one true love, and the place he let her go.

This is his journal of only two weeks, a story of endless love, his tale of living with ET, and the strength and power of love

Sandy, Quaid’s love from his past, learns he is wondering about her, just as she is wondering about him. Their love is alive, meeting for the first time in thirty years, letting the years fade away, but fate has another twist. Sandy keeps a secret, letting them have their two weeks.

"Inspired by real stories"
A Christmas love story. A love story that lasted a lifetime. A Story blending fact and fiction.

A Faded Cottage

‘A Faded Cottage’ fuses fact with fiction to depict a compelling love story, based around an artist suffering from Essential Tremor.
‘A Faded Cottage’ is a South Carolina love story about an artist with Essential Tremor.

When a love letter written by a teenage boy becomes lost after a summer filled with passion, it brings about an incredible love story of two people being reunited after thirty years.
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When Essential Tremors take over a famous artist’s body, a simple feat of holding a paintbrush turns Quaid Witherspoon’s life upside down, becoming a bitter man. This is his journal of how he battles fate, not of his entire life, but of two weeks. Quaid had everything money could buy, except the two things he loved the most, his love of painting great masterpieces, and the only woman he had ever loved. The calming waters off the coast of South Carolina calls Quaid back to Hathaway Cove, to a small, faded cottage, one with a leaning front porch, worn paint so similar to him, flawed. The same beach where he began painting as a young boy, the place he met his one true love, and the place he let her go.

Sandy, Quaid’s love from his past, learns he is wondering about her, just as she is wondering about him. Their love is alive, meeting for the first time in thirty years, letting the years fade away, but fate has another twist. Sandy keeps a secret, letting them have their two weeks.

The love story imparts a powerful message. While the protagonist in ‘A Faded Cottage’ may appear to have a unique story, his battle with Essential Tremor (causing rhythmic trembling of the hands, head, voice, legs, or trunk) is shared with over 160 million people worldwide. The book is a stark reminder of the prevalence of this disease.

A Faded Cottage music composed by Paula Cooper Matthews

A Faded Cottage music composed by John Vaughn

Reflections from A Faded Cottage

I love this author! This book is so good that I have read it three times after receiving it. It bring you into the story and you become part of. Easy read great love story and done with class! Most of the romance books now have way to much information if you know what I mean. Can't wait for the next book!! Great work there Diann Shaddox please keep them coming!!

This was a very well written story and made me remember my first love and the feelings that I had at that time.I recommend this for anyone that has loved and lost touch with their first love and wonders "what if". I couldn't put it down and read it in two days. I loved it !

Paula

Heard about this novel at my Essential Tremor support group. It was an enjoyable read with a positive message. Have recommended it to several people with ET but it would also be enjoyable and informative for those who don't have Essential Tremors.

Elizabeth

Inspiration for A FADED COTTAGE

A Faded Cottage tells a love story you only find once in your life, blending fact and nonfiction about an artist's life.
Why I wrote A Faded Cottage
It was the night of December 18, 2010, my birthday, a calm, uneventful night. I couldn’t sleep, which isn’t unusual for me, so I went downstairs to my cubby office. Since I was wide awake, I decided to work on one of my novels.
I sat down at the computer and began to type, but my fingers and hands had other ideas as they shook uncontrollably. If you’ve tried texting while riding in a bumpy car or train, you might understand how hard it is to type when you can't hit the right keys with trembling fingers. You see, I have had Essential Tremor since my early twenties, and I’ve learned to deal with my tremors, but tonight it became overpowering.
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I leaned back in my chair and stared at the computer screen; my anger grew as I watched my hands quiver over the keyboard, and for the first time in my life, I felt sorry for myself. The question of why me, a question without an answer, played repeatedly in my mind.
I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and let my trembling hands type, and the words “Happy birthday, dumb-ass” were written across the screen. I laughed and let the words flow, and Quaid Witherspoon, a famous artist, was born. A man who had everything, or so he thought, but now his hands had abandoned him, and his life of painting had ended, leaving him bitter. I didn’t plan to write Quaid's story that night, but his character emerged from my mind, and as the story grew, my hands calmed as I released the evening's stress, telling Quaid’s story, a journal of only two weeks of his life.

Quaid Witherspoon's story, the novel 'A Faded Cottage', became an incredible love story, one about the strength of mind to fight fate and never accept what life throws at you. ‘A Faded Cottage’ is a journal of a famous artist, not his life, but only two weeks: a love story about aging and two people reuniting after thirty years, finding that love can conquer all.
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Through bringing "A Faded Cottage" to life, I have learned so much.
Now, A Faded Cottage has become a vehicle to explain Essential Tremor and how so many- over 160 million people (all ages)- worldwide live each day with tremoring hands, head, voice, and entire body.