Mario Cacho

Burnt Sage Mario Cacho

Burnt Sage is a rhapsody of money and passion-filled romance, of betrayal and double-dealing, of adventure and intrigue and restless disembodied souls lurking in a murky limbo between life and death. Enter Dawn Sage-one of the principal characters-a been-there-done-that survivor of domestic violence whose life, cluttered with the drama of a temper-tossed relationship colored by frustration and heartache, flees Chicago, having withstood her ex-boyfriend's buzz-saw of angst and many of his bridge-burning eruptions. Ambitious and good-hearted but with a backstory of homelessness and dashed hopes, she arrives in Los Angeles, with the drumbeat of expectation that her life will change for the better. A life that twists and turns through triumphs and setbacks; a fling that she hopes is rooted in love and passion and not some thrill-seeking, stress-busting roller-coaster that fizzles after a few months; and mind-boggling, hair-raising encounters with ghosts, haunted houses and spirits of the known dead coming back to make contact with the living. Newly single and still feeling gun-shy about dating, after a break up with her live-in love, Dawn Sage falls head over heels for a sweet-talking sophisticated bad boy who knows he has it going on, putting his courtship of her on fast-forward without getting to know his real intentions for the relationship. But, is he the ultimate player-a Mack-Daddy extraordinaire, a raspy-smooth operator who knows the right tune to strum on her heartstrings? Throughout the story, these questions run around in her head like a sprinter doing practice laps on a track. She is a woman that has been wounded by love before and choked by the debris of physical and emotional abuse. Like they say, "A Burnt Child Dreads Fire." Is her "Mr. Look So Good", the fire she is playing around with, again? Is he someone incapable of a committed relationship or is she rationalizing her behavior, her chaos of emotions, based on her own fears and insecurities? In time sh