Blog Archives
How We Fill Those Vast Empty Spaces
Late in the Day follows three people who find solace and companionship in one another’s company and together forge a path ahead. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
The inspiration was a slow-growth idea that incubated during my longstanding habit of dining out alone in hushed, dimly lit restaurants. I enjoy observing couples at other tables, especially couples who have clearly been together for a long time. I can feel their history at work in their gestures and in the snippets of conversation that I overhear, and it gives me enormous pleasure. At the same time, I wonder how deep the grief and sense of upheaval would be when such couples are separated—by betrayal, by death, or by a slow, gray dissolve. How does one learn to be alone? Is it possible to create another rich history with someone new? Is there enough time and energy? These considerations pressed on me as I grew older, and I wanted to write a story about how such circumstances could play out, how solitude and loneliness take on a different hue as we grow older. And then there is the flip side of loneliness: attachment. How we lose or give up (voluntarily or involuntarily) the people and the objects that gave us a sense of home for so many years, and how we fill those vast and empty spaces.
Your characters are compelling and well developed. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?
First of all, let me say how pleased I am that you found my characters to be compelling and well developed, especially since they couldn’t be more different from one another. My driving ideal was a difficult one: to let my characters have some say over who they are. We fiction writers like to think that we have total control over our novels, and in trying to exert that control we often do our characters a great disservice. We can easily flatten them—even suffocate them—with our own desires and needs, rather than letting them show us how they need to evolve. Like any relationship, the relationship between an author and a character is a give-and-take enterprise. As a writer, I need to give space for each character to chart a course. When my characters surprise me with an action or reaction that I hadn’t planned for in the novel, I know I’m on the right path. Another driving ideal for me is to focus on the small things: Will this character say “Yes” or “Yeah”? Will she brush a wisp of hair away from her face or let it hang there? Will he stroke his beard or let his hand rest quietly on the table? Will they walk hand in hand or simply let their arms brush up against each other from time to time? For me, the accrual of such details creates the real and lived-in character.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
I was most interested in exploring the possibility of connection, companionship and renewal at a stage in life when we realize that we don’t have all the time in the world to make our life work out the way we assumed it would. As I was putting the final touches on the book, I happened to read an article by Jennifer Senior in The Atlantic. One paragraph struck me in particular. She wrote, “Of course, all deep friendships generate something outside of themselves, some special and totally other third thing. Whether that thing can be sustained over time becomes the question. The more hours you’ve put into this chaotic business of living, the more you crave a quieter, more nurturing third thing, I think. This needn’t mean dull…There’s loads of open country between enervation and intoxicating. It’s just a matter of identifying where to pitch the tent. Finding that just-right patch of ground, you might even say, is half the trick to growing old.” After I read that paragraph, I felt as if she had been looking over my shoulder the entire time that I’d been working on the novel to see if my three characters—strangers to each other and with little in common except their advanced years and their measured solitude—could find that place to pitch their tent, quietly and together.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
I am finishing up a solid first draft of another novel. This one is shorter—about 200 pages—and is quite different from my other two novels. The main differences are that it is written in the first person, and the time span of the novel covers about 60 years. My other novels were much longer, were written in the third person, and covered very short time periods. I’m not ready to disclose what the novel is about, but I will say that I believe it’s my best work to date. And my cohort of trustworthy beta readers feel the same way. I’m very excited about it and hope to have it finished and ready for publication in about a year. But who knows? Maybe one of the characters will surprise me with an unexpected path and it will take longer!
Author Links: Amazon | GoodReads
In their advanced years, Honey, Hank and Seth didn’t expect to find themselves unattached through divorce, separation and death. They have little else in common except their morning ritual of taking a solitary walk along the same stretch of Florida coastline to behold the sun breaking through the horizon line with equilibrium and serenity, day after day. Each morning draws them closer until they relinquish their solitude and seek one another out. At first, silence is broken by polite conversation, stillness by small gestures. The bond between them slowly sets roots that are deep enough to guide them toward a bold decision that both embraces and defies their solitary condition and their advanced years.
