Blog Archives
Small-Town Scandals
Shadows in the Pleasure Gardens follows an apprentice banker who witnesses a robbery and finds himself in the middle of a small-town scandal and shady racetrack dealings. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
I was inspired a few summers ago, when I was working as a law clerk on the weekdays and a horse racing official on the weekends. Law clerking was dreary, dull work, but I enjoyed the racetrack, even though all the old-timers there implied it had a shady background. I find small-town scandals interesting because it’s personal to all the characters, rather than being something you have quickly heard and forgotten.
I enjoyed your characters, especially Chester. What was your favorite character to write for and why?
I loved writing about Fisheye. It was fun for me to think of ridiculous ways a reactive horse might respond in different scenes.
What scene in the book did you have the most fun writing?
I most enjoyed writing the scene where the Sheriff and Chester go to Judge Mason’s house after arresting the robbers. Judge Mason and Sheriff Hoogkirk are distinctive characters with strong personalities, and I enjoyed imagining their argument about the law.
What is the next book you are working on, and when will it be available?
My next book is The Little Pilot, and I hope it will be available in 2027. I’m also hopeful that my novel set during the American Revolution will be available this year or next.
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Chester is an unambitious — or independent- minded — apprentice to Mr. Tate of Tate’s Banking and Loans when he witnesses a bank robbery and finds himself serving as Sheriff Hoogkirk’s justice-seeking assistant. His newfound role in law enforcement introduces him to gambling, carousing, and horse racing at the town’s pleasure gardens, and he is drawn to its excitement at the expense of his courtship and professional career. When an acquaintance from the racetrack is implicated in the robberies, Chester worries he must choose between truth and justice.
Shadows in the Pleasure Gardens weaves together timeless themes, including the personal search for purpose and fulfillment, pressure to conform to societal expectations, corruption of the powerful, and how horses help us escape it all, if only for a bit.
Shadows in the Pleasure Gardens: Regarding Robberies and Racehorses
Shadows in the Pleasure Gardens, by Elaine Mary Griffin, follows Chester Carter, a young apprentice banker whose quiet life is split open the moment two faux “Indians” rob Tate’s Bank and Loans. What begins as a simple theft spirals into a sprawling tangle of runaway horses, whispered scandals, shady racetrack dealings, and the slow unraveling of a small town’s pride. Chester records his part in the affair with a naive honesty that grows into something bigger than the robbery itself. The story shifts from a chase through fields and woods to a look at the fragile systems of trust and money that bind Fairmount together. Bit by bit, Chester becomes a witness not only to crime but to the way people hide their fears behind bluster, gossip, or a stiff cravat.
The writing has a playful rhythm, almost like the narrator is trying to impress me while telling me the truth. Sometimes the sentences wander, and I found myself smiling at how Chester must know he is rambling but keeps going anyway. I liked that. It made the town feel lived in and hot and dusty, and it made Chester feel real. The humor landed for me, too, especially in the early scenes at the bank where Mr. Tate blusters around while Chester tries not to sweat through his collar. I did feel the pacing slow in a few places, but the charm of the voice always pulled me back.
The ideas tucked inside the story surprised me most. On the surface, it is a tale about stolen notes and a clumsy hunt for culprits. Underneath, it pokes at bigger things. Pride. Fear. The way a community reacts when it feels threatened. I felt a quiet sadness in Chester as he tries to navigate expectations from Mr. Tate, from the Sheriff, from Alida, and even from the people he barely knows who talk big at the racetrack. The writing never lectures. Instead, it nudges, which made the moments of insight hit harder. I caught myself rooting for Chester as he stumbles toward adulthood without quite realizing that is what he is doing.
I recommend Shadows in the Pleasure Gardens to readers who enjoy character-driven historical fiction, coming-of-age stories wrapped in small mysteries, and tales told with voice and warmth. It is a gentle story with a sharp eye, and it will suit anyone who likes stories that take their time and offer humor, grit, and a little heart all at once.
Pages: 261 | ISBN : 978-1685136123
A Bold Bargain
A Bold Bargain follows Jack Blaine, an eighteen-year-old conservation agent in 1950s Missouri who keeps stumbling into danger, mystery, and unexpected connections. The story moves between tense encounters with poachers, the quiet bond between a boy and a half-wolf pup, and Jack’s growing involvement with vulnerable people near the Sac River. The book blends rugged outdoor life with soft moments of compassion, and it ties everything together with a thread of personal history that Jack can’t quite outrun.
