That’s right, friends. My latest novel Look Up! has hit the shelves!
And I’ve made it FREE for friends and family through December 22, 2023 at midnight. Get it here!
In Look Up! Shirley ‘Lee’ Hoffman – a minor character from my debut novel Come Back – heads to Washington, DC because life back in Freedom, Iowa is no longer tolerable. Lee needs a life do-over!
Do you remember the town of Freedom? It’s Vi Masters’ hometown too, the town she also fled ten years before Come Back (also FREE through December 22!) opens. Why she fled leads to consequences Vi never expected – consequences that land squarely on young Lee’s shoulders. Now, after a lot of dust has settled, Vi engineers a fresh start for Lee in the home of a friend who was part of Vi’s own healing process – Ruby Abrams with whom Vi once worked.
If I were to list characters who were fun to write, Ruby’d be right up there at the top. She plays a supporting role in Look Up!, but like some of my other supporting characters, she comes close to stealing the show. I think of Ruby as a soft place to land, a person whose primary joy in life is offering comfort. Food, a loving, homey atmosphere, a warm hug – that’s Ruby.
But as Lee soon discovers, Ruby’s marshmallow-ness comes with spine. She’s no pushover, our Ruby. On a shopping trip, she’s a beneficent bully who insists you come home with whatever she decides looks best on you. Don’t bother fighting her. You won’t win. Worse, you’ll have to concede – though perhaps not to her directly – that she was right. And don’t mess with someone Ruby loves. Her six-year-old twins, Lee, for instance. She’ll go mama-bear on you so fast, her claws will carve you before you know what hit you. In short, Vi was right. Ruby is just what Lee needs.
Lee needs Keisha too – the kind of friend she’s always wanted. Tough, real, and absolutely un-perky, unlike the rest of their classmates at their mostly White suburban community college. But what does Lee know about having a Black friend when she grew up in Freedom, Iowa? How can she learn enough fast enough to not sound racist and put off this potential friend?
Janessa’s another supporting character who plays mama-bear of choice for Matt who didn’t win in the biological parent lottery. Janessa’s a Metro cop willing to bend the rules and let Matt busk at her station when she learns her jazz favorites are also his. She changes her manicure so often, I ran out of colors, but like Ruby, Janessa looks out for people she considers friends – to the point of chasing off potential threats. Matt’s got a papa-bear too in Stanton Greene, his former guitar teacher. Not enthusiastic about Matt’s pursuit of a music career, Stanton nevertheless pulls the occasional string Matt needs.
Ruby’s six-year-old twin boys play important supporting roles too – for both Lee and Matt. As loving as their mama, but more rambunctious, identical Jared and Wyatt prove easy to love – even for a heart as bruised as Lee’s.
And of course, the star players are Matt and Lee. She’s a small-town girl from the wrong side of the tracks with a mammoth-sized chip on her shoulder. He’s a dental school drop-out struggling out from under the thumb of his domineering father finally pursuing his first love, music. The morning they each arrive at DC’s Union Station, Lee gapes at the coffered ceiling of the grand old building and bristles at Matt’s nonchalance.
‘Maybe it’s old hat to you city boy,’ she snarls. ‘ You probably don’t even notice flat-out gorgeous when it’s right over your head. Doesn’t make you better than me. Or smarter.’
Ruby, the peacemaker chimes in. ‘ Well said, Lee honey! So much beauty in this world – if only we remember to look up and notice.’
And so it begins…
Healthy People Learn! 