Inspiration Behind the Book

by Patricia Yager Delagrange

How many times have I seen an Amber Alert on the news which ends in the child’s death? How many times have I been driving down the freeway and read about another child kidnapping in yellow lights across a billboard? How many times have watched on the news that another child has been murdered?

Too may times. One time is too many.

And each time this occurs I wondered how in the world do the parents make it through such a tragedy? How do they go on? How can they return to work? How can they face interacting with family and friends after their child’s death? How do they go on living?

This question had burned in my mind for years and I wanted to write about it. People have asked me how I can write about something that’s never happened to me. I counter with: I write fiction. All fiction writers tell a story they’ve made up in their heads. But they imbue that story with their own feelings. Which is what makes a good book. And I have a wealth of feelings that I used when I wrote Moon Over Alcatraz. I have two children. I know what it’s like to love two human beings unconditionally, with no reservations. My kids often ask me, “Do you love me, mom?” And my answer is, “Always and forever.”

So I took a happily married couple, excited to have their first child, placed them in the delivery room, and had the umbilical cord wrapped around the baby’s neck, which produced a still birth.

And that’s pretty much what happened to that couple - their lift stood still. They didn’t know how to move on from there. Instead of looking to each other for solace and renewal, they turned away from each other. Both of them, unbeknownst to the other, dealt with their grief in a way that broke them apart, instead of pulling them together.

Losing a child is devastating. And each person deals with that emotional turmoil in their own particular way. I’d go so far as to say that no one can predict how they would act in that circumstance. Emotions can be unpredictable, surprising even to the person who’s experiencing them. This is what happens to Brandy and Weston. You have a difference in their emotional upheaval. One character is the mother who carried her baby to term, and the other is the father who didn’t have that same physical experience.

BLURB:
Following the death of their baby during a difficult birth, Brandy and Weston Chambers are grief-stricken and withdraw from each other, both seeking solace outside of their marriage; however, they vow to work through their painful disloyalty. But when the man Brandy slept with moves back to their hometown, three lives are forever changed by his return.

EXCERPT:
Three days later we were standing at the edge of a hole in the ground at Holy Sepulcher Cemetery in Hayward, the silence so thick, the insides of my ears buzzed like a distant swarm of angry bees. Mr. Peralta and another gentleman stood off to the side while Weston and I held hands next to a tiny casket.

Weston had chosen a simple mahogany box with gold handles, a bouquet of white lilies graced the top of the small box. I knelt down and laid a kiss on the smooth wood then wiped off the tears that had fallen on top. Weston joined me, placing a single red rose in the middle of the lilies.
He helped me up and we stood side-by-side in silence, my guilt over her death like a stone in my empty belly. I missed everything I’d dreamed would be happening right now, yearned for all that could have been.

Weston nodded at the man standing next to Mr. Peralta and our baby was slowly lowered into the gaping maw. She reached the bottom, and a bird landed on the rich brown dirt piled next to the grave. It pecked around, chirping a little song then flew off - as if saying goodbye. My heart squeezed inside my chest.

I picked up a small handful of soft dirt. “Goodbye, Christine,” I whispered, throwing it on top of her casket.

Weston wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me in close to his side. Why her? Why my baby? Was this supposed to make sense? And, if so, to whom?

We drove home in silence. No words existed to express my grief.

BUY LINKS
Musa Publishing
Amazon
Barnes & Noble

Learn more about Patricia Yager Delagrange on her website and blog. Stay connected on facebook and Twitter.

I'll be back Wednesday with a new menu. Until then...

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Sloane Taylor
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The Immortal Tux

The handsome spokescat for the Janis Flores novels is here with pertinent questions.

Tux: Why do you always have animals in your novels?

JF: The simple answer is that animals make good characters. We’re a society that literally spends billions on our pets, so I know a lot of people feel the way I do. Animals also add to the story, giving the reader a different insight into the characters themselves. You can tell a lot about a person (or a character) by the way he or she reacts to an animal.

Tux: Is that why you created Royal,

the black German shepherd in SWEETER THAN WINE?

JF: Absolutely. Royal was a joy to write because he became one of the most important characters in the story. He and the heroine, Terra Cavanaugh, form an instant, almost mystical bond, from the moment they meet. I’ve felt that bond with many of the animals that have passed through my own life.

Tux: But didn’t Jake Vreeland (the hero in the book) call Royal a “royal-pain-in-the-a**” because he couldn’t keep his mind on his training?

JF: Well, it’s true. Royal in the beginning is like the little boy in school who has more fun pulling pranks than in studying. Jake does despair that Royal will ever become a great search dog, like his father, Mano. But Terra has complete faith that one day Royal will do something to make Jake proud.

Tux: And does he?

JF: (smiling) You’ll have to read the book to find out. But I promise, you’ll be satisfied.

Tux: You have a lot of dogs yourself. How many is it now? Ten? Twenty? Fifty?

JF: Now, Tux, you know we currently have just four dogs. One is a Corgi, another is an Australian shepherd, the third is a black and white terrier mix we rescued, and the fourth is another rescue, a coal-black three-legged mix of Papillion and maybe long-haired Chihuahua.

Tux: A lot of people wonder if a dog can get along with just three legs.

JF: (laughing) She doesn’t seem to notice that she’s missing a limb—or care. In fact, she can outrun me any day of the week. And if she’s excited or wants a treat, she bounces on her one hind leg like she’s on a pogo-stick.

Tux: I hate to get you started, but you also seem to have a love affair going on with horses, both in real life and in your books. Being of the feline persuasion, I don’t understand it myself, so maybe you can explain the attraction.

JF: I fell in love with horses from the time that I knew what a horse was. I used to beg my parents to take me on the pony rides at the park when I was small. I have a picture of myself when I was about four or five, in my cowboy outfit, riding one of those ponies. I’m smiling with pure joy.
On a side note, my husband, Ray, has a picture of him in his cowboy outfit at the same age, riding a pony, too. Talk about serendipity! Years later when we met and married, we had these photos framed. Then we bought our first horses. We’ve had horses ever since, although now we’re down to just two Arab geldings. They’re both in their 20s, but still rarin’ to go.

Tux: (sighing) I knew I shouldn’t have mentioned horses. Now I’ll never get you off the subject.

JF: Well, we could talk about Oreo my attack rabbit if you like.

Tux: (shuddering) And that’s what she was—an attack rabbit. People think that rabbits are cute and cuddly, but she used to scare the heck out of everybody—except me, of course.

JF: (trying not to smile). Of course. I have to admit, she was spoiled. My ever-loving husband built her the Taj Mahal of rabbit hutches in my home office, so she could watch what was going on. She was a good distraction at times. I’d be working, so it would be very quiet, and suddenly she’d leap up and run around the hutch like her tail was on fire. I think she did it to keep the dogs—and me—on our toes.

Tux: You used to comb her every day, I remember that.

JF: And I still have that big bag of white rabbit hair. One day I’ll spin it into yarn to make myself a coat. Or perhaps a hat. Or a scarf… Or maybe I’ll just keep it in the bag as is.

Tux: Well, that’s all for now. Maybe next time we can talk about you and social media. Are you getting the hang of it yet?

JF: I’m trying, I’m trying.

SWEETER THAN WINE is available from Musa Publishing. To read an excerpt, please click HERE.

I'll be back Wednesday with a new menu. Until then...

Happy Reading!

Sloane Taylor