Late in the Day is a lucid and sober meditation on the possibility of connection, companionship and renewal in three lives that have narrowed with time. With a keen eye for detail, Shapiro chips away at the crust of aging. Something more complex and delicate emerges with a realism that is simultaneously stark, poetic and deeply felt as Honey, Hank and Seth chart a future that is neither straightforward in their hope nor liberated from their pain.
Secrets and Sunflowers
Secrets and Sunflowers (Pepperville Stories series) by Joann Keder is a fiction story about three friends set in the small town of Sandy Salts. Keilah Charmant is a local coffee shop owner who has to move her business to make way for the new construction project to widen the highway through town. Vanessa Withers is a reporter who writes obituaries in the local newspaper, and Deeloriandra Fisher acts as an honorary grandmother to Keilah’s two children. But all three women are keeping secrets from each other. The town is divided between people who want to keep the two-lane highway and others who support the expansion to a four-lane highway. When a dead body is found in a nearby lake, is it connected to the town dispute? Or is it more personal?
This was a fun story to read, filled. However, stereotypical small-town gossip and speculation. There were several elements of mystery in this book, which I liked. This bit of intrigue kept my interest as I tried to guess what would happen next and solve the mysteries along with the characters.
I liked that the author included a list of characters at the beginning of each chapter, which helped to avoid confusion as there were many different people introduced in a short span, especially for readers unfamiliar with the characters from reading the previous books in the series. Although this is not the first book in the Pepperville series, it can be read as a standalone story. The author gives enough details to recap what occurred in the other stories so that readers do not feel lost. The references that were made to mysteries solved in previous books and other intriguing details raised my interest in going back to read the other books in the series to find out the full story of what happened.
I felt some of the characters’ motivation was lacking, especially in regard to some ethical issues concerning the actions of the main characters. For example, I did not feel that the author gave a compelling reason why Vanessa did not want to contact the police when she discovered the dead body. The author, however, did include a lot of small details, such as the inclusion of the obituaries of various townspeople and the weather reports. These help the reader feel more part of the community.
Secrets and Sunflowers is an entertaining family saga novel filled with drama and some mystery. Readers of the Pepperville Stories series will enjoy the latest addition to the collection, and new readers to the series will find new friends they want to read more about.
Pages: 436 | ASIN : B0BB5N3RKS
Macon Me Crazy
Macon Me Crazy by L. Maddox is the story of Lena, who struggles daily living with a supportive and dysfunctional family. As she struggles to survive in a life riddled with ongoing challenges and the impact of generational trauma, Lena unexpectedly comes across an old diary, which piques her curiosity. As she begins to read this book, she discovers it contains far more than everyday thoughts and ideas. Instead, it details the daily life of her family decades ago, their hardship, hidden secrets, and survival.
Lena’s discovery of the diary gives her a new perspective on her ancestry and the obstacles they had to endure before she was born. It’s an educational, realistic, and intelligent story that blends elements of tragedy and turmoil with a sense of hope and moments of humor. I enjoyed the author’s down-to-earth writing style, which is direct and personal, drawing the reader in further from one chapter to the next.
Maddox’s story is heartfelt and moves at a comfortable pace, which enough description of the characters, places, and events to create vivid visuals while diving into the family’s history of trauma and triumphs going back several generations. It’s an eye-opening story that gives Lena an in-depth understanding of what her family went through and how the stories in the diary become more related to the present than she could have imagined.
When I began reading this book, I quickly became engrossed in the story, which traces Lena’s family history from the 1940s to the 1970s, and how various places and events play a role in how her life unfolds today. I highly recommend Macon Me Crazy for its excellent narration and the personal and heartfelt experiences captured in the book.
Pages: 192 | ASIN: B07YQZS9WW
The Music We Make
The Music We Make tells the story of Santiago DeAngelo, who discovers he is the sole survivor of a car crash where his mother died at the scene of the accident. When Santiago wakes in a hospital to this devasting news, he soon learns that his emotionally distant father blames him for the incident. Santiago struggles with grief and shame, which complicates his relationship with family and friends.