Jack’s mix of grit and gentleness lands with a real thump in the chest, and the writing makes his inner world feel close enough to touch. The scenes along the river pulled me in fast. The pacing shifts from calm to sharp in a blink, and that rhythm kept me turning pages even when I told myself I should stop. The dialogue feels natural, plain spoken, and warm. I liked how it brought out the heart of the community around him. No big speeches. Just people trying to make sense of life as it comes.
I also felt a tug of emotion watching how Jack steps into other people’s pain without hesitation. His encounters with Mrs. Fletcher and the French family hit me harder than I expected. The writing paints poverty, loneliness, and aging with a simple brush, and it still lands heavy. Nothing feels overplayed. I appreciated how the book lets kindness show up quietly, almost shyly. At the same time, I wanted just a touch more complexity in a few side characters. Still, the sincerity in the storytelling made me forgive that pretty quickly. I could tell the author cares deeply about these people and this place, and that care shines through.
A Bold Bargain is a book for readers who enjoy heartfelt stories set against open sky and rough country roads. If you like character-driven tales with danger, tenderness, and a little old-fashioned grit, this one will be perfect for you. In many ways, A Bold Bargain reminded me of Where the Crawdads Sing, because both stories mix raw nature, quiet resilience, and the fierce pull of human connection into something that stays with you.
Pages: 346 | ASIN : B0FD7VSY68
The Adventure of Writing
The Beast Keepers follows a young veterinarian who takes a job in rural Ohio and discovers that his new patients include mythological creatures hiding in plain sight. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
Several years ago, while my flat-coated retriever, Mr. Bingley, and I waited at the holistic vet for a chiropractic adjustment, I studied the poster showing the acupuncture points for dogs. I wondered if animals such as turtles, frogs, snakes, porcupines, etc., had acupuncture points as well.
While the vet worked on Bingley, I asked him whether he learned acupuncture for animals besides dogs, cats, horses, etc. He replied that there were classes for “other” animals. Though I think he probably meant animals such as goats or sheep, there was something about the way he said “other” that caused me to think:
“You meant Gryphons? Centaurs? Fauns?” Showing a modicum of restraint, I did not ask that aloud. I did, however, spend the remainder of the day contemplating how you would treat medical issues in mythological animals. If a Gryphon had a lung infection, would you be treating bird lungs or mammalian lungs? Can centaurs get gout, and if so, how would it manifest? Can unicorns get laminitis?
Thus was born the idea of The Beast Keepers, an adult literary novel with a twist.
I enjoyed the depth of the main character, Jonathan, who is flawed and relatable, making him likable. What was your process to bring that character to life?
The first thing that helped me to get an idea of who Jonathan would be was getting his name right. I tried a lot of different names, especially for his first name, but Jonathan seemed to have the right sound, feel and be appropriate for his age. His last name is particularly dear to me. St. Roch is the patron saint of dogs (St. Francis of Assisi is the patron saint of animals, hence Jonathan’s middle name), and a favorite of mine since visiting a church in France where his story was carved into the staircase for the lectern. Being a dog trainer for almost 20 years, it seemed a fitting way to honor the many wonderful dogs and clients I had over the years.
Next, I fleshed out his character. The book Story Genius, by Lisa Cron, was really helpful in that process. I created a backstory and wrote about critical events and people in his life up to where the book started. Knowing him as a full person (with doubts, strengths, fears, longings, etc) helped me to shape his reactions, dialogue, and ultimately how he would respond to the challenges of the people, and events that he encountered.
I had a lot more of his background story in the first draft of the book, but my developmental editor helped me to trim it back so that it was suggested and you could see how it had shaped him, but it didn’t overshadow or interfere with the story being told.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
One important theme is: What is the quality of mercy that we owe our enemies? And, how do we implement that mercy? Other themes include: How do we find balance in our lives? The importance of integrity in our actions and in our relationships, and how does one manage mistakes or difficult situations?
Will this novel be the start of a series, or are you working on a different story?
I have been asked to do a sequel (or a prequel explaining how the mythological animals got there), but I don’t have plans for either at the moment. Right now, I am working on a novel I’ve tentatively titled The Boy Who Danced For The Moon. I was about 2/3 of the way through it when I decided it needed to be revamped, so I am in the process of starting over. I have some parts I can save, but the adventure of writing a book is partly the process of finding your way to the story. Once I have the story, the writing tends to flow.
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Difference in Perspective
Conversations with My Mother tells the tender and heartbreaking story of a son watching his mother fade into dementia. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
I started writing the book after a weeklong stay with my mother, during which she’d been diagnosed with vascular dementia. Afraid that the mother I’d known was fast disappearing, I began visiting and calling her as often as possible. Consequently, from her initial diagnosis through her passing several years later, I periodically witnessed both firsthand and at a remove her growing disorientation and anxiety as well as her increasing bursts of candor and flights of fancy. It was this on-again, off-again exposure to the effects of her condition that led to the episodic construction of the book, whose chapters recount particular days or moments in the course of the heroine’s long and debilitating illness.
