Gail Priest

Author of the Annie Crow Knoll trilogy and Eastern Shore Shorts

Preview from Drama Queen

by Filed Under: Blog 1 Comment

I hope you enjoy this teaser from EASTERN SHORE SHORTS! I absolutely love the Eastern Shore towns where these stories are set. This preview is from Drama Queen, which is set in Chestertown, MD.

******************************************************************************

DRAMA QUEEN

PHILLIP

I’ve always liked women, but not for the usual reasons men like them. The girls didn’t want to beat me up when I was a kid; they wanted to dress me up in their clothes and put lipstick on me. The boys, however, did want to beat me up and did so every chance they could. Perhaps it’s no surprise, then, that my best friend is a woman.

When I should have gotten off the Eastern Shore for college, I instead went to Washington College here in Chestertown, where again, I pretty much stood out as weird. Although I was able to stand up for myself by then, it was comforting when Kate accepted me. We became best friends the first week of freshman year and remained so all through college and into adulthood. It’s hard to believe we graduated nearly forty years ago; I haven’t aged at all. I can’t wait for that reunion. It will take a dancing bear carrying a blow torch to get Kate off her couch to go to the reunion with me, but first things first.

Kate’s been hibernating ever since Brad the Bastard left her for a younger woman a few months ago. Talk about stereotypes. Anyway, I’ve gotten Kate to agree to meet me for lunch today at The Kitchen at the Imperial Hotel. I’ll ply her with expensive wine before springing my plan for her relaunching. She’s going to fight me. I’d be worried if she didn’t. Her resistance will prove to me that she really hasn’t given up. I’m ready. I’ve moved mountains before with her; I can do it again.

When Kate arrives, I ask the hostess to seat us some place quiet and private. She leads us down the hall, past the crowded dining rooms and out to the garden seating.

“It’s too hot out here,” Kate complains.

That’s just the point. It won’t get crowded. But I say, “You need some sun. You’re too pale from hiding inside your house.”

“I haven’t been hiding. I’ve gone to work every day.”

“Inside. You need some air. Get some color back into those lifeless cheeks.” I pinch her face.

“Okay.” She slaps my hands away and takes a seat. “I didn’t come here to argue.”

The hostess leaves us with menus. I think she’s glad to get away.

“Don’t let me order dessert.” Kate pats her tummy.

“Get whatever you want.”

“No, I’ve been eating too much. I need to cut back.”

“I hope you’ll drink some wine.”

“Are you kidding? Wine doesn’t count; everyone knows that.”

“Good.” I pick up the wine list to make a selection. Something dry and refreshing.

Kate shuts her menu. “I’m going to order a salad so I can have dessert.”

I look over the menu. “I’m going to order an oyster po boy, so I can have potato salad.”

Kate looks me over. “You never gain weight.”

“High metabolism, I guess.”

“I hate you.” She smirks and reopens her menu. “But yum, that does sounds good.”

I keep my mouth shut. Kate always looks lovely. Brad the Bastard is an idiot.

She snaps the menu shut. “Nope. I’m sticking with a salad because the chocolate bread pudding is calling my name.”

“Whatever makes you happy.”

The waitress arrives, takes our orders, and returns with the wine.

Once Kate has a few sips, she begins to relax. “Thanks for getting me out of the house, Phillip. I feel better.”

“I’m glad.”

“Tell me how plans are coming for your niece’s wedding.”

“Chelsea has approved my design and the fabric for her bridal gown. My sister and her pushy friend, who is also the mother of the groom, tried to influence Chelsea’s decisions, but I kept her on the right track. It’s going to be stunning.”

“How exciting for her to have an uncle who is an award-winning Broadway costume designer. I hope she realizes how lucky she is that you’re doing her gown.”

“I love all my nieces to pieces, and my retirement from full-time work in New York has given me the time to make Chelsea’s wedding gown. I’m delighted.” This is the perfect segue into my plan of action for Kate. “I plan to keep busy. I’ll be designing the costumes for Sweeney Todd at the Garfield Center. They’re holding auditions soon.”