The author does a great job of portraying the complexities of grief and how loss can profoundly impact the people involved and those closest to them. As Santiago tries to cope with his grief, he instead unravels and goes down a path of self-destruction, looking for an escape. Only when the unexpected inspiration comes to him does he realize his new journey is to pursue a life creating music. As Santiago embraces his new life, he must first face his past, battling his fears and inner demons, before he can find success. This emotionally-resonant story is well written and touches on many aspects of how loss can impact a person’s life and decisions. Santiago feels inspired when he believes his mother sends him to write a song in her honor.
Author Michelle Rene DeBellis delivers a heartfelt story that is conversational and straightforward and dives into Santiago’s psyche so that the reader has a clear idea of his emotions and reasoning from one scene to the next. It’s a tale that carefully captures the dynamics of grief and how inspiration can prevail over the darkest moments in one’s life. I enjoyed this compelling story, but I would have it enjoyed it more if the author described Santiago’s challenges in greater detail. The overall story was narrated well and touched on many aspects of the character’s experience, including how he was able to make a significant turnaround in his life. I recommend The Music We Make as I feel this book is a great read and an excellent inspiration for anyone struggling with grief and loss.
Pages: 393 | ASIN: B0B6XJJXP1
It Felt Like A Forbidden Topic
Sarah Burning is an emotional memoir telling of the tragedy that your family endured when your home caught fire and the path to recovering physically and mentally from that night. Why was this an important book for you to write?
I heard bits and pieces of this story starting at an early age, but a lot of it didn’t make sense to me. Of course I knew Neil and Sarah (she was Granny to me, died just before I turned seven). But I didn’t know these other people who were involved. I wanted to ask more, but unfortunately it felt like a forbidden topic. As noted in the Introduction of the book, when I was in college I told my mother that I wanted to talk with Uncle Neil (one of the survivors of that night) and ask him about what happened. She said, “Don’t you dare. Don’t EVER ask that man about that night.” That set off a spark, so to speak, and I knew that one day I would dig into The Fire to find out what really happened, and then write about it as a permanent family record. When I began to research in earnest nearly seven years ago, the details that surfaced convinced me that I had to write the book and tell the tale of what happened to those people that night, and how the three survivors heroically struggled to return to something resembling “normal life”.
I appreciated the candid nature with which you told your story. What was the hardest thing for you to write about?
By far the night of the fire itself was the hardest to write about. I knew I had to make it real and horrifying for the reader, so I got completely caught up in the sights, sounds, smells, and heat of that night. In my mind, I put my mind in a place where I burned with the people as they fought to escape the maelstrom. After writing Chapter Three, the fire itself, I was shaking and crying, and had to walk away from it for several weeks.
What is a common misconception you feel people have about disaster survival?
I think the biggest misconception is that when there is no visible physical trauma, the person is ok. That’s so wrong. Surviving a disaster leaves people scarred deep inside. It’s nothing short of PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). So I felt it was important to depict Neil’s struggle with his nightmares, depression, and guilt. He bore few physical scars but his inner scars lasted his entire life.
What do you hope is one thing readers take away from your story?
I hope it gives them a feeling of strength and courage in the face of a calamity. I hope they feel that, God forbid, if something awful happens to them, they can draw from the strength of Sarah, Virginia and Neil to keep going, keep striving to regain their life, to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
Author Links: GoodReads | Facebook | Website | Instagram
On a cold night, in the short span of less than 5 minutes, the Ritter family crossed a threshold from which there was no return. Peaceful slumber in the early morning hours of October 27th, 1959, quickly became madness and horror.
Cruel blue, orange and yellow flames leapt high into the air casting an eerie glow on three blackened and blistered survivors huddled on the ground under a towering oak. Barely visible, save for the ever-present mist emanating from their nostrils as they panted and shivered, they suffered together in a singular wailing cry.