Are there any emotions or memories from your own life that you put into your character’s life?
Since Conversations With My Mother is a kind of fictionalized memoir, many of the narrator Rob’s emotions and perceptions reflect my own. From 70 to 80 percent of the book’s events are based on memories, though some were melded or otherwise modified to support its narrative and thematic development.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
The book’s central theme is that loss is not always as complete as it might seem. Though a dementia victim’s personality may fade or shatter, fragments of it often remain, and we should do our best to recognize, respect, and cherish them, however few.
Another important theme is the disparity between a geographically distant offspring’s experience of a parent’s dementia and that of an offspring who is a caregiver and, as such, in constant contact with the parent. For example, the book’s narrator, Rob, lives several states away from his mother, so he experiences her decline only in periodic phone calls and visits, whereas his sister, Diane, her primary caregiver, experiences its consequences daily. This leads to a difference in perspective between the two, with Rob being more focused on the emotional and Diane on the practical. Rob, from his insulated remove, occasionally glosses over or sentimentalizes issues, which is easy to do from a distance, while Diane, being in the thick of caregiving, sometimes feels overwhelmed and becomes impatient, which is understandable, given the demanding, continuous nature of caregiving. Neither perspective is more valid than the other. Each is simply the result of the character’s particular circumstances.
What is the next book that you are working on, and when is that book due out?
My next book is a family saga describing the experiences of a French-Canadian immigrant woman from the dawn of the 20th century through the 1980s, contrasting her early life’s poverty and hardships with the different challenges faced by her more affluent children and grandchildren. Like Conversations with My Mother, it’s based on my family’s history, drawing on the experiences of both my maternal and paternal grandmothers. I expect it to be ready for publication sometime in 2027.
Author Links: GoodReads | Amazon
Distinguished Favorite, New Fiction, 2025 Independent Press Award
Honorable Mention, 2021 Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition
Conversations With My Mother, a Novel of Dementia on the Maine Coast
Conversations with My Mother tells the tender and heartbreaking story of a son watching his mother fade into dementia. Set on the coast of Maine, the book unfolds through small, vivid vignettes that capture the everyday beauty and sorrow of a family coping with loss long before death arrives. Through these fragments, each like a brief conversation or memory, the narrator shows his mother’s slow descent into confusion and fragility, while also revealing flashes of her wit, compassion, and stubborn humor. It’s as much about remembering as it is about forgetting, about holding on when life insists on letting go. The setting, with its shifting skies and sea winds, mirrors the mother’s mind, sometimes calm and lucid, sometimes clouded and unpredictable.
Reading this book felt like sitting in a quiet room, listening to two people who love each other deeply but know time is running out. The writing is simple yet piercing, with a kind of understated poetry that sneaks up on you. I found myself laughing at the mother’s dry remarks one moment and then, without warning, feeling my throat tighten the next. Gilbert doesn’t dramatize dementia; instead, he honors it with honesty. The story never begs for pity. It just shows life as it is, messy, unfair, beautiful. I admired how the author used humor to cut through the sadness. It’s the kind of humor that comes from people who’ve lived long enough to know that grief and laughter are two sides of the same coin.
What struck me most was the way Gilbert made the ordinary feel sacred. A drive to a hair salon, a walk to the beach, a chat about blueberries, these moments hold whole worlds of memory and meaning. The mother’s voice lingers long after you finish, a mix of sharp wit, old-world grace, and quiet resignation. There were times I wanted to reach into the page and hold her hand. The author’s restraint, his refusal to sugarcoat or sensationalize, gives the book its power. It’s a love letter wrapped in loss.
I’d recommend Conversations with My Mother to anyone who has cared for an aging parent or watched a loved one slip away piece by piece. It’s not a light read, but it’s a comforting one, full of truth and tenderness. This book is for readers who value quiet stories that move slowly and hit hard. It left me sad but grateful, reflective but strangely uplifted. Gilbert reminds us that even as memory fades, love stays, steady, stubborn, and shining through the fog.
Pages: 315 | ASIN : B0DHW9B73V
The Value of Mercy
Mercy Town follows a reporter returning to her rural hometown, who digs into the town’s latest development project, where she is forced to unearth and deal with the long-buried trauma of her younger brother’s accidental death. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
My inspiration came from a short story I published many years ago, “When the Sun Kissed the River.” The story ended with the accidental shooting of Bean, Margaret’s younger brother. It focused on the beauty of the natural world and how the arrival of spring stirred joy and excitement in a young boy’s heart. At his sister’s urging, he walked to the little bridge at just the right moment to see the water below sparkle like diamonds. What was a magical moment was also a sudden tragedy. The short story’s ending was not the true ending. I wanted to know what happened to the family and to the town after such a tragic accident and what impact it had on everyone.
