(click for my review), which is a suspenseful novel about love, loss, and familial bonds. For a chance to win a copy of her book, please visit the review and comment. The giveaway is international! Also, for an additional entry, please comment on this post.Please give Brooke a warm welcome:
Having moved to London, I’m slightly surprised to find that in many ways I have become more American than I already was. English people can sometimes be casually dismissive about Americans and their lack of history, which is irritating; but worse, I can guarantee that in some point during a conversation with an English person, that person will always say “Americans have no sense of irony.” To which I always reply, bristling, “Go watch an episode of Frasier.”
Writing Tainted as I sat at my desk in my house in Hammersmith was an exercise in time travel. Because I set the novel in a Cape Cod town not unlike the one I used to spend every summer in; I admit I wallowed in the feeling of being back home. And to help me, I hung pictures on my study wall — watercolor paintings and aerial photos of that area of the Cape. Plus old snapshots of my family on the beach.
These were visual aids, definitely, but I could also close my eyes and just plain remember. And that nostalgia trip was part of the pleasure of writing Tainted.
Henry, one of the characters in the book, is modeled on my Uncle Sam. Which was fine until Henry gets into big trouble – it was such a real scene to me that when I finished it, I had to pick up the telephone on my desk and wake him up at six in the morning his time to make sure he was all right.
Thanks, Brooke, for taking the time to share with us your writing and cultural experiences.
Deadline for the giveaway is Jan. 29, 2010!
FTC Disclosure: Clicking on image or title links will lead to my Amazon Affiliate page; No purchase necessary, though appreciated.
