It's been awhile. My brain pretty much went into hibernation throughout the first four and a half months of my pregnancy. Suffering from constant nausea and narcolepsy is hard on the creative process. We're almost at five months now and my energy has returned, to some extent at least, and I can sit at my desk for more than twenty minutes before the need for sleep overwhelms me. Thanks to this burst in energy I was finally able to finish Dacie Mae: Midnight Under the Magnolia (it went live today!) and get started on The Devil's Children: The von Strassenberg Saga, book 4. It's my goal to have book 4 done before my May 13 due date.
I blame this guy. Boy #4
After that, we'll see if I will get any work done during the first month. My husband will be away for that first whole month. Can't be helped. I've done it before, having been a newly single mom when my third son was born, but I've never tried to write a book and chauffeur three older boys while raising a baby on my own. And I'm ten years older than I was then. All I can promise is that I will try to keep getting the stories out. We can hope this kid won't be a colicky insomniac like my oldest son. That would be excellent. In the meantime, enjoy Dacie Mae and brush up on your von Strassenberg history because more twists and revelations are coming!
Dacie Mae didn't actually begin with the idea of a small town, aspiring journalist. It began with Michael Grimm's audition on America's Got Talent. What a character. Backwoods boy with a bit of an edge and a voice to make your toes curl. He was floating around in my brain and I knew I wanted to plug him into a story, well--a version of him. The concept of Dacie Mae came about while I was visiting my ancestral home in Missouri. There is virtually no cell reception there. You kind of have to stand on your vehicle in just the right spot and maybe you'll get a signal. There isn't a store. There used to be a general store, but don't get me started on that. It recently burned down and it still pains me to think of it. My great-great grandfather was Post Master there and generation after generation of my family shopped there and now it's gone. We were at a family reunion there in that little village when Dacie Mae began to take form. It seemed a perfect fit for this soulful voice and unkempt black hair. But Henry Wallace is NOT Michael Grimm, just a reasonable facsimile. For instance, Henry Wallace doesn't care much about his family. Michael Grimm loves his Grandma and Grandpa and is very devoted to them. Henry Wallace is a tramp. Michael Grimm sang to his girlfriend during his final performance on America's Got Talent and then proposed to her on the Ellen Show. I hear they're married now. Henry Wallace is not the marrying type. And he might be a smidge taller than Michael Grimm. As you can imagine, in a small town, a young man with a voice like this could be a dangerous thing. Just think of all the hearts he broke and the trouble he caused. I love writing him. He's so sultry and just plain old naughty and Dacie Mae hates him with a passion but sometimes finds herself forgetting that. BUY FOR KINDLE
In the meantime, enjoy Dacie Mae and brush up on your von Strassenberg history because more twists and revelations are coming!