I enjoyed the depth of the main character, Margaret. What was your process to bring that character to life?
Bringing Margaret to life was all about exploring the relationships she had with her family, the people of Waunasha, and most powerfully, with Mr. Kipp, the man who accidentally shot her younger brother. Her life emerged through raw, honest dialogue and the emotional weight carried in those exchanges. I focused not only on what she said and did, but also on what she thought—the inner dialogue that revealed her doubts, grief, and resilience. The interactions and private thoughts make a character real.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
The value of mercy and the power of unconditional forgiveness were the top two themes that were important to show in this story.
Where do you see your characters after the book ends?
After the book ends, the characters are still healing. Even though it has been ten years since the accidental shooting, the intense emotions of the Payne family and the residents of Waunasha will gradually find a place to settle, finding forgiveness along the way, but never forgetting. Margaret will continue writing feature stories for the newspaper, but with more of an emphasis on how a single, life-altering event can ripple through an entire community. Her parents will feel a new sense of freedom as they learn to accept mercy and forgiveness. The people of Waunasha move on, remembering Mr. Kipp with a more compassionate understanding.
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After years away, Margaret Payne returns to her rural northern Wisconsin hometown on a work assignment, only to find it still haunted by the tragic accidental shooting of her younger brother, Bean. Amidst the lingering pain, Margaret uncovers plans for a development on Dell Landing, a hill home to generations of Indigenous people—including Mr. Kipp, the reclusive man responsible for Bean’s death.
With her mother trapped in denial, her father consumed by anger, and a town bitterly divided, Margaret must confront both the past and the present, rising tensions. Facing Mr. Kipp will test everything she believes, but before it’s over, Margaret will discover the freeing power of unconditional forgiveness—even for her brother’s killer.
A poignant, redemptive tale, Mercy Town reminds us how forgiveness, even in the deepest sorrow, heals wounds, binds us as human beings, and remains truly unconditional.
Night Hawks
Michael Loyd Gray’s Night Hawks is a gritty, heartfelt novella that weaves together the lives of small-town drifters, dreamers, and the disillusioned. Told through interlinked short stories, the book captures the quiet struggles of characters who are yearning for something more—a fresh start, an escape, or just a little understanding. From the weary cook Hank Spencer to the hopeful but battered Lois, and the haunted veteran Tyler, each chapter peels back another layer of the town’s people, their regrets, and the fragile hope that still lingers in them.
What struck me most about Gray’s writing is its stark simplicity. He doesn’t waste words. Every line feels intentional, every conversation rings with unspoken truths. Take the scene in The Last Train to Chicago, where Lois and Hundley sit in a small-town diner, the weight of their decisions hanging between them like cigarette smoke. You can almost hear the loneliness in the clink of coffee cups and the hum of a jukebox playing old country songs. The writing doesn’t spell things out, it lets the silence do the talking. And that’s the kind of storytelling that hits me hard.
The book’s emotional depth really comes through in Objects in Mirror, where Tyler, a soldier trying to leave Afghanistan behind, takes a construction job demolishing an abandoned building only to realize he’s also tearing down pieces of his own past. Gray does an incredible job of showing the slow, painful process of healing without dramatizing it. The imagery here is unforgettable: the dust rising from broken bricks, the sweat, the ache in Tyler’s arms are all mirroring his internal battle.
Lois’s story arc was the most gripping for me. She leaves town with high hopes, chasing a better life in Chicago, only to be let down in the worst way. Her return in Wrong Turn is almost too painful to watch. When she knocks on Hank’s door, ashamed and exhausted, you feel the weight of every bad decision she’s ever made. But it’s Hank’s quiet understanding that makes this scene so powerful. He doesn’t lecture her. He doesn’t judge. He just lets her in. And sometimes, that’s all someone needs. While the book’s strength lies in its subdued, character-driven storytelling, there are instances, like in The Off Ramp to Nowhere, where I think the internal monologues could be tightened to maintain narrative momentum.
Gray doesn’t offer easy answers, and that’s what makes Night Hawks so compelling. It’s a book about real people making real mistakes, but it also offers moments of grace and redemption. The prose is unpretentious but deeply evocative, making it a perfect read for those who appreciate character-driven stories with a raw, honest edge. If you liked Kent Haruf’s Plainsong or Raymond Carver’s short stories, this one will stick with you.
Pages: 111 | ASIN : B0DKVGTZ21
LITERARY TITAN 