HANK: Don't you love finding a new friend? Well. Meet Liz Talbot. (I just tucked in a photo of my dahlias because they're so great this year.)
Liz is a modern Southern belle: she
blesses hearts and takes names. She carries her Sig 9 in her Kate Spade
handbag, and her golden retriever, Rhett, rides shotgun in her hybrid Escape.
When her grandmother is murdered, Liz high-tails it back to her South Carolina
island home to find the killer.
Okay, fine, Liz is fictional. She's the brain-child of
the fabulous Susan Boyer, a debut author with a witty voice and a huge
heart. Susan's a Guppy, of course, which makes her instantly wonderful.
I had the pleasure of reading her new book--and well, you know those
moments when you think-whoa! She's got it! That's how I felt about LOW
COUNTRY BOIL.
And we'll give a copy to one lucky commenter! And now--shhh...we're going to hear the dish about Susan's family...
It All Comes Down to Family
My extended family clan has more members than some towns. My
people have gone forth and multiplied, is what I’m saying. I should add, right
up front, that while I explore family dynamics in my writing, I don’t write
about my family. The exception is an occasional blog, and when I tell one of
them I’ve used them in a blog, they stand up straight and grin. If they were
peacocks, their feathers would no doubt fan.
Because the relationship between sisters is complex, it’s one
of my favorite themes in fiction. My sister and I joke that we were once a
single egg which subdivided and we were separated before birth. Mamma calls us
her twins born ten years apart. We’re exactly alike, except in the ways we are
not. I’m what folks politely call “big-boned,” while my sister is petite, bless
her heart. We’re both OCD control freaks. We finish each other’s sentences and
have our own, secret texting shorthand. When I think of her, the phone rings
and she’s on the line.
We agree on virtually everything. But in the space between
“virtually everything” and “absolutely everything,” unfortunate altercations occasionally
erupt. When we disagree, we do it in
spectacular fashion. It infuriates her that I could possibly hold a differing
position on anything. I feel the same way. If the conversation drifts towards treacherous
waters while we’re in our mother’s house, Mamma throws up her hands, says, “I’m
leaving,” and walks out the back door. She always comes back—well, she always
has so far. Daddy instigates these dramas for entertainment. He knows our
points of dissension well. Our brother—the middle child—eggs it on just to keep
things interesting. I’m absolutely convinced any one of us would take a bullet
for any of the others.
But I’m here to tell you, it’s true what they say about Southern
families—we are neither ashamed of nor scared by eccentricity. By way of
example, I offer Aunt Avalee, who is convinced her neighbor is throwing
birdseed on her roof so the birds will peck holes in it, and Aunt Clarene,
whose house has been repeatedly broken into by someone who vacuums and leaves
without taking or disturbing anything. I have many more examples. So many more.
When I married Sugar, I left the
small town where I grew up. At the time, it never entered my mind this would be
a permanent thing. My sister moved away as well, and we frequently lament not living
close enough to inhabit each other’s daily lives. My
brother lives fifteen minutes from Mamma’s backdoor. I envy him that. In my
fantasy life, we all live back in that small town, a block or two away from
each other, and we all go to Mamma and Daddy’s on Sunday for supper. We pop in
and out of each other’s homes several times a week. My dreams are made of
simple things. But these simple things are simply out of reach.
Sugar’s job requires him to live near an airport. Three of
our four children have put down roots in Greenville, South Carolina, where
we’ve lived for many years and where they grew up. We have friends whose lives
have become intertwined with ours through shared joys and heartaches who we
would be hard pressed to leave behind. And, much of Sugar’s side of our family resides
in Greenville. Going home is not an option for me.
So, I write about what I long for—family, small towns, and
pristine beaches—and of course, solving murders and taking down the bad guy.
Do y’all have big families? If you’re a writer, do your
family relationships sometimes influence the themes you write about?
HANK: Well, I have one full sister, two
half-sisters, and a half-brother who I grew up with, and two-half
sisters and two half-brothers I DIDN'T grow up with. And yes, my books
are all about family--whether they seem to be or not. (And if you've read THE OTHER WOMAN, you know that!).
Jungle Red is delighted to offer a copy of LOW COUNTRY
BOIL to one lucky commenter--so tell all about your family--and you may
soon be reading about Liz Talbot's!
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Susan M. Boyer has been making up
stories her whole life. She tags along with her husband on business trips
whenever she can because hotels are great places to write: fresh coffee all day
and cookies at 4 p.m. They have a home in Greenville, SC, which they
occasionally visit. Susan’s short fiction has appeared in moonShine Review,
Spinetingler Magazine, Relief Journal, The Petigru Review, and Catfish Stew.
Her debut novel, Lowcountry Boil, is
a 2012 Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in
Mystery/Suspense recipient and an RWA Golden Heart® finalist.