“I love Stephen Sondheim musicals.”

Our food arrives, and I pause from my strategy to try my oyster sandwich.

“Oh my God, you have to have a bite of this.”

“No, thanks.” Kate stabs at her salad. “Brad and I saw the production of that Edward Albee play the Garfield did a couple of years ago. It was depressing but well done.”

“Albee plays are always depressing. They ought to put a suicide hotline number in the program.”

*****************************************************

Eastern Shore Shorts will be available in paperback on April 15, 2018!

My Love for the Eastern Shore

by Filed Under: Blog Leave a Comment

My Love of the Eastern Shore

The skies on the Chesapeake Bay are like nothing I’ve ever seen before. This picture was taken at the headwaters of the Bay after a storm at sunset. My love for the Eastern Shore began in 2000 when my husband and I began renting a cottage at Evergreen Knoll in Betterton, MD. This community of seasonal cottages overlooks the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Sassafras River. Before I knew it, I was writing a novel, which turned into the Annie Crow Knoll trilogy. Last May, Nancy Sakaduski, from Cat and Mouse Press, invited me to write a collection of short stories set in different Eastern Shore towns. I had spent seventeen years wandering around many of these locales, and the few I didn’t know well, I enjoyed visiting during this past year while writing Eastern Shore Shorts. The collection will be released on April 15, 2018, and it’s my joy to share this new adventure with you! Please visit me at www.gailpriest.com for more information. Cat & Mouse Press

 

My Father’s Hugs

by Filed Under: Blog 2 Comments

Do you have some favorite films that you’ve watched several times? I have a collection of DVDs I watch every summer at the cottage we rent on the Chesapeake Bay.  After sixteen years, I know the dialogue by heart. My list includes Tootsie, Witness, Stage Beauty, all of the Harry Potter films, Sense and Sensibility (Emma Thompson version), Shakespeare in Love, The Big Chill, Bird Cage, The King’s Speech, and On Golden Pond.

 

I saw the original Broadway production of On Golden Pond in 1979, shortly after my father died the previous November. I was twenty-five years old.  Although my dad and I had a much better relationship than the characters of Norman Thayer and his daughter Chelsey, I certainly had a boatload of unresolved issues with my dead father when I saw the play. That combined with Norman’s angina attack in the last act (my dad suffered from angina and heart problems for years, with his first heart attack when I was ten years old), the performance with Tom Aldredge and Frances Sternhagen just about unhinged  me . . . in a good way. What I felt at the curtain was the beginning of my healing process, which took many years.  And I think I felt a hint of a possibility. Maybe I could write plays that moved an audience from laughter to tears and back like Ernest Thompson’s play had that night.

 

imagesBut back to the film version of On Golden Pond with Katharine Hepburn, Henry Fonda, and Jane Fonda.  Why do I watch it every summer? Since I was a child, I wanted a Golden Pond type cabin on a lake or cottage on a beach.  These many years renting our cottage at Evergreen Knoll became that for me.  In addition, my exploration of difficult family relationships in the Annie Crow Knoll series was likely influenced by the healing process that takes place between Chelsea and her estranged father at their family cabin on Golden Pond. The place of Annie Crow Knoll on the Chesapeake Bay certainly has healing powers.

 

I also watch the film because I’m reminded of my own father every time I see Henry Fonda in the role of Norman imagesThayer.  In this one moment captured in the photo to the right with Katharine Hepburn, I see my dad sitting there. The resemblance between Henry Fonda and Jerry Priest in that pose with his hand up at his mouth is remarkable.

 

 

imagesEvery time I watch near the end of the film when Norman gives Chelsea his old debate medal, and she calls him “Dad” instead of “Norman,” and then he reaches out to hug her for the first time, I cry.  I feel my father hugging me.  Luckily he was a big hugger, and I never felt neglected in that department until he passed and I missed his hugs.

