Leaving Lukens Finished

Well, at least the very rough draft of the manuscript is. It took me six months to write -- far better than the six years it took to research and write The Pirate's Bastard. (What a relief!)

The story took a few unexpected turns, and I am quite pleased with the work. The story is a bit of a roller coaster ride of an adventure tale. There's a bit of a love story woven in, too, for readers who like to see how relationships develop -- or don't.  There's an element of mystery, but not in the traditional sense. I wasn't meaning for it to be a mystery. Honestly, I don't know what I intended with this one, other than to tell a good story. That's what I think it is -- a good story set in 1942 coastal North Carolina.

New Bern and Oriental figure prominently, and I hope I've caught the essence of what these wonderful towns were like in 1942. Because New Bern is such an incredibly rich town in terms of history, information is abundant about what it might have been like back then. Oriental has always had a uniqueness about it -- and that continues today.

Special thanks go to the owner the The Bean in Oriental. He's allowing me to use an image of his delightful coffee shop on the cover as part of a design element. Other places in Oriental are mentioned as well, like Steamers, a great restaurant there. I look forward to enjoying the quiet quirkiness of Oriental in the future. 

That won't be today, though. I'm heading in the opposite direction for a book signing tomorrow in Banner Elk at the Banner Elk Winery. Author and friend Mary Flinn has invited me to this event, and I'm so grateful to be included. I only have a few copies of The Pirate's Bastard left in my "signing" stock -- wonder how many I'll come home with after this event?

TELLabration coming this weekend

On Saturday, November 20 at 7:00 p.m., I'll be part of a national event called TELLabration. The cool part is I'll be included from the comfortable surroundings of my local library in Mount Airy. There will be story tellers from the community to round out a night of good tales. This is the first time I've been involved in such an event, so I'm really looking forward to it. Join us for the fun!