Nearby, barely conscious, broken and bleeding in the bottom of the overgrown and thorny ravine, lay another blackened and burned survivor. Worst of all, among the horrifying remains of the once-proud simple farmhouse, somewhere beneath the blaze and collapsed beams, lay two burning bodies, their screams at last silenced.
How do you continue with life when you’ve lost everything? How do you face each day when you know it means more pain from the burns? How do you get past the guilt, knowing you lived, and others died? How do you silence the echo in your head; the sound of him screaming your name as he burned alive?
After more than 60 years, the story of the survivors is ready to be told…
You’re invited to learn the history of this real-life tragedy, within the pages of Sarah Burning.
Destiny of Determination
Cathy Burnham Martin narrates the true story of her family in this historical fiction. Destiny of Determination: Faith and Family features generations of Gulumians and their perseverance, strength, and hope as immigrants to the United States. In 1916, after witnessing the brutal persecution of the Armenian Christians by the Ottomans and losing their loved ones, the Gulumians set sail to America. Although not without a few obstacles on the way, they settle and build a life for themselves. The story particularly focuses on the youngest Gulumian, Hrant Gulumian, and his evolution from a young boy who spoke no English to an outstanding young man teaching in an American college.
I have to say, I admire how Cathy Burnham Martin eternalizes her family in print. The story conveys the reality of immigrants and their journey to freedom. It also touches on the vital subject of the struggles of immigrant families to retain their culture in a foreign land and create a close-knitted community. The Gulumians story is sad yet inspiring, and adding descriptive photos of the original families further solidifies the story. Although Destiny of Determination: Faith and Family is book 2 of the series regarding the Gulumians, as the author mentions, it is not necessary to read the first book.
The author’s storytelling technique is unique. However, occasionally the dialogue between the characters sounds unnatural. The author also tells the story of different generations in a concise read, narrated hurriedly like an overview of history. It is a great book to flip through for anyone fascinated by history. It’s very educational, giving insight into the Armenian genocide with facts. On the side, the book also features an interracial romance that is sure to warm the heart of readers.
Destiny of Determination: Faith and Family (The Destiny series Book 2) is a historical fiction novel based on the author’s family. Filled with emotion, inspiration, and even some romance, this is a story that will educate the reader as much as it will entertain.
Pages: 285 | ASIN : B0B6CX1QF8
COMFREY, WYOMING
Maiden Voyage is the final part in the Comfrey, Wyoming saga. It gives readers a look into the lives of twins Amadeus and Marcela who are on the cusp of adulthood, much to the chagrin of their guardian Heidi Crow. Set amongst the backdrop of beautiful and rural Wyoming, we see the twins grow and try to find their place in the world. They are accompanied on this journey by old friends, and new ones they make along the way. With their help, Amadeus and Marcela might just be able to face their past and reach a bright future.
Author Daphne Birkmyer does an amazing job setting the scene with her uniquely observant writing and colorful descriptions. It all comes together beautifully to make the reader feel like they are in Wyoming. Against this exquisite backdrop the author has created a story that captures the difficulty that every family (no matter how typical or different they might be) face in life. Life isn’t a bed of roses for twins Amadeus, Marcela, and Heidi. They have a lot of struggles to overcome, which Birkmyer doesn’t shy away from. I really enjoyed the authenticity in their characters and how grounded their approach is to their problems. This is a story that is infused with emotions and uses its particular voice to tell a compelling story.
The LGBTQIA+ themes and the message of connecting with one’s culture is strong in this final part of the trilogy. Birkmyer thoughtfully tackles the contemporary issues that transgender teens face and perfectly captures how scary it can be for a trans person to enter a romantic relationship.
Maiden Voyage’s is an epic family saga with a large cast of characters. The story is constantly switching points of view. It can become overwhelming and confusing at times if you’re a quick reader, but this serves to give you a holistic view of the story. Comfrey, Wyoming Book Three: Maiden Voyage by Daphne Birkmyer is a fascinating story with compelling characters that explores trans youth, family relationships, and the variety of issues we face growing up.
Pages: 368 | ASIN: B0BC2L5JTT
LITERARY TITAN 