 

As summer officially winds down this Labor Day, perhaps there’s a movie you’d like to watch again. Tell me about the films you’ve watched several times and what they mean to you. Have a safe and wonderful weekend!

To learn more about the Annie Crow Knoll series, join my Facebook Group-Birds of a Feather!

Sign up for my fun but infrequent newsletter.

Visit my website for the links to buy the books. You can also click on the covers in the sidebar of this blog. The first book, Annie Crow Knoll: Sunset, is free!

 

Release Day Moonrise

by Filed Under: Blog Leave a Comment

At last . . . the long-awaited third book

in the captivating

Annie Crow Knoll trilogy!

Annie Crow Knoll: Moonrise is now available.

Return once again to Annie Crow Knoll . . . a place to grieve loss, accept change, and rebuild a life worth living.

Breezy and Jemma, are world-class cyclists until violence at a race leaves Breezy with permanent physical disabilities and kills the man she loved. With her Olympic dream shattered, guilt and shame threaten to destroy her future happiness. Her sister Jemma escapes with only minor injuries, but the psychological damage she experiences shakes her self-worth, her Olympic potential, and her capacity to accept love.

The young women return to Annie Crow Knoll, their childhood home on the Chesapeake Bay, to heal and reclaim their lives, and with their parents and grandparents, struggle to make sense of life after this tragic and irrational incident.

Annie Crow Knoll: Moonrise, the third novel in this fiction series by Gail Priest, is a story about the power to reinvent life after surviving loss and trauma. (This novel can be read as a stand alone.)

~~~***~~~

Buy your copy here!

Amazon/Barnes & Noble//iBooks/Kobo

 

Moonrise - Gail Priest

Advanced Praise for AnnieCrow Knoll: Moonrise

In Annie Crow Knoll: Moonrise, the youngest generation of the Annie Crow clan returns to the Knoll hoping its transformative powers can help them survive tragedy and find love. A captivating tale that demonstrates the power of family, loyalty, and determination.

Nancy Sakaduski, Author and Publisher, Cat & Mouse Press

Annie Crow Knoll: Moonrise is a richly complex and satisfying read, with a cast of characters so real I felt they could be my own neighbors. Beautifully written, thoughtful, and deep, Moonrise will speak to anyone who has faced loss and emerged on the other side of it.

Martha Conway, Author of Sugarland and Thieving Forest

MOONRISE is Gail Priest’s third, and most moving title in her Annie Crow Knoll series. Like Sunrise and Sunset before, the story of four generations of family on Maryland’s Eastern Shore is rendered with achingly beautiful power and sensitivity. The characters, led by the strongest of intelligent women, are all finding their way forward with tremendous wisdom, tears, and courage following a horrific tragedy that scars them inside and out. A literary tale of deep pain and every manner of healing, I wholeheartedly recommend Moonrise, and all the Annie Crow Knoll titles, to our most demanding readers, and yes, to Hollywood as well.

Robert Blake Whitehill, Author/Screenwriter, The Ben Blackshaw Series

~~~***~~~

The first two Annie Crow books are available at all retailers.

Annie Crow Knoll: Sunrise

FREE for a limited time!

Amazon/iBooks/Nook/Kobo/Scribd/Inktera

Annie Crow Knoll: Sunset

Amazon/iBooks/Nook/Kobo/Scribd/Inktera

Gail Priest is the author of the Annie Crow Knoll series. For many years, Gail and her gail pichusband have rented a cottage in Betterton, MD on the Chesapeake Bay in a cottage community that is the inspiration for the novels. Annie Crow Knoll: Sunrise debuted in 2013. Annie Crow Knoll: Sunset was released in 2014. Annie Crow Knoll: Moonrise is the third book in the series.

Gail is honored to have a selection from Annie Crow Knoll: Sunset in 50 Over 50, a PS Books anthology celebrating the wise and experienced feminine voice of fifty women writers over fifty.

Her play Eva’s Piano was produced at the Dayton Playhouse in their 2000 New Play Festival. The Church Hill Theatre in Church Hill, Maryland staged a reading of her play A Thing with Feathers.

Gail’s career in performing arts and education has allowed her to enjoy a combination of roles: teacher, adjunct college professor, guidance counselor, actor, director, and writer.

Join my Facebook Group-Birds of a Feather!

Sign up for my fun but infrequent newsletter.

Visit my website and my blog.

Northern Gannets off the coast of Scotland

by Filed Under: Blog Leave a Comment

P1070252My husband and I just returned from a wonderful trip to Scotland. On the last full day of our vacation, we took a train from Edinburgh to North Berwick, situated on the south shore of the Firth of Forth. During our two weeks, I never saw a town in Scotland that wasn’t charming, and we traveled through many places on our tour, but North Berwick was one of my favorites. I’m a water person, and it’s a coastal town. I’m sure that had a lot to do with its appeal.

 

 

P1070223One of the highlights was our visit to the Scottish Seabird Center where we learned about the nesting seabirds in the area. I was specifically interested in the Atlantic Puffins and Northern Gannets that nest by the thousands on islands off North Berwick. The Seabird Center has live cameras to watch the birds. That was the only way we saw Puffins on the island of Craigleith. However, the Northern Gannets could be seen from the beach with the naked eye.

 

 

P1070268All that white on Bass Island isn’t snow. It’s over 150,000 gannets! What a thrill for me. Northern Gannets are my favorite seabird. I enjoy watching them migrating along the coast of Cape May Point, NJ in April every spring. I was blown away by the huge number of them on Bass Island. It is the largest colony in the world. You’ll notice the light house in my photograph. There are also castle ruins with dungeons once used for political prisoners, including several Jacobites (think Outlander). They eventually overpowered the guards and held the island for three years.

 

There are boats you can take out to the islands. Alas, we didn’t have enough time for that . . . this trip. Here’s a YouTube link for a closer look at the Northern Gannet colony on Bass Island. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Of2AumcGBE0

P1070276Lots of birds, great history, sea breezes, and I’m a happy traveler.

Teaser from ANNIE CROW KNOLL: MOONRISE

by Filed Under: Blog Leave a Comment

Annie Crow Knoll: MoonriseHere’s an excerpt from Chapter Fifteen of Annie Crow Knoll: Moonrise!

Yes, Annie’s ex-husband Drew is back in this third book. I’m so glad I decided not to kill him off in Annie Crow Knoll: Sunrise! Otherwise he couldn’t be back in Moonrise to stir the pot.

 

Summer 2015

Annie had been selected to head the scholarship committee again. She had done so on and off for many years since she first founded the scholarship with some of her inheritance from her great-grandmother. She had put to good use the money Delia Witherspoon had misused to control and manipulate professors’ careers at Queen Anne, her ex-husband having been one of the victims. With that sad memory in her mind, Drew appeared at her porch door.

Annie closed her laptop. “Pretty sky after that great storm.”

“Can we talk?” His face was serious.

“Come in.”

Drew stepped onto the porch but walked past Annie and into her cottage. “I don’t want to be interrupted by anyone wandering past.”

“But it’s such a nice night.”

“If you don’t mind.” He motioned for her to join him in the living room of Sunrise Cottage.

Annie reluctantly went in but halted just inside. She looked at the sofa and decided she’d feel better with a table between them. “Let’s sit in the dining room.”

Once they were seated, Drew became quiet. He gazed at Annie.

Annie tried not to fidget with the edge of the tablecloth, but her ex-husband was behaving oddly. “You said you had something to talk about, Drew. What is it?”

“Oh, I wanted to talk about Breezy. Don’t you think she’s depressed?”

“This again? She’s grieving and working on reinventing herself.”

“Are you sure?”

“It’s a process that takes time and patience. Although she’ll never be the same physically, she’s getting stronger.”

“But emotionally. I mean, she seems a lot like you did after Nate was born.”

Annie frowned. “What do you mean by that?”

“She’s shutting down.”

“At first she was, but now she’s isolating less. She’s taking on this wonderful new project with her photography.”

“That’s just a distraction from what she should be doing.”

“I understand that you’re desperate to make sense of what has happened to our granddaughter, Drew, but you’re grasping at straws.”

Drew didn’t seem to hear Annie. “She used to be passionate and competitive. Now, she’s just willing to give up. She’s lost her fight, like you did when you handed Nate over to me.”

Annie leapt to her feet but controlled the urge to slap Drew across the face. “I wish for one day you’d experience what depression is like.” She made fists with both her hands and strode away from her ex-husband. “It wasn’t a choice to let you take care of Nate the first few months of his life. I wasn’t capable.” Her voice broke. How did this man manage to dredge up pain that she resolved long ago?

“Annie, I’m not blaming you.”

Annie straightened up. “Let me clarify things for you. I’m not going to allow you to bring up the past in order to manipulate me. I’ve worked through all this. I’ve accepted the past. I’ve made peace with myself and with Nate. I have a wonderful, healthy relationship with him. Rehashing old guilt and blame in order to get what you want is mean-spirited, and it’s not going to work on me.”

Drew slumped deeper into the dining table chair. “I’ve screwed this all up. Forgive me for saying those things. I didn’t come here to start a fight. Please sit back down.”

Annie hesitantly returned to her chair. “Why did you come over here tonight?” *

 

 

Annie Crow Knoll: Moonrise

ANNIE CROW KNOLL: MOONRISE is available for pre-order! Click the title to pre-order, and it will show up on your Kindle on August 9th!

Pre-order links to additional retailers can be found on the Books page of this website.

ANNIE CROW KNOLL: MOONRISE COVER

by Filed Under: Blog Leave a Comment

Annie Crow Knoll: MoonriseRecently I revealed the cover for my upcoming release ANNIE CROW KNOLL: MOONRISE, and it’s getting a great reaction. I wanted to tell you a little more about how it came about.

Several years ago, my husband, photographer Gary Collings, did a series of Chesapeake Bay photographs using an old Polaroid camera. You remember the ones that spit the picture out the front of the camera, and you had to be careful not to touch the image until the dyes on the surface dried. Well, instead of allowing it to dry, Gary  manipulated the image using a stylist. Then he scanned the finished image into the computer, so he could print it in a larger size on his ink-jet printer. The final photo looked like a painting, and people loved it. He taught classes on this process to other photographers at Chester River Art Works (now Chestertown River Arts) in Chestertown, MD.

When I finished the first book, Annie Crow Knoll: Sunrise, I asked Gary if I could show his photographs to the creative team at Hayson Publishing. I sensed that one of these Polaroid manipulations would be perfect for the cover, and the folks at Hayson agreed. The talented Stephanie Nelson of Once Upon a Time Covers went over four or five of the photos and selected that first cover. When it came to Annie Crow Knoll: Sunset, she manipulated the color of the photograph to invoke a sunset, and the last one to look like evening at moonrise. This cover for Annie Crow Knoll: Moonrise is my favorite because of the mood and it has Packard’s Chesapeake Bay Deadrise Workboat in it!

Cover InspirationHere are some of the original Polaroid manipulations. Three of them became covers for the Annie Crow Knoll series.  You can see how the original photograph for Sunrise is pretty much the same, but the color was adjusted and enhanced for Sunset and Moonrise.

I’d love to hear what you think of the new cover!

You can also pre-order Moonrise at the following locations! It will be released on August 9th!

Amazon:   http://tiny.cc/uuu7by

Barnes & Noble: http://tiny.cc/gvu7by

iBooks:   http://tiny.cc/zxu7by

Kobo:  http://tiny.cc/ze5vcy

 

Annie Crow’s Autumn Journal Entry

by Filed Under: Blog Leave a Comment

P1040027

Autumn is my favorite season here on Annie Crow Knoll.  It’s bitter-sweet because I am sad to see the rental season ending, but I enjoy the way the Knoll changes in the fall. It’s a time of transition, which reminds me that sadness can’t be avoided.  Summer has ended; winter is on the way, but I have learned to accept whatever feelings that brings up in me.  If sadness surfaces, I embrace it, along with the changes that are a part of autumn.

Although there is a drastic reduction in renters staying after Labor Day, I don’t close up the cottages until the beginning of November.  It’s what my dad always did.  Some of the retirees stay straight through.  A few die-hards still swim into the beginning of October, including me.  It’s wonderful to get out on the water in a kayak at this time of year, too. The fishing gets serious now.  Anyone who enjoys catching rockfish is out in their boats every chance they get.  We always have a pumpkin carving party, so the cottagers with children make that weekend a priority. I love how the Knoll looks with lit jack-o-lanterns set out in front of the cottages.

Amid these activities, there’s a sense of loss the closer we get to closing up, and once October is over, I have a lot of work to do winterizing the cottages. Now-a-days, the porches are enclosed with windows, so it’s not as bad as it was when we covered every porch with sheets of plywood.  The place looked abandoned like that.  I think that bothered my mother a great deal when she was alive.  There is still a bit of a ghost-town feeling starting in November with no cars on the driveway and no lights in the cottages.  That part is difficult for me when I know winter is really around the corner.
_DSF5780

However, the transition from summer to autumn on the bay is a sight. The evening skies are more dramatic because the sun has moved to the south causing the clouds to take on extreme shades of pinks and purples at sunrise and sunset.  The trees behind Cattail always seem to change color first.  I’ll see little hints of that in September along the edge of the water up there.  There are maple trees along Packard’s property that turn the most delicious shades of orange and gold in October.
I always grow pumpkins and gourds in my garden. I put them on the front steps of Sunrise Cottage, Packard’s house and the School House Studio.  I decorate the entrance to Annie Crow Knoll with pumpkins, too.  I put small, interesting gourds around the cement crows on the top of stone pillars out there.  All those autumn colors against a crystal blue sky on a sunny October day make me giddy.

Along with the shift in the landscape, the birds are migrating.  Canada Geese moving at night call out to one another in reassuring honks.  The Osprey, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds and other birds have gone south, while the ducks that winter over here begin to arrive.

Most people might assume that summer is my favorite time of year on the Knoll.  It is a close second to autumn.  There is nothing more thrilling than sharing this property with my friends and family.  Grace has come out to stay every summer since my parents passed.  I’ve watched her family grow up and the families of people who have rented for generations.  The days are long with late sunsets over the water, and I love to swim.

So what is it about autumn that makes it top ever so slightly over summer?  It’s because once summer arrives, not much changes in the landscape, but everything about autumn gradually shifts and evolves. The passage of time is more poignant, making it a great time to take stock of my life.P1050843

In the fall, I have a feeling of contentment that may go way back to my first season of running Annie Crow Knoll without my parents.  I remember feeling so proud that I had held onto the property that first year. So every autumn as the cottagers begin to pack up and the colors of the leaves pass through stages of yellow, orange and red, I am always aware of how grateful I am for all the gifts I receive from living here on Annie Crow Knoll at the headwaters of the Chesapeake Bay. *

 

You can read more about Annie and the Knoll in the first two books of this trilogy.
Annie Crow Knoll: Sunrise
Annie Crow Knoll: Sunset

To hear about the upcoming release of Annie Crow Knoll: Moonrise and special promotions, sign up for an occasional newsletter here!

Three Quick Tips for Getting Back to Writing

by Filed Under: Blog 1 Comment

I recently had a young author ask for suggestions on how to get back into her writing.  She’d been away from it for several reasons, and now that she was able to recommit to it, nothing was working. She felt stuck and frustrated. She found herself starting things and not getting far before editing. Nothing was good enough. We’ve all be in this place at one time or another.  Here are three things that I have found helpful.

  1. Negative Self-talk  imgres

I pay attention to negative self-talk. It can be blatant or subtle. Either way, it kills any efforts. When it was habitual, I didn’t even know I’m doing it. In order to become aware of it, I made a list of the negative things I was thinking on the left-hand side of a piece of paper. Then I turned each critical comment into a positive one in the right-hand column. Then I enjoyed crossing out each negative statement listed on the left. I became more vigilant about saying things to myself and my inner artist that I’d say to a child. I am kind, encouraging, nurturing, and patient.

 

  1. Time Writings images

I set a timer for ten minutes. Often I use writing prompts to kick off the timed writing. I write without pausing to worry about spelling, grammar, punctuation, the “right” words, or anything else. I write stream of consciousness until I hear the buzzer. If during this time, I change point of view or topics, I keep writing in that new direction. I don’t worry about anything.

 

  1. Stop Editing right-brain-left-brain-ss-1920-792x600

Practicing positive self-talk and timed writings helped me to stop editing early in my writing efforts. The time for editing is later. I don’t worry about creating a finished piece in the beginning. I just write. When I stop to edit, I kill the flow.  I also move from the creative mind into the critical mind which makes me more susceptible to negative comments about the writing or myself. I give myself permission to make mistakes in order to discover what emerges later without critique.  I keep writing.

 

I hope you find these tips helpful in your creative journey. Others have assisted me along the way, and I want to do the same. Below are two resources that continue to have a positive influence on me.

images

Bonnie Neubauer: The Write-Brain Workbook and Story Spinner

Julia Cameron: The Artist’s Way and her many other books and resources on creativity

 

To hear about special promotions offered to my readers, sign up for my newsletter here!

The Second Draft

by Filed Under: Blog 5 Comments

_DSF5455I’ve been working on the second draft of Annie Crow Knoll: Moonrise.  It’s the third book in the series. The best way for me to describe my process with a second draft is it’s like a large jigsaw puzzle. I have all the outside edges done, and I’m filling in the middle. It’s a great feeling to have the beginning, middle, and end of the plot. All of the characters have usually arrived by the end of the first draft, too.

Although in Sunset, I did have the surprise appearance (or reappearance) of the little girl Nate rescues from the bullies in the first chapter. She is his nurse when he ends up in the hospital toward the end of the novel. I had the character of the nurse in every draft, but it wasn’t until the eleventh hour that I found out she was Ivy Green grown up. What a joyful discovery! And she is expecting! The child she is carrying in Sunset has become a main character in Moonrise. I love it when my characters let me know what’s going to happen. It’s too much fun!

I received the initial image for Moonrise a few years ago while cycling around Kent County, Maryland. I had to file it away until last autumn when I published Sunset and could begin Moonrise. The area in Kent County between Betterton and images[6] (3)Chestertown is beautiful for biking. You’ll pass beaches on the bay, fields of corn and soybeans, wooded areas where you might spot a fox or deer, historic neighborhoods, and artists’ studios. There are also a few serious hills for a good workout. From this, I got the idea that Annie’s granddaughter was a professional cyclist. Eventually I found out why she was training near Annie Crow Knoll, and that she had a sister who is also a cyclist. I’m always amazed how character ideas are birthed.

During the second draft, I’m also double and triple checking my research. This time it’s on professional cycling, physical injuries, police business, and adoption.  I have some generous people helping me with these topics, and I will be thanking them from the bottom of my heart in the acknowledgements.

Some of my readers have been quite vocal about having to wait for the third book. It makes me happy that they are chomping at the bit. It’s going to be a while longer. There will be more drafts, editing and rewriting. I want to give everyone the best story possible. Hang in there. I keep plugging away at it.

In the meantime, I have two giveaways happening on Goodreads! I’m giving away two signed copies of Annie Crow Knoll: Sunrise and two signed copies of Annie Crow Knoll: Sunset. The giveaways begin on May 6th and run until midnight on May 9th. Be sure to use the links in the sidebar to the right of this blog and enter! Tell your friends! Thanks!

To hear about special promotions offered to my readers, sign up for my newsletter here!

Newsletter Sign Up